live from london. this is bbc news. syrian state media says that three people have been killed in an israeli strike on an apartment block in damascus. these are the latest pictures from the scene. the test launch of an unarmed trident missile, which holds the uk's nuclear warheads, fails for the second time in a row. spanish farmers take their tractors to madrid's streets, joining colleagues across the eu in protesting against rising costs. hospitals in england could introduce martha's rule from april, giving easier access to an urgent second opinion, if a patient�*s condition gets worse. we start with reports coming in from syria. state media there say three people

have been killed, after several israeli missiles hit the kafar souseh district in syria's capital damascus. the neighbourhood is known to host several security agencies and was targeted in an israeli attack in february last year. our correspondent, jenny hill, is injerusalem with the latest developments. syrian outlets are saying three people have been killed in an israeli attack on this district. you will have seen the pictures of the apartment block which appears to have been targeted. syrian media sources saying this particular building has been in the past frequented by a senior union and his brotherfigures. we don't frequented by a senior union and his brother figures. we don't have frequented by a senior union and his brotherfigures. we don't have much more information at this stage, certainly nothing from the israelis who, as you say, did almost a year

ago exactly to the day, target this particular district, killing five people and reportedly iranian military experts, so we will have to wait to see if there is any word from israel. italy trips have also not responded to accusations from the medical charity, doctors without borders, who say that overnight, to family members of their staff were killed and six others injured in a strike on the place where they were sheltering, quite close to the city of khan younis in the south of the gaza strip. we have contacted is really authorities for a comment on that and we are still waiting to hear from them. that and we are still waiting to hearfrom them. in that and we are still waiting to hear from them. in the that and we are still waiting to hearfrom them. in the meantime, the bombardment of gaza has continued overnight. we know the israelis have continued to strike targets around khan younis but in gaza city, which is in the north of the strip, they have now told people in two particular neighbourhoods in the

centre of the city to leave immediately for their own safety. there is so that warning about an offensive in rafa and there has been some movement when it comes to un draft resolutions and vetoes. give us an update on that.— draft resolutions and vetoes. give us an update on that. yes, there has been a lot of— us an update on that. yes, there has been a lot of outrage _ us an update on that. yes, there has been a lot of outrage overnight - us an update on that. yes, there has been a lot of outrage overnight from | been a lot of outrage overnight from countries including china, that the us vetoed a draft resolution put forward by algeria, calling for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. this comes amid a huge concern about the human cost of israel's monetary operation in response to the hamas attacks october seven. it is worth pointing out the uk abstained on that vote and the us and uk both say that vote and the us and uk both say that what they would rather have is a temporary ceasefire and that is something which the us has proposed as an alternative draft resolution also they want israel, they won that

resolution to: israel to impose a temporary ceasefire as soon as is practically possible. they are israel's closest ally, the us, they are increasingly alarmed at what is happening in gaza and their particular concern about that planned ground offensive in the southern city of rafa which at the moment is sheltering well overi million displaced palestinian civilians. there draft resolution also calls for restraint and calls on israel to rethink that plan at the moment, saying any ground offensive there would not only cause further harm and displacement of civilians sheltering there, but would also jeopardise peace and security in the region. that is what has happened overnight at the un. we don't have a timetable for the us draft resolution. we expect it will be talked about in the coming days. in the meantime, israel has shown no sign of bowing to any of that international pressure, insisting that if hamas does not return its hostages within the next three weeks, it will go ahead with the

attack on the southern city of rafa. the us, when it vetoed that resolution from algeria, it said it was concerned that it would jeopardise negotiations for a ceasefire, but has there been any word on progress on those diplomatic talks or negotiations? any word on progress on those diplomatic talks or negotiations?— talks or negotiations? any word we have received _ talks or negotiations? any word we have received has _ talks or negotiations? any word we have received has been _ talks or negotiations? any word we have received has been pretty - have received has been pretty pessimistic. the qataris who have been really driving those talks had said they were not looking good at all. having said that, the political leader of hamas is in cairo today for talks with an egyptian minister and the us has now dispatched its senior middle east adviser to the region, also to hold talks. he is expected in egypt today reportedly before moving on to israel later in the week. there is certainly movement behind—the—scenes. whether it will result in the kind of

arrangements whereby some kind of temporary ceasefire, release of hostages can be brokered, really does remain to be seen. melanie ward is chief executive of medical aid for palestinians and told me the latest on the humanitarian situation in gaza. melanie ward is chief executive of medical aid conditions in rafah, as across the whole of gaza, are absolutely desperate but rafah is particularly serious because it's so overcrowded and this is because early on in this war, the israeli military told palestinians in gaza to move to the south, encouraged them to move to the south and particularly to rafah in the belief this would be a safe place to be. so there are overi million people crowded into gaza right now. there's not enough shelter for them. we as humanitarians are unable to provide the right kind of shelter because it's almost impossible to get the right amount of aid supplies in. people are crowded into the streets, they are fashioning shelters out of anything they can find. in some cases, the israeli military have removed the tent poles so people are trying to build tents out of pieces of wood, pieces of nylon. they're not weatherproof. the vast overcrowding means that

prices of anything available have rapidly shot up and there's not enough food to start with. so my own staff don't have enough to eat. they and their children have all lost weight. because of the unhygienic conditions, children have lice and things like nappies are as expensive as $40 or more for a packet. so people cannot afford these things. right. conditions are absolutely desperate and everyone is terrified about an offensive on rafah. where are they supposed to go? there is nowhere that is safe to go. apologies for interrupting, i just want to flag we are showing some pictures on air right now. the world health organization and un doctors were given access by the israeli army to the nasser hospital complex and that is of course after an israeli raid there and one un doctor actually called it a death zone and right now in those pictures, we can see doctors evacuating patients by torchlight.

could you tell us broadly what the healthcare system actually looks like right now in gaza? there are no functioning hospitals left in gaza. this is the most dangerous place in the world to be a civilian. almost 30,000 people killed, over 70,000 injured and there is not a single functioning hospital because health care has been systematically dismantled. the israel defence forces have told us that they did not attack hospitals but rather, entered specific areas to neutralise hamas's in researcher. here in the uk, parliament will vote later today on the call for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. the government wants an immediate humanitarian pause but the scottish national party has accused israel of war crimes, something israel strongly denies, and says the only way to protect civilians is for the fighting to end now. the politics around the uk parliament's debate on gaza is sensitive, and complicated, so let's explain

a bit more. today's motion has been put forward by the scottish national party. among others things it says there has been a collective punishment of the palestinian people by israel. the main opposition labour party says this isn't balanced and has put forward an amendment calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire. this is nevertheless, tougher on israel than its previous position and would satisfy nearly all labour mps. but the conservative party has put forward an alternative amandment that talks about an immediate humanitarian pause. that wording isn't as strong as labour's. only one amendment can be chosen, conservative or labour. if it's the conservative one, some labour mps could just vote for the main snp motion, the one party leader keir starmer called unbalanced. this would be damaging to his authority. earlier our chief political correspondent henry zeffman told me more about what we can expect today.

you have three parties setting out in parliamentary language their positions on the conflict in israel and gaza. this has all been prompted by the scottish national party, as you say. they have tabled a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire. you have a labour amendment to that motion, which also for the first time since october the 7th, calls for an immediate ceasefire, but makes much more emphasis than the snp motion does on both sides of the conflict. they say you can't have a lasting ceasefire unless hamas lays down its weapons and they say israelis have a legitimate expectation that the horrors of october the 7th can't be repeated. so substantively they are calling for the israeli government to do a very similar thing to what the snp is calling on them to do, but they also are making more calls on hamas. and then you've got the government's amendment, which doesn't call for a ceasefire at all, it calls for an immediate humanitarian pause.

although, they share the same concerns as the labour motion does and the snp motion does about the possibility of an israeli ground invasion in rafah. what can we actually expect in the house of commons? i'm afraid that gets into slightly complex questions of parliamentary procedure because it's not at all clear that the labour amendment will be called by sir lindsay hoyle, the commons speaker, for a vote. if it is, i expect almost every labour mp to unite behind sir keir starmer�*s new position. if it isn't called for a vote, then you may have the labour party divided again on how to vote on the snp motion. and prince william has called for an end to the fighting as soon as possible. what impact will the statements he has made have in westminster, if any? i think certainly a lot of people are struck by the fact that the prince of wales has made a political, of sorts, statement. procedure because it's not at all clear that the labour although, my sense is that people on all sides of this debate in westminster are taking it mostly

as a humanitarian statement. he talks about the loss of civilian life on both sides, he called for peace, he doesn't get into the specifics as political parties sort of do about how that might be brought about and what a peaceful settlement might look like. but certainly, the fact that you have the house of commons debating this today and the fact that simultaneously the prince of wales has made a public statement on it, i think shows that this is something that is occupying the minds of people at the very top of british public life. the nhs in england will begin to introduce martha's rule from april, giving access to rapid critical care reviews if a patient�*s condition worsens in hospital. the scheme is named after 13—year—old martha mills, who died from sepsis when doctors failed to respond to her parents' concerns. our health correspondent, sophie hutchinson, reports. it was in 2021 at king's college hospital in london that martha's parents went through the agony of watching their daughter deteriorate while their concerns were ignored by staff.

she'd fallen off her bike, injured her pancreas and developed sepsis. but she never received the life—saving treatment she needed. merope mills, her mother, has fought hard for this initiative, martha's rule, and says it will save lives. since martha's death, i've said to people who've gone into hospital, if you're worried, if you think something is going wrong, you should scream the ward down because that's what i didn't do. and i regret it, i will regret it for the rest of my days. but the very existence of martha's rule says you don't need to scream the ward down. what you need to do is call this number because you've got martha's rule. martha's rule will be an escalation process in england, which will allow patients, families and nhs staff to call for a rapid review from an independent critical care team 2a hours a day if they want an urgent second opinion. nhs england says at least 100 hospitals, that's two thirds

of those with critical care units, can now apply for funding for awareness schemes, which may include printing posters and information leaflets. but questions remain about whether the initiative will be standardised across hospitals and if it will continue to be called martha's rule. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. thousands ofjunior doctors across wales have begun a three—day strike in their latest action in a pay dispute. the strike means thousands of appointments and operations have been cancelled. it is the second walk out by doctors since january, who said they have effectively lost about a third of their pay in the last 15 years. let's look at some other stories making news. hundreds of people have been forced to leave their homes in plymouth after what's thought to be an unexploded second world war bomb was discovered in a garden.

police say a 200 metre cordon could be in place for up to 36 hours, while bomb disposal experts try to make the device safe. actor ewen macintosh, best known for playing keith in classic british comedy the office, has died at the age of 50. the series co—creator ricky gervais has paid tribute to macintosh, writing on x platform, previusly known as twitter, that he was an absolute original. you're live with bbc news. now, a test firing of a trident missile from a royal navy submarine has failed, and for the second time in a row. the ministry of defence has insisted that the system used to carry britain's nuclear warheads remains safe, secure and effective. hamish de bretton gordon, a former british army colonel, and a chemical and nuclear weapons expert, told me about the impact for the government of this

information being made public.