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tv   Verified Live  BBC News  January 23, 2024 4:00pm-4:31pm GMT

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exchanges with hamas. the us and uk carry outjoint strikes against houthi targets in yemen for the second time in two weeks. a man who killed three people in nottingham last year has his manslaughter plea accepted on mental health grounds. and, oppenheimer leads the oscar nominations with 13 — but barbie's margot robbie and director greta gerwig miss out. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live. the israeli prime minister has vowed that israel will not stop fighting in gaza until it achieves "total victory" over hamas. benjamin netanyahu was speaking after the deaths of 2a israeli soldiers in one day —
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the worst loss of life for the israeli army, since its offensive began. 21 of the soldiers were killed inside buildings they were preparing to demolish, moments before an attack by palestinian fighters. hundreds of people have been attending funerals today. reports from israel suggest the government may be considering a new deal with hamas, which could lead to a two—month to a two—month pause in fighting while prisoners are exchanged. intense fighting is continuing in gaza, with the israeli army saying its forces have encircled the southern city of khan younis. the hamas—run health ministry says nearly 200 palestinians have been killed in the past 2a hours. from jerusalem, our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. and a warning, her report contains some distressing images. buried with a prayer and full military honours, this was the first in a series of funerals for 21 soldiers killed in israel's biggest
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single loss since the start of the ground war in gaza. the israeli military says it's still investigating the circumstances. translation: at around 4pm, it seems that a missile - was fired by terrorists at a tank that was guarding troops. in parallel, there was an explosion of two buildings. the structures collapsed as a result, at a time when most of the troops were inside and nearby. the buildings likely exploded as a result of mines that our forces planted inside to destroy them. the main focus of the israeli military offensive remains here, in khan younis, seen as a stronghold of hamas. the city's recently been pounded by israeli strikes, with tanks now close to three of the city's hospitals. israel says it's killed dozens of terrorists here in the past day. but the casualties also include women and children. doctors are struggling.
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translation: i am telling you that the hospital- is on the brink of collapse. we have all collapsed. the hospital is short of medical staff and supplies. nothing is reaching us. here the dead have been buried with little ceremony in the hospital yard because it's too dangerous to head to the cemetery. and as the body bags continue to arrive, israel says it will not stop fighting in gaza until there is an absolute victory. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. noga tarnopolsky is a journalist based injerusalem, and told me how news of the soldiers' deaths is being covered by the israeli media. the coverage has been basically blanket coverage and very, very personal.
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i think it is fair to say that news reports here have been taken over by speaking with the mother of one of the dead soldiers, the cousin, the neighbour. it is all extremely intimate and extremely heartbreaking. there have been relatively few questions. a few questions about why the army did not try to destroy these buildings using air force bombing, instead of actual soldiers who were vulnerable. butjust in the last half hour, the army released an update about what might have happened, and i don't think that is yet the focus. i would like to say, though, obviously the worst day for the israeli army was october 7 itself, when i think close to 200 soldiers were killed. but in the two days since in which the largest number of soldiers have been killed — today and a few weeks ago — in each case they have been, in the end, operational mistakes.
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they have not been direct hamas attacks. this was the result of an anti—tank missile, but simply, clearly, the israeli army should not have left the soldiers vulnerable in this way, so it has been seen to be mishandled. give me a sense of the impact. so many of the soldiers were conscripts. is there any indication in these early hours about whether it is likely to have a real shift change in terms of public mood and public support for operations? it is hard to answer. your correspondent just mentioned how the israeli public response seems to be nuanced. it is nuanced, it is multilevel, and it is confused, in great part because the messages being heard from the government are extremely confusing. for instance, in a period of less than 24 hours, israelis were told directly
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by prime minister netanyahu that he had rejected a hamas offer for a deal for hostages. subsequently, he announced that hamas had made no offer for a deal. third, there were these rumours about a possible israeli deal. now in the last hour or so, we hear that hamas appears to have rejected this supposed israeli offer of a two—month truce in exchange for the hostages. in short, you have in israel a society at that is still shocked, in mourning, very, very, very anguished and tense. really, you hear no other conversation than the conversation about this war. the most recent interesting poll, published by a hebrew university institution yesterday, actually indicated that a tiny
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majority, 51.3% of israelis would favour the sort of endgame deal proposed by us president biden, which involves the release of hostages, and exchange for palestinian prisoners, and a pathway to a palestinian state — i was going to ask you exactly that question. there are elements of this making, this framework of a deal that is still being worked out and contested. but do you think fundamentally there is an appetite in israel for some sort of deal like this? it is hard for me to answer you in the present tense. i was surprised by the poll's results. it is a very serious poll, so i can't dismiss it. i was surprised because my sense is that israelis are still so deeply in kind of shellshock over this unexpected war, and it is now a grinding war. people's children and neighbours and parents are dying every single
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day, and this comes after the attack of october 7. my sense is that people are not really prepared to talk about anything substantial yet. but this poll indicates much more openness, and it may indicate also the sort of shift you were asking about before among israelis. in other words, everyone has been asking, a disaster of this magnitude — to my knowledge, the worst terror attack known in modern history, 1200 people dead in a single terror attack in a single day — how is it going to change israelis and palestinians? i think we are seeing an indication that may show that israelis are beginning to rethink things. a sense of the mood that in israel
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after these developments. palestinians in the southern gaza style that israeli tanks have shot the last row out of khan younis. the hamas—run health ministry claimed that they italy army has fired directly at the nasser hospital in khan younis. that the israeli army has fired directly. nebal farsakh is a spokesperson for the palestine red crescent society, based in ramallah city. she told me what she has been hearing from her team in gaza. yesterday there is escalation in the attacks near al amal hospital, and the palestinian red crescent headquarters in khan younis. the situation remains extremely dangerous, this morning there was direct artillery shelling on the palestinian red crescent headquarters. israeli drones then started firing at the people in al amal hospital. panic and fear among thousands of displaced people who are taking shelter inside our facilities.
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our ambulances are facing significant challenges reaching the wounded people to transport them to the hospitals. now our ems teams are transporting critically wounded people in khan younis to another governate in central gaza because, basically, al amal hospital, along with nasser hospital, the areas are under intense bombing as well as continuous gunfire. i was listening to one doctor this morning describing what it was like in the nasser hospital. what are you hearing about conditions, numbers, medical supplies, the amount of people being treated? basically, all hospitals now are overwhelmed and overcrowded. there is no space for new injuries. they have run out of supplies, extreme shortage of medicines and medical supplies, as well as fuel.
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most importantly, the areas where those hospitals are located are now under continuous bombardment. they have become extremely dangerous. so it is not possible to move the patients into the hospitals, the wounded into the hospitals. that is why our ems teams are now transporting the wounded to al aqsa hospital in central gaza. we have started establishing a medical post in khan younis to start receiving the wounded people and provide medical services as fast as we can, taking into consideration it is not easy at all for our ambulances to move in khan younis, since it is extremely dangerous and under continuous attack.
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earlier this morning our ambulances were trying to reach a number of wounded people in the industrial area in khan younis, and israeli occupation forces opened fire at the ambulances, so they had to go back and were unable to transport the wounded people. the situation in khan younis remains dire, where thousands of people are literally trapped, nowhere to go, intense bombardmentjust happening, and they can't find their way in order to leave khan younis. even if they thought to go to rafah, rafah is already overcrowded with over half a million palestinians fleeing to rafah. what we see is the humanitarian situation just getting worse and worse, since bombardments are happening all the way along from northern gaza to the south.
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we continue to call on the international community to provide the protection for our health care workers, ourfacilities, along with civilians. the palestinian red crescent society talking to me a little bit earlier about what colleagues and gaza were actually saying to them. around the world and across the uk, you will watching bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the deadline to hold an assembly election if no executive is formed in northern ireland will be extended until 8 february. the extension will provide more time, as the dup is yet to decide whether to return to power—sharing. the largest unionist party has been blocking devolved government since february 2022 over post—brexit trade rules for northern ireland. two million people could have their gas and electricity cut off this winter because they cannot afford to top up their prepayment meter. that's according to new research by citizens advice. it comes as a separate report
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suggests millions are living far below the poverty line. the government said it is spending billions on supporting households. a simple blood test could detect alzheimer's up to 15 years before symptoms emerge. swedish trials found the test to be as accurate as painful lumbar punctures, and better than a range of other tests currently being worked on. experts say it could "revolutionise" early diagnosis of the disease. you're live with bbc news. the british prime minister, rishi sunak, says initial evidence from the latest us and british air strikes in yemen suggests all intended targets were destroyed. he told parliament he was not prepared to stand by and allow the houthi movement to endanger shipping in the red sea. houthi officials have said they will respond to the strikes, which targeted eight different locations. these included missile launchers, radarsites and underground weapons stores.
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qatar has said that escalation in the red sea represents a big danger. here's our defence correspondent, jonathan beale. this was the second time that rafjets loaded with guided bombs and flying from cyprus havejoined the us in carrying out air strikes on houthi targets in yemen. the aim, once again, to prevent them from launching drones and missiles, targeting international shipping in the red sea. what the houthis are doing is unacceptable, it's illegal and it's threatening the freedom of navigation. that is why we have taken the action. once again, this was a us—led operation, the bulk of its firepower flying from its aircraft carrier in the region. the impact of the jets' weapons soon visible from the ground. there was a hope that the first set of strikes almost two weeks ago would stop the houthis.
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but they have continued to target international shipping. this video, posted on social media, purports to show a houthi missile hitting a cargo vessel in the red sea earlier this month. they have damaged several, but so far there have been no casualties. washington now says that its focus is on degrading the houthi military capability. but that won't eliminate the threat. are the strikes working? when you say working, are they stopping the houthis? no. are they --oin to continue? yes. the first set of air strikes focused on houthi radar, missile and drone launch sites. these latest ones were carried out at eight different locations, including an underground weapons storage bunker. us special forces have also intercepted weapons at sea.
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they said this dhow contained iranian supplied missile components being smuggled into yemen. unless the houthis back down, the prime minister made clear more military action could follow. we are not seeking a confrontation. we urge the houthis and those who enable them, to stop the illegal and unacceptable attacks. but if necessary, the united kingdom will not hesitate to respond again in self—defence. the question now is, how will the houthis respond? air strikes may have destroyed some of their arsenal, but by no means all. this could all be repeated again, amid continuing fears of conflict spreading in the region. jonathan beale, bbc news. let's head to the us now. the people of new hampshire are voting in a primary election, with just two candidates left for the republican party's presidential nomination. nikki haley is hoping the traditionally moderate new england state will give her a result that allows her to continue in the race —
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but opinion polls indicate donald trump has built up a clear lead. robert moran is a republican strategist and the partner at the brunswick group. i asked him if nikki haley has a realistic path to stay to stay in the contest. i think it depends on two things — the level of independents turning out in new hampshire today, and the work that the governor has put in on her behalf. if they are able to drive out independent turnout on her behalf, then she has a shot. if not, no. if it is a knockout, what does it actually say about the republican party that we are left with no candidate that is directly taking him on on all of those things? january 6, all of those legal cases. nikki haley has ducked most of that. what does that say about
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the republican party in 202a? we have two big potential primaries on the horizon here that could be decisive, nevada on february 8 and south carolina, february 24. if she surprises and keeps going, those could be critical to her efforts. but essentially his competitors at the primary have not argued with him on policy. they have made other arguments in terms of sort of temperament and electability, etc. and there has been some concern in some quarters on the republican side about is this the horse we want to ride into november for a rematch? or do we need somebody that can appeal to a wider swathe of america? that is being adjudicated today and possibly in other races later, depending on the outcome.
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you told our producer that nikki haley mightjust stick it out as long as possible in the hope that the legal challenges, that so far have probably helped him, may become more hazardous in the weeks and months ahead. do you think that is a possibility? i think it is a possibility, if you just play out the cards. it is a viable strategy, waiting to see how all these things sort of pan out. she could sort of not suspend her campaign, keep going, collecting delegates here and there, and then see what happens. you raise a good point. essentially, trump was in trouble in the republican party a year, year and a half ago, with the electorate because of all of the factors involved in his loss in the last election. but then his legal problems actually created a rally effect that
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pushed republican voters, especially conservative voters, back into his column, because they felt like he was being persecuted. that is what we're seeing here. if we hadn't had some of these indictments and legal problems, i suspect we would be having a very different conversation right now. let's return to the oscars. as expected, barbie and oppenheimer have been catching the headlines. among films nominated in the "documentary film feature" category is 20 days in mariupol. it features a team of ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged southern city in the wake of russia's invasion, struggling to continue their work documenting the war�*s atrocities. let's take a look. the war has begun and we have to tell its story. this is painful to watch. gunshots
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but it must be painful to watch. live now to the yevhen maloletka, in yerevan, in armenia. yevhen is the award winning photographer and a part of the team who was trapped in the city of mariupol for those 20 days, with the team working on the documentary, risking their lives. what was it like to hear your film being nominated? it is what was it like to hear your film being nominated?— being nominated? it is really excitin: , being nominated? it is really exciting, because _ being nominated? it is really exciting, because it - being nominated? it is really exciting, because it is - being nominated? it is really exciting, because it is such l being nominated? it is reallyl exciting, because it is such an important, not only personally for our team, important, not only personally for ourteam, but important, not only personally for our team, but for all ukrainians.
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therefore for the journalistic society it is so important because through the eyes ofjournalists who witness and document these war crimes. what you find in the movie, it is such an important piece of work that should show what everybody what russia is doing in our land. you were those journalists in that team. everybody else was trapped on the outside of mariupol. it was an incredible story. i remember reading all those pieces, seeing the pictures, reading the descriptions. do you think the film conveys all of the horrors of what i was like being trapped there in the city? unfortunately we would like to stay longer and fill them more, but we are limited. we would like to
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document as much as possible, but the limitation was huge. you need to recharge your batteries somewhere in a city where there is no electricity. you should find food, like other mariupol people. luckily we were prepared a bit. this is such a hard time to pass all of this. these images which are in the movie, it shows really horror. all the tragedy of that time. unfortunately, the war is going on and it is happening nowadays. you the war is going on and it is ha enin: nowada s. ., . happening nowadays. you referenced ower. i happening nowadays. you referenced power. i remember— happening nowadays. you referenced power. i remember reading - happening nowadays. you referenced power. i remember reading within . happening nowadays. you referenced| power. i remember reading within the pcs descriptions of actually doctors
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allowing the power from the hospitals, allowing you as journalists to send your reports. every element of actually getting the stories are also difficult and pitiless as well, wasn't it? actually, yes. we built a relationship with doctors and they understood our role. the? relationship with doctors and they understood our role. they understood wh it is understood our role. they understood why it is important _ understood our role. they understood why it is important to _ understood our role. they understood why it is important to now. _ understood our role. they understood why it is important to now. that - understood our role. they understood why it is important to now. that is - why it is important to now. that is why it is important to now. that is why we were able to document there when we were present at the hospital and sleeping on the floor with the patients in the corridors, just in our sleeping bags, trying to be with the people. fix, our sleeping bags, trying to be with the --eole. �* . , ., ~ our sleeping bags, trying to be with the neale, �* ., , ., . ., the people. a final question. we are to three years _ the people. a final question. we are to three years into _ the people. a final question. we are to three years into this _ the people. a final question. we are to three years into this war. - the people. a final question. we are to three years into this war. in - to three years into this war. in terms of today's nomination, how important is it that not only the story gets out fully, but people actually realise this is a war that
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is still going on. in a sense, for the west, for it ukraine, it still needs to be one of all of the difficulties that we see week to week. ~ . . r' difficulties that we see week to week. ~ . ., ,~' ., difficulties that we see week to week. ~ . ., a ., ., ., ., week. we are asked how the war looks like. it is week. we are asked how the war looks like- it is rare — week. we are asked how the war looks like. it is rare when _ week. we are asked how the war looks like. it is rare when you _ week. we are asked how the war looks like. it is rare when you see _ week. we are asked how the war looks like. it is rare when you see the - like. it is rare when you see the enemy tanks in front of your camera while they are shooting in front of the buildings. still, i have these images in front of my eyes, and still i have a lot of images which i am not able to document because i seen from afar. they still stick in my mind. seen from afar. they still stick in m mind. ~ , ., ., , my mind. will be out of time, but congratulations _ my mind. will be out of time, but congratulations and _ my mind. will be out of time, but congratulations and thanks - my mind. will be out of time, but congratulations and thanks so - my mind. will be out of time, but l congratulations and thanks so much for talking to us. good afternoon.
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more heavy rain and strengthening winds for the rest of today as storm jocelyn rolls in from the west. the winds are likely to worsen again overnight tonight. of course, all of this just serves to hamper the clear up after storm isha from sunday night with trees and structures already weakened and the ground already pretty saturated as well. so worsening conditions through today and then tonight, severe gales developing in the far north and the west as an amber weather warning in force. but for the rest of today, wind warnings come into force for much of the northern half of the uk. heavy rain across north west england, southwest scotland, across wales. some spots could see as much as 60 millimetres of rainfall, blustery showers in the far north and the west. later, it's largely dry in the south. in the east, it's very mild. there'll be a lot of clouds, some outbreaks of drizzle, and the wind gusts will pick up as well. so widely gusts of a0 to 50 miles an hour, irish sea coast, gusts of up to 65 miles an hour. and here is that amber weather warning area across northern and western parts of scotland. now here we could see gusts of 75 to 80 miles an hour.
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the area of low pressure isn't quite as deep as it was with storm isha, but again, it could have some severe impacts. it's following the same sort of track, just passing to the north of scotland there. blustery showers throughout the night. that amber weather warning is in place until 8:00 tomorrow morning. still a very windy start to the day. so this is how we start off wednesday. still warnings in force into the afternoon for the strength of the winds across much of the northern half of the uk. there will be some sunshine but also some blustery showers just moving into northern ireland and northwest scotland in particular, but many places staying dry. the winds moderating as we head through the afternoon, but turning cloudier across the far south and the west with some outbreaks of light, patchy rain and drizzle. it's still mild for the time of year, but temperatures are lower than on tuesday. and then as we head through wednesday night and into thursday, you can see this warm front just gradually pushing northwards and eastwards. it's likely to bring a lot of cloud around, outbreaks of light, patchy rain and drizzle here. but the rain will be heavier across northern ireland
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into north—west england and south—west scotland, again falling on pretty saturated ground. the winds will pick up, but it won't be as windy as it is today. and then on friday, it's a chillier start, but a much more settled day of weather for most.
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