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announcer: 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" n washington and this is bbc world news america. the u.s. and u.k. deliver thousands of tons of food aid to gaza amid warnings of severe hunger. united nations says more is needed. in a surprise announcement, the irish prime minister says he is stepping down. mexico's president rejects a texas law that empowers state officials to arrest and deport suspected illegal migrants. ♪

caitriona: hello and welcome to world news america. the u.s. state department says secretary of state antony blinken will not travel to israel as part of his current trip to the middle east. he began his visit to the region on wednesday in saudi arabia, meeting leadership before he goes to cairo on thursday. from there, the secretary will go to tel aviv wihere talks will focus on securing the release of israeli hostages, issuing the defeat of hamas while protecting civilians, and you minute hearing aid to the gaza strip. there is no mention of the word cease fire in two separate announcements. relations have soured between president biden and israeli prime minister netanyahu. on monday, biden urged netanyahu to temper plans for a ground invasion of the packed southern city of rafah were more than 1.4

million palestinians are sheltering. on wednesday, mr. netanyahu rejected mr. biden's warnings about a ground invasion, saying he's already approved the plan. in a video, the prime minister said he told mr. biden on the phone call that it is impossible to complete the victory without th idf entering rafah. he said we always did what was essential for our safety and we will do so this time as well. he continued, while we are preparing to enter rafah which will take some time, we continue to operate with all of our might. mark lowen has more from jerusalem. mark: it is a plan that has drawn international condemnation and warned of atrocities that could take place. he said he would soon approve the evacuation of civilians, but added it would take time for the incursion to begin. now, it does not spell much hope really for the continued

cease-fire talks that are ongoing in dohar, and a senior hamas official said israel's response to the latest proposals the seemed negative and constituted a step backwards. all of this is likely to take center stage of talks with u.s. secretary of state antony blinken when he comes to israel on friday, at the end of a middle east tour starting in saudi arabia and then egypt. that was -- of israel leg of the trip was previously unscheduled and comes amidst this increasing acrimonious relationship between the u.s. biden administration and the netanyahu government. antony blinken's aim, i think, will try to restrain an israeli leader who seems increasingly intent on pushing on with this like, both in the war and for his political survival. caitriona: more than 31,000 people have been killed in gaza since israel's military

operation begin. the humanitarian situation has grown worse by the day with children starving to death. people are reported to be surviving off animal feed. antony blinken has remarked 100% of gaza's population is suffering from severe food insecurity. the u.s. continued to carry out what it calls humanitarian air drops on wednesday, delivering 6000 pounds of food to northern gaza where need is most critical. the u.k.'s largest delivery of aid has crossed the border and being distributed by the world food program. a full u.k. field hospital has been set up. joining me now is max, chief economist of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations. thank you for joining us on bbc news. your organization has warned gaza is on the brink of a catastrophic famine, that this level of hunger is

unprecedented. if there is not an immediate cease-fire, how much longer can the people of gaza survive? >> the situation is critical, as it has been reported. famine is imminent and projected between mid-march and may 2024. that means people are in a catastrophic situation. this means all of these people will die if the problem is not resolved. according to the most likely scenario, both for north gaza, are classified for famine with reasonable evidence of 210,000 people will be in the situation. even worse, all the pulation of gaza is under food insecurity right now. if things do not change and food aid is not allowed, this will create significant loss of life. caitriona: the u.n. commissioner for human rights and the eu's foreign policy chief has said israel is using starvation as a

weapon of war. from what you have seen, do you agree? >> the problem right now is what we are observing is there's no possibility of the amount of food aid coming into the area. there is significant damage to all the infrastructure, even access to water and health. all the criteria we have to establish a famine, especially in north gaza, is present. that is the danger we are running. caitriona: israel says it is acting in self-defense following the october 7 attacks and it has to check all aid deliveries. want to make sure none of it reaches the hands of hamas. what do you say to benjamin netanyahu given what you have described? >> i think it is imminent we increase the food aid into the country. checking does not mean that food aid cannot go in. aid has to go massively into the country and we need to allow people to have access to water.

and we need to as soon as possible reduce the problems of accessibility to food, water and energy to this population if we want to avoid additional massive loss of life. caitriona: if that does happen, how quickly can the devastating scenes we are seeing be reversed and the population be saved? >> the hope is if this is able to happen immediately, we are hoping we can reduce the amount of people dying daily. in famine, at least two in every 10,000 people dying daily. these are the people we can save their lives every day if we are able to give access to food into the region. caitriona: given what you've said about the damage to the infrastructure within gaza, it sounds like there will be great difficulties getting aid to people reaching them. >> yes. there are channels in which aid workers in gaza can provide

access to aid immediately. that is what we need to achieve. what i was referring to damages of denver structure, i was referring -- of infrastructure, i was referring to 42% of the government being damaged, significant amount of wealth being damaged. those other things that will take time. right now, the situation is an emergency in the northern part of gaza and that is where we need to allow aid as fast as possible. caitriona: is this situation a gross failure of the international community? >> i think it is a situation we need to separate what is saving lives and avoid to exaggerate will make us lose enormoushat lives. we need to put enormous pressure to solve this problem. caitriona: the chief economist of the food and agricultural organization of united nations, thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much. caitriona: in the u.s., the

political divide over support for israel continues to deepen. the israeli prime minister addressed the senate republicans today over video link, but did not speak to democrats. it comes nearly a week after the top senate democrats chuck schumer criticized mr. netanyahu as an obstacle to peace. senate republicans say they assured mr. netanyahu that they support israel's right to defend itself. to ireland now where in a surprise move, the prime minister announced he would step down as the prime minister. he's also resigning as the leader of the party. mr. varadkar said his decision to quit before the next general election was personal and political. he described his time leaving ireland as the most fulfilling time of his life. he became ireland's youngest in 2017 he became the leader of the party. he leads the coalition government alongside the green party. only last week, he was in washington where he met joe

biden for . patrick's day celebrations and for talks on subjects including the united states role in the war in gaza and the belfast good friday agreement. he announced his resignation earlier speaking outside irish government buildings in dublin. >> i know this will come as a surprise to many people and a disappointment to some. and i hope at least you will understand my decision. i know that others will, how shall i put it, cope with the news just fine. that is the great thing about living in a democracy. there's never a right time to resign high office. however, this is as good of a time as any. 2024 is done, negotiations have not begun on the next one. the institutions of the good friday agreement are working again and our trading relationship with u.k. is settle and stable. caitriona: joining me now from dublin is paul cunningham, political correspondent with rte.

thank you for joining us on bbc news. he just landed back from washington, d.c. was there any signal he would resign or any indication as to why? paul: there was no expectation that varadkar was going to resign as the irish prime minister. the news today came as something of a shock. moves are being made now to find a successor for him. he said himself he had both personal and pitical reasons for taking that decision. at a private meeting of his party members today, he said he never wanted to be stabbed in the back and fall on the sword. he feels he has done as much as he possibly can in the seven years as leader and felt the time was right. caitriona: what will this mean for his party? there are local and european elections in june and a general election to come at some point in the next year. paul: i think it is important for the party to get a leader in very quickly.

the european and local elections are important, and they come down the tracks in a couple of weeks. we could have a general election by autumn. this is a big move. one of the factors we believe varadkar took into account when he decided to resign was a new leader was going to need time to try to have an impact on those local and european elections, and get in before the general election. that seems to be one of the factors. at the same time, he felt he didn't have the fiery ability to go out for another campaign. caitriona: what do you think his legacy will be? >> one of his biggest legacies will be the matter that he fought for ireland during th brexit negotiations with the united kingdom leaving the european union, trying to ensure there was not a hard border in ireland. many irish politicians went to the u.s. to seek assistance as well as fanning out across the european union to bolster the iris position. i think that will be one of his

key things he will be remembered for. another will be covid which struck at a time when he was traveling in the u.s. and had to walk down the steps of a hotel as the country was going to be closing down as a result. that obviously was a controversial issue. some of the measures were particular tough for the people. in the main, that is something that he will have viewed to handle well. caitriona: politics is a brutal business. he just resigned, but thoughts move onto who will take over next. does this hasten to a general election in ireland? >> you are right about that. the national executive of varadkar's party is meeting tonight to set the ground rules for the contest that will start tomorrow. no, i don't believe it will hasten a general election. if anything, i think this new leader will come in and want some time to make some changes, to have a new policy direction, to let the electorate know who they are. i think the earliest we will

have a general election in ireland is october, and it could even be this time next year. caitriona: paul cunningham, thank you for joining us on bbc news. mexico's president has pushed back against the controversial texas law that would allow state officials to arrest suspected illegal migrants and deport them. president lopez obrador says mexico will not accept any deportations from texas. there has been a legal back-and-forth between the state and the u.s. supreme court over the law. a u.s. appeals court once again froze the law hours after the u.s. supreme court allowed to take effect pending legal challenges. migrant arrivals at the u.s. southern border rose to record highs last year, although there has been a recent seasonal drop in numbers. texas house speaker said you think the strict state law is cessary. >> i think it passes constitutional muster. i think it is the right policy for the state of texas. we need to have a secure border.

that is not just a republican ideal. that is independents, swing voters and even democrats. it goes a long way to address that and it should be the law of the state. caitriona: texas governor greg abbott also doubled down on wednesday, posting on x "while the fight continues in court to uphold s.b. 4, texas continues to arrest illegal immigrants." he added his officials would continue to build a border wall, erect razor wire and keep buoy barriers in the rio grande. the u.s. justice department opposes the state law, saying it clashes with existing federal law and the constitution. earlier, i spoke to domingo garcia, a national vice president of a nonprofit civil rights group for the latino community in the u.s. good to speak with you on bbc news. can we start with looking at a practical way what does this mean for the people that you represent, the members of the community's?

are they confused by this situation? what do they understand is happening? domingo: this is a texas sized mess, the fact that these right wing republicans passed a bill that i believe is unconstitutional and immoral under american values. however, we are pleasantly surprised that the supreme court and the court of appeals has held this particular bill on hold pending a final resolution and a ruling which we believe will find this bill is unconstitutional. caitriona: is it impacting anyone's decision as to whether to come to the u.s. at this time? domingo: i think there's a lot of fear and panic amongst some families in texas. we have a lot of families that are mixed. grandma and grandpa might be undocumented, but their children and grandchildren are u.s. citizens and they are afraid. grandma takes kids to school, she gets stopped for a traffic

ticket, and she gets detained. the father is arrested and the children are alone and child protective services takes over the children because there's no adult. those are real fears that can happen if the law takes effect. right now, we are happy to say it has not taken effect. we expect it will not but we are planning. caitriona: are you giving any particular advice to people at this time who might find themselves in that situation you outlined? domingo: we started an education program using spanish-language tv, social media, as well as texts. saying if you get stopped, you have the right to remain silent. you have the right to not answer any questions besides your name, date of birth and address. if you are arrested, you have the right to an attorney. that includes an immigration case. regarding deportation or exclusion from this country, you

still have legal rights. caitriona: the mexican president has said this texas state law allowing deportation of migrants is draconian, dehumanizing and unfair, that it violates international law. what is your view? domingo: we concur. i spoke to the mexican ambassador in d.c. recently and said mexico would not be taking any immigrants that are supposedly deported under this texas law because it is against human rights. these e not pawns for political purposes, these are real human beings. this is not how people would treat a fellow refugee. we believe texas will stop playing with the lives of people that are at the bottom of the ladder. caitriona: the governor of texas greg abbott has defended this law, saying he feels it is necessary for his estate. what do you say to what he says? domingo: that it is a big mound

of texas cow manure. frankly, this does nothing to stop the immigration at the border. all the immigrants coming now are turning themselves in. they want to be detained. they want to have their id's done and be released to have a court hearing. this is a broken part that we need bipartisan immigration reform so there are legal avenues for people to come to the u.s., as opposed to some of the methods being used at the border. abbott is doing nothing to stop it. caitriona: as you said, there is bipartisan agreement that the immigration system is broken at the moment. what would you like to see in place? domingo: i would like to see democrats and republicans come together, allow those people already in this country that have no criminal record, pay theitaxes, learn english, and be allowed to have a pathway to citizenship. those that are coming across, that they are being fully vetted to make sure you don't have cartel members or human

traffickers. if you have legitimate work needs and we have worker permits that allow people to come in, crops in the fields, packing plants. caitriona: ok, we will leave it there for the moment. domingo garcia, thank you for joining us on bbc news. domingo: thank you. caitriona: let's turn to some important news from around the world. a judge presiding over the 2020 u.s. election interference case in georgia says that former president trump and several codefendants can appeal a ruling that allowed the lead prosecutor fani willis to remain on the case. the superior court judge who ruled last week against the defendants' effort to disqualify willis issued a certificate of immediate review to go up to the appeals court to decide whether to hear it. lawyers for italy's prime minister georgia maloney says she is seeking more than $100,000 in damages against two men who allegedly produced

deepfake porn videos using her face. the videos were uploaded to acorn site and viewed millions of times. a 40-year-old man and his father are being investigated. they are accused of defamation. a u.n. report says russia has created a climate of fear in occupied areas of ukraine since its forces invaded two years ago. the world body's human rights office accuses pressure of suppressing ukrainian language, culture and identity as it tries to assert full control. the assessment comes as president putin hosted supporters at the kremlin following his win in an election that western leaders say was neither free or fair. our correspondent steve rosenberg got a rare invite. >> [speaking russian] steve: they sethat location is everything if you want to impress an audience. [applause] so, vladimir putin invited his celebrity supporters to one of

the swankiest parts of the kremlin. he was not easy to see but the message was clear. in the hall where russian czars have been crowned, russia's president thanked the vips for backing his reelection. we were there, too. a rare invitation inside the kremlin. a sign perhaps of president putin's growing confidence. even though the west has dismissed the election as a sham. this is in effect vladimir putin's victory lap. having won the race, a race so designed that he could not lose it, the kremlin leader wanted to thank his most famous fans for cheering him on and was happy to receive their congratulations. and his guests loyally defended a widely criticized election. do you believe the election was free and fair? >> we created, i think, the most

open and democratic election in the world. steve: was there a serious challenger in the election? a serious opponent? >> is there a need for a serious opponent? why? steve: why is there no need for a serious opponent? >> why do you always think the way you live is better than the way we live? even the way you ask questions, why don't you guys do the way we do it? because we are not you and we don't like you much really. steve: in the kremlin, vladimir putin referred to events in russia's pell grant region. that has become under sustained shelling in ukraine and civilian casualties have been rising. this never happebenvad ukraine. >> we can, of course, respond in the same way. striking civilian infrastructure and civilian sites that the

enemy is targeting. we have our own views on that, our own plans, and we will follow them. steve: and postelection, vladimir putin will claim he has a popular mandate for whatever plans he makes and whatever decisions he takes. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. caitriona: finally, security measures been put in place to protect a new mural by the street artist banksy at work -- after it was defaced in north london. local counsel erected fencing around the artwork and sending community officers to the site. the art features green paint spray on a wall behind a cutback tree to look like foliage, but it was defaced with white paint. now, remember, you can find more about all the date's news on our website, bbc.com/news. you can see there's something about secretary blinken's trip to the middle east. if you want to see what we are working on at any time, check us

out on your favorite social media site. that is it for the moment. i'm caitriona perry. thank you for watching "world news america." take care. ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. bdo. accountants and advisors. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

geoff: i'm geoff bennett. on the next newshour, a look at the consequences of being evicted and experiencing housing insecurity in the u.s. that's thursday on the pbs newshour. i'm geoff bennett. tonight on the newshour, an