that comes as israel orders a plan to evacuate rafah in the south of the gaza strip, ahead of an expected ground invasion. and — although the votes continue to be counted in pakistan — both candidates have claimed victory in thursday's general elections. hello i'm... we start with a number of developments in the middle east. on friday, israel intercepted dozens of rockets fired from lebanon. the iran—backed his brother movement said the strikes were in response to attacks in its south. meanwhile, israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu ordered the military to plan evacuations from the city of rafah, ahead of an expanded ground offensive in its war in gaza. of the nearly two million people who live in gaza, more than 80% are now displaced. the majority have gone to rafah. palestinian authorities say that two years ago, rafah�*s population was an estimated 260 thousand people.

it now stands at one point four million. rafah is the last major city in gaza that israeli troops have yet to enter. the announcement drew international concern, with un chief antonio guterres calling it "alarming," writing on x that �*such an action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences." the white house warned it would not support operations in the city, calling an unplanned invasion a "disaster." our international editor jeremy bowen has this report, and a warning — it has some distressing images from the start. israel bombed rafah again. a family ran to get medical aid for a child who was already dead. round 1.2 million palestinian civilians have crammed into rafah. this man said thousands more would be killed, if the israelis moved

their troops in. "the kids can't sleep," he said. "they are terrified and so are adults." hunger and illness are spreading in makeshift camps flooded with pools of sewage. the lines of plastic tents go on for miles. the aid operation is led by unrwa, the beleaguered un agency for palestinian refugees. it says an israeli offensive into rafah would have terrible consequences. such a military operation would add an additional apocalyptic layer in the gaza strip. apocalyptic? that is a very strong word. it's a strong word, but if you talk about already 5% of the population having been either killed or injured and then you conduct a military operation in this place, you can only add an additional disastrous layer of tragedy, and this needs absolutely to be avoided. unrwa has sacked a dozen

employees israel says took part in the seventh october attacks. after four months of war, the stresses are very evident. there are the very serious allegations hanging over this agency, unrwa, who are the main provider of humanitarian aid to the people of gaza, and there is israel's seeming determination to extend the military offensive into the town of rafah, despite the opposition of its most important ally, the us, who say that innocent civilians have suffered enough. those comments will only deepen the suspicions of unrwa among government supporters, like this retired general the former deputy head of the armed forces. unrwa is a terrorist organisation. - we will find a way with our civil administration to give the people medicine, food, etc. that is an occupation. the other possibility

is to give it back to the hamas and unrwa, and to face again another seven october. we will never agree to it. he went off to join protestors, mostly religious nationalists, whose views on gaza are shared by many, if not most israelis. urging the government to ignore its critics, including the world court, which is investigating plausible accusations it says of genocide in gaza, as well asjoe biden. one of the placards said "it's simple. them or us". jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. and here in washington — presidentjoe biden said the us would not approve of a military operation in rafah unless civilians were given proper consideration. mr biden also gave his sharpest criticism of israel since it launched its gaza offensive. i am of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in the gaza strip

has been over the top. it's emerged that some israeli soldiers have been posting content online showing palestinian detainees — which legal experts say could be in breach of international law. bbc verify s merlyn thomas has more. since israel's military response to the october the 7th attacks, our investigation has found several videos on social media sites like tiktok and youtube all leading to the accounts of israeli soldiers. this is the front line of israel's war with gaza. solders have been documenting their time in an active war zone, posting content on social media. some of those videos show palestinian detainees. we've identified several of the soldiers uploading these

videos and the locations they were posted from in gaza. this is one of the videos we've analysed. it was uploaded onto youtube by an idf soldier. detainees stripped to their underwear in a sports stadium in northern gaza. some kneeling and blindfolded. one of the soldiers in the video is a lieutenant colonel, which we identified by the insignia on his uniform, suggesting he is aware that filming is taking place. he also uploaded another video where a soldier is seen interrogating a man stripped to his underwear and bleeding. he is then walked through the streets of gaza barefoot. the idf said the soldier who posted the video has been fired, and that the detainee has been released. we've shown this footage to human rights experts, who say the filming of detainees and publication of such videos may breach international law. warfare in the information age gives us unique access to the front line. but for some, this conflict is simply a backdrop for their social media content.

we asked the israel defence force for its comment about each of these incidents, but it hasn't come back to us yet. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu remains adamant the war can only end if hamas is eliminated — and that means tackling four hamas battalions in rafah. i spoke to former israeli defence forces spokesman liutena nt colonel jonathan conricus about israel's strategy. i want to start with that national security memorandum. it would mean that within 45 days, israel would have to sign off saying that it is using us weapons in accordance with international law and also that it is not blocking the entry of any us aid. will israel be able to do so? it's an interesting move. i think politically driven from the us perspective. i think that those are the restrictions and the limitations that existed before that the us has on providing military aid, so i don't really think there's anything new of substance. of course, the declaration is of importance and of course israel abides by international

law and israel has been providing tens of thousands of trucks going into gaza of humanitarian aid. so i don't think it would be difficult for israel to sign off on it. you said it came about because of political pressure. there a lot of members of congress were very concerned about the current operation in gaza. if you look at the numbers and you know them well yourself, of course more than 27,000 killed, and now, according to the hamas run health ministry in gaza, so gaza health officials about 1.7 million people displaced, and many aid organisations have set the flow of aid has not been forthcoming and not been enough to make sure that people are supplied. yes, well there is a problem with aid. one problem is that thomas is stealing it. harbouring it for themselves. ——one problem is that hamas is stealing it. harbouring it for themselves. or selling it at horrible three

or 400% price to gazans. even when it is labelled, intended for aid, not to be sold. yes, there are problems, but i think israel has been providing both through egypt first and also through israel, as 136 israelis are being held in gaza. humanitarian aid is going in. yes, the hostages are inside gaza, yet israel is still providing humanitarian aid and there is many in israel, including the families who think that that is an absolute travesty. we'll come back to hostages we will ask about them in a moment, but the other piece of news we saw was the prime minister has ordered an evacuation of rafah. possibly preparing for a ground invasion. rafah is where so many gazans went to at the beginning of this operation. aerial footage shows that at least half of the buildings in gaza are destroyed. where are they supposed to go? ideally they would've gone where israel asked them to go in the early stages of the war when i was still in uniform. to rafa h ? no, to a humanitarian zone that israel asked to have in the northwestern

part of khan younis. that is where israel asked to have a humanitarian zone. nearly two million people? it would've been much better than being in rafah and khan younis. israel said we are not going to strike there because hamas has no infrastructure there, so it would be the safest place to be. arguably much better than being in rafah. how can be israelis, the idf carry forth in operation at this point looking at the situation in rafah. you know there are tens of thousands of people sheltering there, and there is not much international support either. president biden has said the israeli operation has gone over the top. what do you make of that? i think it is very interesting and i think it will be very interesting to discover when, not if, when israeli troops get to those tunnels underneath rafah, when they get

the hands and see, and we will have cameras there to show what the world what went on for many, many years, from egypt into gaza. it will be very interesting to see because i read, i see a lot of pressure, us, egyptian, and also european into "don't go to rafah". frankly, i don't think... it is a question of what it takes to get there. yes, but frankly i don't think the egyptians are very concerned about the fate of gazans. they are concerned about other things. what israel is concerned about, and i don't think there is much flexibility is to get rid of these tunnels, because as long as they are open, hamas or any other terrorist organisation will have the ability to flow weapons into gaza again. and that is something that israel cannot allow. i mentioned i wanted to ask about the fate of the hostages. he spoke to a person yesterday who has a family member held in captivity and also two family members who were killed as well. i just want to play you up brief clip of what she said. i have to believe that bringing them home is the only way forward because it is the only way that we as a country move forward.

this was a social contract that we would be protected by our government and military and it was broken on the seventh. and in order to begin repairing that, we need to see every single hostage come home. what do you think of that? do yu think the israeli government is putting this stated aim of eliminating hamas about what the hostages families have said they want to see, which is a cease—fire and bringing hostages home? i can feel the pain. i cannot imagine what they are going through. i would have been very happy to have seen the idf successfully getting hostages out, rescuing them. unfortunately, the israeli government is left in a very difficult situation. i don't think that it would be possible for israel to accept the outrageous terms that hamas has put forward. or using the pain and the suffering of these families in order to make outlandish demands. they know that israel isn't going to end the war. that's the view from the israeli side.

i have also been speaking to noora erakat a human rights attorney and a palestinian american professor. what do you think an evacuation of rafah would mean for those who have set up there? we know as we were just discussing, there are tens of thousands of civilians there at the moment. a very devastating day. as much as it is not surprising because israel has made its intent clear, it's war cabinet has from the very beginning and the first week of october seven has told us that it's goal is to depopulate gaza. they have equated devastation of hamas — which they cannot complete the military — with the depopulation of the entire gaza strip. they moved them below the line from the north to below the line. they moved them to khan younis. they did not provide them safe quarter. they have now removed them to another region. they were not provided safe quarter. there are now 1.5 million

of the 2.2 million people in the gaza strip, in rafah, who are now told that they do not have safe quarter. there is a pattern and practice indicating that israel is aiming to depopulate the gaza strip and that the name of decimating hamas, which all international law prohibits, including the crime of all crimes, which is tantamount to genocide. this is a genocide... iwant tojump in there because the israeli government in the military, the spokesman that we just heard from say, obviously, the goal they have, their stated aim is, indeed, as he sat, to eliminate hamas. they have also said that it is hamas itself that is putting palestinians under threat and embedded among civilian populations. what is your response to that? let's be clear first and foremost, there is no military solution. israel cannot decimate hamas. it has not had redlines for nearly four months. it has destroyed all

the hospitals, all of the universities, killed 27,000 palestinians. intelligence tells us that they have only destroyed 20% of hamas fighters who still have the capacity to shoot rockets from the middle of the city. obviously they are either an awful army or their goal is not decimating hamas, which they cannot achieve militarily. they went to depopulate the gaza strip. we were told as much on november 12, 2023, when he said this is that gaza... as for the talking points, those are talking points. i don't understand why we would trust any spokesperson of a belligerent state to tell us what they are doing or not doing. i would get the un observers. i would get the agencies who can tell us more impartially. they have not demonstrated that they have been used as human shields, though they have used this talking point since 2006. and in the case i heard the spokesperson say that hamas

was harbouring that aid and selling it back. just this week, israel targeted a un convoy with food just on the seventh, israel targeted a group of palestinians waiting for water. so we have to push back against what is... i want tojump in to ask a question about this because we are seeing, as we mentioned earlier, this national security memorandum in the us about conditions to aid further military aid to countries, and there have been in negotiations. they didn't lead to a cease—fire this week. but are you confident that we might see with this growing international pressure both sides come to the table and reach some sort of cease—fire agreement that would get that aid in and stop the fighting in the meantime? let's be clear, this is not a both sides issue. hamas has already said that it is willing to release all the hostages. israel has imposed a 17 year siege on the gaza strip which has condemned them to a slow death. it has condemned them to 56 years of prolonged military occupation that the icj will also be reviewing

in the middle of this month of february. it has condemned them to 75 years of settler colonial removal and apartheid. in the situation hamas has made clear that it will release how the hostages and has released on through negotiations. it was israel that rejected the cease—fire proposal this week. for demands it said it couldn't support. they have the cease—fire resolution in 00they have vetoed the cease—fire resolution ——they have vetoed the cease—fire resolution in the security council. and so here the impediments to international rule of law, to the will of the international community, even to the us domestic support for a cease—fire has been the united states, particularly the biden administration and israel. to pakistan, where candidates backed byjailed former prime minister, imran khan, defied expectations in thursday's election. while votes are still being counted, mr khan's candidates have so far secured more seats in the national assembly than those backed by nawaz sharif, also a former prime minister. it comes after those candidates from mr khan's party — the pti — were forced to run as independents, a restriction that drew international condemnation.

the election has been marred by violent unrest and the suspension of mobile phone services. but the strength of mr khan's candidates in the election is being seen as a rebuke of pakistan's military establishment.from lahore, our pakistan correspondent carrie davies reports. celebrations on the streets of lahore. imran khan's candidates have won more seats than anyone else this election so far. but his supporters think they should have won more. accusing the other side of vote—rigging, which they deny. there are complications. because the election commission doesn't recognise khan's party, all of his candidates ran as an independent, and other parties are already talking about trying to absorb them. if in a few weeks' time, we suddenly hear that you have left the independence group and you're part of a party, what should we think?

it would be the last day of my life. i mean, i cannot even think of, conceive of such a thing. i have said that all these votes, they have not been casted for me, they have casted for imran khan. celebrations on the other side, too. nawaz sharif�*s party were thought favoured by pakistan's powerful military establishment. normally, that would mean they won. this gathering has political speeches, there's been music, there's even been fireworks. it feels like a victory parade, but the election results aren't finalised. sharif�*s party have fewer seats than khan. they need alliances. translation: as we don't have a majority to form - a government on our own, we are going to invite allies to come and join us and form a coalition government. not to be outdone,

an ai version ofjailed imran khan was released by his team, claiming victory. wranglings and deals are still to be done. pakistan has voted — who will rule is still far from clear. caroline davies, bbc news, lahore. let's turn to some important news around the world... the united nations' human rights chief says haiti suffered its most violent month in more than two years of conflict injanuary. more than 1,100 people killed, injured or kidnapped last month. armed gangs now control many parts of the country. there were close to 5,000 murders last year in haiti, where there's been political paralysis since the assassination of president jovenel moise in 2021. the economy and public services have been in crisis for years. prince harry settled forfurther damages in his case against mirror group newspapers in the uk. ajudge ruled in december that the publication made extensive use of hacking. the duke of sussex said the mirror had acted in a shockingly dishonest way for many years, then had sought to conceal the truth.

the amount awarded has not been made public. the mirror said it was pleased to have reached a deal over events for which it had apologised. russian president vladimir putin's highly anticipated interview with conservative us media personality tucker carlson aired on thursday. the interview, which was recorded tuesday, marks the first time the russian leader has agreed to an interview with a western media outlet since he launched his full—scale invasion of ukraine. fighting in the country has reached a stalemate. our russia editor steve rosenberg has this report. hard hitting it wasn't. translation: are we having a talk show or. a serious conversation? laughter. but it was the first time vladimir putin had sat down with a western media personality since his full—scale invasion of ukraine. and he used the tucker carlson interview to send a message to the west. "stop arming ukraine, you won't defeat russia." translation: wouldn't it be better to negotiate -

with russia, make an agreement, already understanding the situation that is developing today, realising that russia will fight for its interest to the end? i'll give you these documents. one bizarre moment. a present from putin — some 17th century documents and a lecture on 1,000 years of russian history. judging by how often his face is on russian tv, it's little surprise the kremlin chose tucker carlson for this interview. the conservative commentator from the us is a controversial figure. much of what he says matches the kremlin�*s anti—liberal world view. most americans have no idea why putin invaded ukraine. ahead of the interview, tucker carlson claimed that since the russian invasion not a single western journalist had bothered trying to speak to putin. wrong there. in december, i spent four hours trying, and failing, to ask president putin a question.

and the kremlin has turned down several bbc bids for an interview. for president putin, this was a platform for transmitting to the west his narrative on the war in ukraine. according to that narrative, russia is completely innocent here, the war is the fault of the west, and for more than two hours he was able to do that pretty much unchallenged. mr putin said it was out of the question that russia would invade other countries like poland or latvia. mind you, two years ago russian officials were saying they had no plans to invade ukraine. this guy is obviously not a spy — he's a kid. but tucker carlson did ask about evan gershkovich, the respected us reporter jailed in russia on espionage charges. president putin hinted that moscow would be interested in a prisoner exchange, swapping mr gershkovich for a russian assassin convicted in germany. but no questions on war crimes, or domestic repression in russia. instead, two hours of the world

according to vladimir putin. steve rosenberg, bbc news. over the past week, italian farmers have taken their tractors to the outskirts of rome, demanding action from policymakers on rising costs and other challenges impacting their livelihoods. farmers are angry at agricultural regulations imposed by the european union and they want a seat at the table with italy's agricultural minister.the europe—wide farmers protests originated in poland.0ur rome correspondent, mark lowen, has more. this is the latest battle line being drawn between the european farmers and their policymakers and we are on a hilljust outside rome where it farmers and tractors are coming to protest and more coming by the hour, actually, in a show of strength to show they have important complaints they want the government to listen to, they said they will blockade the ring road around rome unless they get listened to by the government. their complaints are very much shared by their counterparts across europe, that there are excessive eu environmental regulations on land,

on pesticides and fertilisers, which they say are unsustainable amidst soaring costs and plummeting prices. they want income tax breaks and they want a cut in imports that are coming in from ukraine and elsewhere, that they say are undercutting their profits, and they say they will continue and escalate their protests unless they get a meeting with the agriculture minister and the prime minister which is being offered but not yet confirmed. they say they will go into rome and keep up the strength and their protest unless they get that. thank you so much for watching bbc news. hello there. there's still plenty of standing water from the heavy rain on thursday coupled with a snow melt, of course, here's a flooded park in warwickshire as captured by one of our weather watchers. bright skies, but lots of water on the ground,

and there are still a number of flood warnings in place across england and wales. the good news is it should be a much drier weekend of weather, but with low pressure still close by, we're still likely to see some showers and indeed some longer spells of rain here and there at times. now, you can see on the pressure chart here that warm frontjust pushing northwards across the north of scotland. this is where the colder air is being displaced to, but still some snow falling on the tops of the hills towards the far north of scotland as we head through the rest of the night. we'll still see temperatures here dip below freezing. but this is generally how we're starting off a saturday morning. it's a colder, drier start to the day across the south of england and wales. some patches of mist and fog here, some hill fog further north where we'll keep all of that low cloud in that now milderfeeling air. so still some strong, gusty winds across the far north of scotland. elsewhere, the winds are lighter, still some wintriness for caithness and sutherland. but further south, there'll be lots of cloud

for northern ireland, though, northern england, much of england and wales. in fact, there will be some sunshine developing — watch out for some showers towards the west, maybe. and these will be the temperatures to end the afternoon. it's turned a lot milder now across scotland, 12 celsius in the south of england. low pressure approaches the far southwest, the winds will pick up here, some showers and some longer spells of rain just creeping into the south east of england and east anglia as we head towards the end of the day on saturday. that area of low pressure is set to spin its way further northwards towards parts of eastern scotland as we head through the day on sunday. so it's always going to be cloudier towards eastern coastal areas with, again, some outbreaks of rain at times, a good scattering of showers further west, but also some brighter skies. the winds picking up and temperatures a little lower for many towards the south, but, of course, higherfurther north. now, as we head into monday, we're back to more north westerly winds. the air is going to feel colder, and some of these showers could turn out to be a little wintry, particularly over the higher ground towards the north and the west, feeling a little chillier for most with a bit of added wind chill to factor in as well. but by the time we get to tuesday and wednesday,

those temperatures will be picking up again with some milder air, an atlantic influence, and there will be some more showers in the forecast at times.

this is bbc news we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme.

this week, click travels to kenya, where piles of electronic waste are making locals choose between lives and livelihoods. translation: it is dangerous work, but we have to do it. . if we do not, we will go hungry. we're also in the rural communities where ai is improving prenatal care. the information that i'll get here will help me . to save the life of a mother. we look at the tech aiming to put museums in the metaverse. and paul's dying to meet the microbes that could clean up the fashion industry. bugs are quite simple creatures. kind of like me and you. if you ever wondered where your old laptops,

phones and tvs go to die, well, every year our planet