trapped for months in the crossfire. the actor lee sun—kyun from the oscar winning film parasite is found dead in central seoul. police received a report of a note left at his home. hello. i'm lucy hockings. the israeli military is expanding its offensive in gaza, with troops pushing into the centre of the territory. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says at least 241 people have been killed in the past 2a hours. in his first interview since the war began, he will be familiar with this shot of israel looking into gaza. there have been _ of israel looking into gaza. there have been loud _ of israel looking into gaza. there have been loud explosions - of israel looking into gaza. there have been loud explosions heard| of israel looking into gaza. there have been loud explosions heard in the early hours

have been loud explosions heard in the early hours of have been loud explosions heard in the early hours of wednesday. have been loud explosions heard in the early hours of wednesday. we know there have been many strikes by israel, 100 sites hit the israeli military is saying. also reports there will be a ground operation, an impending ground operation starting in the middle of gaza as well. in his first interview since the war began, the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, described the conflict as a "grave crime" against his people. all this comes shortly after the head of the israeli army warned that dismantling hamas could take many more months. graham satchell reports. night after night, for weeks now, the families of those taken hostage take to the streets of tel aviv. they're putting pressure on the israeli government to bring the hostages back alive and stop the fighting. they need to look at other options. the military pressure will continue. but we see they don't have any results. the head of the israeli army herzi halevi said the war could take many more months. "there are no magic

solutions," he said. "there are no short cuts in dismantling a terrorist organisation, only determined and persistent fighting." in gaza itself, hospitals are overrun with the injured and the dead. the world health organization says almost all the hospitals in the gaza strip have now stopped functioning. there's blood everywhere in these hospitals at the moment. we're seeing almost only trauma cases come through the door and at a scale that's quite difficult to believe. it's a bloodbath, as we said before, it's carnage. in his first tv interview since the war began in october, the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, described the situation as a catastrophe and warned the west bank could implode at any time. translation: a huge crime is being | committed against the palestiniansl over the past 79 days.

notjust in gaza but also in the west bank and jerusalem. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says 241 people have been killed in the last 2a hours, taking the total to more than 20,000. israel's campaign, which it says is to destroy the leadership of hamas, shows no sign of ending. graham satchell, bbc news. earlier i spoke to our middle east correspondent yolande knell injerusalem and she gave me latest update on the fighting in the gaza strip. to the... from the very north of the gaza strip, we've had from the israeli military reports that it's been taking action in shuja'iyya, which is to the east of gaza city. we know also that there was some heavy bombardment injabalya. this is an area where israel has said that it has operational control, but it says that its air strikes there targeted a hamas underground headquarters. then looking to the south of the gaza strip, to khan younis, that's where it's believed that hamas leaders could still be hiding in underground tunnels. israel's ground offensive continues there. we've also seen smoke rising up from israeli airstrikes

or from artillery fire this morning. and in the centre of the gaza strip, israel says it's expanding its ground offensive there in the last couple of days. it's issued evacuation orders for people to move away to the central town of dera bala. and we've had warnings from the un and others that this is really a very worrying development, the expansion of the ground operation there, because you already have these urban refugee camps in the middle of the gaza strip, which are currently housing lots of people, who have been displaced from other areas of gaza. they fled there for their own safety. yolande we heard mahmoud abbas saying in his first television interview that he's concerned about the west bank, saying it could implode at any time. more deaths there as well in the past 2a hours. can you explain to us the tensions that are in the west bank at the moment and what is happening there? yeah, i mean, tensions have been running extremely high in the west bank since the 7th of october. those deadly attacks

by hamas on southern israel. and, in the weeks since, we've had the palestinian ministry of health saying that some 300 palestinians have been killed by israeli forces and by israeli settlers. and just overnight, we saw that there was an israeli raid on tulkarem, on the nur shams refugee camp close there, and that has killed six palestinians, according to palestinian health officials. it really shows just how there is this constant fear of an expansion beyond gaza, into the west bank as well. and we've actually had the israeli defense minister yesterday also warning about a multi—front war, including the west bank in that, saying that there are seven theatres in which israel has to kind of look around the region at the moment. it's operating, he said, in six of those without specifying where. also along the border with lebanon, things have been extremely tense. lots of cross—border exchanges

in the past few days. we've had the houthis, backed by iran from yemen, who've been launching attacks on ships in the red sea. the israeli military shooting down drones, it says, launched by them. really a lot going on, which gives a lot of concern to this crisis spreading beyond the boundaries here into the rest of the region. earlier i wasjoined byjason lee — save the children's country director for the occupied palestinian territory. he told me that one in four families in gaza are at risk of famine. the situation continues to deteriorate every day for children. the increased military kinetic activity means that a lot more children have been killed and injured, and these are lifelong injuries that children will bear. aside from the physical injuries, we are now in a situation where 1.9 million people, 85% of the population are displaced, which means they don't have access to food,

to water, to the sanitation facilities and are being crammed into areas that cannot accommodate them or have the infrastructure for them to survive. this means children are also subject to risk of starvation. one out of four households are at a risk of famine. and also, a public health emergency with diseases continuing to spread in overcrowded shelters, but also the overcrowded camps that are being set up all throughout the south of gaza right now. we have been hearing from the israeli army chief who says the conflict will continue for many months. earlier, i spoke to israeli government spokesperson, mark regev, and asked him if the declaration by the army is a sign that israel is not achieving its aims. no, but it means the campaign against hamas does need to finish thejob. we have to see hamas's military machine destroyed. we have to see the end of hamas rule in gaza.

without that, we're just back to square one, with hamas in power in gaza and another 0ctober seventh massacre and the continued of hamas's autocratic extremist rule over the gaza strip. that's not good for israelis, that's not good for palestinians. mr regev, what do you say to people, many people who say it's not possible to entirely dismantle hamas, in fact, israel's actions are only increasing support for hamas in gaza and also in the west bank. you can't kill an ideology. you can't kill an ideology, but you can remove them from power. i mean, isis is still an ideology, a very, very dangerous ideology, but they no longer control territory in syria and iraq because there was a military coalition that destroyed their military base. and we're going to do the same in gaza. we can't destroy hamas's ideology. unfortunately, that's not realistic. but we can remove them from power. we can prevent them from having control over this territorial enclave. and that will do a lot to save lives and prevent future conflict in the region. what do you say to jason lee,

who i wasjust talking to — i hope you heard the interview — where he said some moral leadership is needed, now it is time for a ceasefire, but more particularly that israel needs to adhere to international humanitarian law. what israel is doing in terms of preventing aid, preventing food and fuel getting into gaza is not doing that, and therefore increasing the suffering of people there. it's simply not true. on day one of this war, the israeli security cabinet passed a decision that said we place no limitations whatsoever on food, water, medicine entering the gaza strip. at the same time, we've opened up a crossing in southern israel, the kerem shalom crossing, for aid into gaza. so that's augmenting the aid coming in through rafah. and i can tell you that trucks that we've already inspected and authorized that have entered southern part of the gaza strip

—— and authorised that have entered southern part of the gaza strip are somehow being held up. and our concern is that hamas is deliberately augmenting, deliberately creating a problem with the distribution of the aid so as to put pressure on the international community to put pressure on for a ceasefire, because that's their only lifeline, because we are in the process of destroying hamas and they know the only way to save themselves and their regime of terror is to have pressure for a cease fire. —— is to have pressure for a ceasefire. but everyone, if one talks about moral leadership, we can't accept hamas's terms. we can't accept their rules of the game. letting hamas survive isjust a recipe for more violence down the road. ukraine says one person has died and four have been wounded in a russian attack on a train station filled with civilians in the southern city of kherson. ukraine's interior minister said around 140 people were waiting for a train to take them to safety when the shelling started. it comes after russia confirmed one of its warships has been damaged in an attack by ukraine on a black sea port in an air strike in russian—occupied crimea,

early on tuesday morning. earlier, i spoke to our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, on what he's been hearing from kherson. daily shelling is part of life for the people that live in this city that was liberated last autumn. when the russian forces retreated across the dnipro river, which now forms the front line, they re—established their positions and they launch artillery strikes across the city frequently. and when you're there, the level of risk is always shocking, really, but for those that remain, for them, they choose to stay in their homes. in their words, what you often hear is, "it is better now "than what it was like under russian occupation." but what we're hearing is that the number of casualties is relatively low compared to the numbers of people gathered at this railway station. the authorities say around 140 people were there, but police have been credited in getting the majority of people out. a police officer, we gather, has lost their life in this attack, and four other people are being treated for shrapnel wounds.

and we are told that it was an evacuation train they were hoping to take north. i think this is a train line that was established very quickly after kherson�*s liberation last year. the authorities very keen to restore this service, so we don't know for sure whether everyone was looking to escape the fighting, but it is a city that endures a very real danger on a daily basis. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. travellers have been warned of delays and potentially hazardous conditions as the uk braces for storm gerrit. forcasters expect the storm to bring yellow winds and heavy rain to many parts of the uk, with wintry hazards likely to follow. the met office has chosen to name the storm as people return home from their christmas celebrations. the transport secretary has told

the bbc that by 2026 there could be driverless cars on both the uk motorways and other roads. mark harper also said he expected to see the owners of those vehicles being able to travel without having to watch where they're going by the end of that year. renowned australian chef bill granger — known as the godfather of avocado toast — has died at the age of 54. a self—taught cook from melbourne, granger became a celebrated global restaura nteur and food writer. he passed away in a london hospital on christmas day, you're live with bbc news. here in the uk, the conservative party is set to make pledges on housing and inheritance tax in the coming months as rishi sunak aims to boost his party's chances at the polls. labour has announced that it's looking into new plans for their asylum policy. earlier, i spoke to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman, and he gave me his assessment of the

latest uk polls. you are right to mention the polls, because the really important context for all of this is thatjust as they were at the start of 2023, at the end of 2023, the conservatives are a long way behind in the opinion polls and there's going to be an election almost certainly next year and they need to find a game changer. and you have this morning, in the newspapers, speculation about different ways in which they might try to carve a clear dividing line with the labour party. one of those is on inheritance tax. we've heard reports like this before, but claims that the government might abolish inheritance tax altogether in the budget, which will take place in march. now, they looked at that before the autumn statement just a few weeks ago and ultimately concluded that it wasn't worth the amount of money that they would have to raise elsewhere. but perhaps the fiscal picture will have changed by next year. certainly, the political imperative will be even nearer. the election will be even closer. at the other end of the age

spectrum, if you will, there's also chatter about first—time buyers — people who want to get on the housing ladder but currently can't. michael gove, who's the housing secretary, has been talking about ways in which he wants to make it easier for people to get onto the housing ladder. so it's the conservatives trying to appeal to different parts of the public in advance of what we all know is coming that general election. and what's labour saying about their asylum policy? the talk about election battlegrounds, perhaps there's none more important, certainly in the conservatives' eyes, than immigration legal but also illegal immigration and asylum. we hear we hear a lot about their miranda policy designed to curb the flow of small boats coming across the channel. —— the rwanda policy. and when the labour party criticised the rwanda policy,

which they vigorously oppose, you get conservative saying, "well, what would you do?" and what we've got today from the labour party is a little more detail on what they're considering, which is their own offshore processing. now that doesn't mean, as the conservatives would like sending people who've made it to the uk elsewhere to have their claims processed. but it might mean that people who've never come to the uk but want to make an application to claim asylum here can have their claims processed in a british embassy or some other british centre in some key countries, which they hope would mean those people don't attempt that perilous crossing in the first place. it's been more than eight months since the lives of millions of sudanese people were plunged into uncertainty as a result of war. fighting in the country has caused one of the world s largest displacements of people and shows no sign of ending. more than 6.5 million have fled their homes. aid agencies have struggled to access the areas where most of the fighting has occured. the bbc s anne soy has spoken to a family who have been trapped for months in the crossfire in the capital, khartoum. the form of an african giant. once one of the continent's most prosperous nations, sudan is now a war zone. it started with a political fallout between two generals,

one heading the national army... ..and another, its former sidekick, the now powerful paramilitary force rsf. millions of civilians have been caught in the middle of what critics have called a senseless war. it's now one of the world's biggest displacement crises. but many are trapped... hi, what's your name? ..like rasha amin and herfamily. he's so shy. are you taking pictures? her husband and children are british citizens. when foreign nationals were pulled out, they were eligible for evacuation, but she wasn't. even though the rules were relaxed later, the family remains stuck in the war zone. you can see my baby's bed over there. her house in khartoum, the capital, was hit by a missile strike. shrapnel flew across her bedroom where her baby was sleeping. all the windows and some doors were blown off. luckily, no—one was hurt. we're still scared because we have to put our mattresses on the floor, away from the windows. we hear their cars around us. we hear their machine

guns around us. so we have to stay as safe as possible, away from the windows, maybe in the corner of the house, because the corners are more safe than other parts of the house. the capital, and darfur, in western sudan, have seen some of the fiercest fighting. the region, which isjust emerging from what was described as genocide, has slipped back to anarchy. hundreds have been killed, their homes burned, and there are reports of widespread rape. western nations have described what's happening there as ethnic cleansing. we will do everything we can, along with our allies and like—minded people, to bring those who perpetrate any form of human rights abuse and breaches of international and humanitarian law to account. ceasefires have failed to hold, and with no end in sight to the fighting, aid agencies have struggled to reach the people in need.

we've only been able to reach khartoum with a convoy of trucks with food assistance once in the last three or four months. and the conflict is spreading. earlier this month, it reached one of the last—remaining sanctuaries, wad madani, where many of the displaced had sought refuge. so, yet again, they were forced to flee, but where to? the options are narrowing. anne soy, bbc news. ten people have died and at least one person is missing after severe thunderstorms battered australia's eastern coast over the past two days. in victoria, a woman was killed when a campsite was inundated. tens of thousands of households in queensland are still without power, after winds of 100 kilometres an hour brought down trees and power lines. south korean police have confirmed that the actor lee sun—kyun has been found dead in a car near a park in the capital, seoul. they are trying to establish whether the star of the 0scar—winning film

parasite had taken his own life. 0ur asia correspondent, nick marsh, told me more about what the police is saying about this. it was confirmed this morning the body of this man in that car in the park here in seoul was that of lee sun—kyuh, the actor. they had received a report before that he had left his house and written some kind of memo, this apparent suicide note. i say apparently because the police as of now still haven't confirmed the cause of death. that is how it has been reported here in south korea in local media, it is an apparent suicide.— korea in local media, it is an apparent suicide. korea in local media, it is an a- arent suicide. ., ., apparent suicide. tell me more about lee sun-kyuh- _ apparent suicide. tell me more about lee sun-kyuh. many _ apparent suicide. tell me more about lee sun-kyuh. many will _ apparent suicide. tell me more about lee sun-kyuh. many will know- apparent suicide. tell me more about lee sun-kyuh. many will know him i lee sun—kyuh. many will know him from parasite, an 0scar—winning film. he had many other big roles in

south korea as well. essen film. he had many other big roles in south korea as well.— south korea as well. even before parasite he _ south korea as well. even before parasite he was _ south korea as well. even before parasite he was a _ south korea as well. even before parasite he was a leading - south korea as well. even before parasite he was a leading man i south korea as well. even before parasite he was a leading man in| south korea as well. even before - parasite he was a leading man in rom com is, in dramas. he had a squeaky—clean, family man image, he was the face of many brands here in south korea. the last three months have really turned his life upside down, turned his life upside down because of these reports like you pointed out earlier of drug use. that is a big deal in south korea and hand carry big penalties, even for using a small amount. the allegations were starting in october he had gone to a hostess bar. in and of itself is quite salacious. 0n he had gone to a hostess bar. in and of itself is quite salacious. on top of itself is quite salacious. on top of that even worse was the drug use. police said they were investigating him for using marijuana and petty mean. he said the substances he took he did not know were drugs. basically it ended up with a

marathon questioning session over the weekend, 19 hours between saturday and sunday he was questioned by police. that is the last we know of the case until the sad news we found out today. an urgent overhaul of britain's rail fares system is required after analysis revealed "absurd inconsistencies." that's according to the campaign for better transport group, which found that savings from travelling during off—peak times instead of peak periods range from zero to up to 57%. jonathan josephs has more. many rail passengers are used to waiting for trains to arrive. but it's a simpler and better value fare system that campaigners say is well overdue. from season tickets to advanced fares, flexi tickets and contactless, the array of options to get from a to b and the value they offer can be bewildering. a study of 16 popular routes by the campaign for better transport found that whilst on some routes season tickets do save money, for frequent travellers on other routes, they work out more expensive.

they want the government to end that sort of confusion. what we'd like to see is the transport bill expedited. it's really, really important that we bring together track and train, treasury and department for transport, and have this unified rail network that we have been promised for four years now. this will be a really, really good thing and it will enable us to expedite the fares and ticketing reforms that we want to see. the complexity of the uk's railway system means that cost of travelling can range from 15p per kilometre between newquay and plymouth to 62p per kilometre between chelmsford and london. about 45% of fares are regulated by the government, and the department for transport said measures such as new technology means it is delivering simpler, more flexible and better value train tickets to ensure that passengers get the best value for money. train operators say they are also helping simplify a system which has taken a big financial hit because of 18 months of strike disruption. passengers will see regulated railfares go up by 4.9% in england in march,

and by 8.7% in scotland in april. and, as many people continue to struggle with the cost—of—living crisis, a call for better value rail fares will be widely welcomed. jonathanjosephs, bbc news, at euston station. the national trust has warned that the uk's increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are causing "chaos" for nature. the charity said climate change is upsetting the rhythm of the seasons, and the effects can be seen across its estates in england, wales and northern ireland. here in the uk, people will soon be able to buy pint—sized bottles of still and sparkling wine — including champagne — from supermarkets, pubs and restaurants. the new 568ml size will sit alongside those already available, as part of a government drive to allow more choice for consumers. it will not apply to wine sold by

the glass in pubs and restaurants. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. storm gerrit will continue to bring some travel disruption across the uk during the rest of today and into tonight. rain and gales quite widely, but across parts of central and northern scotland during daytime, there could be some fairly disruptive snowfall too. the winds themselves come in two features. one is this one here, which we'll come into tonight, especially across parts of england and wales. but the strong winds quite

extensively on those weather fronts which, as they hit the cold air, could bring over 20 centimetres of snow on the hills, being blown around by strong winds, so blizzard conditions, but could even see a covering to some lower levels at times in the north of scotland. that'll have an impact to the roads. more especially, the likes of the a9. rain quite extensively at the moment. it will turn a little bit drier in the west, before dropping. up to around 90 millimetres of rain in some western hills. a wetter afternoon compared with the morning in east anglia and the south—east, and widely windy. widespread gales, 60—70 miles an hour gusts in the south—west. even wilder, touching 80 miles an hour, in the far north of scotland. that will temper the way things feel. so even those temperatures, 7 to 13 degrees, well above where we should be for this stage in december. tonight, it remains pretty wild in the far north of scotland, particularly shetland, with blizzards here. winds pick up around irish sea coasts, with winds touching 60, 70 miles an hour again. and we'll see batches of showers work their way across the country, but with some clearer skies, too. and with some more clear skies around tonight compared with last night, it will be a bit colder, especially across england and wales. a touch of frost in scotland. lighter winds here, though,

for tomorrow morning. there'll still be some showers around. outbreaks of rain, though, will become more extensive in western scotland, with longer spells of hill snow too later in the day. most of us, though, a day of sunshine and showers. some longer drier spells for one or two of you. a bit more brightness around, but the showers could be heavy and thundery. temperatures still above where we should be. things turn cooler, though, into friday. northerly winds bring wintry showers more extensively to northern scotland once again. could turn wintry. this band of rain across northern england, northern ireland, as the cold air digs in. to the south of it, staying slightly milder, but it will be a bright and breezy day, with sunshine and showers. chilly night friday night, but into saturday, the next band of wet, windy weather pushes its way in. more snow across hills in the north. sunday, though, that should clear its way southwards and eastwards, so we finish 2023 a little bit clearer, before more rain arrives on new year's day. take care.

now on bbc news, we take a look back at the year's biggest stories. there's a huge barrage going on overhead just at the moment.

yevgeny prigozhin seemed determined to march his men to the top of the hill. then, he marched them down again. political persecution like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation. this is southern israel and that is gaza, and the war here has dominated the news agenda since early october. tragic and polarising, it's one of the biggest stories of 2023 and one that i have followed here and reported on throughout, speaking to people in israel and in gaza about how they're living through it. the year has seen many important and profound stories,

from the war in ukraine to donald trump's legal affairs