enough of the hostages are alive to 'usti it. nato hits back at remarks by donald trump — that he would encourage russia to attack any nato ally that fails to meet its financial obligations to the alliance. final results from pakistan's election show independent candidates allied to imran khan have won the most seats in parliament — despite suffering a major crackdown. and we'll talk american football — the half time show — and taylor swift as the super bowl hits vegas. hello, i'm frankie mccamley. israel's prime minister has insisted he will press ahead with an offensive in rafah, where more than half of gaza's population has taken shelter. in an interview with abc news, benjamin netanyahu said israel will give civilians safe passage to areas they've

cleared north of rafah. international alarm is growing over the fate of those 1.5 million civilians. the army has continued to target rafah with air strikes, which medical workers say killed more than a0 people in the last day. the armed wing of hamas says israeli strikes have also killed two hostages in the last four days, and seriously injured eight others. a senior hamas official has threatened to halt hostage exchange negotiations if israel goes ahead with the assault on rafah. mr netanyahu said he believed "enough" of the 132 remaining israeli hostages held in gaza were alive to justify israel continuing their offensive. barbara plett—usher reports from jerusalem. the aftermath of an israeli air strike in rafah — on a home sheltering people who'd fled the war.

they were told they would be safe here in the south. eight people were killed, including children. this is ines—amah. "i'm looking for my niece," she says. "she was two months old." so even here, there's dangerfrom the air, but it could get worse. israel's planning to send in troops to carry on its fight against hamas. victory is within reach. we're going to do it, we're going to get the remaining hamas terrorist battalions in rafah, which is the last bastion, but we're going to do it — and on this, i agree with the americans — we're going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population, so they can leave. and there's nowhere left to run. they're crammed up against the egyptian border, living under plastic, food and water in short supply. more than a million people have crowded into rafah in the last four months,

but israel says it can't win the war without defeating hamas here. the united nations is unconvinced that an evacuation plan could work. that was the assessment of the un's humanitarian coordinator after a visit to gaza this week. it's very difficult to respond right now, where people are static. and people have come there because they're looking for safety. it's the last... it's the last resort for many people that have come. and do you have... do you have a contingency plan if there is, if the combat operations are extended? well, we had a contingency plan for them to arrive in rafah. that was the contingency plan we had. but now we're looking for another contingency plan, but we're struggling right now to address this contingency plan. and if there was to be an incursion into rafah, which is a massively over—populated city, it's got five times the population there was before the conflict. so everything is under pressure, we're under pressure, and the population themselves have nowhere to go. israel says people can move back north, where soldiers are winding up their offensive, but this is what they will find. this crisis keeps building and building.

barbara plett usher, bbc news, jerusalem. and barbara has been explaining more about the situation in rafah and the israeli plans for displaced people from rafah. well, at the moment what we have is an order from the israeli prime minister to the military asking them to draw up a plan for evacuation alongside plans to extend the ground offensive into rafah. that seems to be a fairly direct response to the american administration which said it would not support an incursion into rafah unless there is a proper plan for the safety of civilians. so now president netanyahu has said they would draw up the plan. there is no sense of right now of a timeline for either an incursion or evacuation, you just have this space for people voicing alarm what this could mean, that evacuating more than i million people who are in a fragile state would be very difficult to do as you are hearing there questions

about where they would go. the israelis have responded in general terms, mr netanyahu said they could go to the north where israelis have cleared things out. but those are areas that have obviously been damaged quite a lot, there is a question about supplies, setting up a whole new arrangement with tents and there's a shortage of humanitarian supplies at the moment. and rafah is the main delivery point for those supplies so what would happen if it was turned into a war zone? all of those questions are surrounding this order which the israeli prime minister has made in response to the concerns expressed. and hamas warning any operation would undermine ongoing talks about a possible release of israeli hostages held in gaza. benjamin netanyahu is under a lot of pressure to make sure those hostages are released, those who are still alive. what's the reaction in israel

to this planned offensive? the family members of those still held hostage as well as people who were hostages and were released in a previous deal have been quite strongly protesting and saying the priority needs to be to have a ceasefire or at least a temporary truce, a pause in the fighting, in order to do another hostage exchange. that is something on the table for a number of weeks and last week hamas came back with its response to those proposals with amendments that the israeli prime minister said were not acceptable because ultimately they would leave hamas in control of gaza and that is something israel would not agree to. the talks have not stopped and are stuttering along but the back—and—forth did slow them down quite considerably and the hostage families are saying

they need to be sped up rather than slowed down. mr netanyahu's argument is that the israeli army, if it gains on the ground and wins the war, if it puts pressure on hamas militarily, that's the way to release hostages. he is not convincing the hostage families, and only one hostage rescued in these operations, but he has other pressures in his coalition with a number of very right—wing members who said they would leave the coalition if the war stopped and mr netanyahu himself is under pressure politically because he's being blamed for the crisis. and as long as this is going on, he is focused on that. so it has continued. live now tojon b alterman. he is the senior vice president & middle east program director at the center for strategic and international studies. good to have you on the programme. thank you for your time. despite

this growing international pressure to not go into rafah, it seems benjamin netanyahu isn't listening. benjamin neta nyahu isn't listening. why benjamin netanyahu isn't listening. why not, would you say? he is responding _ why not, would you say? he is responding to _ why not, would you say? he is responding to israeli _ why not, would you say? he is responding to israeli politics i why not, would you say? he: 3 responding to israeli politics which are committed to destroying hamas. partly i think he feels as many israelis do that the world isn't going to take care of its real. this is something israel has to do for itself. once a has been destroyed, israelis believe they can do this, they will work with others to rebuild gaza but right now they are fighting a war and intend to do it with one hand tied behind their backs. we with one hand tied behind their backs. ~ . ., ., ., ., backs. we are hearing more and more in recent days — backs. we are hearing more and more in recent days from _ backs. we are hearing more and more in recent days from the _ backs. we are hearing more and more in recent days from the us _ backs. we are hearing more and more in recent days from the us over - backs. we are hearing more and more in recent days from the us over the i in recent days from the us over the last week but in recent days more and more israeli allies speaking up

and more israeli allies speaking up and publicly, warning mr netanyahu not to go into rafah. why do you think we are hearing from these countries? has quiet diplomacy failed? �* ., , ., failed? i'm not sure it has failed but the israelis _ failed? i'm not sure it has failed but the israelis as _ failed? i'm not sure it has failed but the israelis as i _ failed? i'm not sure it has failed but the israelis as i say - failed? i'm not sure it has failedl but the israelis as i say remained fixated on militarily destroying hamas. israelis believe it is both possible and necessary to do so. and while netanyahu is overwhelmingly unpopular, he is about 15% support, there is popularity for being militarily tough or ensuring it's really hostages are released from hamas custody. i think his political calculation is that he has to stand tough or he will no longer be in office. it's important for him for a host of reasons to remain in office

and certainly what we have seen not only from netanyahu but from the larger government around him is a determination to continue to push despite as you say a lot of concern from israel's closest allies around the world. �* ., ,.,, , from israel's closest allies around the world. �* ., , , the world. and in that post she is -aushin the world. and in that post she is pushing his _ the world. and in that post she is pushing his military _ the world. and in that post she is pushing his military to _ the world. and in that post she is pushing his military to evacuate l pushing his military to evacuate civilians. looking at the map, where will they go? i5 civilians. looking at the map, where will they go?— will they go? is not clear where the can will they go? is not clear where they can 90- — will they go? is not clear where they can go. morally _ will they go? is not clear where they can go. morally when - will they go? is not clear where they can go. morally when you | will they go? is not clear where - they can go. morally when you have a large—scale urban operation like this,, you can move on to an an area where they can be safe for a while but because the parameters of gaza and so small and all of gaza has become a war zone, there is no place to meet people —— move people to. when you talk about what israel wants to do, he wants to keep his forces safe but ensure hamas fighters are not moving with the

population. fighters are not moving with the pepulation-_ fighters are not moving with the --oulation. . �*, , , population. that's very complicated. it is. e: -t population. that's very complicated. it is- egypt again _ population. that's very complicated. it is. egypt again under. _ population. that's very complicated. it is. egypt again under. spotlight. l it is. egypt again under. spotlight. —— under the spotlight. there are fewer places for them to go. what do you think egypt will be thinking right now? what are its main concerns?— concerns? egypt is not only concerned _ concerns? egypt is not only concerned about _ concerns? egypt is not only concerned about a - concerns? egypt is not only i concerned about a permanent displacement of palestinians in egypt as has happened in previous conflicts, but concerned that armed militants will get into egypt, there is a ready and insurgents in the east. i think their concern is what are their targets if people start coming over the border? you don't want to be firing refugees. so it is unclear how to prevent people from going across the border other than trying to maintain as strong support

as they can. trying to maintain as strong support as they can-— nato has insisted it remains ready and able to defend all allies, after donald trump said he would encourage russia to attack any member of the alliance that didn't invest enough in its military. nato's secretary general, jens stoltenberg, said any attack on nato would be met with a united and forceful response. nato countries are supposed to spend 2% of their gdp on defence, but not all do. at a campaign rally in south carolina, mr trump said he wouldn't defend nato members who don't meet their financial obligations to the alliance. 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're delinquent?" he said, "yes, let's say that 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! you've got to pay your bills!" cheering i asked our security correspondent frank gardner how worried europe would be by mr trump's comments. on the one hand this is a typical trump throwaway comment. don't forget it's an election year, these kind of comments go down very well with his supporters who say, why on earth should america carry the bulk of the burden for defending europe if europe can't be bothered to defend itself? if you look at the statistics, quite a large number of countries, certainly last year, were not paying 30%

certainly last year, were not paying the 2% of gdp towards defence, they were well below that. spain, france, germany. germany has certainly promised to change that, to spend more on defence. i think the real danger here is the uncertainty that trump comments and a potential future trump presidency brings. because it's uncertainty that leads to miscalculations. if you cast your mind back to two years ago and the full—scale russian invasion of ukraine, there was a calculation in moscow that nato, the eu and the west generally would not respond, that it would be pretty similar to the 2014 takeover of crimea that the west would huff and puff and complain but not really do anything. that was a massive miscalculation, because the west did support ukraine, they gave it the tools to defend itself and russia's invasion largely failed. but now it has been described as the stalemate but it catastrophic for nonetheless. so i think the fear here in nato circles is that this undermines the resolution or the idea that should a nato country be attacked article five of nato's constitution

would be invoked and the entire collective us led alliance would come to its defence. under a trump presidency that isn't so certain. now it's time for a look at today's sport with jane dougal. hello from the bbc sport centre. in the english premier league, arsenal are away at west ham — hoping to close the gap at the top of the premier league after 50 minutes, they're leading 4—0. goals from william saliba, bukayo saka with a penalty, gabriel got their third, then leandro trossard with a beautiful strike to make it four. west ham in disarray. later it's fifth versus sixth as aston villa take on manchester united. a win for villa would put them back into the top four, but united manager eric ten hag says he's told his players they need

to adjust their mentality. i've said to the team from the start of january, every game is now final. there's also the approach to west ham united, one point behind them. we have to take this challenge, see it as a final, and that will be every game from now on for us. we are already in that mode. we'll find out the winner of the africa cup of nations later as hosts ivory coast take on nigeria in the final. it comes 2a days after both former winners met in the group stages of the competition — when nigeria were victorious. so ivory coast will be hoping to do one better this time — they last won the title back in 2015. and they're the first host nation to reach the final since egypt 17 years ago. the match will be all the more special for ivorian striker sebastian haller — who returned last year after successful treatment

for testicular cancer. the last one and a half years, like you said, have been quite challenging for myself, for my family and everyone. so, yeah, i have the feeling that no matter what you want to do, something will happen, so ijust take everything step—by—step and ijust try to enjoy every moment. i think i will take a few months or years to really realise what happens in the last years. their opponants nigeria are aiming for a fourth title — the last time they won it was back in 2013. they cruised through the group stages with seven points, before defeating cameroon, angola and south africa in the knockout stages. but their coach says this will be the biggest test for them. we need to fight 100% to catch this opportunity. against a good team of

course. playing away not home, but it is one opportunity. who knows when the next opportunity will come up. the last match of this weekend's six nations is underway. after wins for france and england, ireland will hope to move top of the table again and make it two wins from two. they're currently playing italy. after 17 minutes it is 5—0 to ireland afterjack crowley scored a try. we will keep you updated through the rest of the day. we will keep you updated through the rest of the day. in cricket, bad news for england, spinnerjack leach has been ruled out of the remainder of the test tour of india with a knee problem. leach suffered the injury whilst fielding in england's first test victory in hyderabad, and then missed the subsequent defeat in visa ka patnam. leach will fly home and england have no plans to call up a replacement with the third test starting in rajkot on thursday. super bowl 58 is almost here. on sunday night the kansas city

chiefs face the san francisco 49ers and for the first time it's taking place under the lights of las vegas. all eyes will be on the two quarter—backs, patrick mahomes and brock purdy. the two—time super bowl champion payton manning says he's been impressed with them. they are both great stories, right? they both have earned the right to be here. patrick, this is getting to be kind of old hat for him. i think he books a reservation for the super bowl every year for his family. and brock has had an incredible year, he has done a greatjob, doing what kyle shanahan has asked him to do and playing great quarterback, especially down the stretch in the play—offs. that's why it's going to be two good teams in the super bowl. and that's all the sport for now. you can keep up with all the updates on the super bowl on the bbc sport website. now — their leader was jailed, and their party and cricket bat

symbol barred from the election. but final results from pakistan show candidates allied to imran khan s now — their leader was jailed, and their party and cricket bat but final results from pakistan show candidates allied to imran khan s pti party have emerged as the largest grouping in parliament. independent candidates won 101 of the 266 seats — 93 of whom are thought to be backed by the pti. the party of another former prime minister, nawaz sharif, won 75 seats. despite police warning they would respond forcefully to illegal gatherings, pti supporters have been protesting over the delay in releasing the results and alleged vote rigging. courts have reportedly been flooded with legal challenges to the results, after both mr khan and mr sharif claimed victory. we heard more on the long awaited results of this election from our correspondent in islamabad, caroline davies. around midday on saturday, it seemed that this was the direction of travel, that imran khan's backed candidates had got the largest number of seats

and now we've got these final results, we now can see that that is definitely the case. as you say, 93 of these candidates are backed by the pti. that's imran khan's party. out of all of those remaining independents, which is far higher than the number of seats that the pmln, nawaz sharif�*s party, have at 75. now, what happens next? at the moment these results aren't finalised because there will be court challenges. they will be very and until those have worked through the system, there will not be an absolute definitive finalised total and number. so that is what we're going to be watching now. lots of different candidates from the imran khan's backed pti party are saying that they think that there was vote rigging, they think that they were ahead at certain points and then suddenly something happened and then the vote seemed to go in the other person's favour. now, of course, the authorities here deny that that has happened, but that is what's really creating a large amount of anger, firstly on social media, but also if you go out and speak

to people, there's a lot of people who will talk about the fact that they feel that this vote was rigged. and earlier on today, we went to a protest that was happening outside the election commission in rawalpindi, which is very close to islamabad. and the area was cornered off by police. we saw a few hundred people also that had come down from the pti that were protesting outside, protesting peacefully. and at some point, the atmosphere changed between the two sides. there was about an hour and a half where it was relatively calm, and then suddenly there was tear gas that was being used to disperse that crowd that were waiting outside. but despite the fact that that crowd has gone, there has been crowds in other cities as well that have been out protesting about this. but there's a real anger still here in pakistan, for many people that voted. there's still a lot of confusion about what will happen next, as you suggested. both imran khan's pti and the pmln from nawaz sharif are saying that they think that they will be able to form a government. but exactly how they're going to do that and how they're

going to get the numbers. neither on their own have a majority. but the other issue, of course, is where do they get the rest of those seats from for imran khan's party? the answer is they're going to try and challenge these cases, hopeful that they might be able to get some more of those seats. and the pmln have been very clear that they want to try and create an alliance with other parties as well. we saw nawaz sharif meet with the karachi—based mom party earlier on today quite publicly. so it's now a real race on about which of those two parties is going to be able to form a government. and we still don't have clarity on that yet. the super bowl is taking place tonight — where the kansas city chiefs take on the san francisco 49ers. las vegas is hosting the sporting event, and fans have been pouring into the city. millions of people tune in to watch every year — all over the world. but what makes the super bowl so popular? sofia bettiza reports.

the super bowl is the most watched sporting event in the world. it's broadcast in over 130 countries and in more than 30 languages. so what is it that makes it so popular? well, the global appeal of american football is growing. listen to this. it's a sport that...that brings people together. it brings families together. it encompasses and represents a lot of things, a platform they have become a cultural phenomenon. and a lot of people watch the game just because they want to see commercials like these. then there's the half—time show, when a famous musician gets on stage to perform. and just to give you an idea, when rihanna performed last year, more than 121 million people tuned in to watch. and over the last few years, some of the biggest pop stars in the world have performed, including shakira, jennifer lopez, prince and madonna. now, on top of all that, what's new this year is the taylor swift effect. she is in a relationship with travis kelce, who plays

for one of the teams competing at the super bowl. and, of course, taylor swift is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. she has a huge fan base. and so she brings in a new, youngeraudience, especially women. and so because of all this, this year, the super bowl could break all sorts of social media and viewing records. stay with us here on bbc news. please say it's been a quieter week for all of us but still a lot of waterlogged fields out there as you can see by this weather watcher picture sent in from earlier on.

through the week, we may start off optimistic with sunny spells but it will turn increasingly unsettled with showers turning to longer spells of rain, breezy at times but mild particularly through the middle part of the week. this has been the story today, nuisance rain clinging on to the far east coast of scotland and north—east england, some brighter spells and some scattered showers out the rest. those will continue to feed in through the coast overnight but with some clearer skies, temperatures are likely to fall away. a chilly start to monday, low single figures for many, perhaps below freezing in some parts of rural scotland. low pressure dominates the scene as we move into monday, the wind direction coming from a north—westerly, slightly fresher and that will drive in plenty of showers closest to that area. northern ireland, scotland, north—west england. some of the showers to the tops of the mountain

is once again wintry in nature. there will be sunshine elsewhere and those temperatures likely to peak between six and 10 degrees. three monday evening, and into tuesday, a ridge of high pressure keeping things quiet but all the time this weather front is approaching, that will gradually spill in more cloud ahead of it so after a bright start clouding over, some scattered showers in the far north—west, persistent showery rain across the channel islands in south—west england and wales. seven to 11, our overall highs. as you move out of tuesday into wednesday, it's here where the showers potentially could merge to longer spells of rain as it stays pretty unsettled. the wind direction coming from a south—westerly so very mild and that willjust push that milder air further north across the country. it means we could see temperatures perhaps into the mid—teens as we go

through the middle part of the week but stays pretty unsettled for many. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines: israel's prime minister insists he will press ahead with an offensive in rafah, despite growing international alarm over the fate of the one

and a half million palestinians who've taken refuge there. nato hits back at remarks by donald trump — that he would encourage russia to attack any nato ally that fails to meet its financial obligations to the alliance. king charles attends his first sandringham church service since his cancer diagnosis was announced. and the housing secretary michael gove promises that no—fault evictions will be banned by the uk's next general election. nato has insisted it remains ready and able to defend all allies, after donald trump said he would encourage russia to attack any member of the alliance that didn't invest enough in its military. nato's secretary general, yens stoltenberg, said any attack on nato would be met with a united and forceful response. nato countries are supposed to spend 2% of their gdp on defence, but not all do.

at a campaign rally in south carolina, mr trump said