hello. the un says half of 6323's population is starving, as israel's bombardment continues. the world food programme's deputy director says nine out of 10 people cannot eat every day. israel says it's doing everything it can to get more aid in, but conditions on the ground are making it almost impossible for aid groups to reach gaza. unicef�*s spokeswoman alexandra murdoch has more on the situation. by all the measures that you can think of, the situation for people in gaza is beyond crisis point. food is running out as you have reported, there is a severe lack of safe water, safe drinking water and this poses a particularly lethal threat to children.

people are sleeping outside on concrete floors. 80% of the population are displaced, almosti million are children and they are being pushed further and further south into areas that are overcrowded and without any of the basics that need to survive. humanitarian aid at the moment is the only lifeline for people and we are simply not able to get the access that we need to get through. for the past four, five, six days, aid agencies such as unicef only been able to access rafah and it is only limited aid and if we cannot get through soon people are going to really struggle because there is not enough water, food, shelter. meanwhile, the head of the israeli army has called for the military campaign in gaza to be stepped up, saying there are signs that hamas is falling apart. translation: | see the - achievements from day-to-day. we are seeing every day, terrorists who were killed, terrorists who were injured. in the last few days, we see terrorists who are surrendering. a sign of the collapse of the system. a sign we need to press harder.

this is what you are doing. on saturday, a group of men and boys taken by israeli forces were released. they say they were tortured. lucy williamson has this report from jerusalem. just a warning that it contains distressing images from the start. buried by the war, but still alive, dug from the rubble of their homes in deir al—balah after an israeli strike this morning. more than 20 members of the salman family and their neighbours. their faces, like their lives, made unrecognisable. six others were killed, they say. the frantic race to hospitals is gaza's new daily routine. health care in the north has collapsed. here, further south, doctors say the situation is catastrophic. there aren't the resources

to treat all the wounded, much less to comfort them. this boy praying quietly to himself. the girl beside him calling for her mother. gunfire in the north of gaza, israeli forces say they're targeting palestinian fighters injabalia camp. one of those inside a un shelter there told the bbc they were encircled and had now been without food or water for five days. israel is under growing international pressure to spare the gazan civilians. translation: other countries should also understands - that it is impossible to support the elimination and call for an elimination to the war which will prevent the elimination of hamas. translation: they understand

it is possible to support the elimination of hamas and on the other hand calls for the and for a war which will prevent the elimination of hamas. today a group of men and boys taken by israeli forces five days ago were released claiming they were tortured. among them, mohammad mahmoud salim, held separately from his dad. "they made us sleep naked," he said, "and kept hitting us with their guns. they hit me when i asked where my dad was. they hit us with wires." we've asked the israeli army for a response. israel's ground campaign is now focused on khan younis, gaza's southern capital. fighting, it says, house to house and tunnel to tunnel. israel's aim of destroying hamas infrastructure here is also destroying lives. the city's nasser hospital reported more than 60 dead this morning, around 100 injured. others are said to still be trapped under the rubble of an attack four days ago. translation: we beg the world. what you waiting for? are you waiting for us to die here in gaza? don't worry. we are going to die here. allahu akbar. funerals here have shifted from the mosque to the morgue. faith in hospitals

and their power to protect still something to cling to even when the chance to save a life has gone. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. meanwhile, the us continues to face fierce criticism for veteoing a measure calling for a ceasefire in gaza friday. the us representative said the resolution was rushed and would only plant the seeds for the next war. international condemnation was swift. the us was the only country to veto, while 13 countries voted in favour of it and the uk abstained. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu praised the us' decision. some pictures now of the gaza skyline. it is shortly after 6am and in the past few minutes we have seen explosions there and you can see once again on

the horizon. earlier, i spoke to our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams, for the situation. good to see you once again, paul. today we have a fresh warning from un that half of all people in the gaza strip are starving — a serious warning there from the un. what more can you tell us about that ever worsening humanitarian situation inside the strip? it is hard for us to verify that particular claim. you are right, it is an extraordinarily drastic claim indeed coming from un. it's in keeping with other comments we are hearing with increasing urgency, save the children put out a statement today saying they have identified more than 7,000 children under the age of five whose malnutrition is so acute now that they require urgent medical treatment to avoid dying.

we have heard desperate accounts of the lack of sanitation in these encampments of tents and other makeshift shelters that are springing up all across the far southern reaches of the gaza strip. with so many people hemmed into these small areas, lacking basic supplies, lacking sanitation, realfears about the spread of disease. it is no longer warm. winter is arriving. it is getting cold at night. so with every passing day and in every passing way, the situation seems to be getting worse and worse. of course, we know that america vetoed the un security council resolution calling for a cease—fire, i wonder in light of that news, what has been the reaction in the region? obviously, dismay among arab countries and relief and thanks from here in israel. this was not a surprise. it would have been very

surprising if the united states had supported a cease—fire resolution at this point. because the us, like israel, does not believe that the job of defeating hamas has yet been achieved and to the united states, like israel, wants to make sure that it does happen. so it was never likely that they were going to do anything other than veto the cease—fire resolution. certainly, that has not stopped arab leaders and arab ministers, many of whom are friends of the united states, some who have relations with israel, saying that this was simply not good enough. it was a missed opportunity for the united states to use its undoubted leverage over israel to stop what they and many people in the regard in the region as a catastrophe that is beyond explanation and beyond justification. i want to ask with regards to the defeat of hamas, do we know how long that,

potentially, could take? do we know what israel's endgame is here? the stated endgame is the defeat of hamas, and making sure hamas never rules the gaza strip again. it is clear from what we are seeing both in the north and in the south that there are still intense battles going on. hamas and other palestinian factions continue to put up stiff resistance in certain areas, inflicting some casualties on israeli forces. each day brings news of two or three more israeli soldiers killed. i don't think the end result of this is in any doubt. israel has overwhelming force on its side and it will prevail, but the question is how long that takes, and how much suffering will be inflicted on the civilian population in the meantime? what the israelis are trying to do at the moment is give the impression they are gradually breaking up hamas as a fighting force. we have seen images released, not actually officially, but by israeli soldiers

and they have leaked onto social media accounts showing what appear to be hamas fighters, or at least fighting—age men again dressed in underpants giving themselves up. we saw one video of a man coming forward following instructions being delivered over a megaphone carrying an automatic weapon, putting it on the ground, and retreating. those images are starting to flood social media. whether that is the strategy of the israeli military or something soldiers are doing off their own volition we don't know but clearly the impression intended here is one of showing hamas slowly being defeated.

this is the view from israel in the direction of gaza, where as you can see it is morning. a significant amount of smoke is hanging in the air on the gaza horizon and in the past few minutes we have seen a number of explosions there as the heavy fighting continues in gaza. here in washington, the state department has approved the potential sale of tank shells to israel. the deal would send about 14,000 tank rounds for immediate delivery. the biden administration used an emergency authorisation to push the sale through without the congressional review that's normally required. for more on this, i spoke with our north america correspondent, shingai nyoka. shingai, we understand that the state department is pushing through this sale — usually there is a review process when it comes to sale to a foreign country. what more do we know about this? according to a state department

statement, they notified congress last night of their intention to move ahead with this arms sale. it includes 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition, but also logistical and support services to israel. they say this equipment will be taken from the us army inventory. as you have mentioned, this is a very rare move, but it's not unprecedented. in his statement, the secretary of state antony blinken also justified the reasons why he was waiving this move of going through congress. he says that this is an emergency and in the interest of the united states, but also that israel needs to defend itself. this obviously comes against the background of frustration within the biden administration. there is a request, an emergency request, that has been sitting in congress since october. and that has essentially

stalled because republicans want a certain concessions before they can approve it. president biden has, in the last week or so, said that the republicans are playing chicken with issues of national security, but that really is theirjustification on why they are going ahead with this. it is because they believe that it is an emergency and israel needs these arms. it also happens a day after the us vetoed the un resolution to order a cease—fire in gaza. so it is coming at a very incredible time at this moment. well, the ongoing conflict in the middle east is also playing out on university campuses and the president of the university of pennsylvania has resigned four days after her testimony at a congressional hearing sparked an anti—semitism row. during the hearing,

elizabeth magill was asked whether students who called for the genocide ofjews should be disciplined. she said it depends on the context. pressure has since been mounting for her to stand down from jewish students, alumni and donors, who claimed she was not taking concerns about anti—semitism on campus seriously. even the white house weighed in. she later sought to clarify her comments and apologised. on saturday, magill resigned, saying: "it has been my privilege to serve as president "of this remarkable institution." ms magill is the first president of a major university to leave office as part of the fallout from the protests that have engulfed campuses since october 7. turning now to the war in ukraine. in washington, there has been waning support in recent months for us aid to ukraine, particularly among republican lawmakers. it's a sign of shifting attitudes among gop voters. a november gallup poll shows that 62% of republican

voters now believe the us is doing too much to help ukraine. this is up 12 points from june of the same year when the figure stood at 50%. i asked fred fleitz, who was previously the chief of staff to the national security council under president trump about those shifting republican priorities. well, there is a growing belief in the republican party that the war in ukraine has become an endless — has become endlessly deadlocked and ukraine will eventually lose this war and therefore, there is a desire that president biden put forward — he planned to end the war, planned for a ceasefire — but it's incorrect to say this is just a republican view. richard haas, president of the council on foreign relations — this is his view also. he said this repeatedly. this also was henry kissinger�*s view. he said this to the audio drops

out a few months ago. - the dynamics of the war in ukraine are changing, and most republicans want to find a way to help ukraine win the peace, end the war, get a ceasefire, start a peace process, arm ukraine to the teeth so russia does not invade again. but biden�*s strategy of sending weapons endlessly without a strategy, that is a loser and that may mean ukraine will get no more military aid. fred, two things on that — what about an alternative in which more weapons are sent in a timely manner to ukraine, so that it can kind of turn the tide on the battlefield and actually win? and secondly, how do we even know that president putin may be willing to agree to come to the table for negotiations on a ceasefire? nothing that he's done so far seems to indicate that. the trajectory for ukraine doesn't look good. it's running out of troops. russia has deeply dug in. it is preparing more troops, repairing the war operations. i think there is an easy way to win in ukraine.

we can send in nato troops, but i don't think you or i want that. ukraine is not going to win if we keep sending and weapons. but i agree with you — there is a real problem getting putin to come to the bargaining table and to abide by a peace agreement. but the trajectory right now is a loser for ukraine. this is not about isolationism. this is about ending the killing and finding a way maybe to postpone ukraine's territorial ambitions for another day — maybe when putin is not in power — because what we're doing right now is not working. let's take that motion further, then. say there was a possibility of a ceasefire. do you believe that president putin — who has now announced he will run for a fifth term — would be sated? that he would take some extent of ukrainian territory and then, calmly return to russia? he would not seek, at a later date, to take more ukrainian territory, emboldened by this ceasefire? i think ukraine would have

to be armed to the hilt to prevent that from happening and i don't think it's a perfect solution but i think it is the best of many bad solutions. as i said, there's a way to get putin out of ukraine and no—one wants to do it — send in ukraine troops. uh, send in nato troops. i don't want american troops in ukraine, i don't want british troops in ukraine. if we're not going to do that with running out of soldiers and russia increasing its military capabilities, we have to try something else. well, the argument from volodymyr zelensky has always been, "give us the weapons and we will fight the war "for you, so that the west does not have to do, so the opposite of nato troops. what are the optics of this? what do you think leaders in china, iran, for example, would think if they saw the united states renege on its vow to do whatever it takes for however long it takes?

well, first of all, we're not doing whatever it takes. whatever it takes means sending in nato troops. nato and the us has found a way to do short of whatever it takes because we are afraid of saying troops. i don't want troops in there, either. i agree the optics will look bad if russia is able to keep some of ukraine. but, look, that problem started over a year ago when putin invaded. and why did he invade? he invaded because of joe biden�*s weakness. he saw a weak united states, he saw the us leaving the door open for ukrainejoining nato, which he could not accept. i agree it looks bad, but we now have to deal with the situation of today — ending a pointless war that ukraine cannot win. ukraine's first lady has warned that ukrainians will be left to die if the west doesn't continue its support for the country. speaking exclusively to the bbc

after the us senate blocked an aid bill for ukraine worth more than $60 billion, olena zelenska insisted a lack of help would pose a mortal danger. laura kuenssberg reports. war in winter. ukrainian forces on the front line in eastern ukraine. weapons paid for, in part, by billions of pounds, dollars and euros from western taxpayers like you and me. man screams but as the war edges to two years old, political arguments in washington have put payments on ice. in kyiv, the zelensky ho, the first lady told me her fears if the money runs out. translation: we do need aid desperately. in simple terms, we cannot get tired of the situation because otherwise, we will die. and if the world gets tired, they will simply let us die. the us remains the largest military donor to ukraine, providing more than $46 billion

in weapons and assistance since the war began. germany and the uk come next in the top ten donor countries. billions have been given. yet, us support has been on the decline in recent months. new assistance for ukraine has been blocked by republicans in the senate. yet, the threat hasn't gone, even though more money isn't there. speaking to me just hours after the latest strikes, olena zelenska urged the world not to forget. i think today, there is a problem with the world in general. we are used to the world appearing calm. in fact — and that's what we have been saying for the past two years now — is that the aggression, if not stopped, spreads like a virus.

while there are doubts about america's resolve to keep paying, russia's brute force on the front line shows little sign of fading, leaving ukraine with a sense of foreboding. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, kyiv. president macron is at the centre of a row over france's secular ideals, after appearing to take part in a religious ceremony at the elysee palace. footage of the event was posted online on thursday and the president has since faced a wave of criticism. from the newsroom, our reporter, tom brada, has the details. this video has dragged president macron into the eye of a political storm. he's seen standing alongside the chief rabbi of france, who is lighting the very first candle on the menorah as part of the jewish festival hanukkah. on the surface, there is nothing controversial going on, but the issue here is the location. the ceremony took place at the official residence of the president, the elysee palace, and for many people, that is completely at odds with the country's commitment to secularism — now, secularism is the idea

that there should be a separation between religious institutions and the state — and many people from across the political spectrum are not happy. these are the thoughts of the right—wing mayor of cannes, who wrote that: and these were the thoughts of a prominent socialist leader, who wrote that: for his part, president macron defended what took place. translation: if the president of the republic had made - a gesture of worship or taken part in a ceremony, this would not be respectful of secularism. that's not what happened. there's even been criticism from some members of the jewish community. this was the head of the representative council of frenchjewish institutions:

so, when did secularism become such an important part of french identity? well, in 1905, it was officially enshrined into law with the separation of the church and state and all religious symbols were removed from public buildings. the law ensures strict neutrality of all religions but it frequently creates controversy — particularly recently with tensions over school dress codes and islamic traditions — and this recent incident at the elysee has brought the republic's relationship with religion back into sharp focus. well before we go, the british royal family has revealed their christmas cards with king charles iii and wife camilla choosing a picture from his coronation earlier this year. and the prince and princess of wales releasing this

picture, a monochrome photograph of their family. the photo shows the royals with their three children, prince george, 10, princess charlotte, eight, and the youngest — prince louis, aged five, in windsor, where the family lives. william and kate have shared their family christmas photo publicly each year since 2015, the year charlotte was born. stay with us here on bbc news. we hand over to our colleagues in london. from all of us here in london. from all of us here in the us capitol, thanks for being with us. goodbye. hello again. the weekend started off on quite a wet and a windy footing, thanks to storm elin. it did bring some heavy rain. we have still a number of flood warnings in force. a bit of localised flooding here on this picture in lancashire. now, the strongest winds from elin came through during saturday evening, just to the south of the centre of the low pressure. the strongest winds recorded

at capel curig in north—west wales — 80mph gusts here. not far behind that, western cumbria's coastline got hit with a gust of 74mph at st bees head. now, the low pressure is now working out into the north sea and pretty quickly, we are seeing those winds die back down. still a bit of patchy rain to come through northern england and scotland. otherwise, the weather will become dry with some clear spells for most and not that cold a night — temperatures typically around 5—7 but down to about two degrees celsius in the colder spots in northern ireland. now, for northern ireland, england and wales, it should be a fine and sunny start to the day but quickly, cloud and rain will spread into northern ireland and this band of rain will then extend across england and wales. "rain at times" probably best summing up the weather in scotland. the rain bands are all associated with an area of low pressure that's over the republic of ireland, and that has been named as a new storm — storm fergus. it will be a mild day. temperatures for most 10—14 degrees but a bit cooler in scotland with temperatures

stuck at around 7 or 8 here. we get some strong winds, then, working across wales during sunday night. gusts could reach around 60—odd mph around western coasts. and the remains of that area of low pressure still with us on monday, bringing cloud and patchy rain to start off the day, although the weather should improve as we head into the afternoon with most of us having drier weather with some breaks in the cloud, a bit of sunshine coming through. it continues to be on the mild side — for most, temperatures around 9—13 degrees but again in scotland, still looking a little bit colder — looking at around 6—8 degrees celsius here. through tuesday and wednesday, another area of low pressure crosses the country. once that's out of the way, we'll start to see pressure build from the southwest and that will really herald something of a more significant change in our weather patterns. so, still a bit more rain to come through during tuesday and wednesday. still relatively mild. then, we get a dip in temperatures later in the week. high pressure then takes over with the weather there settling down, becoming drier and sunnier.

voiceover: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme.

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