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♪ rajini: hello, i am rajini ♪ vaidyanathan. you are watching "the context" on bbc news. >> the situation is getting worse. you cannot imagine the temperature, and the water you drink is definitely contaminated. old and young are getting sick. >> has been no drought, there has been no naral phenomenon that accounts for the level of deprivation. it is simply the war. >> we need a tremendous international effort to reestablish water and sewage networks. we have lost between 170 and 200 kilometers subtypes, which have been completely destroyed along with the wells and water tanks. rajini: with millions of palestinians living without clean water, proper food, and

functioning health care, we will bring to a from inside gaza on the harrowing conditions millions are facing. also tonight, concerns in south the north is building a wall in several places near the border. as nel frost sits down for a half-hour interview with the bbc, we will bring you the latest from that. it comes as polls suggest that his party are closing in on the conservatives. all that to come, but first let's bring you the latest k. election headlines. as we were mentioning just there, nigel farage has told the bbc that europe and nato provoked russia's invasion of ukraine. he said that while he disliked him as a person, he admired vladimir putin as a political operator because he has managed to take control of running russia. that interview comes at the latest bbc poll suggests that

reform u.k. has continued to ga support. the party sits at 17% on our tracker,k a wide range of polling data. that is four points behind the conservative party, who are at 21%, with labor still well ahead. there have been more calls for rishi sunak to suspend two conservative candidates who are being investigated for alleged bets on when the general election would be held. this morning the prime minister wouldn't be drawn on whether he was aware of whether candidates are party officials may place to d a bet. the latest donation figures have been released today. labor received more than 4.3 million pounds in the second week of the election campaign. that's 15 times more than the conservatives raised. they raised 292,000 pounds, less than the lib dems, who raised

335,000. reform u.k. raised 742,000 pounds, though that mostly came through their party chairman's company. well, first we begin the program with a special report showing you the dire humanitarian situation inside gaza. after eight mont of war, the scenes are harrowing, as the hunger crisis worsens. the united and says it said that more than a million people -- united nations says more than a million people are facing catastrophic levels of starvation, and it could reach its highest level by mid july. gaza's water infrastructure has been heavily damaged. that means getting water, clean or not, remains a daily struggle, with the risk of diseases spreading, too. it comes as the u.s. military says a temporary pier offer coast of gaza has been re-anchored, allowing a delivery -- aid deliveries to resume.

600,000 tons of aid were delivered on thursday, but aid agencies say they are in desperate need. israel under more pressure to allow more food and medicine across the border. it appears the situation will only get worse, in particular for young children. we should warn you that this report from our correspondent in jerusalem contains some distressing images from the very start. reporter: a five-year-old severely dehydrated and malnourished at a hospital in khan yunis. her father tries to offer comfort, but he knows that scorching weather close to 40 degrees and a lack of clean water have brought his daughter close to death. >> this situation is getting worse. you can'imagine the temperature. in the water you drink is definitely contaminated. both old and young are getting sick. reporter: and with their houses destroyed, hundreds of thousands of gazans are living under canvas, with little protection from the scorching sun.

getting water, whether it is clean or not, is a daily struggle. long queues format distribution centers. the u.n. says two thirds of this trip's water and sanitation system, poor at the best of times, has been destroyed. >> we need a tremendous international effort to reestablish water and sewage networks. we in khan yunis has lost between 170 and 200 kilometers of pipes, completely destroyed along with the wells and water tanks >> united nations has warned more than a million gazans are facing the highest level of starvation by the middle of july. the international criminal court prosecutor has accused israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. israel strongly disputes this, and its ministers have denied it there is a humanitarian crisis. and the most vulnerable are affected too.

nine years old, he has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, but malnutrition and dehydration mean he is now in hospital. his mother says before the war, he was healthy. >> where we live now, it is polluted and there is no food, and we have to walk a long way for water. i'm worried my other children will also be sick. rajini: difficult to see some of that report. for more on the situation on the ground in gaza, we can speak to someone from the norwegian refugee council. when you see some of the suffering, particularly amongst children, what is your organization seeing on the ground? >> we are actuall like the rest of the organizations, have been going through the worst

shortage of supplies in this brutal 8 months of conflict. down to providing some water, trucking in drinkable water, but beyond that we are not able to do much more. the same goes to other organizations that are providing cleaning items here and there. mattresses and blankets. i can tell you that our teams on the ground are speaking of harrowing scenes on the ground, children wasting, losing weight, children drinking unsafe water. the situation is catastrophi and nothing else can describe how it is on the ground now, amidst probably the worst starvation. all of this while thousands, thousands of tons of food wait

across the border. rajini: and what we saw and that rert theas also the challenge when it comes to infrastructure, pipes, making sure clean water can get the people. because of course dirty water, polluted water can increase the spread of infections as well, which also impacts young children in particular. ahmad: it is already. we are hearing reports of hepatitis a spreading among children quite rapidly. scorching heat, just like you heard in your report, is spreing disease even fasr. hundreds of thods i stretch of land that is almost destroyed, blso lacks the basics of life, really. this is a beach ar. if m gaza, there are

destroyed homes and buildings. therthis total absence of anything that reasonable's life. and at thee time with aid convoys is struggling too where they are, tryio get amongst -- under bombardment, under rts, pbably seve insecurity situation, it is making this a perfect storm for families. this is the worst summer they are going to have to go through, and it has started today, and i can tell you from neighboring jordan it is getting very, very hot, and of course it is humid in gaza where people are gathering. we need a cease-fire now, we need a cease-fire to help these people bring them back to some sort of safe shelter and bring in all of those shelter items that are waiting, have been waiting for weeks in egypt and israel. rajini: very briefly, ahmad, all

of these increasing health concerns, just bring us up-to-date on what the hospital infrastructure is like in gaza. ahmad: this -- i don't know if we can call it infrastructure anymore. you see images of patients being treated on the floor, no medicine, make do with anything as a doctor. at the same time, the diseases grow invisible, almt, respirat diseases, they spread amongst children in particular. it is a catastrophe, and the world is watching as the disaster unfolds in gaza, really. rajini: ok, thank you so much for bringing us uto-date. health officials in gaza say at least 38 palestinians that been killed in different israeli anwhile, the united natisnues.

secretary general antonio guterres says he is profou the fmnc besng tensions betwn israel and lebanon's hezbollah. he has accused both sides of increasingly warlike rhetoric, adding that u.n. peacekeepers are working to calm the situation. >> one rash move, one miscalculation could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly, beyond imagination. let's be clear, the people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford lebanon to become another gaza. rajini: that is antonio guterres there. the past months i've seen a series of retaliatory attacks between israel and hezbollah. this footage is from today, and you can see smoke rising from theills inae and the golan heights after rockets were fired from southern lebanon.

physio says it is fighting -- is iran's mission said that any prudent decision to save itself could plunge the region into a new war. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news.

rajini: bbc investigation shows north korea's building sections of what appeared to a wall in several places near its border with soko the team at the bbc verify hub have been analyzing satellite images which show unusual recent activity. the images show land inde the demilitarized zone, dmz, between north and south, and they say it has been cleared, that land. experts say that could be a violation of the long-standing truce between the nations.

all of this as tensions are rising on the peninsula. >> reunification between north and south koreamed unlikely for years, but it had been the stated goal for both countries. that changed at the start of the year when the north korean leader kim jong-un announced his country would no longer pursue that ambition. c verify has obtained new llite images which show that north korea has been building what ars tbe sections of wall near the border with south korea, which you can see highlighted here. we have identified several structures which have been recent built which combined are about one kilometer of land. these barriers are near the eastern end of the demilitarized zone between north and south korea, which is known as the dmz. this is effectively a buffer zone between the two countries, which are still technically at peace treaty 70 years after the end of the korean war.

have a look at the continuous structure in this image taken earlier this month. the exact date construction began is unclear due to a lack of previous high-resolion imagery in the area. but this image, which was taken at the end of last year, shows the barrier clearly wasn't there. we've also found evidence that land has been cleared within the north korean control side of the dmz. this image, which was taken at the end of last year, shows no land cleared. now look at this image which was taken earlier this month. you can clearly see a strip of land has been cleared inside the north korean-controlled end of the dmz. this activity so close to that border is unusual, according to experts we spoke to. they say it could be for military purposes, and so could go against north korea's tandg trth sth korea. the uth korean military said they are aware of construction and a monitoring the situation closely. rajini: that is jake horton

there. let's speak to a former cia analyst on with korea. -- on north korea. welcome to "the context." what do you make of the bbc verify report showing some sort of wall is being built on the border? >> thanks for having me. it is unusual, and the fact that north korea has been constructing this wall for what seemed like several months, i would like to point out that the context in which this is happening -- we had the putin-kim summit a couple days ago where they side of comprehensive strategic partnership, other ways to really jab the sides of the united states and north korea, that was affecting tensions and south korea, it suggests that this is not atypical of north

korea to do this. this might be north korea planning for further provocations and to fortify a military presence along the border. it is a violation of where the two countries agreed not to execute any hostilities across the dmz. rajini: what might this wall be for? >> coue vaous options. it could be to create options t monitosokorean behavior or to monitor the activities of noh koreasn wh north korean north koreans who want to escape north korea. itould be planning operations on t sth. that is where we have to be more vigilant. it could not just be military actsbuthink of the balloons

nothing korea has been sunny -- north korea has been sending to south korea, hundreds of balloons to test resolved, as malice to see how far they can go and potentially how to escalate tensions against the south. rajini:was tha next question, really. how would you characterize the relationship between the north and the south now? as you say, just in the last few days we saw vladimir putin and mr. kim as well, that grand visit in pyongyang. >> inter-korean relations have been brimming and walking towards greater tensions since the administration, but it is a result of north korea's behavior, developing weapons, conducting missile tests, trying to test the resolve of the united states-south korea lance, and now the united states-south

korea-japan trilateral collaboration. it is not out of the ordinary for north korea. also looking at the war going on in eastern europe, the one -- the conflict between israel and hamas, bringing tensions. is aecipe for north -- it is a recipe for north korean intervention and for north korea to make itself relevant while at the same time testing how responsive the south korean government is going to be. just this past month we have seen three instances where north korean soldiers crossed the border. the first two occasions the south korean government dismissed them as accidents. i don't think there accidents if they happen three times in one month. we need to be upfront about what happening, we need to be realistic about how we are going to respond. rajini: thank you so much, dr. soo kim, for taking us through those latest issues around north

and south korea. now let's turn to the u.k. election and the leader of the reform u.k. party, nigel farage has said at the west provoked russia' invasion of ukraines by expanding the european union and to military alliance eastwards. he was speaking in a wide-ranging interview with my colleague nick robertson. >> when vladimir putin since his troops across the border in 2022, you blame the west. i will read it to you and yo can react. "it was a consequence of eu and nato expansion." is tnt you stand) by? >>od up in the eopea parliament in 2014 and i said, and ote, "ere will be a r in ukraine." y did i y that? it was obvious to me that the effort-eastward expansion -- ever-eastward expansion of

nato andhe european union was giving this man a reason to say they are coming to us again. >> you are echoing him. >> no! sorry, i've been saying this, actually, since the 1990's. >> so is he. >> hang on a second. we provoked to this war. of course it is his fault -- of ukrprok to vasion and very interestingly, wheni y person in british poti who predted wh would happen, and everyone said i was a pariah for daring to suggest it. george robertson, former labor cabinet minister, secretary-general of nato in e st c weeks said the war is a direct result of eu expansion. >> you want to be prime minister -- >> mygment has been yahof eryb'.

i st s another master class in political interviewing, nick, not just flattering you there. what you noticed in this interview is what you did that interview with mr. farage, put some of the contradictionsi. what did you find the most striking? >>t mt striking is that he has really almost overnight, jini, having been a big figure around british politics for a decade, gone from essentially an outsider, commentator, someone who appears on the tv dohis own talk shows, to suddenly being a man who wishes to be taken seriouslypotentl prime minis he says he will lead the tionf labor as the polls sues when the election in a couple weeks time. technically he won'leave the opposition at all -- it is highly unlikely he will win out of seats to do that. it is more lely quite a bit ofe parliament.

that is why i wanted to taken through the sorts of things you woul anybody who would be a prime minister -- his views on the water, his views on vladimir putin --'s use on the war, his views on vladimir putin. the comments you played it there have provoked condemnation. ben wallace have said it reveals nige farage's inclination to align with russian interests. he constantly lectures everybody about 70 but he is happy to vacate a dictator. -- about 70 but hehappy placate educator ger rog has gotten used to saying things out consequence. rajini: an early part of that interview you showed him some of the pollingaps, and his eyes lit up, and he said there had been subsequent polls. the polls say it is looking pretty good for reform u.k., perhaps better than for the conservatives. nick: there was a chance that reform u.k. get a higher

percentage than conservatives. there is little chance they get more seats. the naturef the system we have in the u.k., the nature of first pass the post, means effectively 650 individual races in local areas -- towns, cities, countryside areas. if you spread your support quite thinly across the country, you could win an awful lot of oats and very few seeds, and that is likely to be the situation facing nigel farage. questions the remaining two weeks aut what he would actuallyo. i questioned him on immigration, for example. yes, he can't speak for many people in expressing their fury that the conservatives that he can speak for many people in expressing their fury that conservatives promised to get him aggression down and so far have not succeeded in doing it. but asking h wctldyo restrt,e wo re haz tends to make

generalizations, and ahe did in m interview, tensor produce untruth -- tends to produce untruths. he says students can bring their mothers to the u.k. well, they can't, except in the most extremely limited circumstances, perhaps they were caring for a sick mother. i pointed that out to him, and he said, "you can bring pretty much anybody ee." those rules have been changed since futures will not be able students will not be able to bring -- students will not be able to bring dependents. rajini: nick robertson, always good to talk to you. thank you very much for the moment. do stick around. for those watching in the u.k., you can watch nick's full interview with nigel farage after the weather. if you are watching around the world, plenty more to come on bbc news, including a look at donald trump's huge fundraising boost post-convic.

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