indian police have fired tear gas at thousands of farmers who are marching to delhi to demand guaranteed prices for their crops. and joe biden hasjoined tiktok. the us president signs up in the platform despite its ban on most us government devices. hello, i'm lauren taylor. during the first month of the war between hamas and israel, northern gaza was under heavy israeli bombardment. paramedics from the international red cross and red crescent society, many of whom are volunteers, are the first to respond to calls on gaza's emergency number, 101. local filmmaker feras al—ajarmi documented their lives and work over several weeks — here's his special report.

he sobs. sirens wail.

in response to that report, the israel defense forces said, "any claim that we intentionally target red crescent or medical workers is baseless and untrue. we act in accordance with international law and take feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm in our operations". and if you're in the uk you can watch bbc arabic�*s full film — gaza 101: emergency rescue — that's available now on bbc iplayer, online and on the app. president biden has appealed for the more than one—million palestinians sheltering in rafah in the southern gaza strip to be protected, once again urging israel not to carry out a big assault without a credible plan for the safety of civilians. he was speaking after meeting thejordanian monarch, king abdullah, in washington. the king has repeatedly pushed for a full truce to end the conflict

that started when hamas attacked israel on october 7th. on monday morning, a series of israeli airstrikes there killed at least 70 people, with israel warning of an impending ground offensive. more than half of gaza's population now lives in rafah. the potentialfor a ground campaign has sparked alarm from israel's allies, including the us. as the king and i discussed today, the united states is working on a hostage deal between israel and hamas, which would bring an immediate and sustained period of calm to gaza for at least six weeks, which we could then take the time to build something more enduring. nearly 100,000 people have been killed, injured or are missing. the majority are women and children. we cannot afford an israeli attack on rafah. it is certain to produce another humanitarian catastrophe. the situation is already unbearable for over a million people who have been pushed into rafah

since the war started. we cannot stand by and let this continue. we need a lasting ceasefire now. this war must end. with me now to discuss israel's planned ground offensive in rafah is 0rly goldschmidt, spokesperson at the israeli embassy in london. thank you very much for coming in. we heard the warnings from president biden and other allies of israel, he said that people packed into rafah need to be protected. what does it well plan to do next with rafah? will there be a ground invasion and what form will it take? i’d will there be a ground invasion and what form will it take?— what form will it take? i'd like to remind everyone _ what form will it take? i'd like to remind everyone here _ what form will it take? i'd like to remind everyone here that - what form will it take? i'd like to remind everyone here that we i what form will it take? i'd like to | remind everyone here that we did what form will it take? i'd like to - remind everyone here that we did not want this war to start, we were not the ones invading israeli villages, murdering, butchering and taking more than 240 people hostage in gaza. 0ur more than 240 people hostage in gaza. our goals have always been

very clear, we have two goals, one is to bring back all of our hostages. we know many are in rafah at the moment and they are in very difficult conditions, they are being tortured, some have been physically and sexually abused. we need to get them out of there. the second goal is to make sure hamas can no longer hamas. as long as hamas is in rafah we will have two there —— is to make sure hamas can no longer harm us. as long as hamas is in rafah we will have to go there. there needs to be a plant to evacuate the civilians, we do not want to hurt civilians. unfortunately hamas is using them as human shields, they are hiding behind them, hiding hostages in regular houses like the two hostages rescued yesterday, so we need to

make sure those civilians are in safer areas. make sure those civilians are in safer arm-— make sure those civilians are in safer areas-— make sure those civilians are in safer areas. what is your plan for evacuation? _ safer areas. what is your plan for evacuation? the _ safer areas. what is your plan for evacuation? the uk _ safer areas. what is your plan for evacuation? the uk foreign - safer areas. what is your plan for - evacuation? the uk foreign secretary lord cameron says there is no for them to go, they can't go south into egypt, them to go, they can't go south into egypt.they them to go, they can't go south into egypt, they can't go north to their homes because many have been destroyed, he says we want to think hard before taking further action. why would they go? it is hard before taking further action. why would they go?— why would they go? it is being discussed and _ why would they go? it is being discussed and prepared, - why would they go? it is being discussed and prepared, the i why would they go? it is being - discussed and prepared, the prime minister has asked the idf to bring a feasible plan that will allow civilians to move to safer areas. i can assure you we do not want to hurt civilians, we have never been at war with the palestinian people, our only war is with hamas so we will do whatever we can to minimise civilian casualties. if hamas cares about their own civilians they can just surrender today and we will not need this ground invasion, they can surrender, bring the hostages back

and it will be over. fine surrender, bring the hostages back and it will be over.— and it will be over. one of the thins and it will be over. one of the things that — and it will be over. one of the things that has _ and it will be over. one of the things that has been - and it will be over. one of the | things that has been discussed and it will be over. one of the - things that has been discussed for weeks in part of a diplomatic push is to try to have some kind of stop to the fighting to get more hostages released, some were released when there was a pause in the fighting, about 100. will israel send a delegation to cairo to meet those discussing the plan at the moment? we are trying to do everything we can to get the hostages back, we have sent a delegation to cairo, we are always open for discussions, we want to try every way possible to get the hostages back. what want to try every way possible to get the hostages back. what kind of mandate do they _ get the hostages back. what kind of mandate do they have? _ get the hostages back. what kind of mandate do they have? do - get the hostages back. what kind of mandate do they have? do you - get the hostages back. what kind of. mandate do they have? do you expect a deal soon? i mandate do they have? do you expect a deal soon?— a deal soon? i really hope there will be a deal _ a deal soon? i really hope there will be a deal soon _ a deal soon? i really hope there will be a deal soon that - a deal soon? i really hope there will be a deal soon that will- a deal soon? i really hope there. will be a deal soon that will allow us to bring them home. they have been there for 130 days, they are being starved, they have people watching them all the time. the situation is horrible. two weeks ago

we organised an event in parliament under secretary of state kemi badenoch was there, she heard witnesses speaking about sexual violence, sexual abuse, and she said the government is clearly behind us in our quest to bring hostages back home. but in our quest to bring hostages back home. �* , , , , ., home. but there is pressure on you to t home. but there is pressure on you tot to home. but there is pressure on you to try to sort _ home. but there is pressure on you to try to sort out — home. but there is pressure on you to try to sort out the _ home. but there is pressure on you to try to sort out the humanitarian l to try to sort out the humanitarian situation, you talked about the hostages starving but so are many of the palestinians in rafah where they don't have a proper infrastructure for refugees. the international court ofjustice has given until february 23 to come up with answers on improving the situation, the humanitarian situation, what has the israeli government turn on that and what will it do to try to improve that? , ., , ., ., , that? the israeli government has alwa s that? the israeli government has always tried _ that? the israeli government has always tried to _ that? the israeli government has always tried to help _ that? the israeli government has always tried to help the - that? the israeli government has always tried to help the gazan . always tried to help the gazan population by helping with

delivering food, medical supplies. recently we have delivered oxygen to one of the hospitals in khan younis, we have helped the civilians when they were moving from the north to they were moving from the north to the south to protect them against hamas people trying to kill them. we have delivered hundreds of thousands of leaflets telling them to evacuate from one place to another, we are taking lots of precautions to avoid civilian casualties. i can give you some numbers, according to un figures the general ratio in a war is for every combatant you killed nine civilians, in this war, for every competent approximately 1.7 civilians are killed. 0f every competent approximately 1.7 civilians are killed. of course we don't want any civilians killed but unfortunately hamas are hiding and embedded within a densely populated area, under un schools, mosques, un

facilities, regular homes. it makes it even more difficult to avoid civilian casualties, we do not want to see that. civilian casualties, we do not want to see that-— to see that. thank you for talking to see that. thank you for talking to us,. -- — to see that. thank you for talking to us,. -- thank— to see that. thank you for talking to us,. -- thank you _ to see that. thank you for talking to us,. -- thank you for- to see that. thank you for talking to us,. -- thank you for talking i to see that. thank you for talking | to us,. -- thank you for talking to to us,. —— thank you for talking to us, 0rly goldschmidt. live now to our correspondent, barbara plett usher injersualem. tell us about any preparations or discussions within israel about the possibility of a ground invasion in rafah? ., ., , , rafah? there are no visible preparations, _ rafah? there are no visible preparations, the _ rafah? there are no visible preparations, the israeli's i preparations, the israeli's discussion is that it will go ahead because they had to do that to win the war, to feed the final hamas at they do not want to leave the situation where hamas can reconstitute itself or retake control of gaza at any point. but they have been getting lots of opposition to that idea because of all the palestinian sheltering, 1.4 million people crowded into rafah having evacuated as the israelis advanced cell. you have the american

president to support israel's war aims talking very pointedly about the need for a credible plan to evacuate then. the israeli president has said there will be a plan, mr biden has said, make sure it protect civilians. there is some opposition from the un, which the israelis would need to be able to set up an alternate location, alternate tent camps in another place for these people. the un spokesperson has said we will not participate in what he called the forced displacement of people. he said you can't send people. he said you can't send people back to areas where there is not enough shelter or unexploded ordinance. but some people are making that move on their own. two nights ago there was a very intense bombardment of rafah because the israelis moved in to rescue two hostages, it really scared lots of

policy —— palestinians, they are wondering what would happen next. the footage appears to show people moving north out of rafah, the road packed with cars that weighed down with belongings. some people are taking a step on their own, thinking that rafah will not be safe any more. ., , u, more. one of the figures the un came u . more. one of the figures the un came u- with more. one of the figures the un came up with about — more. one of the figures the un came up with about one _ more. one of the figures the un came up with about one month _ more. one of the figures the un came up with about one month ago - more. one of the figures the un came up with about one month ago was - more. one of the figures the un came up with about one month ago was thatj up with about one month ago was that about a fifth of all buildings in gaza have been destroyed, it is probably more than that now. where will they go? — probably more than that now. where will they go? it _ probably more than that now. where will they go? it is _ probably more than that now. where will they go? it is not _ probably more than that now. where will they go? it is not really - will they go? it is not really clear, i expect they would go back to whether homes were and perhaps try to live in the ruins. with the belongings they have they might try to set up makeshift places. those questions are very difficult to answer because so much of gaza has been damaged, so much does not have the infrastructure to support people coming back, water, sewage, electricity, all those things. but it is not an organised move at this moment, we have seen pictures which we believe shows some people making

that decision for themselves. it would be up to the un and other agencies to make an organised effort to create for civilians in rafah to shelter if the israelis would press ahead with their combat operation and that is not happening at the moment. ., ~ and that is not happening at the moment. ., ,, , ., and that is not happening at the moment. ., ,, ., moment. thank you, barbara plett usher. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news here in the uk. the police watchdog has started an investigation into a force's contact with valdo calocane before he killed three people in nottingham. the independent office for police conduct review follows a voluntary referral by nottinghamshire police of complaints it has received from the victims' families. barnaby webber, grace 0'malley—kumar and ian coates died in the attacks. seven women are accusing devon and cornwall police of failing to investigate serving and former officers for domestic abuse, and sexual violence. the group claims that in some cases the men were promoted to specialist roles dealing with violence against women and girls, despite the complaints against them.

the force has referred the allegations to the police watchdog. official figures show that the rate at which wages are rising dropped in the three months to december — but it still outpaced the level of inflation. the office for national statistics said wage growth dropped by 0.4% points to 6.2% in the last quarter of last year. you're live with bbc news. here in the uk, more details have emerged of the comments about israel and jewish people apparently made by azhar ali — who the labour party had been backing in this month's rochdale by—election. the party is no longer supporting him, but mrali will still be on the ballot for technical reasons. he's previously apologised for the remarks. let's speak to our political correspondent hannah miller, who's in westminster for us this morning. how difficult is it for labour to have changed their minds on this so

visibly? it have changed their minds on this so visibl ? , . ., , ., have changed their minds on this so visibl ? ,. ., _, , visibly? it is clearly a very difficult situation - visibly? it is clearly a very difficult situation for - visibly? it is clearly a very i difficult situation for labour, described by multiple people as a complete mess, a shambles, whatever word you would like to describe it, frankly. it is about 48 hours between the initial comments emerging to the point where azhar ali was suspended. there are definitely questions about how the story was allowed to run and run, to get to that point. what finally happened last night was it emerged that the daily mail, who had initially reported the comments, had a recording in which azhar ali was heard reportedly making other comments which were anti—semitic. he appeared to be talking about andy mcdonald, a labour and appeared to be talking about andy mcdonald, a labourand p appeared to be talking about andy mcdonald, a labour and p suspended for using an offensive phrase during a pro—palestinian rally, —— a labour mp. he said that action was taken

because, i quote, some of the people in the media from certainjewish quotas. labour has withdrawn its support for azhar ali that they help the rochdale seat until the death of the rochdale seat until the death of the former mp, that is why the by—election is happening. a party that has held the seat for a number of years no longer has a candidate in this by—election and there are real questions for keir starmer in terms of how this has been handled. for people who do not follow the ins and outs, historically, what was the problem with labour and anti—semitism? problem with labour and anti-semitism?- problem with labour and anti-semitism? ~ ,, ., anti-semitism? when keir starmer took the leadership _ anti-semitism? when keir starmer took the leadership of _ anti-semitism? when keir starmer took the leadership of the - anti-semitism? when keir starmer took the leadership of the labour i took the leadership of the labour party he said he would work from day one to fight anti—semitism. under jeremy corbyn�*s leadership the party was seen to have an anti—semitism problem and it was clearly one of those things keir starmer has really pledged to eradicate. i think yesterday in the reaction he was able to get from thejewish labour

movement, for example, they were initially willing to see that while these comments have been reprehensible they accepted the party had changed and in the context of the by—election they accepted at the time it was necessary to keep supporting the labour candidate. for the labour party leadership to be able to draw on that support i think was a significant shift that you saw yesterday which would perhaps not have happened underjeremy corbyn�*s leadership, but it is something, the anti—semitism issue, that keir starmer has put a lot of store buy and in the context of everything thatis and in the context of everything that is happening in israel and gaza and all the tensions within that story it is proving to be a difficult issue for labour. thank ou. let's speak to our reporter rowan bridge in rochdale. what has the reaction been? it is a

very unusual _ what has the reaction been? it is a very unusual situation _ what has the reaction been? it is a very unusual situation where - what has the reaction been? it is a very unusual situation where you . very unusual situation where you have a labour candidate no longer being supported by the labour party itself. the issue will be what effect that has on the labour vote. labour help this constituency with a 9500 majority at the last election. —— how old this constituency. the sitting labour mp, sirtony —— how old this constituency. the sitting labour mp, sir tony lloyd, died, triggering this by—election. those labour voters have three options, they could still vote for azhar ali even though he is no longer supported by the local labour party, they could vote for one of the other candidates in this election, there are a total of 11 standing in rochdale including two former labour mps and one former labour rochdale mp who resigned from the party, or they could just stay at home and not bother voting at all. at the moment it is not really clear which way the labour vote will

splinter and what effect it might have on the outcome of the election. if azhar ali still wins the seat he will have to use as an independent in parliament because he will no longer have the support of the labour party —— he will have to sit as an independent. a general election in the uk needs to be called in the next 12 months also so labour will have to select another candidate to stand in rochdale in less than one year.— police in northern india have fired tear gas on farmers marching towards delhi — as they call for minimum prices for crops. thick clouds of gas were used to disperse protesters near the city of ambala — after last—minute talks to prevent the major planned protest ended without a breakthrough. farmers' union officials complained that government ministers had failed to take their demands seriously. let's speak to our south asia correspondent samira hussain, who's in delhi. how big are the protests? to give you a sense of what kinds of high

alert the city is in, you can see police and army personnel who have gathered, there are metal barricades and this is a sin in various parts of the city. we are more than 100 kilometres away from the nearest border where those clashes have been, that is how serious the capital is taking this protest. there are thousands of farmers coming in from three neighbouring states that are making their way into delhi. they are being blocked ljy into delhi. they are being blocked by concrete barricades and metal nails and barbed wire and the government really does not want to see these protesters getting anywhere near the capital city. what anywhere near the capital city. what is the main sticking _ anywhere near the capital city. what is the main sticking point between the farmers' unions and the government?— the farmers' unions and the government? ~ . , ., ., , government? what they are really lookin: government? what they are really looking for. _ government? what they are really looking for, the _ government? what they are really looking for, the farmers _ government? what they are really looking for, the farmers are -

government? what they are really| looking for, the farmers are saying we want a bare minimum pricing for crops. they also want to see some debt forgiveness and frankly they are also looking to see that india withdraws from the world trade organization. this is not the first 0rganization. this is not the first time we have seen protesters or farmers protesting in this way. three years ago farmers protested for more than a year and they were rallying against these agricultural reforms that have been put in place. eventually the government relented on some of those parts and part of this processed stance from these previous protests because something is guaranteed back then still have not come to fruition, the farmers say. we are just months away from a general election in india and farmers form a massive voting block. they do not uniformly vote, but the prime minister certainly does not want to be seen as having to deal with mass protests just before any

kind of general election. you mention 2020 _ kind of general election. you mention 2020 and _ kind of general election. you mention 2020 and the measures in place to avoid it becoming gridlocked in delhi, but some of those diversions seem to be causing quite a trafficjam? yes. those diversions seem to be causing quite a trafficjam?— quite a traffic “am? yes. there is the issue quite a traffic jam? yes. there is the issue that _ quite a traffic jam? yes. there is the issue that delhi _ quite a traffic jam? yes. there is the issue that delhi is _ quite a traffic jam? yes. there is the issue that delhi is constantly| the issue that delhi is constantly riddled with traffic but of course there are many more of these kinds of roadblocks happening all around the city, particularly when you start crossing into other states, and lots of people commute from delhi to that state daily and that is why we are seeing lots of problems. is why we are seeing lots of problems-— is why we are seeing lots of roblems. ., ,, , ., ., is why we are seeing lots of roblems. ., ,, ., before we go, president biden hasjoined tiktok with his first video captioned: �*lol hey guys.�* the post has already racked up more than 6 million views. he answered questions on the super bowl in a brief video — take a look.

plenty more for you any time on our website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. over the next few days, the temperature is going to creep up. it's going to turn much milder. what we have today this weather front across the northwest of scotland producing some showers. it's behind this weather front coming into the southwest that we start to drag in the milder conditions. but with it, too, its bringing in a lot of cloud and some rain and some drizzle across england and also wales. that rain pepping up across northern

england through the day. eventually, we'll see a bit more cloud into the far south of southern scotland and also parts of northern ireland, but clearer skies, some hazy sunshine across much of the rest of scotland. and we're looking at 6 to 9 here, but 10 to 12 in the south. now, through this evening and overnight, we continue with cloudy and wet conditions across england, also wales, getting into northern ireland and then eventually southern scotland. but under clearer skies across the highlands, for example, temperatures and sheltered glens could fall away to —5 or —6. much milderfurther south. into tomorrow then we've got a clutch of weather fronts. this one heading northwards. you can see this one trailing across the south. so essentially it means once again, we're looking at a cloudy and a wet day. the rain on and off through the course of the day pushing northwards. here's the trailing front. in between there'll be some brighter skies, but the brightest skies will be in the far north of scotland where we see some hazy sunshine. highs 6 to 8, but note how

the milder conditions are spreading further north. and that process will continue as we head on through thursday. we still have weather fronts in the forecast, but it's all but the very far north of scotland, the northern isles, that are going to be in the milderair. so on thursday, it's another cloudy and wet day. again, we've got the rain pushing north, more rain coming in across the southwest, some brighter skies in between. but it's the temperature that will be the talking point because on thursday, somewhere in the southeast could hit 16 or 17. but the milder air continuing to track that bit further north. then as we move on into friday, the rain clears away from the east. we've got a ridge of high pressure building in. there'll be variable amounts of cloud. but even so, we'll see some breaks in that cloud with a few showers scattered in the west, particularly west wales and temperatures slipping a little bit but still up to 14.

this is bbc news, the headlines... president biden urges israel not to carry out a big assault into rafah — where more than a million palestinians have been displaced — he says they need to be protected. labour suspends its rochdale by—election candidate, azhar ali, as more details emerge about the comments he made about israel.

the german chancellor calls for a massive increase in the european production of armaments and in rio dejaneiro... the celebrations continue as the final parade of the carnival takes place today. let's get more on the war between israel and gaza. israel is facing growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire with hamas. on monday morning, a series of israeli airstrikes there killed at least 70 people, with israel warning of an impending ground offensive. more than half of gaza's population now lives in rafah. the potentialfor a ground campaign has sparked alarm from israel's allies. today, the us, egypt, israel and qatar are meeting in cairo to work on a hostage deal which would bring a six—week pause in the fighting. this comes after president biden has called for more than one million palestinians sheltering in rafah in southern gaza to be protected. let's speak tojohn lyndon, executive director at the alliance for middle east peace.