and more people have been fleeing to the southern border town of rafah. gaza's health ministry, says that 150 people have been killed and 286 people injured in 2a hours. yolande knell reports. a giant campsite for the displaced. crammed into an ever shrinking area, tens of thousands of gazans who fled the fighting have set up makeshift tents and shacks by the egyptian border. israel says it's not restricting aid for gaza, but the un complains the amount getting in is woefully inadequate. it's a very long and convoluted process with numerous checks before the aid actually gets into gaza, and then once the aid is in gaza it's very difficult to get aid to people. essentially we're delivering aid under fire. gaza streets have been turned into battlegrounds as hamas fighters try to block the advance of israeli soldiers. a main focus for israel's ground troops is now the southern city of khan younis and the central

urban refugee camps. translation: we arrested dozens of terrorists in a school. _ they were hiding amongst civilians, hamas and the islamicjihad. we took them to israel to continue their interrogation. large numbers of gazans have been detained by israel. the men here were picked up near their homes in the north. they claim they were beaten, stripped to their underwear, and mistreated, even burnt with cigarettes. we can't independently verify their accounts. "they used obscene words," says this man. "they'd hold you like a dog and make you crawl, then there would be five soldiers who'd hit you alternately on the head and body." israel insists it treats detainees according to international law. for now, there's no sign that israel is lowering the intensity of its attacks on gaza. it says its aim remains to dismantle hamas. hamas says it won't give up the remaining israeli hostages it's holding unless there's a full ceasefire.

and with a new year about to begin, for those living close to gaza's front—line, the suffering continues. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. with more, here's our correspondent, shaimaa khalil, injerusalem. the israeli prime minister has reiterated reiterated a line has reiterated a line that we've heard him say many times over the past week or so, which is that the war is going to last for months, it's not going to end any time soon. on the ground, what we're seeing is an advance of the israeli ground offensive into central gaza, affecting three main refugee camps — very congested refugee camps — which means that people are now displaced or doubly displaced, because some have actually fled the fighting from the north, as it also intensifies its bombardment of khan younis and of rafah. rafah is now gaza's most densely populated city, according to the un. it's a very small city that has now

received hundreds of thousands of people fleeing — fleeing the fighting in khan younis. and again, for our viewers, remember, khan younis was initially the place people fled to from the fighting in the north. we've also heard from the israeli military spokesman, who tweeted in arabic, saying that the salah al—din route, which is essentially the artery of movement through the gaza strip from the north to the south, he described it as a battlefield. if you think about what that means for humanitarian aid, it makes it that much more harder, that much more complex. we've heard there from the un how difficult it is to get any aid into gaza because of the complex process of inspection. once it does get into gaza, the process of actually safely delivering it becomes very, very difficult, notjust in the south where it comes in through rafah of through kerem shalom, but imagine trying to get it into central gaza now where fighting has intensified, and northern gaza, where fighting has continued. this continues to be a point of contention between the un and israel.

israel says it's not restricting it — that more aid should come in. the united nations are saying that it's a struggle to get safe delivery of aid to the people who need it the most. jason lee is from the charity, save the children. he explains how the israel—gaza war is especially affecting young people. if the situation continues to deteriorate every single day. we are now facing starvation. children now in gaza facing starvation. one out of four households are at risk of famine. there's been the collapse, complete collapse of the health system. again, we are seeing increases in diarrheal diseases. we are seeing patients presenting with jaundice. we don't know if it's hepatitis because there's no possibility to test, diagnose or even treat these conditions with the cold, with the rain, with the 1.9 million people, that 85% of the populations

that are displaced, children exposed to the elements facing malnutrition, not having access to health care or maintaining hygiene practices, the risk of communicable diseases and pneumonia will increase. there are an estimated 50,000 women in gaza right now that need to deliver now are pregnant with the collapse of the health system. they cannot even cope with the trauma cases right now. what hope do we have for maternal, obstetric and newborn care? what hope do we have for patients that require treatment for chronic conditions such as cancer, kidney failure, diabetes? again, there is absolutely no single functional hospital left in the north of gaza and only nine out of the 36 hospitals are functional — are partially functional in the south — and these partially functional hospitals cannot meet basic primary health care needs or cope with.

the influx of hundreds of civilians every single day has been injured by the fighting and increased military activity. it is critical that all parties to the conflict respect and adhere to their obligations under international law. again, these are obligations. it is not up to parties of the conflict to decide who they want to protect, when they want to protect in the circumstances, to start protecting civilians. so the protection of civilians, especially children, keeping them alive, allowing lifesaving assistance to to reach them no matter who they are or where they are. it is critical that we put the politics aside. we put aside the supposed military objectives and focus on what needs to be done right now, which is keeping the 2.3 million people in gaza, half of them children, alive. russia has carried out more drone attacks on ukraine, with reports of explosions in a number of cities, including kharkiv and kyiv. the missile strikes on central

kharkiv injured at least 21 people, including two teenage boys. the strikes are in apparent retaliation for ukraine's drone attack on the russian city of belgorod yesterday, which killed at least 20 people. and reuters is reporting the govenor of belgorod has issued a warning more missiles are heading towards residents there. the kremlin has requested an urgent meeting of the un security council. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. explosion. caught on dash cam, a giant explosion in the centre of belgorod. there was panic, as people ran for cover. siren wails. not everyone could. russia says at least 20 civilians were killed and more than 100 injured after a series of ukrainian strikes on the heart of the city,

although the russian military claimed it had shot down most of the missiles. as emergency crews rushed to the scene, the scale of the damage became clear. billowing smoke making belgorod look more than ever like a frontline city. ukraine's border is just 20 miles away. the local governor, vyacheslav gladkov, said these were the deadliest consequences of ukrainian shelling that his region had experienced. explosion. the attack came just a day after russia had carried out a huge wave of strikes across ukraine with missiles and with drones. at least 39 people, kyiv said, were killed. belgorod has come under attack before... ..with explosions like this one at the airport and at a power station. this kind of thing never happened before russia launched its full—scale invasion of ukraine.

now, a deadly new strike on the eve of the new year holiday. russia has already hit back with new attacks of its own. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the first eurostar service today to paris has left london, following a day of cross—channel chaos. all trains were cancelled yesterday due to flooding in tunnels under the river thames. these pictures are of passengers boarding at st pancras this morning. eurostar says all services will run to and from london but there are warnings that delays are still likely. simonjones reports. the queues at st pancras have been building since the early hours. eurostar says it plans to run all 32 scheduled services today, but they will be packed. that means many people unable to travel yesterday will struggle to make it across the channel today,

leaving new year plans in doubt. oh, my goodness, it was a whirlwind, but we all stayed calm. i was very impressed. everyone stayed pretty calm, considering. but we're happy to be here. i'm reasonably optimistic because they told us yesterday that they're going to have two or three more trains. really happy that i'm able to go back home today, yes. - and i'm feeling much . happier than yesterday. what happened yesterdayjust looked like complete chaos. a lot of people sound like they're scrambling, trying to get where they're going. and today's a new day, so it looks like we might be good. yesterday saw cross—channel chaos. lou docherty was supposed to get to disneyland paris. i've lost my hotel, my travel, my theatre that i booked, and i kind of don't have any plans for new year's eve now. i'll probably end up spending it with my parents, or i'll end up watching a disney film to try and pretend that i'm there.

it's really disappointing. this was the cause of the problem — the high speed rail line left resembling a river. pumps and tankers have finally cleared enough waterfrom one of the two affected tunnels for trains to move again. but speed restrictions will be in place. when you have 2a hours of disruption like this, it actually takes several days to get rid of that backlog of passengers who are affected. so this is easily going to go into wednesday or thursday of next week into the new year, causing a lot of pain along the way. high speed domestic trains into kent, completely cancelled yesterday, will run, but there will be a reduced service. the festive period has certainly been challenging on the railways. at times, passengers have seemed relieved simply to be on a train that's on the move. but the warning is that delays, disruption and cancellations could continue for a number of days across several parts of the network. thameslink trains across southeast england are suffering

from staff shortages, and today there will be no services on six lines on northern. add snow and wind into the mix and it could be another difficult day for getting around. hs1, which runs the rail route between london and the channel tunnel, says it understands how frustrating the problems have been for passengers at such an important time of year. and simon is at london st pancras this morning. he sent this update. eurostar services here at st pancras are now lined up, ready to leave, and the first train left st pancras heading towards paris just after 8:00 this morning. it was due at 8:01. it actually left about ten minutes or so late, but those on board were simply thankful they had managed to get on a service that was actually going to go somewhere today, because it was a torrid picture here yesterday. it's thought around 30,000 eurostar passengers were unable

to make theirjourneys. it's been very busy at st pancras station so far this morning. many turning up were booked on services today but turned up extra early, seeing the scenes of pandemonium here at st pancras yesterday. others, though, told me that they were due to travel yesterday but hadn't managed to secure a ticket for today. but they've turned up anyway, really to beg the staff for any available spaces to let them on board. i spoke to one woman who said she was desperate to get to paris to be reunited with herfiancee to celebrate new year's eve. now, in terms of what happened, all that water flooding into two tunnels under the thames, i think the worrying thing is that at the moment the authorities aren't sure where that water was coming from. that's going to be part of a major investigation. but they say today the focus has to be on getting people where they want to get. but the reality is, with so many

people caught up in the problems yesterday, not everyone is going to be able to travel today who wants to travel today. so some new year plans may have to be scrapped. here in the uk, though, there have been huge problems on the railway network over the past few days, over the festive period. just before christmas, eurostar services were suspended after staff at eurotunnel at the channel tunnel walked out. we've also had issues with engineering work, some of that overrunning over christmas. we've had storm gerrit, which has seen high winds and snow disrupt services. and i think it does leave passengers asking whether they can actually trust getting on the train, trust the train to get them to their destination. so i think in the new year, rail bosses may have a task on their hands to convince people that the train really is a reliable service to take.

un peacekeepers are due to finish their withdrawalfrom mali on sunday after a long—running mission lasting a decade. it began in 2013 after an armed rebellion. but the mission was asked by the country's ruling military government to leave. our reporter daniel de simone explains why the mission is coming to an end. the reason they've been asked to leave is because the military government that took power in a coup has characterised the mission as a failure. it said it hasn't managed to ensure security throughout the country. the whole thing is quite complicated, though. when the government took over, the current government in mali invited in mercenaries from russia's wagner group. that led to the french forces that were running a counterterrorism operation in mali to pulling out. other countries pulled out of the un mission, including the uk. and then, last summer, when the mandate was expiring for this mission, it wasn't renewed.

but the security council, the un security council voted not to renew it because the host country, mali, wasn't going to support it. the malian government has invited in wagner mercenary forces from russia. mali has pivoted away from a historic connection with france. and earlier this year, it signed a defence pact with two other west african countries that also are run by governments that took part in military coups — that is niger and burkina faso. both those countries are also pivoting more towards russia. both those countries have also seen french forces leave and even french diplomats leave over the past few months. a crackdown on xl bully dogs comes into force in england and wales today. it means owners must follow strict rules on how they are handled in public, including keeping them muzzled and on a lead. it comes ahead of a ban in february

when it will be a criminal offence to own an xl bully dog in england and wales without a certificate. our north of england correspondent, danny savage, has more. police at the scene of a dog attack, one where an xl bully type killed a man. elsewhere, this dog was handed in by its owner after it bit them. it was put down soon after we filmed it. too many such incidents have led to a ban on these dogs. but, of course, the issue is that the aggression of a minority of xl bullies has led to all of them becoming a banned type, and all face the consequences of the law change. from today, these dogs can only be out in public if they're muzzled and on a lead. i bought him as a staffy, but he's turned out to be an xl bully by size. before he comes over from... he has a muzzle on, yeah. the legislation�*s what it is. i'm just abiding by it. but this dog is nowhere near guilty or vicious or anything like that.

it's just a small minority who have them, who don't control them properly. that's it. you all right? from today, it's also illegal to breed, sell or abandon an xl bully. that means rehoming them will be impossible. if they're not wanted, they're likely to be destroyed. we won't be able to take in any xl bullies. we won't be able to rehome any xl bullies. people are concerned about how to do muzzle training. so there's some really good advice out there on how to muzzle train yourdog. but they're also concerned about the dog not being able to be let off lead. so a dog that is an xl bully and registered won't be allowed to be off—lead in a public place. and you can see how much he loves snuffling. so, for him, this activity is going to be perfect. for months now, some xl bully owners have been taking their dogs to training... bingo. ..to get them used to a much more controlled life. good boy. at first everyone thought a ban means that, ok, that's it. you know, you have to say goodbye to your dogs. thankfully, a lot of good information came out quite quickly, and so people were able to see that

that's not the case. but yeah, panic, stress, their loved fam... they're part of the family. of course, it's going to be the responsible dog owners that come forward and the irresponsible ones, it will probably be a knock at the door from the police. can you judge a temperament like this or do you need longer? really, temperament's hard because, for example, if we were saying this dog's safe, i don't think we can ever say a dog is safe. police will be calling on people who haven't declared their dogs. existing xl bullies can still be kept if owners can prove to a court they're responsible. in cases where we believe the court may, you know, sort of approve an exemption, is we'll speak to the owner and say, "look they're obviously going to have to be spayed or neutered. the decision is with the court. but if you wanted to go ahead and do that now, things like the microchipping, the insurance and things like that, and also getting the home environment ready for the dog's return." good lad. xl bullies have caused too many problems for the government to ignore.

yes, its left many owners upset, but this is seen as the most effective way to deal with them. danny savage, bbc news. venice is to ban loudspeakers, and tourist groups of more than 25 people. it's in a bid to ease the impact of mass tourism on the italian city. over—tourism is widely recognised as an urgent issue as it's one of the most visited places in europe. the new rules will come into effect from june. the finishing touches are being put in place for new year's eve celebrations across the uk. edinburgh will host hogmanay, whilst more than ten thousand fireworks have been loaded onto barges on the river thames ahead of london's fireworks display. meanwhile, bongs of big ben are synonymous with the start of new year but you might not know that tonight it will have been 100 years since they were first broadcast on the radio. our culture reporter, noor nanji, has been finding out more. big ben bongs.

britain's most famous chimes, broadcast to the country live twice a day every day, as well as three times on sundays. this is the other side of the clock. the bells and the clock itself have mattered hugely to generations of people over the years. the bongs are one of the most recognised sounds around the world. big ben has been broadcast now because it has become a symbol of freedom. so the people who were hearing it during the second world war realised that there was one country which was still free. thereafter it was part of the meaning, the symbol of freedom. it's a seamless operation, getting the bongs transmitted from here to the homes of radio listeners. but it hasn't always been this easy.

big ben's bongs were first broadcast on new year's eve in 1923. bbc engineers were not allowed in the building. instead, they had to climb onto a rooftop opposite the houses of parliament with a microphone to capture the sounds of the chimes. from february 192a, the bells were regularly transmitted on the radio. and the tradition has run ever since then, with the chimes of this great bell, big ben, also being heard on special occasions such as christmas day, armistice day and new year's eve. but there have been some notable exceptions. during the second world war, unbeknown to the public, the bongs were at times replaced by recorded ones for security reasons. in 2017, the chimes on radio 4 were silenced again with a recording used instead. that was due to major restoration work taking place on the elizabeth tower, which houses the clock and bells. it was important in order that we could restore the building forfuture generations. there was stonework crumbling, also the great clock hadn't had a major overhaul in over 30 years at that point.

we also upgraded the infrastructure. so new lighting that you can see now, but also our fire systems, our security systems, and also put heating in to preserve the fabric for the very first time. the tower has now been restored to its former glory. new microphones have been installed, which means the live bongs have returned, with extra microphones being brought in on new year's eve. and this is the mechanism that keeps it all ticking. so what we have here is what's called a flatbed mechanism. it's a three train clock. so it's got three separate components, one to do the chimes, one to do the time and one to strike big ben. it's powered by three weights with a combined weight of two and a quarter tonnes which travel down the centre of the tower. there's an 85 metre shaft which goes right down the middle of the tower. three times a week, we come up to the mechanism room to wind the clock weights back up to the top. and new year's eve is coming up. what preparations are going into that? we will be here on the day

making sure that the clock is running precisely to time. we'll be taking time checks throughout the day and making small adjustments to the pendulum just to make sure that that midnight happens exactly when everyone is expecting it to. the iconic bells will be broadcast around the world again at midnight with the sound of 12 chimes signaling the start of the new year. noor nanji, bbc news. a british army officer is believed to have become the fastest woman to ever complete a solo ski expedition, to the south pole. captain preet chandi or "polar preet" as she's become known, covered the 1130 kilometres in a record time ofjust over 31 days. this was her third trip to the antarctic region, and faced temperatures, of minus 30 degrees celsius. and just before we go, here's something you don't see every day. this is the moment a meteor went flying over england in the early hours of saturday. footage posted on social media showed what appeared to be a shooting star, which could be seen from locations including kent,

london and birmingham. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. 2023 is finishing on an unsettled note. it's a day of sunshine and showers today. the showers will be heavy with some hail and thunder at times as well. we have the same area of low pressure with us today that we had yesterday. the centre of the low, which is just here, is not that windy. we do have stronger winds affecting the south—west of england and also the north—east of scotland. the legacy of the recent wet weather we have seen now for a number of weeks is that we have a number of flood warnings still currently in force. today, showers initially started off across western areas but they will become widespread today, blown along by gusty winds in the south—west,

gusting into the odd 50s mph. 60mph gusts for shetland, with rain here and rain returns into aberdeenshire later on this afternoon. but otherwise, some sunshine, nowhere's immune from seeing a downpour. some of the downpours can be quite slow moving for northern ireland, for north—west england and north wales as well. then, as we run up to the midnight hour, the new year's day celebrations — hogmanay as well — we are looking at the showery conditions prevailing. longer spells of rain potentially affecting parts of north—west england, the north midlands and north wales as well. the showers then continue through the remainder of the night with temperatures drifting a little bit lower. we might see a few patches of frost in sheltered glens in scotland. otherwise, frost—free with temperatures between 2 to 6 celsius. new year's day, not a bad day for getting out and about and enjoying a walk for the first day of 202a. there will be some sunshine around, a few showers. further south, the weather will deteriorate with rain arriving. probably turning particularly wet in the south—west of england, southern wales towards the end of the day. that's where the mildest

weather will be. otherwise a cooler day — temperatures around 7, 8 degrees. through monday night into tuesday, this area of rain will continue to push its way northwards. we might see snow up over the highest pennines, the southern uplands and grampians for a time. more rain following that in. given the ground is saturated, we are likely to see further localised flooding building in as we head into tuesday. mild in the south, cooler weather in scotland. through the remainder of the week, it stays unsettled. temperatures on the mild side for england and wales. the cooler weather for scotland and northern ireland.

this is bbc news, the headlines. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the country has to establish full control of gaza's border area with egypt to ensure the territory's demilitarisation. his comments come as military forces press ahead with an offensive that he says will last �*for many months'. russia has carried out more drone attacks on ukraine with reports of explosions across the country. in kharkiv, the city's mayor says residential buildings have been on fire. moscow has been retaliating after ukrainian strikes on the russian border city of belgorod. following a day of travel chaos, eurostar services have resumed between london and paris. disruption had been caused by two flooded tunnels blocking the high speed rail line, leading to disappointment for tens

of thousands of travellers. and fireworks at the ready. cities around the world, and in the united kingdom gear up to celebrate the new year. now on bbc news. lives well lived: episode one. the national portrait gallery in london, where there are thousands upon thousands of faces from the past and present. for centuries, we've immortalised them in pencil, paint and through the lens of a camera. and each year, we mark the passing of people we may never have met, but have meant so much to many of us.