iran's president has vowed to punish israel for an air strike in damascus that killed five iranian revolutionary guards. syrian activists say at least ten people were killed in the blast. norfolk police refers itself to an independent watchdog for not responding to an emergency call from a house where a man, woman and two young girls were later found dead. and a cocker spaniel named ariel successfully has her two extra legs removed months after being dumped outside a supermarket in wales. hello, welcome to bbc news. saturday has seen missile attacks in syria, lebanon, iraq and yemen — fuelling fears of the war in gaza triggering a much wider regional conflict. iran's president has vowed to punish israel foran airstrike on the syrian capital that killed five members of tehran�*s

elite revolutionary guards. ebrahim raisi promised revenge attacks, saying iran will not leave israel's crimes unanswered. syrian activists say at least ten people were killed in the strike, which destroyed a building used as a base by iranian military advisers in damascus. israel has not commented. here are two witnesses describing what happened. translation: l was - using my asthma inhaler. my little granddaughter, who is three years old, was sitting beside me. i swear, ijumped and the inhaler hopped too. i tried to protect the little one like this. during the earthquake, it didn't happen like that. three huge sounds shook the whole area. within seconds, israeli missiles descended in a terrifying manner with a sound beyond description. a building collapsed instantly, cars were shattered, buildings demolished. it is a crime of the most heinous kind. we'll get more on that incident shortly,

but it comes as hamas health officials in gaza say the overall number of palestinians killed in the war so far is approaching 25,000. israel continues to bombard hamas, which is designated a terror organisation by the uk government. that's despite growing pressure on prime minister benjamin netanyahu to find a peaceful solution. these pictures are from a protest by israelis in haifa a few hours ago. 0ur middle east correspondent, mark lowen, reports from jerusalem. in gaza's skies, where bombs have rained down, not an israeli attack, but an israeli appeal — for information on the hostages seized by hamas. around 130 are still not home. how many are dead is unknown. the subtext from israel — "this is why we're still on the offensive." but in israel, at the prime minister's residence, angerfrom families of the missing who want him to do

more to get them back. polls show most think benjamin netanyahu should be prioritising their release. many here still feel failed by a state created to protect them. translation: | want to - have a country that cares for us, because our prime minister and the war cabinet doesn't. splits have spread to the top. gadi eisenkot of the war cabinet accused mr netanyahu of dishonesty by vowing total victory over hamas, adding that he was responsible for leaving israel open to its attack. a war cabinet at war with itself spells trouble for israel's leader. benjamin netanyahu's growing unpopularity at home is increasingly echoed abroad — publicly rebutting the us by rejecting a two—state solution with a future palestinian state, and refusing allies' calls to ease the offensive in gaza. israel's great political survivor is looking isolated and vulnerable. after speaking to israel's prime minister,

president biden tried to sound positive. could a possible future demilitarised palestinian state be discussed 7 there are a number of types of two—state solutions. there's a number of countries that are members of the un that still don't have their own military. a number of states that have limitations. so, i think there's ways in which this could work. fears continue over the spillover of this war. and today, it hit damascus, where syria and iran say an israeli airstrike killed members of the iranian revolutionary guard. israel doesn't comment on its attacks abroad. and so, as israeli troops pushed deeper into southern gaza, fires are being lit in different parts of this tinderbox region. and as the conflict escalates, the question is how far the flames will spread. mark lowen, bbc news, jerusalem. elsewhere in the region, an american official said a missile or rocket attack had injured us

personnel at a base in iraq. the us also said it had targeted a missile the iran—backed houthis in yemen were aiming at shipping in the red sea. and an air strike on southern lebanon has killed a member of the powerful armed group hezbollah and another lebanese national. israel has been accused of targeting hezbollah and its ally hamas, let's cross now to nomi bar—yaacov, who is associate fellow of the international security programme at chatham house. thank you so much forjoining us. can we get your reaction on this latest attack in damascus? yes. can we get your reaction on this latest attack in damascus? yes, i think it is a _ latest attack in damascus? yes, i think it is a further _ latest attack in damascus? yes, i think it is a further escalation - latest attack in damascus? yes, i think it is a further escalation of. think it is a further escalation of the war. at some point, unless there is a comprehensive end to the war, a ceasefire, a release of the hostages and a plan for an endgame ending with a two state solution living side by side in peace, we will reach a point of no return where the

escalation is no longer under control. figs escalation is no longer under control. �* , escalation is no longer under control. n escalation is no longer under control. a ., control. as you said, there have been multiple _ control. as you said, there have been multiple strikes _ control. as you said, there have been multiple strikes on - control. as you said, there have been multiple strikes on both i control. as you said, there have i been multiple strikes on both sides of the conflict since the 7th of october, where is this going? if 0ctober, where is this going? if this is across region roxy war, what is your estimation for the rest of the world?— the world? for the rest of the world, there _ the world? for the rest of the world, there are _ the world? for the rest of the world, there are always - the world? for the rest of the j world, there are always ripple effects of war. we can already see that the economy is struggling in the region. those effects have been crystal—clear. i think there is an issue with the actors. it will be hard for governments to keep the lid on the substate actors the longer the war in gaza goes on. the more deaths we see, the more horrors we see, the worse it will be for the region and for the world. [30 see, the worse it will be for the region and for the world. do you think there _ region and for the world. do you think there are _ region and for the world. do you think there are any _ region and for the world. do you think there are any chances - region and for the world. do you think there are any chances of. think there are any chances of reaching any agreement at the

moment, in the situation between israel and gaza, by diplomatic means? i israel and gaza, by diplomatic means? ~ , ., , means? i think it is the only diplomatic— means? i think it is the only diplomatic means _ means? i think it is the only diplomatic means as - means? i think it is the only diplomatic means as the - means? i think it is the only | diplomatic means as the only means? i think it is the only - diplomatic means as the only way forward. it is very clear that defeating hamas entirely is not a realistic goal. it's very clear that there is a direct conflict between combat in gaza and the release of that 136 hostages were left there. if israel would like the hostages back alive, then the only way to move forward is to reach a diplomatic solution. the only issue with that solution is it is notjust a question of how to end the war and get aid into gaza, get the human that aryan situation above water. it's an absolute catastrophe at the moment. it is a matter of knowing what the endgame is altogether, because unless the endgame is known,

management isn't going to work any more. have seen too many years of management of conflict. that is why i think it will be important for the arab peace initiative 2002, the late king of saudi arabia's plan which was signed and endorsed by not only all the arab states but by 57 muslim states. that is how to move forward. that is how israel could regain its security. there is no chance to have a secure israeli state unless the endgame is crystal—clear. a secure israeli state unless the endgame is crystal-clear.- endgame is crystal-clear. what countries have _ endgame is crystal-clear. what countries have leveraged - endgame is crystal-clear. what countries have leveraged in - endgame is crystal—clear. what countries have leveraged in this situation and indeed international organisations like the un, can they change anything at this stage? i’m change anything at this stage? i'm not sure change anything at this stage? i“n not sure that the un can help with the humanitarian situation. in terms

of leveraged and influence, you have the us and the arab league states, working together, especiallyjordan and egypt, the two countries that border with israel and that have been working hard with qatar, who have leveraged over hamas and host its leadership. unless you have them and saudi arabia, you need them to work together with the united states to ensure that the war ends, that elections are held in israel and in palestine. you will need a certain transition period with the support of those countries, but then it should be a very clear benchmark with a clear timeline. so that everyone knows how this is going to

end. unless you are going to have a palestinian viable contiguous state between the west bank and gaza, side by side with a sovereign democratic israeli state, you are not going to get peace. we israeli state, you are not going to get peace-— get peace. we will have to leave it there. get peace. we will have to leave it there- thank _ get peace. we will have to leave it there. thank you _ get peace. we will have to leave it there. thank you very _ get peace. we will have to leave it there. thank you very much. - get peace. we will have to leave it | there. thank you very much. thank ou there. thank you very much. thank you kindly- — norfolk police has referred itself to an independent watchdog, saying it failed to respond to an emergency call from a house where a family was later found dead. the bodies of a man, a woman and two young girls were discovered in cossie, near norwich, on friday morning. sam read has more. 2a hours on, there is still a huge police presence on this small estate near norwich. the man who died has been named locally as bartlomiej kuczynski. the two young girls also lived in the house. the 36—year—old woman was related but didn't live there full time. police said today a 999 call was made by a man inside the property at around 6am yesterday morning. no one was deployed.

0fficers then discovered the bodies around an hour and a quarter later after another call from a member of the public. norfolk police has referred itself to the independent police watchdog. more than 2a hours on, people here are still in disbelief. we got an email from the school last night, saying that one of the kids was at the school. so we thought it best to tell my seven—year—old boy about what happened this morning and, yeah, he was a bit surprised, his reaction, really, he was a bit shocked. yeah, the guy had gone missing before christmas, so the police brought his picture around just before christmas to see if we'd seen where he'd gone and see if we could catch him on our camera. a local church opened today to allow people to reflect as the community here still tries to work out how four lives have been lost. sam read, bbc news, near norwich.

with me is our correspondent, graham satchell, who's following this story. do we know much more about that 999 call that was made? i do we know much more about that 999 call that was made?— call that was made? i think it is a siunificant call that was made? i think it is a significant development - call that was made? i think it is a significant development in - call that was made? i think it is a significant development in this i significant development in this story today. the police said this morning that they had received a call on friday at 6am, made by a man in the property where subsequently four people were found dead. critically, they didn't respond to that call. so the obvious question is, why not? if they had responded to it, could this tragedy have turned out differently? i should say at this stage that the key thing is we don't know the contents of that call that was made at 6am, so it could be that there was nothing in there that called the —— that because the police any alarm. when the second call came in at 7am, they responded immediately, they were

there within 15 minutes and the bodies were found. there may have been red flags about this property, if you like, because on december 1a police were called to the same property, had their having been reports of a missing person. there is a lot for the independent 0ffice is a lot for the independent office for police conduct to ask questions about here. for police conduct to ask questions about here-— about here. they will now get involved- _ about here. they will now get involved. do _ about here. they will now get involved. do we _ about here. they will now get involved. do we know- about here. they will now get involved. do we know much l about here. they will now get - involved. do we know much about the process? involved. do we know much about the rocess? , , , ., process? they will be focusing on two key things- — process? they will be focusing on two key things. the _ process? they will be focusing on two key things. the first - process? they will be focusing on two key things. the first is - process? they will be focusing on two key things. the first is the i two key things. the first is the call at 6am. they will want to listen to recordings of it, they will want to establish exactly what was said in that cool, and then make a judgment about whether the response from the police was adequate at 6am. there are lots of things we still don't know about this, so what was happening in the house at six again, was everybody at 6am? we still don't know those details. postmortem examination have not yet been done. it feels like there is a critical hour here where

if there had been intervention, things may have been different. the investigators will be looking at whether flags were raised when the initial call came in. was there a referral back to december 1a to say, you have been to this place before, you have been to this place before, you should take this seriously? they want to establish a lot of key things to see whether the police responded adequately.— things to see whether the police responded adequately. finally, do we know much about _ responded adequately. finally, do we know much about where _ responded adequately. finally, do we know much about where this - responded adequately. finally, do we i know much about where this happened, the community? it is know much about where this happened, the community?— the community? it is a small estate on the outskirts _ the community? it is a small estate on the outskirts of— the community? it is a small estate on the outskirts of norwich. - on the outskirts of norwich. neighbours have been devastated by everything that has happened. just not... a small community, a quiet community. the man was 45 years old, the woman who was 36, didn't live in the woman who was 36, didn't live in the property. she was visiting but was a relative. and then two young girls to stop a very quiet family. we'll have to leave it there. thank

you. the metropolitan police says it's concerned for the welfare of a mother whose newborn baby was found in a shopping bag by the side of a road in east london. officers say the girl, who has been given the temporary name elsa, is in good health, despite the freezing temperatures. she was found by a dog walker less than an hour after she'd been born. felix tshisekedi has been sworn in for a second term as president of the democratic republic of congo. he took the oath of office in a packed stadium in the capital, kinshasa. heads of state from across africa were invited to the ceremony. the opposition has refused to recognise mr tshisekedi's election victory last month, describing the result as a sham. bbc africa's emery makumeno was at the ceremony and filed this report. there are tens of thousands of people here in this huge stadium in kinshasa, and a dozen heads of state as the inauguration takes place. the venue has been packed

for hours, with singing and dancing as the crowds wait for the president. he secured a second term in office after winning last month's presidential election with 73% of the vote. a result which the opposition has rejected, citing massive irregularities. one of the opponents challenged the result by filing a petition with the constitutional court, but the court have upheld the victory and rejected claims that the poll was rigged. even today, as the president is sworn in, the runner—up and third—placed candidate have called for protests to demand an annulment of the result and a rerun of the elections. police in kinshasa have banned any such protests. more demonstrations against right—wing extremism are being held in towns and cities across germany. the protests have been gathering

momentum, over the last week. they're a response to reports that some far—right politicians had met in november to discuss the deportation of millions of people with immigrant backgrounds. a fire broke out on friday night in a boys dormitory in china. state media said the head of the school had been detained, and the authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. fatal incidents of this kind are not uncommon in china because of the lax enforcement of building and safety standards there. the watchdog, 0fcom, is set to publish options for reforming royal mail services in the uk, which could include scrapping deliveries on saturdays. the document, which is expected to be released next week, will include evidence on how the postal service might need to evolve to meet customer needs.

earlier, i spoke to our business correspondent, esyllt carr, and asked her about the prospect of changes being brought in. well, this issue of scrapping saturday deliveries is something royal mail has raised before, and that is because a number of letters being delivered has fallen significantly. royal mail says the network was designed for 20 billion letters a year and that has now fallen to around 7 billion a year, and it expects it to fall even further over the next few years. delivering six days a week is something that the royal mail has to do as part of its universal service obligation, and that is an agreement that can only be changed by parliament. that was last updated in 2011. but 0fcom has been looking at this and says it wants to look at evidence to see what changes could be made to bring the service in line with the way customers are behaving now. it is expected to set out a series of options next week which could include changing the number of days royal mail has to deliver and it says it will be

asking for views on those. royal mail has made its view on these issues very clear. earlier this month in a letter to mps, the chief executive of the company that owns royal mail, international distribution services, said that maintaining the current network is unsustainable. royal mail faces huge financial difficulties. it posted a loss of £390 million for the first half of this financial year. it says reform is urgent. but of course, ultimately, whatever 0fcom comes up with next week, this decision will lie with the government. pro—palestinian protesters repeatedly interrupted a speech by the shadow foreign secretary, david lammy, at a conference in london earlier. he was stopped three times by protesters who criticised the labour party's response to the israel—gaza war. after the first protesters were escorted away by security, more people in the audience stood up to launch verbal attacks.

the moment when the patient either begins to recover or begins to slip away... shouting you should be ashamed of yourself! blood _ you should be ashamed of yourself! blood on _ you should be ashamed of yourself! blood on your hands! blood on your hands! _ blood on your hands! blood on your hands! ., blood on your hands! blood on your hands! . ., ., ., ~ ., hands! change through at work, not rotest, hands! change through at work, not protest. my — hands! change through at work, not protest, my friend. _ hands! change through at work, not protest, my friend. we _ hands! change through at work, not protest, my friend. we all— hands! change through at work, not protest, my friend. we all want - hands! change through at work, not protest, my friend. we all want a i protest, my friend. we all want a sustainable ceasefire. david lammy being interrupted by protesters there. a us village has long been known as little palestine. bridgeview in chicago, illinois, has shown various forms of support for palestinians in gaza. billboards and signs all around the area call for a ceasefire. many members of the palestinian community there say they also bear the brunt of the current conflict. the bbc�*s sally nabil reports.

this is little palestine, or bridgeview, a suburb of chicago, illinois. a large palestinian community lives here, and their presence is visible. they are thousands of miles away from home, but closely tied to the ongoing fighting in gaza. this is the sign, this is the famous sign. since the fighting broke out in gaza, laila has had this sign in her garden. shortly after putting it up, laila, a us—born mother of three, received death threats in two consecutive letters. the biggest change is not being able to go outside whenever i want to go outside. sometimes... sometimes i get scared that maybe a person will come and try to take one of my kids just to get back at me. i've explained to my kids, if you see somebody trying

to hurt me, you run back into the house and don't try to save me. just run back. because it happened to wadea, so it could happen to me. wadea was a six—year—old palestinian—american who lost his life last october after being stabbed 26 times. the suspect, his landlord, is now to be tried for murder and hate crimes. wadea was 0dai's only child. it's here where he used to sleep when he visited his father's place on weekends. 0dai cannot get over the shock. translation: i still hear his voice. he used to come on saturdays, and up till now, i still stand next to the window waiting for him. i know he won't show up, but itjust relieves me to wait. but it's not all tragedy

for palestinians here. over the past couple of months, a few support rallies took place in chicago, where various communities came together to call for an end to the war. for palestine support rallies, these are absolutely the biggest that chicago has ever seen, especially other oppressed communities — the black community in the united states, latino community, other immigrant communities, the native communities here, asian, have always been on the side of the palestinian people. back at laila's place, the family tells me they hate to live in fear. even if the war is over, they will always feel bitter when they remember how it meant to be uncomfortable at their own home. sally nabil, bbc news, bridgeview, illinois. the royal navy is investigating a collision between two british warships at a port in bahrain.

footage posted on social media appears to show one of the minesweepers reversing into the other. officials say no—one was hurt in the incident, but there was some damage to the ships. the vessels are based in the middle east to ensure the safe flow of trade through the region. this is ariel, a puppy born with six legs, who's captured the hearts of hundreds of people. the 11—week—old spaniel was found abandoned in a car park in wales. she's now had surgery to remove her extra limbs, thanks to wellwishers from around the world, who raised £15,000 for her treatment. aruna iyenger has the story. meet ariel, who's captured the hearts of so many. she's had complex surgery to remove two extra legs, but is taking it all in her stride. surgeons at langford vets in bristol managed to save all four of ariel's normal legs.

so she actually had a duplication of her pelvis. so she had an extra pelvis with an extra limb. on that extra limb she also had two additional paws, so she was quite remarkable looking. we've managed to amputate the limb at the base of that additional leg. so now, you wouldn't notice that she had anything wrong with her at all. ariel was named after disney's little mermaid character because her partially fused back legs resembled a mermaid's tail. this video was taken before the operation. greenacres animal rescue in haverfordwest cared for her after she was found. they'll be looking for a new home for ariel. but now, after the operation, she's travelling back to wales, to a foster family and, hopefully, for a few doggy treats. aruna iyenger, bbc news. fantastic that she is looking so well, and all those people raise

that money for her operation. you can read more about that story on our website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. storm isha looks to be one of the strongest storms of the 23/24 season. it is likely to lead to transport disruption as well as probably damaged power networks. here is the rapidly deepening area of low pressure travelling beneath a powerful atlantic jet stream, and it's this combination that rapidly strengthens this area of low pressure. severe gales will be widespread, and so will a threat of disruption. we'll take a look at that in a bit more detail injust a moment. but first of all, this night, a band of rain pushes eastwards, follows by showers. the south—westerly winds bringing us relatively mild air. 4 to 7 degrees celsius, so nowhere near as cold a night as it was for many of the nights that we had last week. a mild start then to sunday, sunshine to start the day in northern and eastern scotland and across most

of england and wales. northern ireland sees outbreaks of rain turning heavy quickly and this wet and windy weather will then spread its way northwards and eastwards. the south—southwesterly winds bringing very mild air. the mild air will set off a thaw of the lying snow, which, combined with the heavy rain, could bring some concerns with the localised flooding. however, it's the strength of the winds sunday evening, sunday night and into the early hours of monday morning that are cause for concern. storm isha will bring gusts of wind of around 60 to 70 miles an hour quite widely across western areas, maybe 80 miles an hour for northwest wales and perhaps parts of northern ireland. but the strongest winds will be going across scotland, where we could see gusts reaching 85 miles an hour across the north and west, maybe even a little bit stronger than that. now, the amber warning in scotland for storm isha is in the highest impact column weather—wise. if the likelihood or confidence grows, then we may well see a red weather warning follow. so, in other words, stay in touch with the latest forecasts because there could be updates to the weather warnings as we go through sunday. it then gets very windy for a time sunday night across parts

of the coast of southeast england, that will likely disrupt the ferries. and then from monday, we're looking at a very blustery day. the strong winds very slow to ease down. a day of sunshine and heavy thundery showers. some of the showers turning to snow across the high scottish mountains. it will feel a colder kind of day with temperatures ranging between eight and 11 degrees celsius. it then looks like we'll see more rain come our way for tuesday. wednesday, drier and sunnier. in the short term, though, please pay attention to the warnings for storm isha.

this is bbc news. the headlines: iran's president has vowed to punish israel for an air strike in damascus that killed five iranian revolutionary guards. syrian activists say ten people were killed altogether in the blast. norfolk police has referred itself to an independent watchdog for not responding to an emergency call from a house where a man, woman and two young girls were laterfound dead. police forcibly entered the home near norwich on friday after a call from a concerned member of the public. british communications regulator 0fcom reviews whether to allow royal mail to give up its �*universal service obligation' — which could mean an end to saturday postal deliveries and standard pricing for all parts of the uk. and a cocker spaniel called ariel has successfully had her two extra legs removed, months after being dumped outside a supermarket in wales.