in the market and people are not finding it. a six—year—old girl who begged for help after being trapped by israeli fire in gaza is found dead — along with two paramedics who tried to rescue her. and iraq's foreign minister tells the bbc his country could be pushed into conflict by attacks on its territory by iranian—backed militias and us forces. we begin this hour in gaza, where the death toll has now passed 28,000 — according to the hamas—run health ministry — and concern is growing over the shortage of food. the united nations is warning of looming famine, with half of gaza's population now in a food emergency. people living in isolated northern

areas have told the bbc that children are going without food for days, and they're using animalfeed to make bread. one in four households is facing a catastrophic lack of food, according to the un, because of renewed fighting and aid convoys being regularly blocked from reaching some areas. 0ur middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, has this special report. in the middle of a war, a battle for survival. men sent to fight over cans of beans and sacks of flour. the un is warning that famine is coming fast, to gaza's northern areas, as aid arrives more slowly. this, the first aid to arrive here for 11 days, brings crowds surging close to israeli forces.

who fire to push them back. in northern areas, residents say children aren't eating for days. in some places they are tapping waterfrom underground pipes. translation: we are back to the stone age, 30, - 40, 50,000 years ago. we dig water out, filter it from sand and use it for cooking. the un says israel's army blocked more than half the aid deliveries to northern areas last month, and that child malnutrition has spiked. when it comes to flour people are actually using animal feed. however, even the animal feed is starting to get scarce in the market and people are not finding it. when it comes to canned food, there is nothing left in the market, literally. what we had was actually

from the six to seven days of truce we had at the beginning of this war, and whatever aid was allowed into gaza and the north of gaza has actually been consumed by now. the world food programme told us that four out of its last five deliveries to northern gaza were blocked by israel. this shouldn't be a logistics crisis, it shouldn't be a logistic problem. we are in the mediterranean, there is enough food around this region to feed 2.4 million people and prevent a famine in the gaza strip. the issue is access, the issue is being able to get that food to people. israel says it needs to control aid to prevent food and fuel reaching hamas. for some israeli protestors that is not enough. they have been blocking border crossing points to try to force hamas to hand over israeli hostages.

even with talk of a hostage deal, protestors are demanding a siege. aid is a lifeline for gaza, but here they say it's a lifeline for hamas. three miles from the israeli border, european planes air drop supplies to thejordanian hospital in gaza city. solutions here are getting more extreme. military planes over gaza point to its devastation. even when they are carrying aid in place of bombs. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. joining me now from amman, jordan, is the spanish—american chef jose andres, who's the founder of world central kitchen, which aims to be a first responder — providing meals to people hit by humanitarian crises or natural disasters. good to have you on news. thank you

joining us. first of all, how much food are your team is able to get into gaza at the moment? whatever is the auanti into gaza at the moment? whatever is the quantity of— into gaza at the moment? whatever is the quantity of food, _ into gaza at the moment? whatever is the quantity of food, we _ into gaza at the moment? whatever is the quantity of food, we are _ into gaza at the moment? whatever is the quantity of food, we are putting i the quantity of food, we are putting into gaza, is not enough. especially into gaza, is not enough. especially in the last days, they have been very difficult. we put almost a thousand trucks inside gaza and it has been allowing us to do roughly around 200,000 hot meals a day that we are able to produce with the help of almost 50 kitchens that we have been opening over the last weeks, especially in rafah. from this kitchen, we are able to feed some of the camps but again, the situation is as hard as you are describing it, especially when we move away from rafah towards the north, where

places like khan younis, people right now are desperate. even when you try to bring food, hospitals and other temporary shelters, the food sometimes never reaches there because you will be very much stopped by people, that they need that food as well. between the war and everything else going on, it is very difficult. i and everything else going on, it is very difficult-— very difficult. i think that is a very difficult. i think that is a very interesting _ very difficult. i think that is a very interesting point - very difficult. i think that is a very interesting point that i very difficult. i think that is a l very interesting point that you very difficult. i think that is a - very interesting point that you are making there, the food isn't even making there, the food isn't even making there, the food isn't even making the places that you wanted to get to. are you seeing those heartbreaking scenes that we just saw a lucy's report of people racing to try and get that food as quickly as possible?— to try and get that food as quickly as ossible? , ., , , ., as possible? obviously, when we are auoin in as possible? obviously, when we are going in convoys. _ as possible? obviously, when we are going in convoys, the _ as possible? obviously, when we are going in convoys, the other - as possible? obviously, when we are going in convoys, the other day, - as possible? obviously, when we are going in convoys, the other day, we | going in convoys, the other day, we had nine and will try to reach gaza city, that time are able to do it, that was only a few days ago but

again, between the different blocks the idf has an between people that are also blocking those convoys, simply because they are desperate, because they need food and water they want to feed their families. the way to make sure all these things happen is when more humanitarian aid is able to go in, when we will have not only ten or 20 or 30 trucks going in everyday into gaza, but100, 200, daily. that or 30 trucks going in everyday into gaza, but 100, 200, daily. that is what is needed right now to make sure that this is in a disaster for the ages. you mentioned there was an air drop down into the hospital, i was on that plane, we were able to join thejordanian air force in partnership with the dutch air force but this was only to bring medicines and food to that hospital specifically. but we will have to

be, we have a boat that is about to arrive to cyprus, to hopefully bring boat to gaza city as a way to keep not only support in hospitals but all the temporary camps in that northern part of gaza. we need it more than ever right now.- northern part of gaza. we need it more than ever right now. thank you so much for — more than ever right now. thank you so much for your _ more than ever right now. thank you so much for your time. _ let's continue to focus on the conflict in the region, and bring you the story of a six—year—old girl who went missing in gaza city 12 days ago and has been found dead, along with several of her relatives and two paramedics who tried to save her. hind rajab was fleeing the city with her aunt, uncle and three cousins when the car they were travelling in appears to have come face to face with israeli tanks. hind was the last member of the family alive when she made a desperate plea for help to the palestinian red crescent using a mobile phone.

live now to our correspondent, nick beake, injersualem. just talk us through what we know happened? there has been so much heartache, so much suffering in this war, if at the beginning, 1200 people killed by hamas on october seven, some 240 taken as hostages. since then, the palestinian health authority, run by hamas, say that now 28,000 people have been killed in gaza but the story of this little girl, this six—year—old girl, seems has captured a lot of people's attention. we hear now that she has in fact died. a lot of people remember this audio recording because for about three hours, she was on the phone to someone from the emergency services, all that time,

herfamily members, her emergency services, all that time, her family members, her relatives, were dead around her, they had been shot. and what has happened today is that footage has emerged of the car that footage has emerged of the car that the family were in. it's got lots of bullet holes, lot of damage and it is also right next to another vehicle which belongs to the palestinian red crescent society and that was holding two paramedics. they had gone to try and save hind. what they red crescent are saying today that the israelis targeted at particular vehicle. we have put this to the israeli defence forces but they haven't responded to this allegation. it is worth pointing out that on the day that they died, hind's family was trying to leave their part of gaza city and go to a much safer place. that is what they had been instructed to do and now if you look at the city of rafah, home to more than 1 you look at the city of rafah, home to more than1 million people, in the coming days, it is expected that they too will be asked to leave. it is not clear where they will go.

america, israel's most strong ally, has said that it has a real concern about an operation if the israeli troops are coming in and you have all these palestinian by fiji is living there. so a huge concern about what might happen in the days and weeks to come. let's speak to amira hass. she's an an israeli journalist and author, and columnist for the haaretz newspaper. her work focuses on palestinian affairs in gaza and the west bank. really get to have the honour. thanks for coming onto bbc news. neck there say that we haven't really heard from the idf, are you hearing anything from your sources as to what exactly has happened here? ~ ., ., ,., �*, here? when i wrote about hind's case, i here? when i wrote about hind's case. i relied _ here? when i wrote about hind's case, i relied on _ here? when i wrote about hind's case, i relied on the _ here? when i wrote about hind's case, i relied on the washington | case, i relied on the washington post, i do not have the resources to

do it myself in the investigation about her and the washington post said that the army didn't know anything about it, or they are not familiar with the details, even though according to the palestinian ministry of health in the west bank, they were coordinating with the army, with the israeli authorities, so that the rescue teams could reach her. but this is not new, in other cases that i did ask the army for response, it said the same about the killing of civilians, the answer is almost always the same, we are not familiar with the details, it is under investigation, we don't know, it is not what we heard and things like that. i don't expect them to answer truthfully but what we know from many, many testimonies from gazais from many, many testimonies from gaza is that even though people are

moving from one place to another in order to find safe haven, they are being shot at by the israeli army. and even though it is clear that they are civilians. ijust had now a good friend of mine, a doctor, he was born in gaza, he told me about his cousin and her daughter, who had to flee the house in gaza, not far from where hind was killed. and they had to flee as well, walking, and it is clear that they are women, and they were found dead today. so this happens a lot, it really happens a lot. and there is no accountability on the part of israel.— on the part of israel. really interesting _ on the part of israel. really interesting to _ on the part of israel. really interesting to get _ on the part of israel. really interesting to get your - on the part of israel. really - interesting to get your thoughts. thank you. we have been talking about getting a comment from the idf, we have asked them to comment but not yet had a response. when we

do, we will bring it to you here in bbc news. now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh ferris. manchester city are attempting to go top of the premier league for the first time since november, even if it turns out to be brief. they started their match against everton two points behind leaders liverpool. and it's erling haaland who's given city the lead. everton are one of the six bottom teams that are all playing today. two of them meet at kenilworth road, where luton play sheffield united. another is travelling to anfield, where whatever happens at the etihad, liverpool will be expected to beat burnley, a result that would either retain or reestablish their lead. from the outside world, it is probably a banana skin but for us it is actually not because it is a a

payment that we respect a lot. we have to be absolutely spot on. three major european races started the day with two points between the top two. however, in both spain and germany, those teams play each other on saturday in la liga. leaders real madrid host girona and it's the same in germany, where bayern munich have the chance to go top of the bundesliga when they face bayer leverkusen. bayern are looking for a 12th straight title, and england captain harry kane knows a win would be massive towards achieving his goal of claiming his first major trophy. i want to be winning team trophies and that is one of the things that is missing from my career so far. as always, i am not going to panic either way, i'm just going to keep my head down and do my best for the team and hopefully that starts with a win on saturday. scotland and france have just kicked off in the first

match of the six nations weekend at murrayfield. the home side are looking to start a second straight campaign with sucessive victories. later on saturday, england and wales renew their rivalry at twickenham. wales are looking to get their first win after starting with a defeat to scotland despite a stirring fight back last week, while the hosts will want to continue building momentum as they try to whip up a frenzy on their return to twickenham. what we've been doing in training the last few weeks, for me, i've kind of been in and around squads for the last four years, really, and this is the most together i've felt a team, an england team, and yeah, massively excited to put a positive stamp at twickenham and really cement this as a hard place to come and play. england—wales — a massive history behind the game, and obviously especially because of that, but obviously it's a must—win game for us because of the place we are in the tournament. i wouldn't say it's like every other game because england—wales is definitely special.

india will be without batsman virat kohli for the remainder of the test series with england. kohli missed the first two tests due to personal reasons, and that has been extended for the remaining three matches. the third test gets under way on thursday, with the series currently tied at 1—1. pretty much the exact moment i told you alan harland has scored for the first time since coming back from injury, he has scored second time. iraq s foreign minister has told the bbc there is a danger his country could be pushed into conflict because of the latest deadly tit—for—tat attacks by iranian—backed militias and us forces. in the past week, the united states has carried out a series of air raids that killed 17 iranian—backed militiamen in iraq as well as a precision drone strike in the capital baghdad, that killed a senior commander. dr fuad hussein spoke to our senior international correspondent,

0rla guerin, and told her he hopes both sides will stop their attacks and leave iraq to be ruled by iraqis. from the government point of view, from the point of view of the iraqi government, do you want the us troops out? we want to have to start the negotiation. 0n the basis of the negotiation it will be decided. of course, the end of the negotiation must be clear. the majority of the iraqi people, they do not want to have foreign forces on iraqi soil. but is it iraqi government policy now that the troops should go and it is just a question of when? the troops one day must leave. this country, at the end, must be free from having foreign bases. some has been invited, and that is for the american side.

some has now been invited. going back to the issue of the us strikes that happened, the americans say they were targeting iraqi militia that are pro iranian, that are on your soil, and from your soil they are carrying out attacks on us forces. do you accept that there are militias here that are officially part of your security forces, but in fact are armed and trained by iran, that are carrying out these attacks? those militias, they themselves they are announcing their attacks, and they are also well—known, that they are, or they have connection with the iranian side. this is well—known, i cannot deny it. that's true. as we sit here now, minister, is it the case that your government does not have control over these pro

iranian militias, that they are doing their own thing and you cannot stop them? i think if now they see, they will talk with many political leaders. they started to talk about this. many people, they didn't dare to talk about. this is also a part of the reality in this country, but now we are talking about it, and we are saying to them, stop. people dare to say to those guys, it is enough. i think all of them, they got the message that if they will continue, they will, in the first place, destroy their political process in iraq, and they will push this country into a war, while it is not our war, and also the iranians got that message. how real is that danger that this tit—for—tat between the americans and iranians on iraqi soil could push this country into conflict? that is main problem, to be honest.

the tension nowadays between iran and united states is very high. so i hope both sides will stop their attacks on iraqi soil, and they are not going to solve their problem on iraqi soil. we paid a very big price. it's no secret that the iranian influence here has been growing for years, and many outsiders would say at this point tehran is dictating more of the policies here than baghdad. what would you say to that? no, i'd deny that, this is not true. no influence? no, no, iam not saying no influence, but dictating policy in baghdad is not true. are you worried about the degree of iranian influence here? i am worried about the degree of all influence surrounding us, not only iranian. iraqis must taking the decision. the decision about iraq must

be taken in baghdad, and it must be taken by the iraqis in baghdad. and our senior international correspondent, 0rla guerin, joins us now, live from baghdad. a clear warning in your interview from the minister about the danger of wider escalation. it's very much a concern here and notjust on it's very much a concern here and not just on the it's very much a concern here and notjust on the part of the minister. we have been speaking to people in the streets after friday prayers yesterday, asking them if they were concerned about the future, about the possibility of escalation and they all said, yes they were. iraq finds itself caught in the middle between its two allies, iran on the one hand and the us on the other. as pro—iranian militia are trading fire whether us forces, iran is getting banned. the fear that the foreign minister has

is that this could continue to escalate and we have seen an escalation here, a serious escalation here, a serious escalation over the past week, which has been a very tense period. we had the us carrying out a series of air strikes, targeting these iranian backed malicious, killing fighters. and a further strike here in baghdad, killing a militia commander. these came after the killing of three us soldiers in jordan by pro—iranian militia. so on the one hand, we had the us saying, we are taking necessary action to protect our personnel and we will continue to do that. on the other hand, you have the pro—iranian militias who just last night, came out with the tough statement, vowing to step up their attacks. the mood music, if you like, coming from both washington and tehran has been, we do not want a major escalation and there have been statements to that

effect from the white house and from the iranian leader. the problem is that these tit—for—tat attacks are continuing and everybody knows the risk of misallocation is there. the risk of misallocation is there. the risk that one of these attacks could hit targets that produces a ready bake escalation and that is the fear for the authorities here in iraq. he was also very frank about the influence of iran on his country. he spoke a lot about that? he influence of iran on his country. he spoke a lot about that?— spoke a lot about that? he was unusually _ spoke a lot about that? he was unusually frank _ spoke a lot about that? he was unusually frank and _ spoke a lot about that? he was unusually frank and there - spoke a lot about that? he was unusually frank and there has l spoke a lot about that? he was - unusually frank and there has always been around since here on the part of people are public life to speak about that and there has particularly been to speak about the role of the iranian backed militias, the minister referred to that himself. and i think this is a new moment for iraq, where people in public life like him, are prepared to come out and say, we are telling these pro—iranian militia enough is

enough. i was speaking to an iraqi journalist yesterday and i said how new is that? and he said if people have said that kind of thing before, they would have to flee directly to leave the country because they would have been concerned for their own safety. but the iranian influence is a reality here, that is not going to change. and a big flashpoint now is the presence of the us troops, 2500 remain. we are expecting talks tomorrow between the iraqis and us forces about a time table for filling out those troops. £311" forces about a time table for filling out those troops. our senior international _ filling out those troops. our senior international correspondent - filling out those troops. our senior international correspondent in - international correspondent in baghdad. you can head to our website to read herfull news baghdad. you can head to our website to read her full news article. baghdad. you can head to our website to read herfull news article. you are watching bbc news. here in the uk, police are searching the river thames for the body of a man they believe carried out a chemical attack on a mother and her two daughters in south london. officers have been searching

for abdul shokoor ezedi for nearly ten days. the woman he attacked is still sedated in hospital, unable to talk to police. let's speak to our correspondent, charlie rose, who's at the scene of the search. just bring us up—to—date with what is happening right now where you are? ., . , ., is happening right now where you are? , are? police started searching this section of the _ are? police started searching this section of the river _ are? police started searching this section of the river thames - are? police started searching this section of the river thames at i are? police started searching this i section of the river thames at nine o'clock this morning. basically to take advantage of the low tide. why have they started searching the river? because they say, here in chelsea bridge, this is where abdul shokoor ezedi was last seen. the wednesday before last, four hours after that horrific attack in clapham where a mother and her two young daughters were doused in a corrosive alkaline substance. police are going to have their work cut out because they say they are very challenging conditions, the low tide

is possibly the best time to search the river. there are obstacles in the river. there are obstacles in the way but this is the latest theory that abdul shokoor ezedi has now met his end in the river and they are now concentrating their search efforts right here on the river thames.— search efforts right here on the river thames. thank you. now it's time for the _ river thames. thank you. now it's time for the weather. _ that mist has lifted. we have got some sunny spells coming through and look at this, we have some saturated ground with localised flooding. we have got some showers around today and low pressure still dominates the weather story. and low pressure still dominates the weatherstory. it and low pressure still dominates the weather story. it is centred down towards the south—west and with this weather find just bumping into the far north of scotland, in that cold air, some of the showers have been when traversing this morning but it will mainly be rain as we go into

the afternoon, just snow with any elevation. this has been a story so far, outbreaks of rain in scotland, showers developing across south—west england, closest to the area of low pressure so as we go for the rest of the afternoon, they showers are likely to continue to be on and off throughout the afternoon. we have got a bit of news rain starting to develop up through the kent coast into the east midlands as well. sunny spells elsewhere, a little bit quieter and not as cold, five to 11 degrees. as we go through the night, that rain will continue to be a feature to the east of the pennines, running up through north sea coasts up running up through north sea coasts up to eastern scotland by the end of the night. some clearer skies up to the night. some clearer skies up to the west, here we will see low single figures. as we move into sunday, low pressure continues to be white a feature with the story. we have still got this weather front to

ease away first thing on sunday morning, behind it some sunny spell developing and then a few scattered showers out to the west. so it is not a write off by any means. it will be a case of sunny spells and scattered showers, you mightjust have to dodge they showers from time to time. the low pressure systems will continue to feed in a from the atlantic, over the next few days, looking ahead, it is likely will continue to see the wind direction coming from a south—westerly so our milder sauce but unfortunately, there are no signs of any dryer significant whether to come. temperatures into the mid—teams in the south. this is bbc news. the headlines: people living in the isolated north of gaza have told the bbc that children are going without food for days, as aid convoys are increasingly denied permits to enter. some residents are grinding

animalfeed into flour or eating grass to survive. growing panic in rafah, after israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, orders the military to prepare for an offensive in the southern city, where some 1.4 million people are sheltering. police are searching the river thames for the body of abdul shokoor ezedi, the clapham chemical attack suspect. detectives believe the 35—year—old may be dead after going into the water near chelsea bridge in west london. and an explosion of light and colour, as china celebrates the lunar new year and welcomes in the year of the dragon. the celebrations culminate on the 15th day with a lantern festival. now on bbc news, seventh 0ctober: israel's darkest day.