live from washington, this is bbc news. a member of israel's war cabinet hints at progress in ceasefire talks, even as the country's lawmakers reject the idea of a palestinian state. the bbc investigates an israeli hostage rescue in southern gaza that left dozens of palestinians dead. and the wars in the middle east and ukraine dominate discussions at a meeting of 620 foreign ministers in brazil. i'm helena humphrey is. 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 prime minister benjamin netanyahu that rejects

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. this could put netanyahu at odds with the position of us presidentjoe biden, who has repeatedly expressed his wish for a two—state solution to the decades—long conflict. here's what the israeli prime minister had to say following the vote in the knesset. the people of israel and their elected representatives are united today as never before. the knesset voted overwhelmingly to oppose any attempt to unilaterally impose a palestinian state on israel. such an attempt will only endanger israel and will 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 some

developments provide hope that violence will de—escalate. after weeks of pessimism about the prospects for a deal to release the remaining 130 israeli 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 air this evening following remarks by a member of benjamin netanyahu's war cabinet, benny gantz, who said, "there are attempts these days to promote a new outlier, "indicating an intention to move forward." it sounds cryptic and does not sound to me as if anything is particularly imminent, 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 maybe earlier than that." again, hard to read if these are real signs of optimism, but certainly not quite the bleak pessimism of recent weeks. in the meantime, we had israel's parliament, the knesset, endorsing 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 unanimously, 99 votes out of the 120 member knesset parliament, has said no to that. 0ur correspondent, paul adams, 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 al—rahman, 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. for more on the israel—gaza conflict — i spoke to michael singh, managing director at the washington institute for near east policy. thank you forjoining us again on bbc news. today in the israeli parliament, the knesset, they overwhelmingly opposing the natural creation of a palestinian state. where do you believe this leaves the united states, the biden administration, when we know that that administration wants to see a two—state solution? i don't think it comes as a surprise to officials in washington.

israelis look at 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's concerns, this is a central conundrum for washington and it'll be a difficult diplomatic path forward. let's 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, "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 think there is very close us and israel co—ordination on the immediate tactical issues on the ground and that includes the progress of the military campaign but also issues like humanitarian access and so forth. i think where the 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, however you define that, but also protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access. whereas the divergence is about what will come next out of the campaign. matthew singh.

international anger over the death of russian opposition leader alexei navalny continues to mount. 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 willjoin me in sending our deepest condolences to the family of alexei navalny. he died for a cause to which he dedicated his whole life — freedom — and returned 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 putin to account, and this morning we sanctioned those running the prison where alexei navalny�*s body still lies. the us, meanwhile, announced it will be unveiling its own package of sanctions against russia on friday. speaking to my colleague caitriona perry a little earlier, former us ambassdor to ukraine bill taylor

if we look at the death of alexei navalny, we saw today the eu and uk are looking at new sanctions for russia. what's your view on what you're looking at?— looking at? they're looking at sanctioning — looking at? they're looking at sanctioning apparently - looking at? they're looking at sanctioning apparently some l looking at? they're looking at. sanctioning apparently some of the people in the prison system they were responsible for this death. i don't think we know all the details of that. the united states is also considering sanctions again on people but also more broadly, and it is possible that there are ways to crackdown on existing sanctions to reduce the leakage that involved in some of the economic sanctions. both the out—of—state and europe and britain. both the out-of-state and europe and britain.- both the out-of-state and europe and britain. what if think the — europe and britain. what if think the us _ europe and britain. what if think the us needs - europe and britain. what if think the us needs look . europe and britain. what if think the us needs look at| europe and britain. what if - think the us needs look at have an impact with sanctions? {line an impact with sanctions? one ofthe an impact with sanctions? one of the big _ an impact with sanctions? one of the big things _ an impact with sanctions? (me: of the big things that we an impact with sanctions? iez of the big things that we can do is to take the $300 billion in russian central bank reserves that have been frozen since the invasion, the big

invasion in 2022, frozen and mcquestin packs, take that frozen money and put it into an account, sees it and put it into an international account that ukrainians could use to rebuild or keep the government going or by weapons. they need these funds in the russians are responsible for the destruction.- responsible for the destruction. , , destruction. there is been discussion _ destruction. there is been discussion as _ destruction. there is been discussion as well - destruction. there is been discussion as well about i discussion as well about sanctions on companies in third—party countries like china. what's your view of that? ' , china. what's your view of that? g , , , , that? my sense is the chinese have tried _ that? my sense is the chinese have tried to _ that? my sense is the chinese have tried to be _ that? my sense is the chinese have tried to be careful - have tried to be careful exactly what you say, that they could be sanctioned if they felt the russians get around sanctions on the russians or if they provide weapons to the russians and so far, as far as we know, the chinese have not done that. they have avoided evading sanctions and provide weapons because they don't want to be sanctioned in these third—party sanctions we are talking about. third-party sanctions we are talking about.— talking about. many

commentators - talking about. many| commentators would talking about. many - commentators would say the talking about. many _ commentators would say the best way to push back against the russian president is to support ukraine and supported on the front lines. we saw president zelensky describing just how fractious and fragile things are on the front line and the big horse is the us funding and the stagnation on capitol hill. do you expect to see movement there? i do you expect to see movement there? �* , . ., , there? i didn't expect to see movement- _ there? i didn't expect to see movement. we _ there? i didn't expect to see movement. we saw - there? i didn't expect to see i movement. we saw movement there? i didn't expect to see - movement. we saw movement in the senate. very impressive, 70-29, the senate. very impressive, 70—29, often get big boats mike and alison at sea was bipartisan, 20 republicans joined most democrats in the senate for a 70—39 boat. that was big and if that happens, if there is a bow in the house, there is a bow in the house, there will be a similar result. the trick is getting the vote. it is a pdf. the trick is getting the vote. it is a fdr— the trick is getting the vote. it is a pdf. there are a lot of wa s it is a pdf. there are a lot of ways to do — it is a pdf. there are a lot of ways to do that _ it is a pdf. there are a lot of ways to do that and - it is a pdf. there are a lot of ways to do that and people l it is a pdf. there are a lot of. ways to do that and people are convinced of what you said, the importance of this money, the 61 billion, most of which is fed in the united states to

replenish weapons, replenish stockpiles, the importance of that ukraine to be able to prevail in the battle.- prevail in the battle. your career as _ prevail in the battle. your career as ambassador, i prevail in the battle. your- career as ambassador, you've represented us interests abroad. what is this whole domestic political stagnation, the impact it's having on the front lines of the ukrainian push back, what does that say to us allies abroad? it push back, what does that say to us allies abroad?— to us allies abroad? it makes us allies abroad _ to us allies abroad? it makes us allies abroad question - us allies abroad question whether or not the united states can be counted on, to do what it has done for generations, we've been proud to be able to lead this coalition and no states government has been instrumental in assembling not just the nato alliance but a broader coalition including the east asian, south korea, japan, australia. that has been put together under us leadership and if we don't provide the weapons to continue that leadership, to another ukrainians to continue this fight, ourallies

ukrainians to continue this fight, our allies will ask, ukrainians to continue this fight, ourallies will ask, can we be counted on? fight, our allies will ask, can we be counted on?— fight, our allies will ask, can we be counted on? what will ha en we be counted on? what will happen to — we be counted on? what will happen to the _ we be counted on? what will happen to the ukrainian - we be counted on? what will. happen to the ukrainian effort if that's not provided? ukrainians cannot win without the assistance. they were fired, they were getting to fight, there is no about that. europeans actually are doing a very good job of supporting them. they are more solid on them. they are more solid on the assistance then we are so we need to step up and provide the assistance because without the assistance because without the deep stockpiles the united states has, it is very difficult for ukrainians to win. i, �* win. i leave it there. bill taylor. _ win. i leave it there. bill taylor, former _ win. i leave it there. bill taylor, former us - win. i leave it there. bill - taylor, former us ambassador g ukraine, thanks forjoining us on bbc news. 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 from the public 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 the king up close and at work cancer diagnosis. we also know that earlier today thinking attended a meeting of the privy council which is the meeting where he formally approves various bits of government business. all the information into the next, the audience and the privy council meeting, it seems it is just thinking is coping very well with 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 regular meetings with the prime minister. you're live with bbc news. at least 60 russian troops were killed on wednesday after a training area in the occupied donetsk region was hit by two suspected

ukrainian missiles. this week marks the two—year anniversary of russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine. on wednesday, president vladimir putin celebrated russia's gains, as he decorated soldiers for their recent capture of avdiivka, a key town on ukraine's eastern front line. all the reports from the scene and donetsk and occupied 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 dead 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 donetsk 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 russia'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 all 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, want to continue the fight. for ukrainians two years on, they still regard this as an existential fight. yes, they are tired, yes, there are great losses, but they still say this is a battle that they have to win. but they can't win it without the support of their allies. the bbc�*s chief international correspondent lisa lucent. meanwhile, brazil's foreign

minister has criticised what he called the "paralysis" of the un security council on the wars in ukraine and the middle east as he opened a g20 meeting in rio dejaneiro. the uk's foreign secretary lord david cameron also addressed the g20 group of foreign ministers, placing russia's actions top of their agenda. 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 used 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. for the second time in a row, a test firing of a trident missile from a british royal navy submarine has failed. 0ur defence correspondent, jonathan beale, reports. this was a rare test fire of an american—made trident missile from a royal navy dish summary of the coast of florida. it was meant to fly 3700 miles and

instead just dropped into the ocean near the test site of florida. each of these missiles cost £17 million because they are ballistic missiles, essentially go to space before they come down. they are there in separate navigation system, not just gps, in separate navigation system, notjust gps, and these are the missiles that are fitted to four royal navy submarines. 0ne four royal navy submarines. one of which is constantly on patrol 2a/7. and the government is investing £30 billion and building new submarines to ensure that this deterrent, nuclear deterrent, continues into the future. as to their specific test firing, it wasn't the first time it's failed. there was another failure in 2016. the last successful british test firing was in 2012, that said, derek bennett 190 mostly us successful test fires of this missile. the uk

ministry of defence says they still have full confidence in the system. they said that the failure this time was specific to the event and would not have happened if it was being fired for real. in other words, they think it was something wrong with the test missile, not with a submarine and not with the system itself. that said, of course but we doubt in the public as to how much they can trust this weapon system after two failures. if you plan to be in the uk from june, you could find a new face peeking up at you from your wallet. there will be a new monarch on the british banknote. king charles' face is to be printed on five, notes with queen elizabeth ii will remain legal tender, and co—circulate with the latest versions. you are watching bbc news. i am helena humphrey in washington. 0ur colleagues in london take overfrom here. thank you 0ur colleagues in london take over from here. thank you for your company and i'll see you

soon. bye for now. 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.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. last year, during a brief visit to belfast, presidentjoe biden hailed the transformative impact of peace in northern ireland. it had unleashed, he said, a churn of creativity and that surely struck a chord with my guest today, the actor ciaran hinds, who was nominated for an oscar in kenneth branagh's autobiographical movie about belfast, which is home city to both of those men. 0ne generation on from the so—called troubles, northern ireland is seen as creative and cool, but have the wounds of the past really healed?