drew international attention. and republican rivals for president donald trump and nikki haley hit the campaign trail in south carolina, two weeks out from the state's critical primary. hello, i'm carl nasman. we begin in gaza, where the humanitarian crisis is deepening. residents tell the bbc they are surviving on animal feed and rice as food stocks dwindle. the un says 300,000 people living in the isolated north of gaza are largely cut off from aid. more than half the aid missions to northern gaza were denied access last month. that is according to the un's humanitarian co—ordination agency. mahmoud shalabi from medical aid for palestinians says the situation there is dire. the israeli military says it does not limit humanitarian aid

sent to gaza and that there is no starvation there. the bbc has been speaking to eylon levy, an israeli government spokesman. israel wants to see as much humanitarian aid enter the gaza strip as possible. that is why we have excess capacity at the israeli crossings for more trucks of food, water, medicine and shelter equipment to enter the gaza strip. we encourage countries to send more. unfortunately, we have a problem at the moment that the un agencies on the ground responsible for distributing that aid are struggling to do so at the pace that israel is facilitating its entry. now, we are calling for the international community to activate aid agencies that have responsibility and experience distributing aid in other disaster zones to replace unrwa, because unrwa has failed and unwra is a hamas front.

children are among the most vulnerable victims of hunger in gaza. the un warns that acute malnutrition among young children in the north is rising and is now above the critical threshold of 15%. unicef says children in gaza are in desperate need of life—saving support. half of the estimated 1.7 million people displaced in gaza are children. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says 28,000 people have died in the israel—gaza war, many of them women and children. one of them is hind, a six—year—old girl who went missing 12 days ago in gaza city after the car she was in came underfire. she was found dead along with several relatives and two paramedics who tried to save her. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson sent this report, which contains distressing material. today it was hope that died, long after six—year—old hind was killed. she survived the gunfire that killed her uncle, aunt and cousins as they fled gaza city in the family car.

her calls with the emergency services, as she hid among the bodies of her relatives, in sight of israeli tanks, sparked a campaign to find her. today, as israeli forces withdrew from the area, paramedics went in. they found hind's body with those of her relatives in the shattered car. her mother has been waiting for her daughter at a nearby hospital for almost two weeks. translation: for every i person who heard my voice, my daughter's pleading voice, yet did not rescue her, i will question them before god on the day ofjudgment. netanyahu, biden and all those who collaborated against us, against gaza and its people, i pray against them from the depths of my heart.

near where hind was found, the ambulance car that was sent to get her, the bodies of its two crew members inside. they were deliberately targeted, although our ambulances have very clearly the red crescent emblem on top of our ambulances, and we have it clearly also on all sides of the ambulance. we asked the israeli army about this but received no response. residents re—emerging in gaza city after troops had left found a cratered wasteland. witnesses said dozens of bodies were collected from its streets and buildings today. in the southern border town of rafah, they fear they might be next. the bombing here has been getting more intense. three members of hamas security

forces were killed in a strike on their car, and funerals were held for seven adults and five children killed in overnight air strikes on their homes. this town, the final refuge for gaza's civilians, the final target in israel's ground war. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. earlier i spoke with ricardo pires, who is a communications manager at unicef, for more on what children in gaza are facing. thank you forjoining us. i want to ask you first of all about that humanitarian situation there in gaza. we've heard reports that gazans are resorting to eating animal feed just to survive. in your mind, how real is the danger of starvation right now in gaza? thanks for having me, carl. very real. the risk of starvation in gaza

is real, and we have banged the drums before and we continue to do so. the humanitarian situation in the gaza strip since 7 0ctober has become catastrophic. children are, of course, at the sharp end of this. they're always the first and the ones who suffer the most. thousands have been killed. many thousands more have been injured. they've lost loved ones, they've seen their houses destroyed. they've been displaced several times and are now pushed into a tiny strip of land where at least 6,000 children are living at this point. so they're being pushed at the end of an abyss, and we need to do something quickly, and the only thing we can call for and will continue to call for is a humanitarian ceasefire so more supplies can get in, and that desperation can be reduced more and more. you mentioned those supplies, and israeli officials have been telling the bbc that they're not holding up deliveries of aid into gaza.

why do you think, then, aid simply is not reaching the people who need it, especially when we're talking about the north of gaza? well, the north of gaza has been quite unreachable for a while. we had a convoy that had unicef supplies in it going in up to the north, beyond gaza city, in december. that's months ago, or at least quite a few weeks ago, and it's just not enough. their situation is absolutely urgent and catastrophic, and it's not only in the north, it's spread along the strip. right now children are lacking food, they're lacking medicine, they're lacking proper access to health care, they're lacking clean water. they're resorting to contaminated water to kill their thirst, and that has many risks of disease, of course. so, overall, this has been an absolute nightmare for children for 120 days, and it seems like it will continue to do so unless again we have that humanitarian ceasefire.

the united nations has called gaza a graveyard for children. at least 10,000 children have now been killed during this war so far. can you put those numbers into perspective for us? how unprecedented is the situation in gaza right now for children? well, we've been saying this is a war on children, and it clearly continues to be so. we estimate that nearly 40% of all casualties are children. again, in rafah right now, there are 1.3 million people. 600,000 of those are children, children who've been displaced, moved around, are traumatised. we hearfrom our colleagues on the ground, and i've spoken to many colleagues who've been in gaza for a while, and indeed it has become a graveyard for children. we have children still under the rubble who haven't been taken out because there hasn't been an opportunity, a safe time or a safe window

to operate, not only to rescue those who might still be in need, but also to get more humanitarian supplies in. the average number of trucks we have now is way below what we used to have before 7 october. so all this combined, again, is pushing children to the edge, and we are very, very concerned that it will get worse if military operations escalate into rafah in the next coming days. and briefly, if you don't mind, ricardo, how concerned are you about the potential humanitarian fallout of this expected israeli advance into the southern city of rafah? well, rafah right now is a city of children. more than half or nearly half the population right now are children — children, again, of all ages who've been displaced, moved around, uprooted, are extremely vulnerable, living under makeshift tents. so if indeed that escalation happens — talking about population density, rafah right now has

double the population density of new york city. can we imagine that? that's absolutely unimaginable and unacceptable. and again, they are strained and stretched, without resources, without supplies, without food, without water, without medication, traumatised. the picture is very grim, carl, and we're very, very concerned. ricardo pires, communication manager with unicef, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us. thank you. turning to the 2024 us presidential race, where former president donald trump has started to campaign in south carolina. the state will hold its republican primary 2a february. on saturday mr trump addressed supporters and touched on a variety of topics, including how he might handle the ongoing russian invasion of ukraine. nato was busted until i came along. i said everybody�*s got to pay. they said, well, if we don't pay, are you still going to protect us? i said absolutely not.

they couldn't believe the answer. they asked me that question. one of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, well, sir, if we don't pay and we're attacked by russia, will you protect us? i said, you didn't pay, you delinquent? he said, yes, let's say that's happened. no, i would not protect you. in fact, i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. you've got to pay your bills. the white house has since responded to those comments. spokesperson andrew bates said in a statement: well, south carolina is home to former governor nikki haley, trump's last main challenger for the republican presidential nomination. haley is trying to restore momentum to her campaign after only receiving 30% of the vote in nevada's primary. 63% of the vote there was for "none of the above," written in by tens of thousands of trump supporters.

with trump seemingly destined for the republican nomination, despite his many legal issues, the contest in south carolina is considered by some to be haley's last chance to turn her campaign around. a few hours ago she took aim not only at mr trump but us presidentjoe biden. we've had enough chaos with donald trump. we've had enough. you have these cases now and they're saying, well, you know, biden, he doesn't know any better. you can't hold him accountable for having these national security papers that he wasn't supposed to have. and now donald trump is like, well, if you did it for him, you've got to do it for me. what bothers me about that is both those men knew better. president biden and donald trump are both facing questions about their age, but earlier this week, concerns over biden�*s age boiled over when comments in a report on his handling of classified

documents raised concerns about his mental fitness. it prompted him to hold a press conference where he fought back against those doubts. for her take on how age is effecting the race and to look at nikki haley's chances of beating trump to the republican nomination, i spoke with republican strategist jea natte hoffman. yes, well, listen, donald trump has always been held to a different standard as a candidate, and i think it's because he came into this not as a politician but as a celebrity. so he often says things that are completely off the wall and doesn't get held to account, whereas nikki haley comes underfire for some things that she's said about the cause of the war, of the civil war, not saying it was slavery. president trump says wild things like that every day and he doesn't get called into question. and similarly, he is about the same age asjoe biden, but certainly his mental fitness isn't called into account as much as president biden�*s. but that being said, he does seem to have a lot more

energy and a lot more enthusiasm, and he's on the campaign trail a lot more than president biden, so that seems to make a little bit more sense to me. but nikki haley, i think, is pursuing a good strategy of trying to tie them both into — do you really want this country being run by an 80—year—old man? that was the republican perspective there from republican strategist jeanette hoffman. i also spoke with democratic strategist ameshia cross to get reaction from the other side of the aisle. why do you think the age issue seems to be hurting the current president more than the former president? president more than the former resident? president more than the former president?— president? the current president _ president? the current president has - president? the current president has a - president? the current president has a black l president? the current - president has a black female vice president. when we talk about the issue of race in this country, which is one that goes back to the founding of this country, it's something that voters seem to not be able to get around. and voters seem to not be able to getaround. and i voters seem to not be able to get around. and i think that if his vice president were not kamala harris, we would not see theseissues kamala harris, we would not see these issues bubble up as often

as they are. quite frankly, joe biden and donald trump are three years apart. that is not a significant age difference at all, so the issue is nowjoe biden is four years older than he was four years ago. well, heck, so are you, i and everyone who is watching this programme. that is kind of how ageing works. that's not the issue that people want to say out loud. what they don't want to say out loud is that they have a problem with vice president kamala harris. they have a race problem. the ollin: have a race problem. the polling shows _ have a race problem. the polling shows a _ have a race problem. the polling shows a majority of voters are concerned about the age ofjoe biden. we saw this big conversation taking place now about his age, about his mental fitness, now about his age, about his mentalfitness, and in that press conference that the president called, he actually had another mixup. he mistakenly referred to the president of egypt as the president of egypt as the president of egypt as the president of mexico. so do you think the discussion, when we werejust talking think the discussion, when we were just talking aboutjoe biden himself, is it a fair discussion? clearly the voters are concerned. i discussion? clearly the voters are concerned.— are concerned. i don't think that it is- — are concerned. i don't think that it is. |_ are concerned. i don't think that it is. | don't _ are concerned. i don't think that it is. i don't think - are concerned. i don't think that it is. i don't think that| that it is. i don't think that it is because if we are having the discussion then we also

have to have the discussion about donald trump confusing nikki haley and nancy pelosi. we also have to have a discussion about donald trump making bomb sounds in the middle of speeches. we also have the conversation about him mixing up cities are not really knowing where he was during some of his rallies. i think that there are lots of things that there are lots of things that we could talk about is a discussion point. to be quite frank, president biden has had gaffes over the course of his career. he has had gaffes over the course of his career in public service, that spans longer than i have been alive. that has been a cornerstone of president biden. however, these are not issues related to policy, policy is what the american voters care about. policy is what the american people care about, and policy is what moves this country forward. , ., is what moves this country forward-— is what moves this country forward. , ., �* .,, , ., forward. joe biden has been on what he calls — forward. joe biden has been on what he calls bidenomics, - what he calls bidenomics, saying that i have done a lot for this country in terms of the economy. is that enough? which of the president be doing to try to prove his doubters wrong when it comes to his ability to not only hold office now but for another four years in the white house? he now but for another four years in the white house?— now but for another four years in the white house? he is doing exactly what _ in the white house? he is doing exactly what he _ in the white house? he is doing exactly what he should - in the white house? he is doing exactly what he should be - exactly what he should be doing. he and his surrogates

are visiting the battleground states, the democratic national committee, the dnc, is out fundraising, the republicans by ten: 0ne fundraising, the republicans by ten: one at this point. that is a party that is in shambles with a leader who is running away from 94 plus criminal charges, up to and including having rape allegations, in addition to all of the problems associated with trying to steal the election on the sixth of january. we are in the fight for american democracy and the preservation of who we are as a nation, and protecting our allies as we are trying to do, with funds to ukraine, and there is a huge difference between the two. and that difference is a lot more than three years in age and a lot more than a few gaffes on the campaign trail. president biden is doing what he needs to do to set the american economy forward. he is ensuring that healthcare forward. he is ensuring that healthca re access forward. he is ensuring that healthcare access is able to get anyone, despite where they work, the colour of their skin or their zip code. this is a man who is working to make america work for all americans, notjust those who america work for all americans, not just those who are america work for all americans, notjust those who are rich and wealthy, notjust those who have always been on the other end of the echelon. america is

a very diverse country, with a lot of diverse opinions and views, this is a president who is working to ensure that we are unified, who is working to ensure that we are competitive, he was working to ensure that the future of america remains as bright as it possibly can. just looking at the republican side briefly, in a few weeks we're going to see republicans go to the polls to decide between donald trump and nikki haley. if donald trump has another convincing victory in that primary, do you see this is basically done deal? it’s that primary, do you see this is basically done deal?- is basically done deal? it's a done deal — is basically done deal? it's a done deal now, _ is basically done deal? it's a done deal now, quite - is basically done deal? it's a l done deal now, quite frankly. nikki haley is running basically because she is able to fund raise for it. the rnc wants nikki haley out, obviously donald trump wants nikki haley out, there is no political path numerically right now along the campaign trail, with the republican states left and the primary states, for nikki haley to win. undoubtedly she is going to lose by double digits in her own home state of south carolina. that is going to be a devastating blow.— carolina. that is going to be a devastating blow. thank you, as alwa s, devastating blow. thank you, as always. for— devastating blow. thank you, as always, for taking _ devastating blow. thank you, as always, for taking the _ devastating blow. thank you, as always, for taking the time - devastating blow. thank you, as always, for taking the time to i always, for taking the time to talk with us. we appreciate it.

thanks for having me. the president of hungary has resigned live on television over a decision to pardon a man convicted of covering up a child sexual abuse case. protests calling for katalin novak to step down had been steadily growing in hungary over the past week. the bbc�*s nick thorpe sent this report from budapest. this was completely unexpected and, i think, very shocking for most hungarians. i think they'll be hearing this news, and it's really and truly come as a bolt from the blue. she has been under pressure in previous days. it's a very embarrassing case involving paedophilia. she actually granted an amnesty, she pardoned, she dismissed the case against a person who was not convicted himself of paedophilia but he'd covered up for his boss who was the head of an orphanage who was convicted and sent to jail for that particular crime. just in the last few days, the details of her pardon for 25 people — the pardon

actually happened more than a year ago, at the time of the pope's visit to hungary, but only just last week were the names made public. and because she as president and formerly as the minister in charge of family affairs and this government had made the traditionalfamily, family policies, a cornerstone of its politics, this has been deeply embarrassing and deeply confusing for voters for the governing party, fidesz, deeply embarrassing for the prime minister. there have been small opposition demonstrations against her, but i think her resignation has been completely unexpected over this now. 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. king charles has expressed his gratitude for the messages of support he has received since his cancer diagnosis. in a message of thanks, the 75—year—old monarch said: the king has stepped back from all public—facing duties while he is being treated, with senior royals including queen camilla and the prince of wales taking on his duties for some events. it has not been revealed what type of cancer the king is being treated for. let's turn to some important

news around the world: the government in myanmar has announced compulsory military service for all young men and women. the ruling requires men under 35 and women under 27 years old to serve at least two years. the military, which seized power in a coup three years ago, has been struggling to contain a series of insurgencies and to recruit soldiers. 0ver recent months, it's been defeated in battles with ethnic militias and anti—coup fighters. trinidad and tobago is considering introducing a national emergency after a huge oil spill covered 15 kilometres of pristine beaches. the accident was caused by a ship that overturned a few days ago after hitting a coral reef. specialist divers have been trying to isolate the leak from the vessel, which was abandoned by its crew. north korea has welcomed what's thought to be its first foreign tourists since it closed its borders in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. a small group of russians

travelled to pyongyang airport from vladivostok in the latest public signs of closer ties between the two countries. spain is the latest flashpoint forfarmer protests in europe. since tuesday, spanish farmers have joined their counterparts in germany, france, italy, portugal and belgium in daily protests featuring tractors with flags and handwritten signs. the demonstrations have been broadly peaceful, but on saturday scuffles broke out with police when farmers attempted to block a main road into madrid. among several other complaints, farmers say they are protesting environmental regulations imposed by the eu which they say makes them less competetive. translation: while we are producing under very high i prices and losing money, products keep arriving that don't meet the requirements and conditions, as they don't have the same agriculture policy.

translation: we are fed up| because we can no longer live off of the field. they bring us products from morocco, but they are demanding us lots of sanitary conditions, laws and paperwork for the cattle, while in morocco and other countries, they are not required to do so. on saturday, a group of spanish truck drivers also came together with farmers to call for a national strike. the groups are demanding help from both spanish and european leaders. tens of millions of people have been celebrating the lunar new year with parties, family meals and visits to buddhist temples. the new moon has ushered in the year of the dragon, the most auspicious of the 12 animals in the chinese zodiac. lunar new year is typically celebrated in parts of asia, notably china, south korea and vietnam, but it is also celebrated by diaspora communities around the world. the bbc�*s courtney bembridge has been following the celebrations. ringing in the year of the dragon in beijing. this display marks the start of 15 days of celebrations, and big public events like this haven't been

held in recent years because of the pandemic. as you can see, they are back with a bang. in taiwan, worshippers gathered too late incense and pray for prosperity for the new year, while in hong kong, a novel way to celebrate. tattoo artist there have reported an increase in demand for dragon designs. also, iconic buildings around the world. this is the tokyo tower, lit up in red to mark the holiday. also, new york's empire state building. celebrations on the streets of cuba. this is downtown havana, you can see the dragon front and centre there, and it is considered the most auspicious of the chinese zodiac signs, so this is a special year. and in peru, these are the streets of lima, where you can see crowds have gathered to celebrate. hello there. there were some spells of sunshine around on saturday, but hopefully a good bit more of it to come on sunday, but also some outbreaks of rain, so a bit of

a mixed picture. and beyond the weekend, it's a fairly mixed picture into next week, with low pressure systems tending to dominate, and after monday, temperatures actually tending to climb. but let's look at all of that in detail. first of all, through the overnight period, we can see we've got fairly wet weather towards parts of eastern england, in towards eastern scotland. elsewhere, a little bit drier with some clear skies. where it's clear, we could see some mist and fog, and still a number of showers pushing in towards the west and the south. that wet weather, though, across parts of the north—east of england, in towards eastern scotland, with us first thing on sunday and tracking its way northwards into the northern isles. elsewhere, though, sunday is an improving picture with some decent spells of sunshine and also a few showers coming in on a westerly wind. so, by mid—afternoon, much of that heavy rain has cleared, although lingering across parts of the north—east of aberdeenshire and in towards the northern isles. elsewhere, though, avoid the showers and you'll see some sunshine and temperatures up to around 10 or 11 degrees. and then through sunday evening and sunday night, we start to see largely dry and clear conditions,

and that means it will be colder than overnight saturday to sunday. so this is tomorrow night, sunday night. you can see temperatures there in towns and cities, but across parts of the north of england and scotland, a touch of frost in the countryside. to monday, a low pressure situated to the north—west, and we're dragging in some rather cool air from the north—west. so those showers pushing in through parts of scotland could well be wintry on the higher ground. a number of showers in towards northern ireland as well. but elsewhere, for much of england and wales, it's a dry and a fine day. it will be a chilly start, mind, a touch of frost here and there, but by afternoon, temperatures up to around nine or 10 celsius, coolerfurther north. and then from tuesday onwards, we start to see a shift, because the wind is changing direction to more of a south—westerly, so we're dragging in cloudier skies and some outbreaks of rain, but the temperatures will be on the rise. on tuesday it should still be largely dry and sunny across scotland. some showers in the north, but the general trend from tuesday onwards is for cloudier conditions with outbreaks of rain. but you can see on the outlook

there, the temperatures will begin to climb, and certainly for some, reaching the low to mid—teens. that's the forecast for now.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme.

saturday, october 7, 2023. the day starts peacefully, normally. but as dawn breaks, a massacre unfolds. explosions first, the palestinian militant group hamas fires thousands of rockets into the communities of southern israel. the barrage provides cover for a terrifying, unprecedented second phase. allahu akbar! thousands of members of the group — designated a terrorist organisation by the uk, us and other countries — break through the perimeter fence and into israeli territory. they film as they stream through. some are on motorbikes, many more are on foot, and they begin to run. just a few miles away, hundreds of people have gathered at a music festival. as the rockets fly overhead,

palestinian gunmen attack the party from several directions.