there are hundred and ”53 as long as there are hundred and 33 hostages _ as long as there are hundred and 33 hostages being held by hamas. israel has carried out air strikes on what it says are hezbollah targets inside lebanon. i'm azadeh moshiri in london. the other headlines this hour... events are being held across rwanda to mark three decades since the beginning of the genocide against ethnic tutsis and moderate hutus. and as millions prepare for the solar eclipse in north america, we look at how to safely watch the total blackout. we are alive today from southern israel, from the town of sderot, as the israel— gaza war reaches its six month mark. it was in the early hours of october the 7th that hamas gunmen breached israel's price

security defence, and went into towns across southern israel. israel described it as the darkest day in its history. the largest loss of israeli lives in a single day. it says 1200 israelis were killed, and more than 250 when taken hostage, seized at gunpoint and taken across the boundary into gaza. gaza lies on the boundary into gaza. gaza lies on the horizon, and for many weeks after the october 7th attacks, from here we could see the plumes of dark smoke rising, as israel intensified its retaliatory strikes, carrying out aerial bombardment is night and day. it then launched its ground operations. six months on, israel is coming under mounting pressure, even from its own allies, about the weight is fighting this war. with a growing tally of deaths in gaza. 33,000, says the hamas — run health

ministry. un officials say the gaza strip is on the brink of famine. many questions are being asked. where does the word go from here? in the last few hours, the israeli military says it has withdrawn all of its forces not involved in active manoeuvres, leaving behind those whosejob manoeuvres, leaving behind those whose job it is to secure a corridor dividing the strip. the move comes as pressure intensifies on negotiators meeting on the egyptian capital, as well as senior qatari officials and delegates from other countries to try and reach a swap of israeli hostages being held in gaza and palestinian prisoners being held in israeli jails.

lieutenant colonel peter lerner is a spokeseperson for the israel defence forces — i asked him about the announcement that idf withdraws troops from southern gaza. the idf has and is regrouping, conducting its next preparations for the next stage. the war is not over as long as there are 133 israelis being held by hamas. war can only be over when they come home and when hamas is gone. the reality is one which is unacceptable. we can't accept that hamas will govern the gaza strip precisely because we've seen what they do with the powers of government. they take advantage of that. they build a terrorist army. they came into our bedrooms, abducted, killed, murdered, massacred. that needs to change. but can you provide, lieutenant colonel lerner, more details on this movement? is it a rotation? will they be replaced ? or does this represent a significant shift in the military campaign? the military campaign is continuously evolving, and this is just another stage in the war effort

as we completed our mission in the khan younis area, so then the troops rotate out and we have other troops that are operating elsewhere. so it's important to understand it is a decline in the forces, but there is more operations that need to be conducted. rafah is clearly a stronghold where there are four battalions untouched, and where we released two hostages from just last month. so we need to be able to get all of the hostages back wherever they are. we need to dismantle hamas's capabilities, wherever they are, and we will mobilise ourforces accordingly. the forces aren't in the gaza strip just to take control of gaza. that's not the intention by any stretch of the imagination. the forces are there to get rid of hamas and bring back the hostages. well come up terrible atrocities and events of october 7th, and the fate of the hostages still being held in gazais of the hostages still being held in gaza is an open wound here in israel. today, across southern

israel, we have seen how memorials are being held at the kibbutz which suffered terribly in the assault of october 7th, suffered terribly in the assault of october7th, including suffered terribly in the assault of october 7th, including at the nova music festival. our international editor, jeremy bowen, has covered the war since the start and has returned to one of the kibbutzes in israel that was hardest hit by the hamas attacks. six months after the attacks, it is a bit like going back into a time machine because all the damage is still here. and the reason for that is that in this kibbutz, nir oz, one in four of the population of the more than 400 people was either killed, or taken into gaza, about a mile away on the border, as hostages.

looking around at the damage here and hearing the stories too of what happened, hamas came in around 6:30 in the morning and were here until early afternoon, undisturbed, going house to house until the army arrived. the war is still going on, that is outgoing fire from an israeli battery into gaza. this is now one of the typical houses in this kibbutz, abandoned and burnt out. six months on, it still smells of burning on the sofa, there is still some neatly folded laundry, perhaps done the evening before october 7th. going around this place you can understand why israelis believe very strongly that they are fighting

a just war in gaza. of course, their allies feel the same. their quarrel is with the methods that israel has been using that has cost so many innocent palestinian lives. and as for the family who lived here in this house, they are dead. jeremy bowen. six months on, foreignjournalists, including the bbc, journalists are banned from entering gaza, etc what is called is really in beds. so much has been seen through the eyes of the young people of gaza, both those educated with a smartphone or computer at hand, or byjournalists from gaza who have documented and

told the stories of war. among them is 22—year—old plestia al aqad. she had to flee for her own safety, but let's take a look at what she was telling when she was on the ground. also in a place far away from women... explosions ring out. we're inside the house right now and literally, we can't breathe. there is literally... she coughs. ..no view. you can't see anything. people are terrified in the streets right now. you can hear sounds. we don't know where exactly they are bombing. they could still evacuate now. i have no clue where we're going. everybody in the building is running. literally every day that passes by, a new genocide happens. the death toll is just increasing.

well, plestia had to leave, and joins us now from melbourne. hello, plestia? ., , , ., , ., plestia? hello, yes, i can hear you. these were — plestia? hello, yes, i can hear you. these were dramatic— plestia? hello, yes, i can hear you. these were dramatic and _ plestia? hello, yes, i can hear you. these were dramatic and traumatic| these were dramatic and traumatic times for you in gaza. what are your strongest memories?— times for you in gaza. what are your strongest memories? from my life in gaza in general— strongest memories? from my life in gaza in general or _ strongest memories? from my life in gaza in general or from _ strongest memories? from my life in gaza in general or from the _ strongest memories? from my life in gaza in general or from the past - gaza in general orfrom the past month? gaza in general or from the past month? ., , ., month? from the time you were there, from when you — month? from the time you were there, from when you were _ month? from the time you were there, from when you were on _ month? from the time you were there, from when you were on the _ month? from the time you were there, from when you were on the ground. - month? from the time you were there, from when you were on the ground. it i from when you were on the ground. it is hard to answer this question, because i can tell you a story, and i can tell you ten stories, and whenever i decide i want to tell the story are not the others i feel i am not doing this just is. the 46 days i was on the ground, i saw stories that will always haunt me. i don't think i will everforget

that will always haunt me. i don't think i will ever forget any of these stories that i saw. what used to break my heart the most are children. until now, it has been around six months, and according to the palestinian ministry of health, around 13,000 children got killed. it breaks my heart, all the children that are even wounded and injured, because many children lost their hand or a leg or a part of their body, so for me, ijust think, what future do these children have? there is one specific story. this girl was around for six years old, i don't remember exactly, and she used to wake up every day having lost a hand, and ask your dad, looking at these children around her, and i the only one who lost a hand? for me, the trauma that these children are experiencing and going through is unimaginable. it is unbelievable, the trauma that everyone is going through, not only children. so this story that i saw, they are endless.

i understand you are still in touch with your friends, journalists from gaza, what are they telling you about their lives as you try to continue to tell stories from the ground? continue to tell stories from the round? ., , continue to tell stories from the round? ., ., ~ ., , ground? today, i talked to my colleague. _ ground? today, i talked to my colleague. a — ground? today, i talked to my colleague, ajournalist. - ground? today, i talked to my colleague, a journalist. i - ground? today, i talked to my| colleague, a journalist. i talked ground? today, i talked to my - colleague, ajournalist. italked to colleague, a journalist. i talked to him for the first time in a month. for one month, i was not able to talk to him. they told me how he feels he is in denial, he is still trying to process and understand what is happening. he told me he was to strengthen the other day, and he didn't even cry. i feel that we all as palestinians have un—cried tears, and we are just waiting for this war to end so we can cry and understand what is happening. i am so afraid of the aftermath, and whenever i talk to anyone, they tell me they are afraid of the aftermath. what is

even more scary is, when will we reach the point of the aftermath? the infrastructure is demolished, there is no health system, no education system. i'm just afraid of what will happen next. education system. i'm “ust afraid of what will happen next._ what will happen next. israel is cominu what will happen next. israel is coming under— what will happen next. israel is coming under mounting - what will happen next. israel is i coming under mounting pressure what will happen next. israel is - coming under mounting pressure to end the war, but it says it will not until it describes its war aim as destroying hamas. you have been on the ground, what you say to that? i willjust say that according to the will just say that according to the palestinian ministry of health, the death toll reached more than 33,000 palestinians who have got killed. from these 33,000, there are at least 13,000 children, and according to the palestinian bureau, they said almost every hour for children are getting killed. ifeel almost every hour for children are getting killed. i feel the almost every hour for children are getting killed. ifeel the targets over civilians, the children. the story that is happening, it is

babies and infants. people asked me if you are too afraid as are journals that you will get targeted and reporting, and my answer was that of course i was afraid, is a journalist i'm afraid to get targeted, i'm afraid something bad will happen to my family because a journalist, living in the gaza strip right now is dangerous and scary, evenif right now is dangerous and scary, even if you are a baby or a civilian. you don't have to be a journalist to be a target. humanitarian aid workers are a target. basically what i'm seeing is that civilians are the target. to see any signs of this war ending soon? there are no more calls for an immediate ceasefire, including from israel because my closest allies. can i tell you something? i'm actually terrified of what will happen when there is a ceasefire. according to the un, around 1.7 million palestinians are displaced, so what will happen to them, where will they live? will they live in

tents for the rest of their lives? what about the health system? what about the education system? even when there is a ceasefire, another war will basically start. the future is so scary for the palestinian people, because israel has basically made gaza uninhabitable. even when there is a ceasefire, the question is what is next? what will happen? you don't believe the international community will try to do what it can to help the palestinian people when one day this war ends? i can to help the palestinian people when one day this war ends?— one day this war ends? i can only ho -e so. one day this war ends? i can only hope so. plestia, _ one day this war ends? i can only hope so. plestia, thank - one day this war ends? i can only hope so. plestia, thank you - one day this war ends? i can only hope so. plestia, thank you very | hope so. plestia, thank you very much forjoining _ hope so. plestia, thank you very much forjoining us _ hope so. plestia, thank you very much forjoining us from - hope so. plestia, thank you very - much forjoining us from melbourne, were i know you will still be following very closely what is happening on the ground, including to yourfriends. happening on the ground, including to your friends.— to your friends. thank you for havin: to your friends. thank you for having me- — to your friends. thank you for having me. thank— to your friends. thank you for

having me. thank you. - well, she mentioned there is great pressure on the ground on the people of gaza, but also on aid workers, who are dying in record numbers. israel has been under pressure to do much more to protect the civilians, as well as the aid workers, especially in the wake of the killing of seven working with the global charity world central kitchen. under pressure, israel then took additional steps to get aid into gaza, by opening the northern crossing at erez, by opening a port, the ashdod port in israel, but also by expanding the capacity of a land corridor through by expanding the capacity of a land corridor throuthordan. by expanding the capacity of a land corridorthroughjordan. but by expanding the capacity of a land corridor throuthordan. but is it enough? i ask that of the director of the world food programme, cindy mccain. as the un said and as what i have said also, famine is imminent in the north, and this is something that if we wait much longer,

we're going to go over the edge and not be able to recover from it. that's why it is so important that we be able to get food at scale in. we at wfp are grateful that there's consideration to open the erez border point and ashdod port. we're hoping to see that happen very soon. all of those things and more along with the airdrops, along with everything else that's going on, will help us get food in at scale. but it can't stop. it can no longer be a dribble of seven or eight trucks a day or seven or eight trucks a week. it has to be multitudes of trucks and quickly. there have been calls right up to the top of the united nations that, while welcoming these new moves, saying that all of the crossings should be open, and if not that it will still be difficult to get the amounts of aid in that are needed. is that also your view? that is absolutely our view. we would like every gate open. we need to get food in and get it in at scale. we can no longer wait to be considered or wait to see

if our drivers are cleared or wait to see if the checkpoints are actually going to be open. we need to get in now. children are dying. as we speak, they are dying of hunger. that's why it is so important that we do what we do best, and that is take large amounts of food and feed those who are desperately hungry. as you know, those who are delivering the aid also feel at risk. in the wake of the killing of seven aid workers with world central kitchen, some aid agencies suspended their operations. is it, do you feel it is still safe for your wfp staff to operate, and are they still doing so? well, this is dangerous work, no matter how you look at it. but we at wfp are not going to to halt or suspend going to halt or suspend any of our operations. we continue to do the best we can to get aid in. again, the these new openings

and these new ports, etc, if we do get them to scale and get them get them operational if we do get them to scale and get them operational will be of great help. but we should have done it a while ago. this is something that has allowed the northern part of gaza to simply die. and so for those of us at the un that work with work on humanitarian that work on humanitarian principles and believe in delivering food and aid in a principled fashion, we feel very strongly about how much needs to go in and why we should be in there. and once again, aid workers should be safe. it was unconscionable that that wck was hit. it's a terrible situation. but let me say, there's been more aid workers than just those that have been killed. and we're sorry for all of them. we have to keep going. we have to. cindy mccain, the executive director

of the world food programme. she spoke to the bbc as their warm reaches its six month mark. we've been speaking to relatives of those who lost loved ones during the rampage of hamas on october the 7th, six month ago. they express pain over the suffering of their families, a deep pain too over there worry and anxiety of loved one still being held hostage by hamas and other groups still in gaza. but also angen other groups still in gaza. but also anger, still seething over a major security failure by the israeli forces. in allowing hamas, in effect, to be able to breach the security boundary and and carry out what israel describes as the darkest in its history. it is also a day which is underlined the risk of a wider war, with israeli air strikes

on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon, and a warning from iran that israeli embassies anywhere are no longer safe after air strikes against the iranian embassy in damascus, which is widely suspected to be an israeli air strike. we are going to continue our special coverage, but back to you from london. studio: thank you, lyse. now it's time for a look at today's sport with jane. a big day in the english premier league ahead with liverpool hoping to re—gain top spot. arsenal took the lead on saturday, so liverpool will have to beat rivals manchester united at old trafford, whichjurgen klopp admits won't be straight forward. united is a top side, playing at home, we all know that. but we have to... let's do what we did from minute 15 to, i don't know, 70 something. football is not that easy, so we have to find a way to cause united problems, and they will try exactly the same.

we have seen, two weeks ago, in the game against liverpool, how an effect and how an impact we can have in togetherness and in a positive way on the pitch. we are going for that again, positive mood, on old trafford. that's one of three games in the premier league today. chelsea — who had that dramatic late win over united in midweek — are away at sheffield united. they lost to liverpool on the same night. later on sunday, tottenham host relegation threatened nottingham forest. you can follow all of those matches on the bbc sport website. to another huge game, this one in scotland. rangers hosting celtic at ibrox. and it's 2—1 to celtic. it started with a dreadful mistake from rangers. just 21 seconds after kick off, james tavernier was too casual with a long ball and celtic�*s daizen maeda shot

from outside the box to put the visitors ahead. then a hand ball from connor goldson gave celtic a penaltyjust after the half hour mark. matt o'riley stepped up to score his first old firm goal. in the last few minutes, the captain made up for his mistake, james tavernier has also scored from the spot. it is to — one to celtic at ibrox. it is 2—1 to celtic at ibrox. in spain, athletic bilbao ended their run of six successive copa del rey final defeats, and a ito—year wait for silverware with a dramatic penalty shoot—out victory over mallorca. after extra time it was 1—1, so to penalties and alex berenguer stepped up to seal a 11—2 win in the shoot—out in seville. the victory prompted ecstatic scenes at a sold—out la cartuja stadium, giving bilbao's fans the chance to celebrate a trophy for the first time in four decades. after failing to finish in australia a fortnight ago, normal service resumed for formula one world champion max verstappen in japan this morning. the dutchman took a clean sweep of pole position, fastest lap and race win.

it was the 57th victory of his career. he beat his red bull team mate sergio perez by twelve and a half seconds. carlos sainz continued his impressive start to the season with a podium at suzuka. england's women lost their final one—day international against new zealand in hamilton. new zealand reached their target of 195 to win with seven wickets in hand and 66 balls remaining. sophie devine hit a six to not only win the match, but reach her century too. england had already won the series heading into this one, after taking the first two games. england captain heather knight says her side can learn from devine's excellent innings. the pitch wasn't quite as straightforward, it was a bit of a tricky one. i thought sophie showed us exactly how to bat. the way she soaked up pressure at the start of her innings, tactically targeted a bowler that was matchup for her, and was able to soak up that pressure and put it back on us, i think it a really good lesson

for our middle order and our batting group. tennis, and american danielle collins will play daria kasatkina in the women's singles final at the charleston open on sunday. the miami open champion continued her impressive run by knocking out number three seed maria sakkari in the semi final. collins is on a 12—match winning streak, it will be 13 in the final if she beats kasatkina, who overcamejessica pegula in the other semi final. more details on all of those stories on the bbc sport website, but that is it for now. studio: thanks so much, jane. events are being held across rwanda to mark three decades since the beginning of the genocide against ethnic tutsis and moderate hutus. nearly a million people were killed in a hundred days in 1994. a ceremony in the rwandan capital, kigali, is being led

by president paul kagame. world leadersjoined the president in laying wreaths. those present included the south african president, cyril ramaphosa, and the former us president, bill clinton, who has previously called the massacre of ethnic tutsis and moderate hutus the biggest failure of his presidency. there is plenty more to come, and also a long read on rwanda on our website. stay with us here on bbc news. good afternoon. well, after a stormy start to our weekend, the winds are still a feature out there but not as severe as yesterday. and there are still some lengthy spells of sunshine to be found. but the rainbow says it all. yes, some of us will continue to see some showers. most frequent showers across the north—west of scotland and running up through south—west england across wales, stretching up into the midlands and lincolnshire. one or two heavier ones.

maybe the odd rumble of thunder and still, still of thunder and still, accompanied by gusts of winds in excess of 40—50 mph in the land, stronger still in the far north of scotland. here, highs of 10—13. not quite as warm in the south—east as yesterday, but nevertheless, 17 degrees is still pretty good for this time of year. as we move into monday, there is another deepening area of low pressure that is going to be pushing in from the south—west. it stays pretty unsettled for the next few days, i am afraid. the heaviest of the rain first thing on monday morning, channel islands, isles of scilly, cornwall, stretching up across the west coast of wales. there will be some sharper showers ahead of it as well, but quite a lot of cloud, not rain all of the time for much of central and eastern england. still highs in the middle of the afternoon of 17 degrees. the heaviest of the rain moving up through the irish sea, effecting the isle of man into northern ireland. the east of england along with scotland will be dry and relatively pleasant. 11—15 degrees not out of the question across north—east england

through the afternoon. but as that low pressure continues to drift its way steadily north, the wind direction changes and strengthens down to the south—west. gales first thing on tuesday morning, and that north—westerly cooler air source will push the milder air that we have seen of late out of the way. so tuesday is not looking like a particularly pleasant day. there will be spells of heavy rain sitting across scotland in particular, and north—east england. we will see quite a lot of cloud and a brisk winds, in fact gales, down to the south—west. that is just going to make it feel noticeably cooler than the last couple of days. so temperatures on your thermometers are likely to peak between eight and 12 degrees. it is a bit of a roller—coaster at this time of year, and that is exactly what is going to happen because as we move towards the middle to the end of the week we could potentially get warmer again, particularly across eastern england.

this is bbc news, the headlines... israel says it has withdrawn thousands of its ground troops from southern gaza after four months of fighting in the khan younis area. it's unclear how the withdrawal will affect plans for a ground offensive in rafah, where more than one million displaced palestinians are sheltering. the israel—gaza war reaches its six—month mark. on october the 7th, hamas attacked israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage. in the war that has followed, the hamas—run health ministry says at least 33,000 palestinians have been killed.

slovakia's elected a new president — peter pellegrini is a nationalist who's sceptical of sending military aid to ukraine. he won by a greater margin than expected, defeating the pro—western candidate ivan korcok. and as millions prepare for the solar eclipse in north america, we look at how to safely watch the total blackout as the moon blocks the sun's light. now on bbc news, the travel show: azerbaijan. i'm on a journey to explore azerbaijan. neither asia nor europe, this is a country where a colourful past and prosperous present intertwine. the price of the caviar in azerbaijan is like four times less than in the uk. filled with ancient wonders, it's a place where the natural world has shaped its history for generations. a unique country, with nine climate zones. it borders russia to the north, iran to the south,