it's been nine weeks since the attacks by hamas killed 1200 people and saw hundreds taken hostage. prime minister, benjamin netanyahu says �*it�*s the beginning of the end' for the group. but the number of civilian causalities in gaza continues to mount — with the hamas—run health ministry reporting that 18,000 palestinians have been killed since the start of israel's offensive. the head of the un agency for palestinian refugees has described the situation in gaza as �*hell on earth' and the world health organisation has adopted a resolution calling for immediate humanitarian aid in gaza — saying there has been 499 attacks on healthcare in the region. civilians living in the other palestinian territory — the west bank — have had their rights and freedoms severely curtailed. our international editorjeremy bowen has this report. and a note, some images in his report are distressing. at al nasser hospital

in khan younis, they laid out the wrapped bodies of people killed in the night by israel. at the end of the line was a baby killed on the day she was born. laid across the bodies of her mother and her father. "don't cry", he told theirson, mohammed. "they are in heaven." gaza has been turned into a living hell for civilians by israel's offensive. thousands of children are among the palestinian dead. theirfamilies say there is only one way to make a difference. "everyone is only talking aboutaid", said ibrahim. "we don't care about aid, we want them to stop the bloodshed." the americans say israel is killing too many innocent people, but they still blocked the un's latest attempt to vote in a ceasefire. the war has increased the tension in hebron,

a city on the west bank holy to jews and muslims that has been a flashpoint for decades. most palestinians can no longer access property, live or work in part of the city centre. that's because jewish settlers live here, behind the security provided by the israeli army. extremejewish nationalists in israel's government also live in hebron, and since the 7th of october attacks, palestinians of all ages near the settlement have been ordered to stay home under a restrict curfew. the guard dogs are owned by shaddai. necessary, he says, to protect his family from attacks byjewish settlers. weeks of lockdown in the curfew have paralysed their lives. translation: you could call us zombies. we have been imprisoned for two months. we can't leave the house or go to work or take our children out. life is hard. the curfew has been eased slightly

but the security forces still didn't like him talking to us. translation: they have all the rights, we don't have any. they don't see us as humans. just outside his house, the settlement was having a party to reunite army reservists with theirfamilies. it was to thank them for all they have done for hebron�*sjews, said the organiser. what do you think of the fact that the arabs are under a curfew most of the time? is itfair? "i don't know anything about any curfew", she said. "the way the arabs behave isn't fair." the essence of the conflict is here in hebron. it's a reminder of the depth of its roots and of the reasons why it has never been settled. and as well as that, the enormous sacrifices in terms of deeply held beliefs that would be necessary if israelis and palestinians were ever going to make peace. back in gaza, israel says civilians

suffer because hamas uses them as human shields. israel insists its strikes are precise and intelligence—led. al aqsa martyrs hospital in deir el—balah, one of the few still functioning, is overwhelmed. no more beds are left. no hope either. qatar's prime minister says that israel's continued bombardment of gaza is �*narrowing the window�* for a new truce. qatar, having played a key role in brokering the first humanitarian pause between the warring sides, says it will continue to push for a ceasefire. the un general assembly is likely to vote on a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the conflict on tuesday. the move comes after the us vetoed a un security council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in gaza friday. meanwhile, a senior hamas spokesman said

that not a single hostage will leave gaza alive unless there are negotiations over the release of palestinian prisoners. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, spoke on abc news about the worsening humanitarian situation in gaza. we are trying to do everything we can to ensure civilians are protected, that humanitarian assistance gets into people who need it in gaza. we are deeply, deeply aware of the terrible human toll this conflict is taking on innocent men, women and children and we are working to minimise that to the greatest extent possible. for more on the us perspective, i spoke with congressman seth moulton, who's a democrat from massachusetts — and sits on the house armed services committee. congressman, thank you for being with us on bbc news. as you know we are two months into this conflict and the secretary of state said today talking about the conflict in gaza, we are doing everything we can to ensure civilians are protected. what are your thoughts on that? is america doing enough in that regard? the bottom line is israel

is not doing enough and i say that notjust because of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in gaza, the fact israel will not achieve its military objectives if it kills so many civilians this is a principle of counterinsurgency warfare that this tends to help terrorists recruit more to their cause. we all want hamas to be defeated and israel must succeed in that mission, my concern is by killing too many civilians it is notjust a moral mistake but a military mistake as well. of course the us is a key ally and support of israel in this, secretary blinken said the administration is in constant discussion with israelis to make sure they know what their obligations are when it comes to the protection of civilians, at the same time, we have seen the administration bypass congress to send or take ammunition to israel.

to think that is sending the right message? i think israel should be held to the same standards, no more, no less than every other nation to which we send military aid. and that should be the standard. we should not be making exceptions for israel but we also should not be holding them to different standards than we apply to everyone else. some people who say we should condition aid to israel, we should ratchet up conditions on israel we do not have on nations like saudi arabia and that is obviously inappropriate. do you think congress should have signed off on that shipment? as a member of congress i would much prefer we sign off on the shipments, i'm certainly not going to abrogate the duty we have in congress so i do not like to hear when the state department is bypassing us on anything, whether it be aid to israel or any else.

you yourself are a veteran, i want to touch on your latest op ed in time magazine entitled the lesson israel must learn from america's fight and in it you quote the us defence secretary lloyd austin saying in this kind of fight the centre of gravity is the civilian population. if you drive them into the arms of the enemy to replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat. do you see that as a possibility, palestinian civilians being driven into the arms of hamas? yes, i think it is a real distinct possibility if israel continues killing so many innocent civilians in the course of its military campaign, with the the rightful goal of eradicating hamas. there is a poll done with palestinians in the gaza strip just before october seven, and

it showed 62% of palestinians did not want to live under hamas, this is not surprising, nobody wants to live under a terrorist regime but i am concerned what that poll would say today. we have a principle in america called insurgent math, where there is an estimate that for every innocent civilian you kill, it creates ten terrorists, 10 new adherents to the cause, by that math, israel has created 100 thousand new terrorists as they have gone about this campaign. that does not bode well for israel in the long run. congressman, let me ask you this, how does america take on that lesson which you just set out, that lesson from iraq while continuing to support its key ally, israel in the wake of the atrocities of the seven october to make sure something like this never happens again? there is a couple of things we have to do, we are in constant communications with the israelis and we do know they are listening to us. we received a classified briefing

in congress about the beginning getting of the ground operation and then it was significantly delayed because they were listening to our advice on heeding the warnings of the administration. the second thing we need to do is make sure that we get everyone on board with the principal tier of this conflict, which is hamas has to go and if everyone can agree hamas has to go, on both sides of this whether you are primarily concerned about israel's success or primarily concerned about the fate of the palestinian civilians you can realise we all share the same goal, we want to get rid of hamas we do not want to kill innocent palestinians and at the end of the day, neither israel or the palestinians will have security if israel is not secure, palestinians are not free, and if this killing on both sides does not come to some kind of peaceful conclusion that i think ultimately must be a two state solution. as you are well aware senate republicans blocked

foreign aid to ukraine and israel over border demands this week. are you concerned that infighting in washington risks making the us appear to be an unreliable partner on the world stage? yes, absolutely. let's be clear, there is infighting primarily in the republican party, there is a civil war in the house a couple of months ago when they could not even have a speaker for three straight weeks, something that has never happened or an american history, what is happening right now is republicans are playing politics with national security, with aid to essential allies, and that is sending a message to our admin series, people like vladimir putin and xijinping in china who is contemplating doing in taiwan exactly what vladimir putin has done in ukraine. sending a message to them they may be able to get away with this

because america is not going to stand by our democratic allies. we need to get our act together at home, provide the aid republicans and democrats know needs to be provided and stop playing politics with something that is essential notjust to israel, notjust to ukraine but fundamentally essential to our national security as well. 2024 is an election year, according to a cbs poll most americans disapprove of president biden�*s handling of the israel — hamas war. 39 approve compare to 61% who do not. are you concerned this could impact his chances for re—election? i am concerned it could impact his chances for election — that is pretty obvious from the poll. i think a sober analysis of what the biden administration has done, the leadership the president has provided, would tell you he is really walking a narrow line here to get israel what it needs but also make sure

they are not going overboard in their response to the heinous attacks of october seven. likewise in ukraine, to get the ukrainians what they need to win but not provoking a larger war with russia, the challenge is it is easy to find critics on both sides. i think that is what this poll shows. there are a lot of things you can come up to criticise the president, but the reality is, much worse outcomes, like starting a war with russia or having a wider war in the middle east, those are things this president has avoided and we need to make sure he gets credit for that by the time of the election. thank you so much for your time. russia launched an overnight air assault on kyiv with debris from the shot down weapons falling onto several districts and damaging at least one residential building, vitali klitschko, the mayor of the ukrainian capital, said on monday. ukrainian officials have announced air raid alerts

in kyiv after explosions have been heard in the capital. military officals say ukraine's air defence systems shot down air weapons targetting the capital. it comes as president biden invited president volodymyr zelensky to the white house this week. mr zelensky has warned that his country risks losing its war against russia if new funding is not available. a new military support package for ukraine remains stalled in the us congress. 0ur north america correspondent, shingai nyoka has more. this is president zelensky�*s third visit to the us since the war broke out in february last year. it is hugely significant. there's been a sharp drop in the us�*s public and political support for the war in ukraine and the two presidents are hoping that they will break this impasse. the stated aim of this visit is for the us to reaffirm its unwavering support for ukraine and also for the two countries to discuss the urgent needs that ukraine has.

this comes as president biden has faced resistance in congress. he has asked for us$60 billion in military and humanitarian aid and the republicans, many of them in congress, want to see greater accountability for the money that the us has already committed. last week, president zelensky dispatched another delegation, his chief of staff and defence minister, to washington, where they stressed the urgent need for this new aid. they say that without it, the troops on the ground will not be able to maintain the ground that they have retrieved from russia. they also say that some people will not be able to survive through winter. now, some members of the white house are optimistic that this deal will be passed but the christmas break is coming up. mr zelensky is expected to meet the republican house speaker mikejohnson, who is one of his strongest critics,

all in a bid to ensure that this new aid is passed before the end of the year. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at another story making news in the uk. it's a big week for prime minister rishi sunak. on monday, he gives evidence at the covid inquiry and on tuesday, mps will vote on his revised plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda. that plan has faced strong criticism from former immigration minister robertjenrick, who gave the bbc his first broadcast interview since resigning. i think that a political choice has been made to bring forward a bill which doesn't do the job. and i think that at this moment, when you've got a small boats crisis, where iia,000 people have crossed the channel on dangerous, unnecessary, illegal small boats, but we cannot take that risk.

—— that we cannot take that risk. cabinet minister michael gove also spoke to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg. he's defended the plan, saying only a "vanishingly small" number of appeals would be allowed under the new scheme. rishi sunak has staked part of his political reputation on stopping small boat crossings, so the coming days are seen as a crucial test. you're live with bbc news. record low turnout in hong kong's local elections sunday have been widely attributed to pro—democracy supporters snubbing the polls. it's the first local elections in which pro—democracy candidates were banned from standing. the turnout hit 27.5%, despite officials extending voting hours. that's way down from a historic high of 71% back in 2019. with no opposition candidates to vote for, the turnout is being seen as an indication of the level of support for china's tightening grip on hong kong. one of the politicians unable to stand is ted hui, a former municipal councillor and member of the legislative council.

he's in self—imposed exile in adelaide after being sentenced in absentia to 3.5 years in prison. here's his reaction to the elections. i think it's very obvious that if you people see the voter turnout, that is very low for any country. so, i think it's very, very obvious that people are angry. people are angry at not having the choices that they can choose from and people are angry that the pro—democracy voices have been totally cracked down. that's why people are not interested to take part in the elections any more. they don't think it's a real election. people call it a sham election, and i agree, and at most, it's a selection by beijing among its own people, so it doesn't represent people's choice. that's why people are protesting, somehow, in a way of boycotting the elections, and other people are simply

lost their interest. that's why it's a reflection of level of democracy in hong kong has dropped to the all—time historic low from this election. argentina's new far—right president has vowed to deliver economic "shock treatment" in his first speech after formally taking office. mr milei, a right—wing populist outsider, has warned argentines "there is no money" and has committed to a set of austerity measures. in a day of pomp and ceremony, mr milei was sworn into office after winning a run—off election in november. he's taken over from the unpopular centre—left president alberto fernandez, but will need to negotiate with rivals since his coalition only forms a small bloc in congress. mr milei gained popular support for radical proposals, including scrapping the central bank and allowing people to make money by selling their organs. argentina is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades as inflation in argentina is rapidly increasing. 0ur south america correspondent katy watson has more on mr milei's first day in office and what to expect from his first term.

he was handed the presidential sash among chanting of gas we can and freedom and certainly this is a hugely different political path that argentina is about to embark on and in his speech, after being sworn in he talked about this new era for argentina after years of decay and decline. he also likened argentina to the fall of the berlin wall, a big change in history. he dedicated most of his speech to the economy. he talked about the fact that argentina argentinians wanted this change, there was no going back. you have to remember in argentina, inflation is about 150% per year, about four in ten argentinians are now living in poverty. he said what was needed was a shock, there was no other option, life would get harder, the economy, with wages, with poverty, but that

was what argentina needed. it had no money. so certainly, javier milei was continuing along the lines of what he promised in the campaign — a radical new change for argentina. he was trying to improve the economic crisis. i think everybody is wanting to understand exactly how tough and radical he will be because, of course, he won't want to make things worse and i think his honeymoon period will be short lived because argentinians are so fed up with the status quo, they will want to see changed and see quickly. katy watson. in norway, the nobel peace prize has awarded to a human rights activist in her absence. narges mohammadi has been imprisoned in iran since 2010 for her opposition to iranian women being required to wear the hijab. ms mohammadi's17—year—old twins received the prize on her behalf and read out a speech their mother had written from prison. with 2a hours to go before the official end of the un climate talks in dubai, an agreement meant to phase out

fossil fuels may not come to pass as not all countries are on board. i spoke to mark brownstein, the senior vice president of the energy transition at environmental defense fund. he had just got back from the summit. thank you so much for being with us. we are heading into the final days now of this summit. do you think there is the possibility that we get an agreement to phase out fossil fuels? i agreement to phase out fossil fuels? ~ , fuels? i think we will see amazing _ fuels? i think we will see amazing progress - fuels? i think we will see amazing progress on - fuels? i think we will see amazing progress on twoj amazing progress on two pollutants. methane, which drives a third of the warming of our planet is experiencing right now and carbon dioxide. which is primarily derived from fossil fuels. which is primarily derived from fossilfuels. i think which is primarily derived from fossil fuels. i think we're going to see significant in both. ., ., ., ., both. you will have to, no doubt, — both. you will have to, no doubt, seen _ both. you will have to, no doubt, seen the _ both. you will have to, no doubt, seen the letter - both. you will have to, no i doubt, seen the letter which was leaked from the oil cartel 0pec which was urging members

to block any deal targeting fossil fuels. to block any deal targeting fossilfuels. what to block any deal targeting fossil fuels. what did you make of that, and how much sway do you think that could end up having? you think that could end up havin: ? ~ ,. . , having? well, the science is compelling- _ having? well, the science is compelling. we _ having? well, the science is compelling. we have - having? well, the science is compelling. we have to - having? well, the science is - compelling. we have to remember that the climate crisis affects all nations of the world, including those that are themselves oil and gas producers.— themselves oil and gas producers. themselves oil and gas roducers. . , ., producers. finally, if we do aet producers. finally, if we do get some — producers. finally, if we do get some more _ producers. finally, if we do - get some more breakthroughs, if we get an agreement, how do you enforce something like that, how do you make sure the players stick to their commitments? well, increasingly, - commitments? well, increasingly, you - commitments? well, i increasingly, you know, commitments? well, - increasingly, you know, we commitments? well, _ increasingly, you know, we have the ability to monitor climate pollution using satellites and other technologies. we ourselves, an environmental organisation, will be lodging a methane satellite next year which will track the methane solution for pollution from over 80% of all oil and gas facilities worldwide ——

pollution. so increasingly as countries and companies are making commitments, we have the tools to determine whether they are actually following through and i think that this kind of technology will be a game changer, not only for the methane commitments i was talking about but as these technologies come for other pollutants, it will be a game changer for those as well. mike brown steen, _ changer for those as well. mike brown steen, thank _ changer for those as well. mike brown steen, thank you - changer for those as well. mike brown steen, thank you for being with us.— brown steen, thank you for being with us. thank you. -- brownstein. _ one more story for you from western australia, where swimmers had a close encounter with a 15m humpback whale that was swimming close to the shore. the whale can be seen straying into shallow waters at a beach in perth, delighting beachgoers. a marine biologist has told the bbc it's very unusual behaviour and the whale may have been at risk of stranding. from one c creature to another, another story to share with you. —— sea creature. a huge fossil of a 150—million—year—old sea monster has been unearthed

from the cliffs of thejurassic coast in southern england. it belongs to a pliosaur — a giant predator that dominated the oceans at the same time dinosaurs like t rex were roaming the earth. we will have more on that story in the next hour. you're watching bbc news. thanks for your company. stay with us if your company. stay with us if you can. hello. for the second evening in a row, we've seen gusts over 70mph hit wales. of course, on saturday evening, it was storm elin that brought the very strong winds whereas sunday evening, it was storm fergus with a top gust of 74mph recorded at aberdaron. now, those very blustery conditions will tend to ease over the next few hours but the winds picking up for a time across the midlands, east anglia and southern counties of england. might be strong enough to wake you from your slumbers. further north, the winds will be that bit lighter and it's here where we'll see

the lowest temperatures. in scotland, 2—5 degrees. otherwise, the winds keeping those temperatures up for northern ireland, england and wales, so between 6 and 9 degrees, so quite a mild start to the day on monday. now, monday, any rain left over across eastern england clearing pretty quickly but there will be some patches of light rain coming and going for the day across eastern scotland. some showers work in across merseyside, greater manchester, and north—west midlands but otherwise, it's a day where the weather will continue to get brighter and brighter with sunny spells breaking out widely and those temperatures lifting in places into double figures. make the most of that relatively quiet spell because on tuesday, we're back to another area of low pressure. this one slowly rolling in off the atlantic, bringing with it some persistent rain in scotland. aberdeen�*s already had over a month's worth of rain, so we could see some localised flooding impacts. bit of snow over the higher scottish mountains but nothing to get excited about — it's really high up. blustery conditions in the southwest with plenty of showers, some of them turning quite heavy with an odd rumble of thunder. temperatures again quite widely

into double figures but again, scotland seeing temperatures around 6 or 7. now, that low pressure starts to pull away during wednesday. as it does so, the winds go round to a northeasterly direction, bringing some damp weather to eastern areas of england but also dropping the temperatures progressively through the day such that by the time we get to the afternoon, we're looking at temperatures typically around 6 or 7 degrees — feeling quite a bit cooler — but in scotland, around 3—4 for some. and then, we have a weather front moving into that cold air wednesday night. could turn to snow for a time over the hills above 300m elevation. the snow is short—lived — it will turn back to rain as slightly milder air begins to push in off the atlantic once again. that damp weather, then, continues eastwards on thursday. high pressure then takes over, giving us quite a long spell of dry and sunny weather. you have to wait until friday to see the best of that.

farmers shut down a major highway in india in protest against a ban on onion exports. argentina has a new president. where does the country wasn't relationship with china stand? —— country's relationship. hello and welcome to asia business report.

let's asia business report. start in india whether government let's start in india whether government has banned export of onions in a bid to curb surging prices. 0ver onions in a bid to curb surging prices. over the weekend, hundreds of farmers block they key highway in protest. for more on the story, let's go to mumbai and now india business correspondence. great to see you. tell me, why has the government implemented band, and will it work?— and will it work? well, it is very keenly _ and will it work? well, it is very keenly focused - and will it work? well, it is very keenly focused on - and will it work? well, it is - very keenly focused on bringing down prices. 0nion prices in the last few months have risen, they have almost doubled since last year and the government is very keen to bring these prices down and keep a check on food inflation in the months coming up inflation in the months coming up to the elections next year. that is on the focus. we have seen that prices of other kitchen staples have also gone up kitchen staples have also gone

up and bringing prices down will