dozens remain trapped in road tunnels in taiwan after the biggest earthquake there in 25 years. at least nine people have died, with more than 800 injured. nato foreign ministers meet in brussels — they discuss military aid to ukraine and a fund to insulate nato, from a possible trump presidency. hello, i m matthew amroliwala. welcome to verified live. israel is facing growing pressure to explain exactly how seven people working for an aid charity were killed in an air strike in gaza. three britons were among those who died in the attack on a world central kitchen convoy. rishi sunak paid trbute tojohn chapman, james henderson and james kirby, describing

the deaths as an "awful awful tragedy". the group had been travelling in a clearly marked aid convoy at the time. president biden has said he was outraged and heartbroken — and accused israel of not doing enough to protect aid workers. israel has said the strike was a grave mistake in complex circumstances. from jerusalem, yolande knell reports. seven beautiful souls — that's how world central kitchen says it will remember its colleagues killed by an israeli strike in gaza. they included three british security workers, all ex—armed forces — john chapman, james henderson and james kirby. the team from the us charity, also known as wck, was travelling in a convoy, its distinctive logo on display. each car was hit in a precise attack. the uk said these deaths were completely unacceptable. australia's demanded accountability. america called what happened an outrage. israel says it's

still investigating. i want to be very clear. the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming wck aid workers. it was a mistake that followed a misidentification at night, during a war in very complex conditions. already, the impact is being felt by many thousands of hungry gazans who'd been relying on world central kitchen for a daily meal. its operations are now on hold. translation: this suspension will really affect _ the lives of people and their access to food, especially children and pregnant women. the situation is going to become even more catastrophic. without world central kitchen staff to offload it, some 240 tonnes of desperately needed food, sent to gaza on these boats, is now being sent back to cyprus. other aid organisations are also having to reconsider their work until there's

better protection in the war—torn territory. we are devastated and we're worried. we're worried about what this means for the delivery of humanitarian aid. we have decided to pause our humanitarian operations. we need to have greater security for our staff and for their families. there's been a growing international outcry about the trickle of aid that's getting into gaza because of israeli controls. now, deepening concerns about the safety of relief workers is limiting assistance even more, all at a time when famine is looming and gazans most need help. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. more now on the three british men who died in the attack. they were working as security staff for the charity world central kitchen. duncan kennedy reports. from guardians to victims. john

chapman, james kirby and james henderson, the three british men who died protecting others in gaza. they had only been working there for a few weeks, defending convoys of aid workers. james kirby's family spoke of someone who wanted to make a difference. the of someone who wanted to make a difference. . , of someone who wanted to make a difference. , , , , ., , difference. the way he helps people and his compassion _ difference. the way he helps people and his compassion for, _ difference. the way he helps people and his compassion for, for - difference. the way he helps people and his compassion for, forjust - and his compassion for, forjust helping everyone and... yeah. he was, he was... sorry. he was completely— was, he was... sorry. he was completely selfless. which explains why he _ completely selfless. which explains why he went to gaza. john chapman was married — why he went to gaza. john chapman was married with _ why he went to gaza. john chapman was married with three _ why he went to gaza. john chapman was married with three children - why he went to gaza. john chapman was married with three children and i was married with three children and had served with the sbs or special boat services. his family said... all three men worked here at solace

global in poole, a company that provides safety staff around the world, and who today said they were devastated. ,, ., ., . world, and who today said they were devastated. .. , ., world, and who today said they were devastated. , ., , , devastated. solace global is very much a family. _ devastated. solace global is very much a family. all— devastated. solace global is very much a family. all former - devastated. solace global is very| much a family. all former serving soldiers with long experience in the risk management industry, all highly trained, highly professional and a truly tragic loss to both us and indeed their loved ones. the company is car in: indeed their loved ones. the company is carrying out — indeed their loved ones. the company is carrying out its _ indeed their loved ones. the company is carrying out its own _ indeed their loved ones. the company is carrying out its own inquiry - indeed their loved ones. the company is carrying out its own inquiry into - is carrying out its own inquiry into what happened and says it believes all its protocols were followed and that the three men will be deeply missed. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in poole. plenty of political reaction here in the uk. uk prime minister rishi sunak says that israel must abide by international humanitarian law. he's been speaking to a political podcast for the sun newspaper.

i have been consistently clear with prime minister netanyahu since the start of this conflict that whilst of course we defend israel's right to defend itself and its people from attacks from hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law, protect civilian lives — and sadly, too many civilians have already lost their lives — get more aid into gaza. that is what we have consistently called for. and what we want to see, actually, is an immediate humanitarian pause to allow more aid in and crucially for hostages to also be released and that is what we will continue to push for. presumably that was quite a testy phone call, then? what has happened is a tragedy and it shouldn't have happened and there are questions that need answering and that is why i have been very clear that what we expect is a thorough and transparent investigation into what has happened. but also i want to see a dramatic increase in the amount of aid flowing into gaza and closer work with aid agencies, so that these types of things just don't happen. well, there have been growing calls formed british mps for an arms

embargo to be placed on israel. labour's shadow foreign secretary david lammy has been speaking in the last hour. this is what he had to say. i have now been calling for 12 days for david cameron to publish the legal advice, so that we are clear on whether israel has contravened international humanitarian law and therefore arms sales should be suspended or if the british public can see the scenes coming out of gaza, children lying in rubble, deep concerns being made about international human rights law and for all of those reasons that advice should be published and if it is the case that international law has been contravened, that it is absolutely right that offensive arms are suspended to israel.- right that offensive arms are suspended to israel. that was david lamm . gideon levy, journalist and columnist for the haaretz newspaper, told us more about the information published by his newspaper, which gave crucial detail about those israeli strikes, that they struck three times on that convoy

from world central kitchen. have a listen. the claim of israel or the israeli army that there was no intention, that it was a mistake, that it was by chance, all those sound now quite ridiculous when you realise that it was not one shot and those poor aid workers tried to move from one car to the other in order to save their lives and nothing helped them. they caught them and what about one palestinian who was in those cars, finally, but who israel saw is in the car? nobody knows who he was, nobody knows how important he was. altogether it shouldn't surprise anybody because that is the policy of the israeli army in the last half a year in gaza. the fact that this time those are internationals, not locals, shouldn't make such a difference. let me ask you a twin question because america has called for a swift, independent investigation.

is there any chance of an independent investigation? and also, does this moment feel at all to you like a potential tipping point? we have seen what has happened at the un security council, we have seen gaza flattened, we have seen upwards of 32,000 palestinians killed, warnings about not going into rafah and now this. you see, matthew, i will tell you, i'm not sure an investigation is so needed. what do you think you will find out? the only question is who gave the order. it is very clear that those people were killed when their cars were styled very clearly, when their traffic was coordinated with the army... i mean, what will the investigation bring us? the name of the commander who gave the order? who cares? it is a policy. we have to understand... i suppose an investigation would establish, one way or another, whether it was

indeed a mistake or something more sinister? how can it be a mistake when the cars are so signed — you saw the photos of the car. from the roof, there is a huge sign of the organisation. and you know there are almost 100 journalists being killed in this war. so many medical teams, people with white flags were shot dead. i mean, why do you think this one is an exception in this war? so... but that is my point of view, obviously. for me there is no difference between two weeks of shooting and bombarding al—shifa hospital and this. same case. and when al—shifa hospital was bombed for two weeks, most of the world kept silent. and now because it is internationals, the world is more... i understand it. but this is not the way tojudge things, and i don't think an investigation will tell us something

that we didn't know. yes. now, to your other question, it depends on the international community, if the international community will take measures now, so it can be a turning point now. but if, you know, in two days this incident will be forgotten, as i am afraid it will, then, you know, the war will continue. gideon levy talking to me a little earlier. the attack has put huge focus on the amount of aid workers killed in this war. the un secretary—general put that figure at 196. in november, a medecins sans frontieres evacuation convoy came underfire in gaza city. the vehicles were marked with msf logos. two members of staff were killed. on january 18th a residential compound housing international members of medical aid for palestinians in al—mawasi was hit by a strike — several people were injured, four british doctors survived.

the senior british mp alicia kearns posted earlier that there'd still been no explanation for that incident. no explanation from the israeli authorities. from ramallah, aseel baidoun — director of advocacy and campaigns at medical aid for palestinians — told us about the risks that aid workers face in gaza. this horrific attackjust proves yet again that there is no safe place in gaza, whether you are palestinian, british or any nationality. gaza is the most dangerous place in the world now to be an aid worker. and we don't have the words to strongly, or enough to condemn this — and every other horrific attack on aid workers. we must be protected under international law and we are still, since january 18th, calling for swift and independent investigations into this. let me ask about your compound that i mentioned there in the introduction because one of your shelters was hit in the middle ofjanuary.

four british doctors survived, but had you given the idf the coordinates of that shelter? definitely so, the compound had been submitted to the deconfliction process. and this meant there should be, like, an added protection. however, it wasn't and the british government has also confirmed that on december 22nd that the compound was registered as a sensitive and protected site by the israeli army. now, you have asked for an explanation. i've put onto the screen what alicia kearns, the senior british mp, has also been posting about this. tell me what you have had in response from the israelis. since the attack, various parts of the israeli military and the government, they have provided explanations. we received six different explanations as to why the air strike took place. these explanations have not provided clarity. so, they ranged from the israeli military being unaware of what happened, also denying involvement, as they were not

operating in that area. 0ther explanations were accepting responsibility for the strike, which was attempting to hit a target adjacent to the compound. but the compound is not close to any other building. we also heard an explanation, accepting responsibility for the strike and asserting this was a mistake caused by a defective tail fin on the missile that was fired. and another explanation was, accepting responsibility and advising that what hit the compound was a piece of aircraft fusilage. now, the israelis have talked about yesterday's incident, talking about "the fog of war." the question now being asked is that, is it the fog of war or is there perhaps the potential of israel targeting sites, targeting convoys? what is your view of that? the view is we are still uncertain because the variety of responses just continued and the lack of transparency, so we just need a clear explanation and we just need

a clear assurance that this will not happen again. and the government, the israeli government was unable or unwilling, i don't know, to properly investigate this incident, so we are just calling for an independent investigation just for us to understand what happened. a final quick thought. the impact, though, of what happened to your organisation on the broader attempts to actually distribute life—saving aid, what impact did it have? it didn't have an impact because we have heroes, our colleagues in gaza are heroes and they continued, regardless of this threat of their lives, they continued to do their work and to distribute aid and even our medical missions continued to go into gaza. but really, we are scared of the security concern now that israel has been targeting with full impunity aid workers and health workers.

the latest fare from ramallah from the medical aid for palestinians, that charity group. just to say in the last few minutes the spanish prime minister has said benjamin netanyahu's response to the aid workers' death is, quote, insufficient, so more political reaction coming in all the time. let's turn to that nato conference because the bbc has just asked the nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg for his reaction to that strike on aid workers in gaza. listen to his answer. can strike on aid workers in gaza. listen to his answer.- strike on aid workers in gaza. listen to his answer. can you give us our listen to his answer. can you give us your reaction _ listen to his answer. can you give us your reaction to _ listen to his answer. can you give us your reaction to the _ listen to his answer. can you give us your reaction to the killing - listen to his answer. can you give us your reaction to the killing of l listen to his answer. can you give us your reaction to the killing of a j us your reaction to the killing of a number_ us your reaction to the killing of a number of— us your reaction to the killing of a number of aid workers and what appears — number of aid workers and what appears to— number of aid workers and what appears to be an israeli air strike? the humanitarian crisis that exists there? _ the humanitarian crisis that exists there? and — the humanitarian crisis that exists there? and are you worried that a naio _ there? and are you worried that a nato member seems willing and able to provide _ nato member seems willing and able to provide ammunition and weapons to israei. _ to provide ammunition and weapons to israei. but _ to provide ammunition and weapons to israel, but seems unable to do the same _ israel, but seems unable to do the same for— israel, but seems unable to do the same for ukraine? do you think america — same for ukraine? do you think america has its priorities right? thank— america has its priorities right? thank you _ america has its priorities right? thank yom—

america has its priorities right? thank ou. ~ . , ., ., thank you. what we see now in gaza is a humanitarian _ thank you. what we see now in gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. - thank you. what we see now in gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. we i is a humanitarian catastrophe. we see suffering, we see... that civilians are killed and we also saw the air strike against aid workers and i condemned the strike. i also welcome the fact that israel has said they will investigate what happened. it demonstrates that he wore which is now going on has very serious consequences for innocent people. —— it demonstrates that the war going on has serious consequences. the people in living in gaza, but also aid workers, and so i also welcome the efforts by the united kingdom and by the united states of america and by many other allies to facilitate some kind of ceasefire and a political solution to this conflict. nato's alliance

does not play a direct role, but i welcome the efforts of nato allies. jens stoltenberg speaking in the last few minutes. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are live with bbc news. let's turn to another important story today. rescuers in taiwan are trying to reach dozens of people trapped in road tunnels, after the most powerful earthquake there in 25 years. at least nine people have been killed and more than 800 injured. the worst—hit area was a mountainous region on the east coast, but tremors were felt more than 60 miles away in the capital tapei, with many buildings shaking violently. tsunami warnings were triggered in neighbouring countries, although they have now been scaled back. rupert wingfield—hayes reports. this is the moment the quake struck a taipei tv station in the middle of their morning news. the shaking was intense and prolonged. buildings across the city

swayed violently. cupboards were emptied, furniture toppled. this construction site, this big building behind me here under construction, a massive piece of either construction equipment or steel came off the top of this building this morning during the quake, crashed into the building beside it and then crashed down into the alleyway behind me, where you can see some workmen 110w. they've closed off that road. remarkably, no—one was injured, no—one was on the street there at the time. no—one in the taiwanese capital has experienced anything like this in a quarter of a century. many young people have neverfelt shaking on this scale. translation: an earthquake hasn't happened in a long time, so it - felt really terrifying. 0n the east coast, in the city of hualien, the shaking was much stronger and the damage much more severe. people on their way to work watched in fear and awe as a partially collapsed building was left leaning

at a precarious angle across this intersection. translation: whenever our team move, the building becomes unstable _ and they have to find something to hold onto to ensure their safety before pulling people out. but it is the landslides that have unleashed the greatest terror. the east coast of taiwan is a rugged landscape of high mountains and deep valleys. the quake triggered hundreds of landslides that came roaring down into the valleys below. this is where most of the more than 700 injuries must have happened. people would have had little warning and nowhere to escape. taiwan has done much to strengthen its buildings and infrastructure since another huge quake killed more than 2,000 people back in 1999. this time, few buildings have been brought down and the death toll is, so far, mercifully small. but there is little that can be done to stop a mountain falling into the valley below.

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. earlier i spoke to jan camenzind broomby, who's a journalist and is in hualien — epicentre of the earthquake. he told me about the rescue efforts and what he experienced on the ground. i was originally in a city in the south of taiwan, kaohsiung, and it was not hit as strongly, but i have since come to hualien, a city that was just kilometres away from the epicentre of this quake, the largest quake in 25 years, and when you speak to people here they will say that when the quake started they didn't think much of it, quakes happen a lot in taiwan, but then itjust didn't stop after that, so for people here this has been a big shock. you might see behind me a slumped building. this is one of 18 buildingsjust in this city alone that have sustained significant damage. we heard that from a hualien county official we were speaking to just earlier.

the death toll there at nine, potentially rising, but hopefully not, and over 700 people injured, many of them in this city and in the surrounding county, with those mountains raining down boulders and rocks on tourists here. tell me about the rescue efforts because it is thought there may be a considerable amount of people still trapped. what are you hearing about that? that's right, there are two forms of rescue that seem to be going on right now and one of them is actually happening right now behind me in this building here. we heard just from an engineer only minutes ago that theyjust rescued the last survivor, who was taken out of this building and sent into the hospital. many people, however, didn't make it. we spoke to one person on the street. his building was destroyed and he said he was friends with one of the people who passed away due to the collapse of this building here. this building behind us is due to be demolished tomorrow and there are other efforts going on around the area as well to rescue those people who have been trapped in tunnels and trapped in the mountains. a group of tourists originally

thought to be missing have been stranded further up in a gorge that is a popular tourist destination, just kilometres over this way. and so, we will have to see what these rescue attempts bring. and we were seeing in our piece — and you just mentioned — the mountainous areas. in terms of rescue teams getting to remote areas, what are you hearing and how big geographically an area are we actually talking about? taiwan is quite a small country, actually, and normally it is very easy to get around. the difficulty this time for many of the rescue operators has been that the major road that links hualien, where i am standing now, the city that was hit the most, to taipei, the capital, which was destroyed completely, or large sections of it have been destroyed completely. that means the city has in effect been cut off to the north. that means it has been difficult for people to come down from the north to the south.

those rescue efforts have been trying to find different ways to get to the city. increasing numbers of flights coming in, increasing ferries, boats, shipping and supplies, and people. the army is also taking on a significant role, increasing the manpower on the ground. just a quick final thought because although that building behind you, all the rescue efforts around that, what is obvious from looking at the pictures that have been emerging throughout the course of the last few hours is the amount of buildings that have remained standing up, but actually they've been built to withstand earthquakes, and for the majority, that has actually been successful, hasn't it? that's right, to some extent there has been a success in terms of the buildings here standing upright. in 1999 the results that we saw last time we had an earthquake of a similar size were much, much worse, the death toll and injury count much higher. it hasn't been like that this time, thankfully. there has been some significant efforts that the taiwanese government have put in place, ensuring buildings are built with stronger foundations, etc, to ensure the earthquakes don't

damage the buildings. jan camenzind broomby talking to me on the ground. we are keeping an eye on the ground. we are keeping an eye on the ground. we are keeping an eye on the pictures coming out of washington because we are expecting to see president biden at the white house are our main story talking about the us being frustrated about israel's strike on those aid workers. he is due to speak not on that, but we will keep a cross that line just in case there are any latest comments from the american president. i am latest comments from the american president. iam back latest comments from the american president. i am back with more here injust a moment president. i am back with more here in just a moment on bbc president. i am back with more here injust a moment on bbc news. hello there. we've got some windy weather on the way by the end of the week and some warmer weather, too, but still some spells of rain. everything is sprinting across from the atlantic. this area of cloud bringing rain later, this one bringing rain overnight. and that cloud has brought rain today across scotland. it's been wettest in central and southern parts of scotland. with the north—easterly wind in scotland, it still feels on the cold side.

it's more of a south—westerly wind elsewhere, which is why we're seeing higher temperatures. but the rain is all coming from the south—west. some rain into this evening still in scotland. then some showery outbreaks of rain pushing into england and wales overnight. some heavier bursts of rain in southernmost parts of england. the risk of thunder and strong winds in the channel. that will keep temperatures up here. still chilly air we've got in scotland overnight. it could be cloudy, grey and even a damp day in scotland, possibly for northern ireland and the far north of england. elsewhere, further south, once the overnight rain clears away, we should see some sunshine with the odd shower around and more rain arriving in the south—west later. temperatures ahead of that could reach 15, 16. but still feeling cold across northern and eastern scotland in particular. rain coming into the south—west, getting pushed northwards overnight by that area of low pressure. wet weather as we head into friday in scotland and northern ireland, maybe even some snow over the mountain tops. that will push through.

then lots of showers following in on behind. these will be heavy and blustery as a southerly wind starts to strengthen. still cold in the north of scotland. temperatures elsewhere could make 17 to 18 in eastern areas of england. the next area of low pressure arriving for the start of the weekend. this one could be more threatening because it is deeper and it will mean much stronger winds as we head into saturday. rain from overnight on the weather front soon moves away from scotland. then again we will see sunshine and showers. the low itself is tracking to the west of ireland and bringing in a southerly wind. it will be a windy day on saturday with the strongest winds out towards western areas. but because it is a southerly, even the temperatures in scotland will be higher. but we could reach 20 degrees across east anglia, and that would make it the warmest day of the year so far.

this is bbc news, the headlines... tributes to the aid workers killed by an israeli strike — while the pressure mounts on israel to explain how it happened.

rishi sunak pays tribute to the three british aid workers