live from washington, this is bbc news. israel's parliament backs benjamin netanyahu's declaration opposing the unilateral creation of a palestinian state. the bbc investigates an israeli hostage rescue in gaza that left dozens of palestinians dead. the wars in the middle east and ukraine dominate discussions at a meeting of 620 foreign ministers in brazil. iam i am helena iam helena humphrey. good to have you with us. we begin in the middle east. as international pressure mounts on israel to account for its actions in gaza, members of the israeli parliament, the knesset, have overwhelmingly backed a resolution by the prime

minister benjamin netanyahu rejecting any unilateral recognition of a palestinian state. netanyhahu's likud party says 99 out of 120 members voted to support the declaration passed earlier this week by the israeli cabinet. it follows efforts by leaders across to world to examine fresh ways to reach a two—state solution to the decades—long conflict. the people of israel and their elected representatives are united today as never before. the tennis that voted overwhelmingly to oppose any attempt to unilaterally impose attempt to unilaterally impose a palestinian state on israel. such an attempt will only endanger israel and prevent the genuine peace that we all seek. peace can only be achieved after we achieve total victory over hamas and through direct negotiations between the parties, direct negotiations without preconditions. and despite that hardline stance by israel's prime minister, the bbc�*s paul adams injeruslaem says there have been some developments

providing some hope for a slowing of violence. after weeks of pessimism about the prospects for a deal, a deal to release the remaining 130 hostages in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of palestinians held in israeli jails, there isjust a tiny, tiny bit of optimism in the this evening following remarks by a member of benjamin netanyahu's war cabinet, benny gantz, "there are attempts these days to promote a new outlier, indicating an intention to move forward". it sounds cryptic and does not sounds cryptic and does not sound that anything is particularly evident but it is just a faint hint of optimism. you will recall that benjamin netanyahu has described the hamas demands for a deal as delusional and we don't know if those demands have changed but there is still a process going on, talks in cairo involving

egyptian and hamas officials and a considerable amount of american diplomatic weight as well. the state department spokesman matthew miller has said in the last few hours, we do think there is space to reach an agreement here, we want to see an agreement reached as soon as possible. ideally, before ramadan or even may earlier than that. again, hard to read if these are real sides of optimism but certainly not quite the bilyk pessimism of recent weeks. in the meantime, we had israel's parliament, the kinaesthetic, endorsed the view of benjamin netanyahu and his cabinet that israel rejects what it calls international dictates about recognition of a palestinian state and israelis are conscious that countries like britain and america are talking about the possible unilateral recognition of palestinian statehood and pretty anonymously 99 votes out of the 120 member can set parliament

has said no to that. all items injerusalem. last week israeli special forces rescued two of the hostages kidnapped on 7 october by hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk and us government. they were being held in southern gaza in the city of rafah. there was huge relief for the families of 60—year—old fernando simon marman and 70—year—old louis har as well as a boost for national morale. but the military raid in rafah to free them reportedly left more than 70 people dead and dozens wounded. the bbc�*s special correspondent, fergal keane, is hearing the stories of civilians and medics caught up in a night of fear. his report contains distressing details. they were rescued from here. the two israeli hostages that were kidnapped by hamas in the massacre of 7 october are now home. this is the story of the price paid by the civilians of rafah on the night of 12 february. the rescue began around 1:45am.

by the time the hostages were safe, more than 70 people were reported killed, a high number civilians. in this house, a doctor from medecins sans frontieres lay across her children to protect them. she has asked to remain anonymous. voice messages to colleagues afterwards convey her horror. some of the wounded were brought to an international field clinic. drjaved ali from pakistan has

worked here for the last two months. it was very close to the hospital. the windows and the doors were rattling. it was extremely scary. all in all, we saw more than 20 patients. a lot of women and children were trying to come and seek refuge in the hospital. it is in the stories of individualfamilies that the impact of the raid is most painfully expressed. nawara al—najjar is a mum of six, and pregnant with a seventh child. she woke after being injured by an explosion.

nawara remembers happy days with abed—alrahman, 32 years old when he was killed. here, some of the couple's children in hospital on the night their dad died. 12—year—old samaya, treated for minor physical wounds but traumatised. and 13—year—old malak, who lost her eye in the raid.

israel accuses hamas of using civilians as human shields. in a statement to the bbc, the idf said it was committed to mitigating civilian harm. military lawyers advise so strikes complied with international law. commanders analyse, take into account expected military advantage and the likely collateral harm to civilians. the war goes on. civilians like abed al—rahman keep being killed. in the voice message of the msf doctor, a sense of the despair felt here.

but the memory of their father will endure for all of their lives. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. and with multiple developments taking place involving the israel—gaza conflict, i spoke to michael singh, managing director at the washington institute for near east policy, and former senior director for middle east affairs at the white house national security council. thank you very much forjoining us again here on bbc news. todayit us again here on bbc news. today it the israeli parliament, the knisset, they overwhelmingly opposed the natural creation of a palestinian state. when do you believe this leaves the united states, the biden administration when we know that that administration wants to see the two state solution? i don't think it comes as a

surprise to officials in washington. israeli the events of 7 october and i think from the left to the right of the political spectrum they worry that steps like unilateral recognition of a palestinian state would be somehow a reward for the terrorism on 7 october. this is well known in washington, so this conundrum of how do you move forward diplomatically from here, in a way, which will satisfy arab governments, satisfy the people in the region, but also address israel because my concerns, this is essential conundrum for washington and it'll be a difficult path forward. talk more about _ difficult path forward. talk more about the _ difficult path forward. talk more about the conundrum when it comes to the operations on the ground. president biden has said publicly that he thinks that the actions in gaza are, quote, overthe that the actions in gaza are, quote, over the top. that the actions in gaza are, quote, overthe top. do that the actions in gaza are, quote, over the top. do you believe that biden still has

the ear of prime minister netanyahu in terms of any kind of influence here? i netanyahu in terms of any kind of influence here?— of influence here? i think there is _ of influence here? i think there is very _ of influence here? i think there is very close - of influence here? i think there is very close us - of influence here? i think| there is very close us and israel co—ordination on the immediate tactical issues on the ground and that includes the ground and that includes the progress of the military campaign but also issues like humanitarian access and so forth. i think whether us and israel start to diverge is on what happens afterwards. this messaging you see from president biden, from the white house, can be misleading because there actually is quite a good understanding between the us and israel about the need both to sort of defeat hamas, howeveryou need both to sort of defeat hamas, however you define that, but also protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access stop whereas the divergence is about what will come next out of the campaign. what will come next out of the campaign-— what will come next out of the cam-nain. ., ., , ., campaign. there also appears to be divergence _ campaign. there also appears to be divergence when _ campaign. there also appears to be divergence when it _ campaign. there also appears to be divergence when it comes - campaign. there also appears to be divergence when it comes to | be divergence when it comes to that proposed operation on the

ground in rafah in the south where we know many of those displaced palestinians have led you. the us yesterday put forward a resolution cautioning against that. if israel does go ahead, could this then challenge that partnership? we've seen a narrowing of differences between the us and israel on this. the us position has been a rafah will endanger the 1.5 million civilians who are crowded in that area and there needs to be some sort of way to prevent or mitigate the civilian harm. what we've seen from israel since the us has mitigated those concerns is a similar message. prime minister netanyahu has had that before a rafah operation to go forward, the israel defense forces have to present a plan to move civilians out of that area. we also have a question of a

hostage for prisoners swap, a hostage for prisoners swap, a hostage deal which is delaying a rafah operation and simultaneously the threat of a rafah operation is being used is leveraged to obtain a deal. there is some company to diplomacy going on here and perhaps not as a us divergence as we would have had. talk about the _ as we would have had. talk about the prospect - as we would have had. talk about the prospect video particularly when it comes to hostages. we know talks are ongoing in cairo, we had comments today from the spokesperson for the us state department matthew millar saying that his department thinks they could be space for an agreement on their release. what are your thoughts on that? 0bviously what are your thoughts on that? obviously it has been a difficult discussion in part because it is all done at arms length. we saw a couple of weeks ago a deal was close and weeks ago a deal was close and we have not seen a great deal of progress since, but you've said the noises have got more

positive in the recent days. the israelis have made clear that they would like to see a hostage deal before ramadan, marched out, and if there is no deal before then, perhaps a rafah operation will go on regardless of the negotiations over that deal. israel is gonna put on hamas with the threat of the rafah operation to get the deal done. hamas for its part recognises that once those hostages are released, the protection from israeli military operations is probably gone and so hence the very fraught and difficult discussions being held. michael singh, director at the washintgon insitute for near east policy, speaking to me a short while ago. international anger over the death of russian opposition leader alexei navalny has mounted. canada has become the latest country to summon its russian ambassador in a show of diplomatic condemnation. separately, the uk issued sanctions on six russian prison

chiefs in charge of the arctic penal colony where navalny died. the uk — the first nation to impose sanctions over navalny�*s death — froze the prison leaders' assets, and has banned them from travelling to the uk. prime minister rishi sunak spoke to parliament about holding russia accountable. the whole house forjoin me in sending our deepest condolences to the family of alexei navalny. he died because to which he dedicated his whole life, freedom, and return home knowing that putin had already tried to have him killed was one of the most courageous acts of our time. together with our allies we are considering all options to hold russia and fit into account and this morning we sanctioned those wanting to present were alexei navalny�*s body still lies. meanwhile, brazil's foreign minister has criticised what he called the "paralysis" of the un security council on the wars in gaza and ukraine, as he opened a g20 meeting in rio dejaneiro. the uk's foreign secretary lord david cameron told the g20 group of foreign ministers that there was "no more serious "an issue for the world" than russia's invasion of ukraine. speaking at the summit,

lord cameron urged the whole from rio, here's our south america correspondent, ione wells. well, there was certainly a tense atmosphere at the g20 summit in rio today, and that's partly because of some of the differences of opinion in the room when it comes to russia's actions in ukraine. now, present at the meeting today was russian — russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov. i'm told that directly in that room, many of the other foreign ministers use the opportunity to call out russia both for the war in ukraine, but also for the death of the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, in prison. these included the uk, canada, france, germany, australia, among others. and i'm told that lord cameron, the british foreign secretary, used the opportunity to ask other nations in the room whether there was anything more important to them than sovereignty and the ability to not be invaded by another nation. he said that he hoped that this was a message that was particularly important to be heard by some of russia's allies who were also

present in the room, including the hosts, brazil. now, in response, sergei lavrov, i'm told, effectively continued to deny allegations of murder against alexei navalny, dismissing that as a fabrication. but certainly a tense finish, i think to the day that was meant to be an opportunity for these g20 nations to try and find consensus about how to tackle ongoing international tensions. ione wells reporting. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a top story out of the uk. britain's king charles has revealed he has been reduced to tears by the messages of support since he was diagnosed with cancer. he made the comments during a face—to—face meeting with the prime minister. it's the first time the public has seen the british monarch since his return to official duties. during the chat at buckingham palace, rishi sunak commented on how well the king looked. daniela relph has more. today was very much our first

chance to see picking up close and at work cancer diagnosis. we also know that earlier today licking attended a meeting of the privy council which is a meeting where he formally approves various bits of government business, so if we put all the information into the next, the audience and privy council meeting, it seems just thinking coping very well with his cancer treatment. the king has stopped carrying out public engagements, as he receives treatment. but he's stll performing duties in his capacity as head of state, which includes meeting with the prime minister. you're live with bbc news. at least 60 russian troops were killed after on wedensday a training area in the occupied donetsk region was hit by two ukrainian missiles. this week marks the two—year anniversary of russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine. here's a look at a map of ukraine right before

the invasion. crimea in red was annexed by russia in 2014. and parts of ukraine in yellow were under the control of russian separatists groups. 0n on wednesday to celebrated gains as integrated soldiers for the recent capture of avdiivka. it's a key town on the eastern front. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet, sent this update from kyiv. all the reports from the scene and donetsk and occupy eastern ukraine underlined that there was an attack on a training centre and the video shows a large number of dead bodies in that open field where the soldiers were said to be waiting for the arrival of a senior commander. russia has acknowledged that the incident, but it says the numbers of as many as 60 dad were in his words grossly exaggerated. what russian media are reporting is that it took place just before

rushing up's vladimir putin met with his defence minister sergei shoigu and there was no mention of the attack in doughnuts but they emphasised rush out�*s recent military success in that same area in finally capturing a great cost, it has to be said, russian lives and weaponry, the town of avdiivka, they described as rush out�*s biggest military success on that front line in almost a year since they took bakhmut. so russia is emphasising that and on the ground of the reports are that it is a very, very tough battlefield for ukrainian forces. the russians are said to be advancing from at least five directions. president zelensky visited the front line recently and he came back admitting the situation is extremely difficult and he said that the russians are taking advantage of the delays in the military assistance, that $61

billion military package that is being held up in the us congress. it underlines that the two—year mark of this full—scale russian invasion not only is the battlefield getting tougher with soldiers saying that they're having to both bullets and weapons, that they're running out of ammunition, it's also a political battle to ensure that that desperately needed arms and ammunition and financial support keeps coming from washington, keeps coming from europe, president zelensky is sounding the alarm saying is forces to continue the fight. for ukrainians is a two years on, they still regard this as an existential fight. yes, on, they still regard this as an existentialfight. yes, they are tired, yes, there are great losses, but they still say this is about all that they have to win. but they can't win it without the support of their eyes. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet.

let's turn to some important news around the world. the main hospital in alabama has paused in vitro fertilization treatments or ivf. that comes after the state's supreme court ruled that frozen embryos should be legally considered �*children�*. the hospital says it's concerned it could be prosecuted. last week the state's justices ruled that any human life from the moment of conception is sacred. it's one of the most significant developments related to reproductive rights since the us supreme court struck down roe versus wade in 2022. a major rescue operation is under way in southern venezuela, where a local mayor has said that 23 bodies have been pulled from rubble after an illegal gold mine collapsed. the collapse happened in a remote jungle area in the stae of boliviar. there are believed to be more than 200 miners working at the bulla loca mine when the collapse took place. for the second time in a row, a test firing of a trident missile from a royal navy submarine has failed. the ministry of defence insists trident is still an effective nuclear deterrent, as our

defence correspondent, jonathan beale, reports. it's britain's weapon of last resort. the nuclear missiles carried on these royal navy submarines meant to deter any aggressor. trident is the us—made ballistic missile on board, and this is what is supposed to happen. but in the most recent test it didn't get this far — itjust plopped into the ocean, and it's now the uk's second test fire fail. this test actually took place injanuary, but only now have details been revealed. the missile was launched from britain's hms vanguard off the coast of florida. it was supposed to fly about 3,700 miles and land harmlessly in the sea off west africa. instead, the unarmed test missile hit the water close to the launch site. so what do we know about the missile itself? its us manufacturer says it has a range of more than 11,500 miles and can carry multiple nuclear warheads, each of which can be directed towards different targets.

there have been 191 successful test launches, most carried out by the us, just a dozen by the uk. and the last two of those uk tests have gone wrong. of course, when the launch is announced in advance and the defence secretary is on board, it doesn't look good. and of course, it's not good, i think, for the morale of the crew, which now goes on patrol, and morale across the submarine service, you know, to have this kind of scrutiny. malfunctions like this one in the �*80s, the early days of trident, are relatively rare. but in 2016, another uk test missile also veered off course. the mod still insists the system is safe, secure, and effective. the defence secretary, who was on board the submarine, watching these kinds of drills before the missile prematurely plummeted, called it

an anomaly. he insisted the weapon worked — as did the foreign secretary tonight. i've got nothing to add to the statement that's been made, but i am absolutely clear that our independent nuclear deterrent is effective. this won't change policy. labour, too, is committed to trident. but for the public, it might raise doubts — and britain's adversaries will also take note. jonathan beale, bbc news. and finally, beyonce is making country music history. her new hit, texas hold �*em, is the first song by a black woman to debut at the top of the billboard country chart. the achievement comes after a us country station last week had to reverse a decision not to play the song. the star announced her country album during the super bowl. you are watching bbc news. i'm helena humphrey. thank you for

your company. more news at the top of the hour. join me then. hello there. it looks like it's going to be very wet for the next 2a hours, particularly across england and wales. and that could exacerbate already existing flooding problems there. by the end of the week, as well, it'll be pulling colder air behind the low pressure. on thursday, things will be turning colder for all areas and any showers will have wintry elements to them across northern and western hills for friday and into the weekend. now, this deepening area of low pressure will move across the country, particularly england and wales, during the course of thursday — a squeeze in the isobars indicating gales for a time. and then you'll see the blue colours invading the whole of the uk behind the system, so it turns colder for all. but through the morning, there could be some issues with standing water, localised flooding as this rain could be heavy, squally, as it spreads across the midlands, southern and eastern england. maybe some rumbles of thunder on it, strong and gusty winds with that, too. but even as we move out of the morning into the afternoon, we could see another round of heavy rain spreading across central, southern and eastern england. it'll take its time to clear.

elsewhere, it's a bright day — sunshine, blustery showers, particularly across northern ireland and western scotland. and there will be some snow falling over the hills, even down to moderate levels across scotland through the course of the day. a blustery day for all areas, very windy with gales across the southeast. by the end of the day, that cold air will be pretty much across the whole of the uk. so we're looking at 4—8 celsius the high. so we've gone out of those double figure values that we've had over the past couple of weeks. it has been very mild indeed. now, as we head through thursday night, it looks like it'll stay cold. there'll be further blustery showers, wintry on the hills in the north and the west, and a touch of frost in places, particularly where skies are clear. so much colder night to come and a colder start to friday. we hold on to westerly winds, a few troughs enhancing the shower activity across northern and western areas, so plenty of showers rattling into scotland, northern ireland, western england and wales. a few getting in towards the east, but a lot of sunshine here. a blustery day to come for all. there'll be further snow on the hills in northern

and western areas. top temperatures, again, ranging from around 7—9 degrees for most. it looks like we keep hold of a ridge of high pressure through the course of saturday and sunday. low pressure just skirts past the south—west, so a bit of a question mark on that. but i think, generally, saturday and sunday, quite a bit of dry weather around some sunshine, a few showers — which will be wintry — over hills. nights will be cold with a touch of frost and mist and fog.

the ceo of nvidia says artificial intelligence is at a tipping point as revenues surged. and turbulent times for boeing. the boss of its 737 max programme leaves the company. we look at what lies ahead for the plane maker. hello and welcome to asia business report. nvidia has just reported its highly anticipated earnings for the final quarter of last year. the numbers did not disappoint, with revenue surging 265%. 0ur north american business correspondent has the latest from new york. nvidia is the leading chipmaker in the united states and the third largest company on wall street. so expectations for their fourth quarter earnings had