the leaders of the us and israel speak about gaza for the first time in weeks, amid differences over the issue of a two—state solution. with women's reproductive health a key issue in the us 2024 election, anti—abortion activists rally in the nation's capital. and japan joins an elite group of nations to land on the moon. i'm carl nasman. good to have you with us. we begin the programme with the wrangling between the us and israel over the palestinians�* future. us presidentjoe biden spoke with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on friday, their first talk in nearly a month. mr biden re—affirmed

washington's commitment to a two—state solution, once israel ends its military operation in gaza. mr netanyahu said this week he would not accept a palestinian state after the war. our correspondent mark lowen has more from jerusalem. netanyahu's comments are not a surprise because he has spent his entire political career opposing a palestinian state but it is about the timing. israel is under intense international pressure with almost 25,000 people killed in gaza in the offensive, according to hamas—run health ministry and this is a very public rebuttal of the biden administration, get another one. and it is being seen as israel thumbing its nose at the us and netanyahu falling back on the far right here that has propping up his government and he believes that he is staking his political survival on opposing a palestinian state. public opinion here is increasingly fallen out of love

with the prime minister. 0nly15% of israelis according to a recent poll believe he should stay on after conflict ends. he believes the majority of israeli public opinion is still opposed to the creation of a palestinian state and too traumatised to accept that after the attacks of the 7th of october. meanwhile, the violence in gaza shows no signs of letting up. israeli forces are now largely focusing on southern gaza's main city of khan younis. their advance is a threat to the few healthcare facilities that are still open, and the palestinian red crescent accuses israel of firing on a hospital there. and in northern gaza, the united nations is accusing the israeli military of preventing aid deliveries. the un humanitarian agency says only 7 out of 29 planned aid deliveries have been allowed this month. all told, israel's military campaign against hamas has destroyed or damaged more than half of gaza's buildings, and laid waste to much of its infrastructure. the un warns that public order in gaza could completely break down, and that a generation of children "could lose out

completely" on their education. wyre davies has this report. the impact of israel's bombing campaign in gaza is astonishing. its aim, to completely crush hamas, has also destroyed or damaged more than half of gaza's buildings. more than 2a,000 people have been killed, says the hamas—run health ministry. the war has also laid waste to much of gaza's infrastructure and civic society. this un school, blown up by celebrating israeli troops who accused hamas of using these buildings. major universities and more than 100 schools have been damaged or destroyed. like any society, gaza's future is its children. but here, they're victims of war. and, says the un, they may lose

out completely on what should be rightfully theirs. you have today about half a million children in the primary and secondary school system. how would they go back if you cannot bring people back to their home, which have been completely destroyed? and i'm afraid that here we are taking the risk to lose a generation of children. gaza's health system, too, is broken. the world health organization says that only 13 of gaza's 36 hospitals are functional. those who need treatment often go without. translation: i was receiving regular medical treatment - for my cancer at the hospital here in gaza. but during the israeli aggression, medicaltreatments have not been provided for the past four months. since this war began, israel's unprecedented bombing of gaza's main conurbations has laid much of the territory to waste. very few areas, from north to south, have escaped without damage.

israel disputes the scale of gaza's humanitarian crisis, and says it doesn't target civilians or public infrastructure unless it's suspected of being used by armed palestinian groups. israel also rejects accusations that it's deliberately turning gaza into a wasteland so people will have no option other than to leave. israel says it wants to allow in as much aid as the agencies can distribute, and it's not trying to demolish gaza's civic structures. but with key institutions like law courts and gaza's parliament also in ruins, there's not much of a society left. wyre davies, bbc news. my colleague helena humphrey spoke with aaron david miller, senior fellow at the carnegie endowment in washington. so what we are seeing here is that israel and the united states clearly at odds when it comes

to the future of a two—state solution. what kind of position do you think that puts a washington in in terms of support of its key ally, israel? i think there have been tensions all along, over the last several months, both the absence of sufficient humanitarian aid and the character and nature of the israeli ground campaign which the administration was and i was expecting, notjust hoping but expecting that they would be significantly altered by the end of the month or early february. i think there are strains. the last phone call the president has other than the one today, he all but hung up on netanyahu but i don't think we are talking about that. president biden is still committed to the israeli war aims. it is a race for the presidency, he does not want to leave himself open to republican attacks by being too critical of the israeli so i suspect tensions will increase but i think they will be managed, that is joe biden�*s style. it is not to confront, it is to accommodate with a view of trying to leverage, quietly or discreetly. what that that is going to work

or not, that remains to be seen but i suspect by the middle of february. if you take it look at some of the comments coming out of the war cabinet for example we have been hearing from the far right national security minister ben—giver who says we must promote a solution to encourage the emigration of residents of gaza, so essentially, palestinians leaving the gaza strip. could these ideas take hold? it is the most extreme government in the history of israel. it is extremist, right—wing, homophobic, it isjewish supremacist in terms of these ministers but they are not members of the work cabinet and i doubt, frankly, brought in to provide some stability, other parties, i doubt the expulsion from gaza of the palestinians will become an official israeli policy. should it, i think that you would see a major confrontation. with the biden administration it would probably go

beyond anything that we have witnessed under democratic or republican administrations. i wonder to your assessment of the stability of mr netanyahu himself as prime minister because he has got some desires coming from more far right factions of his government, he has an israeli population increasingly calling for as a first priority for those hostages to be brought home. where does this leave him in his tenure? under a lot of pressure. remember, you need 61 votes. he has 64 and with an additional 12 and he is on trialfor bribery, fraud and breach of trust now three years in the running and he will testify next month. he must remain prime minister if he has any chance of beating this indictment and avoiding jail, assuming he is convicted. so i think all politics is local and i think part

of the reason he is reacting in the way that he has on the issue of the palestinian statehood is because of local pressure. but again this is israeli politics and we can expect a bumpy ride in the months of head. it it will be a ride, i am afraid, with netanyahu who is conflated to his own political interests, legal interests, with the security and the interests of the state of israel. it is a very bad time to have that kind of a leader. briefly, do you think there's any chance that essentially netanyahu is trying to cast himself in opposition to washington, to drum up support at home? i think to a degree he will play on the issue of the statehood. i think the israelis ar in no position to engage seriously

in the question of two states or the withdrawal of israeli settlements or any of these issues. that will have to wait, should mr biden get a second term, i think serious progress might be possible because by then, i suspect you may have a new government in israel. and that i think is essentially critical for any of this to succeed. senior fellow at the carnegie endowment in washington, great to have your analysis. and one more note from the region, the us military says it has hit three houthi anti—ship missiles that were ready to attack ships in the southern red sea. a statement by us central command said the missiles presented an imminent threat to maritime traffic. officials say they acted "in self—defence." houthi fighters began attacking ships after the war in gaza began in october. they say they are acting in solidarity with the

palestinian people. turning now to the us presidential campaign. the race for the republican nomination will heat up next week when new hampshire voters take to the polls in the first primary of the 2024 election cycle. tuesday's republican primary will test former president donald trump's frontrunner status after his landslide victory in iowa. in another boost to his campaign, senator tim scott joined mr trump on stage in the new hampshire's capital city of concord and gave his endorsement. we need a president who will close our southern border today! we need donald trump! we need a president, we need a president who will unite our country — we need donald trump! scott's endorsement of mr trump is a blow to former governor of south carolina nikki haley,

who's looking to establish herself as the main rival to mr trump with a strong showing in the granite state. meanwhile, florida governor ron desantis is looking past new hampshire, focusing most of his efforts in ms haley's home state of south carolina. unique to new hampshire's election is the state's bloc of independent voters. they represent nearly 40% of its electorate and can vote in the republican primary. haley is hoping to win over these voters in her bid to gain ground on mrtrump. the republican iowa caucus saw two candidates pull out of the race after failing to win enough popular support. vivek ramaswamy ended his campaign as the iowa counties were still counting votes. he quickly threw his support behind donald trump. asa hutchinson has also dropped out after receiving just 191 votes, 0.2% of those cast. speaking to the bbc, the former arkansas governor said he is proud of his anti—trump campaign, but that he isn't ready to endorse another candidate, at least not yet.

i could see myself down the road endorsing an alternative to donald trump. i have helped build the republican party in arkansas, i am always expected to support the republican nominee, but this is a precarious time for the party. i think we can come out of this, but we have to move quick way away from donald trump's hold on the party to a more independent voice, and conservative voice and a principled voice, and we will see if we can do that, but that is what i will be focused on. presidentjoe biden is seeking to galvanise democratic voters on the issue of abortion as he seeks another term. a recent study led by the guttmacher institute says that the number of abortions increased in the first ten

months of 2023. it estimates that there were 878,000 abortions in the formal us health system. factors contributing to the rise in abortions include people traveling across state lines to access the procedure, abortion provided via telehealth, and some states passing policies protecting abortion. here in washington on friday, anti—abortion activists gathered on the national mall for the annual march for life. the rally has been held every january since 1973, when the supreme court's roe v wade ruling guaranteed abortion access nationwide. in 2022 the supreme court overturned that decision. my colleague helena humphey spoke with bbc digital reporter holly honderich, who was at the rally. what was getting people out on a very cold snowy day? it was tough. the weather was tough and it has been a tough year for the pro—life movement, the anti—abortion movement.

they had a massive victory, landmark victory, overturning roe v wade, and the ultimate goal is a national abortion ban and that has not happened. things have not gone according to plan if you are one of those activists. they see political resistance. a gallup poll last month showed 69% support some access to abortion. that is huge. they have the election coming up this year and it will be a tough climb for them going forward. let's talk about it as an election issue. yesterday we saw a joint campaign launched by president biden and vice president kamala harris. when it comes to abortion rights, how big do you think this will be as an election issue? most people predicted a horrible outcome for the democrats in 2022 but they over—performed and republicans under—performed, and people on either side of the aisle agree that was because of abortion. we are expecting a similar outcome in 2024 but republican pundits and

pro—choice people say to me, it is going to get democrats engaged talking about abortion. republicans are scared to talk about because they are losing voters because of that. the general public does not want that. the phrase i keep hearing is the dog that caught the car. they say they want the end of rowe for years, but they don't know how to talk to electorate that is broadly supportive of abortion rights but also talk to their base. the annual meeting of the world economic forum wrapped up on friday in davos, switzerland. artificial intelligence topped the agenda — but the wars in gaza and ukraine also garnered attention, with ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky addressing the forum

on tuesday. he urged leaders to enforce sanctions against russia, help rebuild ukraine, and advance the peace process. my colleague helena humphrey spoke with bill browder, a political activist and financier who just returned from davos. thank you for being with us here on bbc news. i understand you have got back from davos in switzerland where you have been making the case essentially that the west should confiscate frozen russian funds from the central bank so ukraine can use them when it comes to defence, reconstruction as well. how has your message been received there? i your message been received there? . , , ., there? i have been proposing this solution _ there? i have been proposing this solution basically - there? i have been proposing this solution basically since . there? i have been proposing this solution basically since a| this solution basically since a few weeks after the war started two years ago. and when i first started it was a nonstarter, people wanted nothing to do with it and different governments thought it was a

radical idea. here we are two years later, there is still a huge financial requirement for the war, and there is no end in sight. i would argue that it has been a much more well—received message this year than ever before purely for financial reasons.— than ever before purely for financial reasons. and whether any countries _ financial reasons. and whether any countries in _ financial reasons. and whether any countries in particular? - any countries in particular? interestingly, the uk is out front and leading on this, the foreign secretary david cameron has basically been writing and proposing this idea in davos, in washington and publicly. the us seems to — in washington and publicly. tue: us seems to be in washington and publicly. tte: us seems to be more amenable to this idea than they were before, saying publicly but not privately that they were ready to go forward on it. the big bottleneck now is the eu, the eu is where the lion's share of the money is. out of the $300

billion plus, $220 billion is in the eu and the eu are still to be convinced. there is a desire to do it in the eu but still sort of dancing around the head of a pen right now in terms of trying to find the way forward. ~ , ., i. ~' terms of trying to find the way forward. ~ , ., i. ~ ., forward. why do you think that reticence is, _ forward. why do you think that reticence is, is _ forward. why do you think that reticence is, is a _ forward. why do you think that reticence is, is a concern - reticence is, is a concern about tit—for—tat when it comes to russia? about tit-for-tat when it comes to russia?— to russia? there is always concern — to russia? there is always concern about _ to russia? there is always concern about tit-for-tat, | to russia? there is always i concern about tit-for-tat, in concern about tit—for—tat, in this case it would be ill founded concern because the russians don't have the ability to do the tatting. it is not like western central banks keep their money in russia so they can't do it reciprocally to the extent they are threatening businesses that have assets in russia, russia has experimenting those businesses long before this happened. at davos i was meeting with executives from hyundai, and they had a car manufacturing business in saint petersburg expropriated. the same thing is

happening with many other companies. that idea we should be worried about western countries that make companies losing their assets in russia is not a reasonable explanation for not doing this.— for not doing this. there was something — for not doing this. there was something else _ for not doing this. there was something else i _ for not doing this. there was something else i wanted - for not doing this. there was something else i wanted to l for not doing this. there was i something else i wanted to ask you, while you are there in switzerland, we had the iowa caucuses here in the us, we saw a decisive victory for president trump. in those caucuses. watching this, president putin of russia, what do you think you made of that? putin is looking at trump as his hail mary, that even if putin is losing hundreds of thousands of men on the battlefield, if trump comes in, he is effectively committing to cut off funding for ukraine, and putin sees that as his big opening, that this may be the opportunity for him to win a war in which he is pretty much losing. which also begs the question of what do we do if trump comes in,, what does ukraine do if trump comes in?

that is where the $300 billion of central bank reserves could make the difference, if the west comes up with a plan to take that money before trump comes in, that sounds like trump insurance for ukraine. briefly if you don't mind, we are in situation where the biden administration has seen more aid for ukraine blocked and facing stumbling blocks in congress, do you think the tide has turned to a certain extent in terms of support for ukraine and from the west that some fatigue has set in?— fatigue has set in? certainly some fatigue _ fatigue has set in? certainly some fatigue has _ fatigue has set in? certainly some fatigue has set - fatigue has set in? certainly some fatigue has set him i fatigue has set in? certainly. some fatigue has set him but what is happening in washington is a small number of far right republicans in the trampling of the republican party used various legislative tricks to block the aid. —— trump wing. i have met with republicans and

democrats and there is overwhelming support for ukraine and congress, and so i am sure that we will be able to find a way through and ukraine will get the money in the short—term. the real question is what happens trump becomes president after the november election this year. then things could radically differ. ibiiiii could radically differ. bill browder, _ could radically differ. bill browder, thank - could radically differ. bill browder, thank you for speaking to us. let's check some other stories making headlines. hundreds of people in the russian region of bashkortostan protested on friday against the recent conviction of a local activist. police arrested at least ten people in the regional capital who were supporting fail alsynov. he was convicted of inciting hatred and sentenced to four years in prison. he led a banned indigenous organisation that has protested against mining operations. the hollywood actor alec baldwin has been charged by a grand jury with a fresh count of involuntary manslaughter over a fatal shooting in 2021. mr baldwin was practicing firing a pistol on the set of the film rust,

when the gun went off, killing halyna hutchins, the director of photography. charges against baldwin were dropped last april, but prosecutors have since shared "additional facts" based on forensic tests on the weapon. us stocks have notched a new record, with the s&p 500 topping its previous peak set in january last year. investors have driven the index higherfor months, amid hopes that the us federal reserve will cut interest rates. tech companies like apple, microsoft and nvidia fuelled friday's rally. japan has become just the fifth country ever to touch down on the moon, but its uncrewed moon sniper lander appears to have hit a glitch. pallab ghosh has the story. japan's lunar landing has touched down with a soft landing, but there has been a glitch. its solar panels are not working, so unless it is fixed the spacecraft will run out of power.

but experts say the mission has achieved 99% of its aims. this was all about precision landing. they have not confirmed the exact precision of the landing, but they are the fifth nation to land successfully on the moon and that is a huge success. flight engineers are pouring to the spacecraft�*s data and will report later on what went wrong. but an awful lot went right. they were able to test out a new advanced face recognition system to hone into its landing site. it also deployed one of its mini lunar rovers, able to hop where no rover has hopped before. and another one can literally roll back the frontiers of knowledge. it is a new way of doing space exploration and a big part of it is to bring down

the costs, so we can de—risk these missions, do more of them at a faster turnaround and hopefully get more science and exploration out of each one. the team at the open university are building an instrument for a future mission involving bothjapan and india, as well as the uk. japan's achievement is the start of a new rush to the moon. india got there last year, and later in 2024 there will be several us attempts. and by the end of the decade, there will be chinese and european missions, so it is all getting very interesting. in the 19605 and 70s it was all nasa. # we are on the moon one day...# but now it is an international race. a small fleet of spacecraft from across the world are on their way to the moon to lay the ground for humans to return. they are going because there

are minerals and resources on the moon that will be used to build launch sites off for mars and beyond. but this time, the plan is to stay for the long term. an amazing achievement there. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. i think we've seen the last of the widespread cold, frosty days. on friday, there was plenty of blue sky and wintry sunshine for many of us, as was the picture in dudley, but things are changing now. we've got milder air moving in in time for the weekend and also much windier weather. in fact, the met office have named storm isha. that's on the way, particularly late sunday into monday, bringing severe gales and disruption to travel, power perhaps is likely. but let's have a look at saturday. first off, this band of rain will affect central portions of the uk, perhaps southern scotland, northern england into wales as well. there'll be some sunshine

across much of the midlands, south—east england and east anglia and some brighter skies across the north—east of scotland too. temperatures around 6 or 7 in the east, but we're back into double figures towards the west — ten degrees for the likes of belfast and glasgow, for instance. later on saturday, heavier rain moves in from the west. the winds are going to pick up as well. that system sweeps its way eastwards into the early hours of sunday, followed by more showers. it isn't going to be cold and frosty as we start sunday morning. we've got too much wind and the showers around from the word go. but let's take a look at sunday in a bit more detail because here is storm isha developing in the atlantic, sweeping its way in. just look at all these isobars across the uk. between the warm front and the cold front. that's where we're going to see really strong gusts, perhaps 70 or 80 miles an hour. so for sunday, some rain initially for northern ireland sweeping into other western parts of britain. there could be a little bit of snow just across the very highest ground for scotland. still chilly air in the far north of scotland, but much milder, 12 or 13. but the real emphasis on sunday, particularly later, is going to be the strength of the wind. we've got amber warnings for storm isha across northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england, western parts of england

and wales and the south—east as well. gusts 70mph, 80mph, enough to cause some significant disruption. big waves, i think, around the coast with this storm system as well. now heading on into monday, we've still got the brisk winds at first. they should ease a little bit through the day, but it is going to be another really windy day, with heavy showers rattling in across the north and the west. should be mostly dry, i think, later on, in the south and the east and temperatures somewhere between about six to 12 degrees for this stage — not quite as mild as sunday. but things are looking unsettled through the week ahead, often pretty windy, showery rain around at times — those temperatures much milder than they have been. bye— bye.

v0|ce—0ver: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. ready to tack in three, two, one. it makes you just feel so powerful and strong. but it also makes you feel free. it has real, tangible benefits for the students that do it. it was pretty rough conditions, like 20 knots, wind against tide. let's keep behind, let's keep behind. the weather was crazy. right? and is the ambulance on the way, is it? the coastguard apparently lost contact with it.