of the israeli military campaign in the territory following the hamas attack on israel on october the 7th. and in gaza city an attack last december is thought to have killed 103 members of the same family. middle east correspondent lucy williamson has been speaking to one of the surviving family members — who lost his wife and three young daughters. it took ahmad al—ghuferi a decade to build the family he loved. it took a split second one winter evening to destroy it. ten—year—old tala, five—year—old lana, and najla, not yet two, killed with ahmad's wife in a powerful strike on a residential building in gaza city. along with his mother, four of his brothers, their families and dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins. 103 relatives in all, a family obliterated. translation: i feel i am in a dream. i still can't believe

what happened to us. my daughters are little birds to me. ahmad survived because he was 50 miles away in the occupied west bank, stuck outside gaza since the start of the war, working in tel aviv to fund the couple's dream of owning their own home. he was on the phone to his wife when the attack began. translation: she knew she would die, and she asked me to forgive her - for anything bad she might have ever done to me. i told her there was no need to say that and that was the last call between us. the house ahmad built with his tel aviv salary in gaza city is still standing, just. the homes around it flattened, including his uncle's house, metres away, where the family fled for safety. translation: it was a fire belt. there were strikes here on four houses next to ours.

they were hitting one house every ten minutes. the family are still searching for bodies buried in the rubble. among those killed, they say, a 98—year—old grandmother and a baby boy born nine days before. only a handful of survivors. "we were sitting in the house and we found ourselves under the rubble," she told us. "i was thrown from one side to the other. i don't know how they got me out." two months on, israeli forces are fighting hamas in gaza city, as they were a few blocks south of ahmad's house around the time the compound was hit. the army said it wasn't aware of any strikes there that day. ahmad no longer wants to return home. last monday would have been najla's second birthday. "who am i going back for?" he said. "there is no one left

there to call me darling, no one to call me dad." lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. when the conflict in gaza began, the bbc had severaljournalists working inside the territory, including our correspondent rushdi abu alouf. conditions were difficult and dangerous, but he and his colleagues continued working for several months before having to leave. we will hear from him in a moment. first, let's look back on some of his reports. this was the 16th of october, nine days after the hamas attack on israel. this long queue is people waiting to just buy bread. the bakery resumed opening this morning after a sole shipment of wheat arrived from southern gaza. hundreds of people are waiting to get some. i asked some of them, and they believe not all of them will have the chance to get bread. they only give each person five pieces of bread. every one of those have two, three, five families fleeing from the north and the south,

everywhere, and they are taking khan younis. that report was filed before israel began its ground assault in gaza. by november, israeli airstrikes were more frequent, and rushdi and his team had to take more security precautions. here's a report he filed from november the 6th. for the second night, israel has been intensifying its air strike in gaza city. it is mainly targeting the area north—west and south—west of gaza. i've seen footage of real destruction in buildings, flames and fire raising out of huge buildings in central gaza as the ground operation has been expanding and israel seems to be pushing hard, by airstrikes, to the area around gaza city. but here also, in the southern area,

it is the area that israel asked 1.2 million people to flee south, also, air strikes were intensifying. we heard about an air strike in rafah, two in rafah, one here in khan younis and also in where 70 or 80 people deir al balah were killed. 80 people were killed in rafah, khan younis and deir al balah today. not long after that, he had to leave for safety reasons. he joined not long after that, he had to leave for safety reasons. hejoined me a short while ago. i mean, the first day or two, it was still people preparing for it. there was no huge israeli retaliation. but then the israeli air strikes were intensified in gaza city, especially in the area where we live, in the western part of gaza. we had a night where half of the neighbourhood, the economic hub for gaza, was completely destroyed.

we were still in gaza city. but the night of october the 12th, we had this order to evacuate the area. i have to leave, with my family. and all of the bbc staff. together with about1 million people from the north of gaza. we had to take this journey from gaza city and the north, into the khan younis city. i had been witnessing people walking cows and camels, mattresses. it was a really chaotic convoy that was leading people to the south. in the south itself, it wasn't safe. i mean, by then, about 30% of the daily air strikes were focusing on the so—called safe area, and about 25% or 30% of those killed during that period is also from the area in the south. so, the area was not under israeli ground operation by then, but still getting every day air strikes.

we were caught a couple of times in khan younis itself, in air strikes. my family survived this, and my colleagues also were coming under huge danger in that period of time. obviously over the last four months we have seen hours and hours of footage of people who have been impacted, who have to leave everything behind, as you say. travel sometimes by cart to other parts of gaza, to try to find some kind of safety. how did you manage? you were reporting continually for the bbc while you are there, at the same time, trying to keep your family safe? i mean, that's very difficult. being a father of three, and responsible for a large family, you have to always take care of them while you are too busy. it's really very difficult. i used to try to find a little time to look after the family while still doing the job, because it is a huge story, and those people who live in gaza deserve their stories to be told.

so, i was always trying to find a time to do this. it is very hard, because you live the story, you are part of it. you are displaced four or five times and you are trying to find water and food, to be the family. i remember one day in khan younis i had to go to a nearby village to buy food for my family, and i survived an air strike. i wrote that day that death was very close. there were rockets falling around me and my colleague, who went to there. so the struggle was really big. that is what made us decide to leave, because of safety reasons. you spent 45 days there, from the start until when you left. how did you see gaza

change in that time? we are 140 days since the war started, and more suffering is there, and the more shortage of fuel is there. imagine 2.3 million people are without electricity and without proper water, and without enough food. and they are displaced in a place called rafah. it is a tiny 60 square metre place near the border with egypt. 1.4 million people live in this area and they only receive less than 10% of what is needed, food, medicine and water, to survive. and they are living in hundreds of thousands of tents along the egyptian border. so the suffering is something that gaza has never seen before. we have never seen this level of hunger, and the prices of food are ten or 15 times more than the usual price. one kilo, one small bag of flour in gaza city costs you $100 to buy.

our 0ur correspondence our correspondence who spent a month and a half in gaza. he has since left for his family's safety. let's show you the scene in gaza. there are more than 1.5 million refugees sheltering in the southern part of gaza, in rafah. in the past half hour or so, the qatari foreign ministry have been giving a press conference. they are heavily involved in the negotiations to try and secure server kind of ceasefire. they have said they are pushing hard for the agreement introduced in paris to be agreed by hamas and israel. they say they are hopeful, but there has not been a breakthrough yet. it comes after president biden said that he is hopeful that a ceasefire could come into place as early as monday.

the welsh government's handling of the pandemic will be under the spotlight over the next three weeks, as the covid inquiry begins its hearings in cardiff. many bereaved families had called for a separate welsh inquiry, but the outgoing first minister mark drakeford insisted his colleagues' actions should be considered in relation to the rest of the uk. our wales correspondent hywel griffith reports. the pandemic reached every corner of the country. in wales, the response brought lockdowns that lasted longer than the rest of the uk. we have now reached the difficult decision to introduce a two week firebreak. mark drakeford's labour government earned a reputation for caution. but were its decisions well thought out? did they help or hinder the health service? i love that photograph though. that was a photoshoot that we did together. miranda lost her aunt, her uncle and her 94—year—old grandmother to covid. pearl higgins was admitted

to hospital after a stroke. she picked up coronavirus on the wards and was cut off from herfamily, who, unable to see her, were told pearl wouldn't be granted intensive care. miranda says they're still traumatised. it can't be for nothing, you know? we cannot experience this again. future generations cannot go through what we have been through, and i think we've all been traumatised as a result of that. we still have nightmares. it's nearly four years since covid reached wales, but some are still living with the consequences. sarah was working as a community midwife when she became ill in march 2020, the start of what became long covid. she feels nhs staff weren't protected, the impact of the pandemic still not fully recognised. every day i don't work, i don't really go out on my own. i go once a week to get my hair washed and dried because my hands —

i can'tjust do it any more. i can't hold my hands above my head for that long to dry my hair, and i can't use a brush for long enough in my hands because it's too painful. by coming to wales, baroness hallett hope she'll show she's listening to all those whose lives were changed by the pandemic, and hold to account those who shaped wales. hywel griffith, bbc news. let's cross live to the covid inquiry hearing in cardiff. take us through what we are expecting to hear.— take us through what we are expecting to hear. well, it 'ust started here, i expecting to hear. well, it 'ust started here, abouti expecting to hear. well, it 'ust started here, about ten h expecting to hear. well, itjustl started here, about ten minutes later than expected to start, 10.10. they were to have a 20 minute video introduction to the inquiry, put together by the families impacted by

the pandemic, called on impact video. that hasjust the pandemic, called on impact video. that has just come to an end. the qc for the inquiry will begin his opening statements. it will be opening statements from the welsh government side, the bereaved families as well. we may hear some statements from some of those families that have been affected, like those that we heard in the package. i guess over the course of the next three weeks, what they will be focused on is the decisions taken by the welsh government, mark drakeford and his fellow ministers, during that period. the key difference, i guess, during that period. the key difference, iguess, in during that period. the key difference, i guess, in wales, was the fact that things were far more cautious. there was a slower release of the lockdown is here in wales. but there was obviously an impact that had on people as well, the mental impact on the toll it had on individuals as well. was that the right decision? those are the question some people might want answering over the next three weeks. for now, thank you.

let's bring you some breaking news, just coming into us. we understand the prince of wales has pulled out of attending the memorial service for the late king constantine of greece, at windsor castle, due to a personal matter. kensington palace said they would not elaborate further, but said the princess of wales continues to be doing well. the prince of wales called the greek royal family, the prince of wales called the greek royalfamily, we understand, if you are attending the service, to let them know he was unable to be there. the late king constantine of greece who died injanuary last the late king constantine of greece who died in january last year was william's godfather. the prince of wales has pulled out of attending a memorial service for the late king constantine of greece at windsor castle due to a personal matter. teachers are being urged to do more to support children with allergies, as new figures show over half have suffered an allergic reaction

or "near miss" while at school. helen blythe began campaigning after her five—year—old son benedict died following an allergic reaction at school. our reporter fi lamdin has been to meet her. he really loved school. and i think with any parent, you don't really know how it's going to go. and the first week he was there, he came home and cried. what would you like to learn? and he cried because he realised that he didn't have to go to school at the weekend, and he really wanted to. he felt like he'd found his place and the opportunity to learn and to sort of play, and he made some really lovely friends really early on. and he was very bright. yeah, he was really bright. he'd wake up at sort of 5:30 on a sunday morning and say, "mummy, can we go and play maths?" and that sounds... i can't think of anything worse as a parent than having to do maths all the time, but he absolutely loved it. and he was just curious about everything in the world. horn beeps, siren wails.

benedict blythe was five years old. he seemed happy and healthy when he arrived at school on the 1st of december 2021. he helped his sister to get her sort of toy and chocolate out of the advent calendar, and then he went off to school like normal. and then he didn't come home, and he died from anaphylaxis a few hours later. benedict was allergic to milk, soy, sesame, eggs and nuts. we were told a lot that children grow out of allergies, and i think there was a belief that this is a really young child with an allergy — he's got a high likelihood that he'll outgrow it. so we sort of bought into that, i think. 0h, hey, hey, hey! whoa! you still don't know what actually happened to your son. two and a half years on, we still haven't had the inquest, so we don't have answers about what happened on that day. and that's difficult for us to...to sort of get our heads around, if we don't know how he went to school and didn't come home.

despite not yet having answers, his family are keen to stress there's no suggestion the school did anything wrong. so you've got strawberry bites, cookies, crisps, peperami. we happy with that? yeah? it's 8am and mum katie is making george his packed lunch — just as she does every morning. coat. george is allergic to eggs, nuts and sesame. last year, at his previous school, he had a severe reaction when he was accidentally given pancakes. they didn't check properly then they gave me one. . but then it started making my face and my whole body so itchy. - when i got to the school to pick him up, i could straight away see that he was...he was having, like, a really severe reaction. a week later, katie moved her son to a different school.

because i didn't feel like that school could keep him safe any more. it makes you feel like you've trusted somebody to look after your child, and they've let you down. honeydew melon, that one. have a nice dinner. what would you like, olivia? at george's new school, every child with an allergy has their own health—care plan, and staff make sure they're given safe alternatives for them to eat. i'm allergic to milk. because you have to eat different food sometimes to your friends. yeah. and if it's pizza day, j i get a special pizza. naomi, tell me, what are you allergic to? er, pistachios, cashews — i can't remember any more. so lots of nuts. and what does that mean other people — your friends and other children in your class — do? they're not allowed to bring any nuts to school. the increase in allergies and the increase, i think, awareness of allergies is definite in at least the last 20 years. in our school at present we have between 15 and 20 children on the allergy register.

it's certainly a responsibility. it's a duty, really, to safeguard pupils, and this is another way that we do that. but now there's more help and training — following the launch of a new schools allergy code — created to give schools clearer guidance. helen is also trying to change the law in benedict's name — she wants mandatory training for all schools in england. her driving force is etta — herfive—year—old daughter, who — just like her brother — can't tolerate eggs or milk. it's really difficult trusting people with looking after her. my phone is on all the time, and i think that will never change. you do live in fear of getting the phone call and something having gone wrong. monster! hellooo! you have to be strong for them, but also there is a sense of, you have to get up in the morning and put clothes on and go out into the world. and i'd be failing my son if i didn't do that.

australian police say they are investigating claims that taylor swift's father punched a photographer in sydney. the alleged incident is reported to have involved an altercation involving scott swift — who's 71 — and a paparazzo photographer, late at night, after taylor had finished performing a show during her eras tour. mr swift has since left the country. with the details from sydney, here's our correspondent simon atkinson. skies may be fairly grey in sydney at the moment, but it's fair to say that taylor swift has brought a fair amount of sunshine to australia over the past couple of weeks. she played three huge shows in melbourne, the biggest musical events this country has ever seen in terms of crowds, and then four more here in sydney. in total, 600,000 people watching her shows. many more friendship bands, we imagine. but things got a bit less friendly after the last performance in sydney on monday night. it emerges that taylor swift and her entourage went for a boat cruise on the harbour in sydney

after that fourth show, and it was at the end of that cruise after taylor swift had disembarked along with members of her team, including herfather, scott swift, that it is alleged that there was an altercation between mr swift and a local photographer, ben mcdonald. now, police have been informed about the incident. they say they are investigating. they've also noted that nobody required any hospital treatment, and we haven't heard from mr swift to get his version of events. but what mr mcdonald has said was that there was some kind of clash, there had been an argument over umbrellas colliding with photographers, and that at some stage, he says, he was pushed or hit in the face. the police, as i say, are investigating that, but they haven't said any more. taylor swift will be leaving australia very shortly along with, we assume, her father and the rest of her team. she's on her way to singapore to play six nights there. but this case is bound to be an interesting end to what's been a real taylor swift sensation over the past couple of weeks in australia.

let me take you back to warsaw, where farmers are blocking the streets and protesting. this is over what they say as unfair competition from goods entering the polish market from their war—torn nature to the east, ukraine. they have been out on the streets intermittently for the past few weeks. we did hear the polish leader donald tusk said yesterday that his country was willing to co—finance exports of ukrainian grain to third countries. this is in a bid to defuse the tensions over low—priced ukrainian farm goods. said poland is ready to actively participate in and co—finance such activities. we know that russia has blocked crucial black sea trade routes used by ukraine to export its farm produce. in a bid to help the country stay economically active, the eu decided

to drop tariffs on ukrainian goods, transported by road. there are some logistical problems meaning that much of the cereal exports have accumulated in poland, which undercuts local produce. we understand that the garment is going to hold talks today as they do want to hold talks today as they do want to come to some kind of deal to appease the farmers. just before we end this hour, let me remind you of the breaking news, in the past 30 minutes or so, which came in from kensington palace. this is with regards to prince william. he was due to appear today at an event, a memorial service for the late king constantine of greece. he was due to be there at windsor castle, but he has now pulled out due to water kensington palace is calling personal reasons. they would not elaborate further, but did say the

princess of wales, who is recovering from abdominal surgery, continues to do well. the prince of wales did call the greek royal family, who are attending, to let them know he was not going to be there. more on that at the top of the hour, now a track on the weather. hello again. some of us started the day with some beautiful sunrises, rather like this one. but the hazy skies will be replaced by thicker cloud, as we've got rain moving south courtesy of two weather fronts. now, they'll continue to do that through the day. we have this nose of high pressure. and as they bump into that, the rain in there is going to turn patchier and become more fragmented. look at the isobars across the north of the country. here, we'll get gales across the far north of scotland, blustery for scotland, northern ireland and, at times, northern england. so, the cloud will continue to build as the weather fronts push south. behind them, for scotland and northern ireland, we're looking brighter skies. but some showers, which could be and thundery, with some hail, wintry in the hills, the white circles represent the average wind speeds. and our temperatures, six to about 10 degrees. as we head on through

the evening and overnight, here is our weather front. and it continues to take its cloud, spots of rain and drizzle, away with it. behind it, we'll see some mist and fog patches forming across parts of central and southern england, the south—east, yorkshire, lincolnshire, for example. and then a new weather front comes into the west, introducing some thicker cloud, rain and strengthening winds. where we've got the clear skies is where we're likely to see some frost. so, tomorrow, here's our weather front in the west. it's going to be pushing steadily eastward through the day. it's a warm front. note the milder air coming in behind it, and then, later, we'll see a cold front coming in and eventually cold air following. so, there'll be some frost to start the day on wednesday. some patchy mist and fog. the weather front in the west producing the rain, pushing steadily eastward through the course of the day. and these are the temperatures. remember, it's a warm front, so we are looking at a 7—13 degrees as our top temperatures. but that warm front clears, and wednesday night into thursday, the cold front sinks steadily southwards. here it is by the time get to thursday morning, across england and wales.

its clearance could be slower than this is suggesting. but behind it, we are embedded in the cooler air. so, increasingly, the showers will be wintry on the hills and the mountains. temperatures, six to about eight in the west. ten in the south—east. the outlook beyond that remains unsettled, with rain or showers at times. it's also going to be chilly. notjust by day, but also by night.

i'm nicky schiller. now, let's focus on the post office horizon it scandal. the former post office chairman, henry staunton will appear before a committee of mps later to answer questions about compensation for victims.

this was mr staunton arriving in westminster earlier. it will be the first time he's spoken publicly since claiming he was told to delay pay—outs to sub postmasters who were wrongly prosecuted, sparking a bitter row with the business secretary kemi badenoch. he told reporters he was looking forward to setting out his side of the story. before he appears the mps will hear from the current post office chief executive nick read and first three sub—postmasters including alan bates, the man who gave his name to the itv drama that brought the scandal to wider public attention. you may hear mention of the group litigation order or glo scheme — that is one of a number of compenstation schemes and involves the original 555 sub postmasters and sub—postmistresses led by alan bates in a landmark case against the post office. earlier this morning, when answering a question