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topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. brook: these are people who are tryi 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, you're watching the context on bbc news. >> the result of the vote is as follows. 13 votes in favor, zero votes

against. two abstentions. the draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 2720. >> the resolution the uae has put in blue this morning, calling for a sustainable cessation of hostilities and a massive scale up of humanitarian aid. >> it took many days and many, many long nights of negotiating to get this right. >> an effective aid operation in gaza requires security, staff who can work in safety, capacity, and the resumption of commercial activity. these four elements do not exist. ♪ >> welcome to the program. after days of delays and backroom negotiations, we finally have a result.

for a resolution voted on getting humanitarian aid into gaza, but stopped short of calling for a cease-fire. we will have the latest from our correspondent in new york and have the reaction from a u.n. human rights representative working on the ground in gaza. and we will take stock of the u.k.conomy after fears of a recession in 2024. and the complicated operation underway today to clear the junk on the international space station. good evening. the united nations has passed a resolution aiming to get more aid into gaza, but stopped short of calling for an immediate truce. this was the moment the vot came in, 13 in favor, two abstentions from permanent members, the u.s. and russia.

but crucially, no votes against, no veto. after multiple attempts to come to an agreement on action, the un security council has finally passed a resolution. the resolution, of course, that is not legally binding. let's take a look at the exact wording of the final resolution and what it means. it calls for urgent steps to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access and for creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities. that specific language is a watered-down version of the initial draft resolution, which had called for a cease-fire. to discuss this further, i am joined by our correspondent in washington, not new york, as we said previously. you have covered many of these u.n. votes in the past and this has been a week of back and forth. what do you take away from today?

>> the council was clearly quite determined to pass something on humanitarian aid, and that inudes the united states, who vetoed a resolution before, because it will not support a resolution calling for a cease-fire. there humanitarian situation is so dire, we have heard reports that gazans are on the verge of starvation, and have worked all week so they could come up with something on u.s. terms, but came up with something. they are calling for a surge in aid, a full, speedy, safe access for humanitarian aid. it does not have any teeth, though. there was one part of the resolution with some teeth calling for an urgent cessation of hostilities so the aid could be delivered. that was tak out. now it says urgent steps for

safe delivery, not saying what those steps are. also, the arab group that drafted the resolution asked for a u.n. monitoring mechanism to be at the egyptian border crossing of rafa to a pprove the age going in, but the israelis did not want to be taken out of the loop in terms of doing a security screening. so again, the u.s. did not support that language. in the end, you have a united call from the un, finally, a strong push for safe and rapid humanitarian access. you have a reference to establishing conditions for the cessation of hostilities. that is not calls for a cease-fire or cessation of hostilities, but that is the first time they have used those words, cessation of hostilities, in a resolution. it h symbolic clout, but not

much of a practical one. christian: i made a mistake earlier, saying this was not legally binding, when it is. is this a shift when it comes to the united states position? >> i think the americans, a, did not want to be seen to block another resolution on the terrible situation in gaza, and the situation calls for some kind of international action. both of those components fired the determination to be able to agree to something. but it's position ultimately has not changed, no. it supports the israeli view that there should not be a call for the cease-fire, which is what the u.n. has been asking for, because they do not want to stop the conflict with hamas having a certain amount of power and its military capabilities still intact. they think it ends up in the

same place you started, ultimately, hamas could regroup and carry out attacks again. so israel has very practical objectives, like the humanitarian pauses for aid, hostages being released, but not more than that. i don't think the americans were willing to go beyond that. but what they have done is negotiated hard enough to change the wording in this resolution, so they are able to support it. i have to say, some of the arab counies that sponsored the resolution, jordan and algeria, for example, felt it had been watered down so much it would not have any impact, and took their names off the sponsor list. but others felt it was important to put out a united voice and diplomatic push to speed up the aid and improve the scale of it. >> our correspondent joining us with the latest from washington.

thank you very much. in the recent weeks, we have been reporting on some of the tensions in the u.s. government over president biden's approach to the conflict. one of those is former state apartment official josh paul, who publicly quit in protest. josh,elcome to the context. we will come to why you resigned in a moment, but i want to get your reaction to today's events at the u.n. >> thank you. thank you for having me. i think it will be a relief for sec. blinken and the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., but it will not be a relief for the palestinian people. it does not provide much in the way of relief to the palestinian people. the great success here was that the u.s. did not block it, not that they supported the resolution. it doesn't even call for a cease-fire,ut the groundwork

for a sustainable cessation of hostilities. we have an awfully long way to go. >> josh, we will come to why you quit in a second. i asked barbara this question as well -- why do you think the u.s. position has changed? yes, it was not an outright support for cease-fire, but the position ha changed. what would you say to that? >> i think the u.s. is increasingly isolated on the world stage. it has made a decision to tether itself to benjamin netanyahu and let him drive us all off the cliff. the result of that has been a disaster in terms of u.s. foreign policy, both in relationships in the middle east and our credibility across the global south. i think the u.s. is seeking to do anything it can to try and mitigate some of that damage. in this case, by working pretty hard to come to some sort of

place where it would not be in a position of blocking this resolution. the underlying policies themselves have not changed. >> let's go to those in a second, some of the conversations inside the state department you were having. i want to ask you why you decided to quit, and quit so publicly. >> i quit in mid october for three main reasons. the first of which, i was working in the bureau political mergers, responsible for the most arms transfers. i was asked to be a part of the approval process for many of the arms that continue to flow into israel and being used to killed thousands of civilians in gaza. i don't think anyone feels it is our job in government to provide weapons where they will be used to kill civilians. this is also coming on top of 20 years of the policy that has not worked. a policy that was intended to provide peace and security to

israel, and has not done so. third of all, when i tried to raise these concerns, there was no space for that. there was only provision to move us quickly on the guidance of the weapons. that is a sentiment that guides us today. >> is that a sentiment shared widely within the state department? various stories have been coming out in the u.s. media with discontent, not just in the state department but in the white house. >> that's right. i think it is a broadly shared sentiment. people see the moral disaster that is unfolding with the humanitarian catastrophe in gaza, and the foreignolicy disaster unfolding. i stood outside the white house last week with a large number of executive branch employees, who held up a sign stating president biden, your staff to mend a cease-fire.

people are not being heard within the system, and this is coming from the top. a lot of people in the state department, including very senior levels, are miserable with the situation. but as long as the president remains committed to the cause, that is not going to change. >> has your position changed in your time and the state department? you worked in the arms department, working out what arms were sent to israel, and that had been happening for years. i wonder if you have any concerns then, and what changed? this conflict is one big driver, but there has been the counterargument in the last few weeks, that what happened on the seventh of october did pose a security threat to israel because of hamas, and that is what the biden administration has consistently said, it's why they support israel's right to defend itself. >> yes. i have been fortunate to have been in a position for many years, raise human rights concerns about israel, yes, but

also many other partners that the united states has. i have also been able to work with others to introduce measures to mitigate the impacts and delay some of the most concerning sales. what was missing was any of that policy discussion and debate. this urge to rush weapons to israel, they are currently using them in gaza, and no country should have to withstand a terrorist attack like the one israel withstood on october seventh. no one should. but no one should also have to deal with what gaza has been living with every day since then, and what all gazans have been experiencing in occupied territories before october 7. we have to take an evenhanded approach here. >> what, if anything, do you think the -- could change the president's position

on calling for a permanent cease-fire? >> i don't know. i think he is very committed to his perspective. it is rooted in an understanding and a vision, i think, of what the current situation looks like that is no longer reflective of reality. he spoke of his heroes earlier this week, a former israeli prime minister among them. that was in the 1970's, and i am not sure the presidents perspective or the foreign policy perspective writ large has kept up. >> thank you very much for sharing your perspective here on the context. >> thank you. >> let's get some reaction from the heart of this story. we will be hearing from a u.n. representative in gaza, in rafa, to be specific. the team lead for the united nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in gaza. welcome to the program, gemma.

can i get your reaction to events at the u.n., please? >> thank you so much for having me. my reaction is very simple -- we appreciate the painstaking negotiations that have been in place, the hours of dialogue by diplomats, but what the people of gaza need right now is an end to this war. that is not what has come out of the security council today. we welcome every initiative that will expand the aid here, but that is also not what is needed. we need a massive volume of not just humanitarian assistance, but private sector goods flowing into the gaza strip to reverse the desperation and devastation that i see here every day. >> bring us up-to-date here on the needs at the moment. i was reading earlier that the number of operational hospitals has decreased even further, something like seven in gaza? >> absolutely. the needs are literally

unfathomable until you see them. to speak to the hospitals, i was in gaza city the other day in a hospital which was recently surrounded by troops, and had many of its workers detained. what i saw there was the opposite of what we often see in the news, the chaos and the carnage. what i saw were tens of people literally waiting to die because they cannot any longer be treated in that hospital. i me a young girl, 10 euros old, who had her leg amputated because she was hit by a bomb that killed her entire family. not only did she have her leg amputated, but it was amputated twice because of the conditions she is living in. the health infrastructure here has been increasingly under attack and is not just crumbling, but has fully crumbled. to speak to the rest of the needs, every day won out now, i see new ad hoc shelters -- when

i go out now, i see new ad hoc shelters for people who are trying to live regular lives, but wake up and cannot do anything. in she for, i met a baby who was one hour old and i met his grandmother, who turns to me and said please. i just want to put him to sleep in his own bed. that is what i am seeing in gaza. >> today at the u.n., one of the things that came out of the security council vote was that the u.n. would have a humanitarian coordinator to oversee ai going into gazad and that israel would still be involved in this process. who do you -- what do you know about the process and who do you expect to be appointed to that role? >> i am not a politician in new york, but we need the commercial sector coming back to lii and

humanitarian assistancef -- life and humanitarian assistance. but as the secretary-general said earlier, until we have safety first and foremost for the people, who right now today -- there was a new area given evacuation orders, that area is now housing over 150,000 people who are going to have to find one of the few remaining places, little -- literally physical places in gaza to set up a tent or find a shelter. that is what is happening every single day. every day, initiating more aid flowing is important, but nothing is more important than stopping this war. >> as we head into christmas weekend, briefly, do you feel the resolution brings any optimism? >> it brings the optimism that

people have not given up, and optimism to the people of gaza that the crisis they are living every single day, this baby that i met who has a whole life ahead of him, they have not been forgotten by the world. my request to everyone out there, as we head into the christmas weekend and as people go to their own families, is to look at the people in gaza as we would our own family members. i met a grandmother in the hospital the other day who lost all of her family. so as we go into christmas, remember these people and remember that they do not deserve a single other day and this war. it has to end for humanity and the security council efforts are important, but they are not enough. >> we will be thinking about that baby and many others. thank you for sharing your personal stories. >> thank you for having me. >> around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news here.

from the 31st of december, american xl bulldogs will be banned in -- because of --. and in england, junior doctors are in the final day of their 72 hour walk out, part of a long-running dispute over pay. the strike is due to end tomorrow morning. the british medical association is calling for a rise of 35% to make up before below inflation deals since 2008. regulated rail fares in england will rise 4.9% in march, less than july's inflation figure of 9%, which is used to calculate the rise. passengers have faced significant disruption to services because of strikes over the past 18 months.

you are live with bbc news. czech police say a gunman who killed 14 people at the university in prague yesterday shot himself as police were closing in on him. police have released bodycam video, showing armed officers responding to the attack as they try to secure the building. as our eastern european correspondent reports. [shouting] >> hunting for a killer. this is the moment when armed police burst into a prague university to stop the gunman who s stocking the corridors and shooting students. an officer's bodycam footage was released today by police. frenzied images of a horrifying attack. [speaking another language] >> in a classroom, they shout

for stretchers and tourney kits -- tourney -- tourniquets to treat students with horrible injuries. others barricaded themselves in lecture halls until they could be evacuated by police. >> they searched everyone, hands up, taken outside the building. as we went down the stairs, i saw a lot of blood splashed on the stairs and blood splashed all over the place. >> the gunman, isolated on the roof, the attack was over in minutes. he had killed his father before telling a friend he had planned to killed himself -- kill himself, and then headed to the city heavily armed. >> i don't want to speak about the number of weapons, but he had more than one.

he was really ready to kill much more people. >> so it could have been a lot worse? >> much worse. >> the city is now dotted with shrines. the man who caused such suffering had no criminal record. his guns were bought some time ago, legally. no one saw this coming. >> there is a real sense of sadness here today, as people remember those who were killed in this attack, but there is also a sense of shock that it has happened in prague, where people said they felt safe until now. that sense of safety has been shattered. >> for us to have been here is heartbreaking and unbelievable. sorry. >> among those he shot, two teachers. police now he -- now think he has killed before.

they found a gun at his house used to shoot a man and a baby last week. this pain could have been avoided. >> millions of people are moving across the u.k. as the christmas surge begins. road and rail travel is also heavy, with more than 13 million journeys predicted between today and sunday. with more on that, here is our transport correspondent. >> the christmas getaway is in full swing after a bumpy start. train services have been recovering after yesterday's severe disruption. these passengers at leeds were traveling home. >> i had friends going from houston and everything was kind of chaotic. >> things are going to be canceled a lot, but right now it is looking all right. >> there have been long queues

at dopers ferry ports, dashed -- dover's ferry ports. and in france, the eurozone transports latest strike has brought trains to a halt. >> we are predicting saturday will be the busiest day for travel over the christmas period . if you plan on driving longer than you usually do, it's good advice to check your vehicle over before you set off and have essentials in the car should the worst happen. ♪ >> drivers got a musical welcome at this service station in gloucestershire. at another on the m1 in west yorkshire, people's journeys have mostly been smooth. >> it's all right. >> halfway. >> sheffield was a bit bitty, roadworks. .

>> where are you guys off to? >> scarborough! >> who are you seeing in scarborough? >> my nan! >> there will be no trains in and out of london paddington station in christmas eve and the 27th of december. but the traditional seasonal advice stands -- check before you travel. >> wherever you are watching us around the world or here in the u.k., we hope you make it home safely in time for 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer.