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brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ >> hello, i'm christian fraser and this is "the context." >> we will continue to std up for israel's bedrock right to toerpb itself and we will continue to urge the protection of civilians during conflict and to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into gaza. >> israel will not control gaza.

in any civilian way. we will conduct any needed operation and military effort in order to secure our future. >> israel's troops were reminded that the rules of war, when to fire, when to stop. orders for soldiers, questions for politicians. >> the u.n. security council was scheduled to hold a key vote on whether to demand a humanitarian pause but representatives still trying to come to an agreement on the wording of the text it has been postponed at the last minute until tomorrow. we will talk to a spokesperson from the israeli government. could that pause have something to do with the visit today of

the u.s. defense secretary. also tonight the british oil giant b. and key shipping companies halted all shipments through the red sea after rising attacks on cargo attacks and we will look at the forgotten conflict the sudanese civil war. we will hear from our analyst and top expert on the conflict. good evening, a vote within the u.n. security council which was supposed to take place tonight has been postponed. a negotiation will continue into tomorrow over a draft resolution which calls for a hanitarian pause in gaza. 10 days ago the united states vetoed a call for a cease-fire. this time there's hope an amended draft can be agreed because the text was changed this afternoon by the united states. the language proposed by arab states called for an urgent and sus sustainable cessation of

hostilities to allow safe and unhin unhindered aided a replaced for the urgent suspension to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access and urgent steps toward a sustainable cessation of hostilities. would that be enough for it to pass? we don't know but the decision to pause the vote coincides with the u.s. defense secretary to jerusalem. lloyd austin said he advised his israeli counterpart how to make the war in gaza more surgical but the timing in the phase remains a decision for the inraelis. >> we will continue to stand up for israel's bedrock right to defend itself. we will also continue to urge the protection of civilians during conflict and to increase the flow of humanitarian aid two gaza. >> i'm not here to dictate time

lines or terms. our support to israel's right to defend itself is ironclad as you heard me say a number of times and that won't change. >> let's go to new york and speak to our correspondent who is watching events at the u.n. talk about the pause. why was the decision taken to postpone the vote? >> the u.a.e. decided to postpone the vote bause i'm told by diplomats they are very close to an agreement that would avoid a u.s. veto on the resolution but they need more time to make sure that is absolutely the case before moving to a vote. just to give themselves that bit of a safety net they have decided to postpone the vote until tomorrow morning. but what we have seen is that the draft has changed, christian, to avoid a u.s. veto. rather than calling for a sustained cessation of

hostilities, instead we have language that kind of gets to it in a different way. it talks about a suspension of hostilities. that would take urgent steps toward a sustainable cessation of hostilities. you can see a bid of word gymnastics at the u.n. to try to certainly get stronger language out of the security council in reonse to that overwhelming vote in the general assembly that nonbinding resolution where 153 nations demanded a sees fire but getting something the united states can get behind. >> you wouldn't imagine that negotiation within the security council would be separated from lloyd austin's vote to jerusalem. there must be some liaison tween the two parties. do you think the change in language is perhaps down to what lloyd austin was doing in jerusalem? >> i think that the language is very much looking at where the

united states feels they can push israel without looking like they are abandoning or not completely getting behind their ally. i think what we have seen certaiy an increase step-up in pressure in closed circles and private conversations with the united states and israel. but at the u.n., christian, it has been as lloyd austin talked about an uhakable commitment to its ally. so it is always a delicate balance. that is why i think we are seeing such careful attention paid to the exact wording because there's really an acknowledgment and we saw that with president biden's statement last week, that the united states is facing growing isolation diplomatically at the u.n. over its decisions not to be tougher on israel. so i think the united states is carefully trying to figure out

its right sponges here. >> there's been a video published tonight by hamas, prisoners of war and hostages protected under international humanitarian and bbc doesn't video but you can see they are all elderly gentlemen two in the 80's taken october 7 and on release of that video hamas said we reiterate there will be no negotiation on hostage exchange until the zionist atkpwrebgs completely stops. that pertains to what we are talking about here. we are talking about what the united states and israel may do but clearly there's not much on calling for a humanitarian pause within the security council if hamas is not interested in that pause. >> it is worth pointing out that every resolution we have seen in the general assembly and

certainly the ones that have passed the security council have been proposed in the security council called for the immediate release of hostages, the unconscionable release of all hostages. and any resolution that does get passed has clear language about international law, the obligations on all parties to this conflict that are bound by those obligations to international law. so that would certainly apply to hamas, it would apply to not just the release of hostages, it would apply to rockets fired from the territory. so, again, the securit council, the general assembly, trying to find the way forward. i think that why we have seen so much emphasis on a cease-fire is because we have seen from the u.n. secretary general, others, this emphasis on the fact that they think peace is only achievable getting hostages released, even talkingbout a

two-state solution, all of that is only possible with a cease-fire. that is the broad consensus. but certainly all of these resolutions underscore all parties' obligations under international law. >> thank you very much for that. let's get some reaction to that from the spokesperson from the office of the israeli prime minister. thank you for being with us on the program. the americans have amended the text before the u.n. security council. if that was adopted what would israel's response to it be? >> a few things to unpack here, christian. first and foremost we should emphasize that a general cease-fire, this idea what is called a sustainable cease-fire i'm not sure if it was in the first draft or seconds, that is something that is unacceptable. anything that would leaf hamas in expire power with the design and kaubltd to perpetrate the october 7 massacre anything of

that scale and brutality and the leaders say they will do it again and again and glen that is unseven believe -- just to jump in. the first part of the new draft calls for the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhin unhindered humanitarian efforts. i take that to be language for another humanitarian pause. >> as bbc reported just a week and a half you will up to december 1 we had a humanitarian pause in the fighting, something that we have agreed to for the release of hostages. what happened then hamas broke the bond and failed to deliver another group of hostages to be released on the new day and not only that they started firing at our forces. this is how we got here and we continue the fighting against them because we will not rest in the terrorist regime is

eliminated and gaza no longer pose as terror threat to israel. >> you say it wouldn't be acceptable with that language but you are a member of the u.n. and resolutions in the security council are legally binding on all member nations of the u.n. how would it be received in juvenile. >> i was talking about a general cease-fire but israel is abiding by international law, full stop. >> so if it was adopted you would consider the pause? >> let's wait until tomorrow and talk then. >> do you suspect in the discussions it afternoon between the two defense secretaries this came up? >> not as far as i'm aware. but again there is no daylight between juvenile and washington in what pertains to the goals of this war that hamas has waged on us and dragged us into. we all want to see the

elimination of the hamas terrorist regime and hostages back home with their families. it has been more than two months and 129 hostages are still be held including a 25-year-old young woman whose mother is dying of cancer and every day every moment counts and the 11-month-old baby. and we all as the idea continues to operate on the ground, we want to see a minimal suffering of civilians in gaza as we discussed with our best friends in washington and terror aware of the maximum effort that israel has taken in this regard just over the past days we opened another border crossing which is a border crossing between israel and gaza for further inspections of trucks. we have had 201 -- >> the state department welcomed that tonight but said

that is not enough, there needs to be more. >> we have the ability to inspect more trucks and we said we place no restrictions on water and food supplies coming into the gaza strip. it is international aid groups and u.n. agencies that have to keep up with the pace when at the distribute the aid. >> the broad consensus is that the best way to get the hostages out is through a humanitarian pause. i take what you said about whether that cease fire, that pause, was observed by the other side. but the simple truth and it is a tragedy, hostages are coming home in body bags. the pause that was maintained for many days brought hostages home. do you think what happened with the three hostages who were shot by the i.d.f., do you think that has changed the dynamics here? >> you see, that was a very unfortunate tragic event and it is a very diffilt time for our

nation. it was the worst nightmare we could have imagined and somehow we came through, we are investigating it because this can never happen again. >> the force isn't working, that's the point i'm making and i wonder whether in fact it has changed the dynamics of the conversation within israel such that the head has to go to warsaw and talk about a humanitarian pause however were the price tag might have gone up. >> we will pursue every possible avenue of course to bring about the release of more hostages. but you have to remember the only reason as for why we have seen the release of many hostages until now is because of the military pressure we exerted on hamas. we are hitting them hard and we were hit being them hard before the framework that brought the release of hostages and they wanted a breather. so this is what created the conditions to bring about the

release of more hostages. of course, we will not rest until we get everyone back home. >> thank you for your time. around the world and across the u.k. you are watching bbc news. let's look at some other headlines today. the bbc understands that russell brown has been questioned a second time by police investigating allegations of sexual overs. the 48-year-old comedian is believed to have been interviewed by metropolitan police over six overs. he was accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse which he has strongly denied. a new nonhormonal menopause treatment has been approved in the u.k. the daily pill works on the temperature control center to alleviate symptoms which effect more than a million women in the u.k. it has not yet being recommended

for the n.h.s. to prescribe. thousand of been told they will not need to put down dogs when a ban on the breed comes into force later this year. from december 31 they will have to be muzzled in public and it will be illegal to breed, sell or abandon them. you are live with bbc news. the energy giant b.p. suspended shipping operations through the red sea because cargo vessels are being attacked by another iranian proxy in yemen. the galaxy leader was seized by militants last month, around 12% of world shipping goes through and several major freight companies are diverting ships around africa and the cape of good hope. >> the threat to shipping in the red sea is very real. this was an attack by iranian backed hufi fighters storming a

cargo ship the militia from yemen claiming any vessels owned by allies of israel are legitimate targets. so intense are the attacks two were hit by drones today that some of the big shipping companies are pulling out of the red sea sending their huge vessels around southern africa. today the oil giant b. pp. announced it won't send its tankers knew the seaway that link asia with europe. other allies have war ships in the region and have shot down some drones and missiles. but lloyd as you sin the u.s. second of defense said he wanted other nations to do more to protect shipping. >> these attacks are reckless, dangerous and they violate international through. so we are taking action to build an international coalition to address it threat.

i would remind you that this is not just a u.s. issue. it is an international problem and it difference an international response. >> he is right. the seaway between the suez canal and the strait in the south is crucial for world trade and consumer goods we order blithely on line. >> it is about protecting important supply chains because so much of global trade goes through there. it is about 12%. >> so the impact of this war is being felt outside its borders diverting ship damaging trade. the risks of escalation still very present. >> back on the program former u.k. military strategic planer who spent 20 years as an r.a.f. assault helicopter pilot. you were a strategic military planner in the british army.

what is required to protect shipping through it body of water? >> christian, you have seen examples with the piracy problem off the coast of somalia and the huge tanker take forever to change direction and travel at relatively slow pace and are effectively sitting ducks specially where it comes through the strait and the tankers pass each other within two nautical miles. if you know the territorial waters extends out to 12 nautical miles you he a sense of just how much of a choke point this strait s. and the choke point basically straights the red sea and to the north the so suez canal to the aden where a lot of persian nations trade comes through saving a lot of time that would have to send

shipping around the southern cape of africa which adds a tremendous amount of money and logistical planning and tremendous amount of more planning to go into getting the cargo where it needs to go. the protection systems that you see on war ships, they are the weapon systems that for example have been partnering with and escorting the vulnerable shipping when it comes to the piracy problem. and on the most latest modern war shims you have something called a sea iws which is a weapons system a rotating cannon that emits a significant amount of bullets per he can second per minute and directed by radar and computers and can shrew on to an incoming target within around two nautical miles pretty

cubicly and effectively. it is not just ballistics myself being firing on the yemeni coach but drones as well. and drones are harder to pick up because terror plastic so they have a reduced rate of cross section and more nimble and harder to see but they are being shot down from what we hear in some of these attacks so the combination of ballistics missile and drone without something the close in weapon system makes one of the tankers or cargo ships a sitting duck. >> there will be people like you in the pentagon deciding what the best policy is from here. is it better to bring a flotilla of ships to protect them or better to take the fight directly to the hao huthies. in 2016 alternative targeting

u.s. naval war ships and the u.s. launched three tomahawk missiles on to radar sites inside yemen which were being controlled by them. that is quite a significant act of warfare. the other piece that you could do in terms of a graduate and proportionate response which is what effectively the rules of engagement are based on, you can be using as a reactive measure these close in systems on war ships that are escorting some of the major transporters of petroleum, 6.2 million barrels a day in 2018 came rough that strait which is about 10% of the shipping that goes out to the world economy in terms of petroleum products so it is significant and definitely worthwhile looking at that graduated and proportional response with various measures from tomahawk missiles if you have the identification of where

these rockets, where these ballistics missiles are coming through down to a close in weapon system that is effective to two kilometers out. >> given the disruption to the economy you would think all options are currently on the table. stay with us because i want your thoughts on the fighting in gaza and enter investigation of saturday of the israeli chief of staff addressing the troops that shot down three israeli hostages stripped to the waist and waving a white flag and he speaks of them saying when you see two people who do not threaten you who don't have weapons you have their hands up and not wearing shirts take two seconds and ut uttered if they have a white flag who want to surrender will we shoot them? absolutely not. this is not the i.d. if. it should go without saying the laws of armedonflict mean you

can't shoot someone waving a white flag who is surrendering but could you talk about the rules of engagement because the israelis don't really tell us what their rules of engagement are. that is not unusual but there are usually guidelines for troops. >> there are. the rules of engagement are what direct a soldier to be able to open fire legitimately unlawfully. what is important to say is that in the u.k. military when we are operating in iraq, afghanistan or kosovo, all of those tours that i did, was that if you get it wrong as a soldier, you are susceptible and held accountable to the hlaw. the way the rules of engagement are and they are not spoken about because they are classified but the bake tenet of rules of engagement is if

whatever you are looking at as a potential target is imposing an mediate threat to life or infrastructure, then that target is a legitimate target. what makes a soldier perceive that there is a threat? direction if someone has an ak47 pointed a the them that is an immediate threat and 245 soldier will have authority through rules of engagemen to neu neutralize that threat. if a target -- i believe there were three young men actually that were part of this. three came out of the building, two were shot immediately, a third went back in the building screaming hebrew and was subsequently shot, which makes the scenario even worse because there was time to have a pause and have a think. i would assume that i.d.f. soldiers have very good systems of being able to look through

buy knock hrargs or trmal imaging to give them more information on the level of the threat. but from all of the reports including the white flag and fact there was nothing on their door sos, from everything that i have heard and everyone i have spoken to, and from my own experience this isn't a scenario where three men should have been opened up on. >> i'm going to have to wrap you but i get your point is narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs.

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.