this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the un security council prepares for an emergency meeting later, as the conflict between israel and palestinians in gaza enters a seventh day. israel will continually hit the hamas terror group until we feel we have reached our objectives. hamas decided when to start this round but we will efforts to combat the indian variant of covid ramp up in england, ahead of lockdown restrictions being relaxed tomorrow. i am confident that we can take this step tomorrow, but we should all be careful about how we take that step. so you ask me about eating indoors with people. it's still safer to eat outdoors rather than in when the weather allows.

a young child has died and two people have been seriously injured, after a gas explosion at a residential area in heysham in northern england. there was significant damage to the houses. at least two have been destroyed and a third is significantly damaged. as a consequence, a number of people have been injured. tragically, a young child has been killed. and coming up — fancy a job as a live—in officer at a medieval castle on a remote island? st michael's mount is hiring. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. gaza's health ministry says that

at least 26 people have been killed by israeli air strikes overnight on gaza city. it said the strikes had targeted two houses. this is the seventh day of violence. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, said military action would continue until security was restored. here are some of the latest pictures from gaza. israel says the home of the hamas chief in gaza was among the targets. palestinian militants fired more rockets at cities in southern israel. the un has summoned the security council for an emergency meeting later. our correspondent helena wilkinson reports. within seconds, this building in gaza is reduced to rubble. it was home to journalists from the associated press and al jazeera tv. an hour earlier, they had been told to evacuate.

israel says the building was a target because of links to hamas, the militant group that rules gaza. israel is doing everything possible to protect our civilians and keep palestinian civilians out of harm's way. we demonstrated this yet again today when we warned civilians to vacate the building used by the hamas terror intelligence. they vacated the premises before the target was destroyed, and that's why you don't hear of casualties from these collapsing terror towers. there have, though, been civilian casualties on both sides. early this morning, israel targeted a house in gaza that it says belonged to a hamas leader. palestinian health officials say that at least three people died and many others were injured. in an earlier israeli attack, mohammed al—hadidi lost his wife and four young sons. his baby son, omar, who's just five months old,

was the only survivor. in ramat gan, a suburb of tel aviv, a hamas missile killed a man in his 50s. he was reportedly hit by shrapnel in his apartment. in sheikh jarrah, there continues to be anger and tension. attempts to evict palestinians from their homes in this area earlier this month helped start the escalation to the conflict. us presidentjoe biden has spoken to israeli and palestinian leaders ahead of a un security council meeting later today. but, with neither side appearing to back down, a quick breakthrough seems a distant prospect. helena wilkinson, bbc news. the bbc�*s paul adams is injerusalem. earlier i asked him if there was any sign of the conflict ending anytime soon.

well, you look at the exchanges overnight and you'd have to conclude no, but i think there are some signs. there is quite a lot of diplomacy going on at the moment. the american envoy, hady amr, is in town. he is meeting senior israeli officials today. interestingly, he met arab israeli leaders last night, it is reported, a highly unusual meeting, and he heard their grievances, which are notjust about the situation between israel and gaza but also about the condition of arabs living in israel. that was an interesting aspect of his diplomatic effort. there are also efforts, we know, involving the egyptians to try and broker some kind of ceasefire, and we are beginning to hear some reporting on israel that suggests the israeli government feels that it is reaching the point, and this happens every time an episode like this happens,

where it has achieved quite a lot militarily but, on the other side of the ledger, the sense of international outrage is mounting and the awareness of the effect on the humanitarian situation in gaza is also mounting, and that at some point those two issues connect and israel has to decide that it's done enough and it calls a halt. so there are possible signs that israel is reaching that point. there is a real cyclical pattern to these conflicts between israel and the palestinians in gaza and, even when this one ends, the likelihood is there will be another one unless there is some attempt at some sort of lasting solution, but that doesn't look very likely. no, it looks very unlikely at the moment. there are a couple of things. one is how much damage has israel done. really, it feels it has killed an awful lot of senior hamas officials, destroyed these networks

of underground tunnels, and some of this damage will be long lasting and hard to repair. but it will be repaired and, you know, logic and past experience tells you we could face this situation again. more fundamentally, where is the political will to see some way out of this? hamas is an organisation condemned as a terror group by israel and the united states and countries in europe. it does not believe that israel has a right to exist and it has a clear agenda. there is another part of the palestinian leadership looking on, frankly, from the sidelines in this episode, the palestinian authority, led by president mahmoud abbas up in ramallah, but he is a bystander and he might want to negotiate, but probably right now more conscious of his political authority among his own people being usurped by hamas,

who have emerged as the kind of defenders of palestinian honour and palestinian rights injerusalem. he is in a weak situation. overall, i think the prospects for a resumption of meaningful negotiations towards some kind of solution, whether it is the old formula of a two—state solution or something else, those prospects seem unbelievably remote. paul adams in jerusalem. joining me now from hebron is a palestinian activst. do you see ceasefire in the coming days? i do you see ceasefire in the coming da 5? ~ , ., do you see ceasefire in the coming da s? ~ , ., ., , do you see ceasefire in the coming da s? ~ , . ., , ., days? i think israel are trying to make the palestinians _ days? i think israel are trying to make the palestinians pay - days? i think israel are trying to make the palestinians pay a - days? i think israel are trying to | make the palestinians pay a very high price. the people killed in gaza were children, women, and

elders. many civilian buildings and media offices were destroyed by the army. it doesn't have any real military targets in gaza. they are just trying to give the palestinians the indication to not react, don't do anything, stay silent, and stay in the corner. but what israel are doing in the last... during the trump administration is really bad for the palestinians. the palestinians in west bank, in gaza, injerusalem, the mix and very angry. let me summarise what israel did in the last four years and they are doing now. one of the things they did was announcejerusalem as they did was announcejerusalem as the capital of israel. they started with an annexation plan. to annex

hebron, to their own state. there annexation, they didn't stop after trump left. there annexation is now, we call it defect to annexation. more buildings for the infrastructure is going on. if they continue doing that, even after biden came to the office in the united states, israel, at the same time, was announced by many organisations as an apartheid. the nation state law against palestinians says they are not equal. even in their own country, they are not treated equally. they are not given equal rights. we are suffering here. we were pushed to the corner by israel. they are getting more power and we see more

extremists. lets getting more power and we see more extremists. , , , ., ., extremists. lets 'ust focus on what is happening — extremists. lets 'ust focus on what is happening in — extremists. lets just focus on what is happening in gaza. _ extremists. lets just focus on what is happening in gaza. he _ extremists. lets just focus on what | is happening in gaza. he mentioned the word extremists. israel would say that her masts are extremists. a mass art firing rockets into southern israel. would you say to hamas now to stop firing rockets? let me say now, all violence is because of the oppression of the israeli system. you didn't see how the israeli police treated palestinian worshippers, women, children. they were beaten and injured. i saw how the women were treated badly today, yesterday, the day before, and every day. they are trying to force the palestinians to be displaced. i can say that hamas... let's go to the roots of

the conflict. mi; hamas. .. let's go to the roots of the conflict-— hamas. .. let's go to the roots of the conflict. g , ., ., , ., the conflict. my question was, would ou sa to the conflict. my question was, would you say to her _ the conflict. my question was, would you say to her mass _ the conflict. my question was, would you say to her mass to _ the conflict. my question was, would you say to her mass to stop - the conflict. my question was, would you say to her mass to stop firing - you say to her mass to stop firing those rockets into southern israel? we want to end the occupation, and i really don't like any kind of violence. but let me say and be clear. as a palestinian in hebron, i was attacked last week by the settlers and soldiers. and all this kind of violence should be stopped. but first we should stop the occupation, stop settler violence and make israel accountable for its occupation and its apartheid. if we want to end all violence, we should work hard to end occupation and make israel accountable for its oppression against the palestinians. that is the main cause of violence. hamas, not to anyone else, —— not hamas. the palestinians are really

pushed to the corner. they reacted in this way. in west bank and in gaza and jerusalem. we need to put pressure on the occupation and not on the victims of occupation. thank ou ve on the victims of occupation. thank you very much _ on the victims of occupation. thank you very much for _ on the victims of occupation. thank you very much forjoining _ on the victims of occupation. thank you very much forjoining us. - the health secretary, matt hancock, has said new evidence gives a �*high degree of confidence' that coronavirus vaccines work against the indian covid variant. he said the easing of restrictions in england will go ahead as planned tomorrow, but he couldn't rule out a return to local lockdowns to stem resurgences if the variant proves to be highly transmissible. i've been speaking to our political correspondent helen catt about tomorrow's easing of lockdown amid concern over the indian variant. the prime minister said last week that this is a big step what is happening tomorrow, allowing indoor mixing, opening up many more things. you're right, there is growing concern around the transmissibility of the indian variant.

scientists are pretty sure that it is more transmissible than the kent to variant, which we saw spread very quickly towards the end of last year, but we don't know how much. there was a warning to scientists last week from the government that if it turns out to be 30 to 50% more transmissible than the steps tomorrow could put quite significant pressure on the nhs. but there is an if in that. at the moment, they simply don't know how much more transmissible it is. the government is pushing ahead and taking the next steps. they are focusing on surge testing where there are higher levels of the indian variant and trying to drive uptake of the vaccinations. we got some interesting detail this morning. we know that this week over 35s are going to be invited to take up their vaccine. we also got to interesting figures on how the

vaccine is having an impact around the bolton area. ministers said there were 18 people in hospital in bolton with coronavirus. they said they were all from people who are five people had gone into hospital after having one jab and only one person after having having both. you asked me about eating indoors with people. it is still safer eating outdoors than in. you asked about hugging _ eating outdoors than in. you asked about hugging people. _ eating outdoors than in. you asked about hugging people. when - eating outdoors than in. you asked | about hugging people. when people have had _ about hugging people. when people have had bothjabs, then it is pretty— have had bothjabs, then it is pretty safe. you shouldn't still spend — pretty safe. you shouldn't still spend a — pretty safe. you shouldn't still spend a lot of time in close proximity. you should make sure ventilation— proximity. you should make sure ventilation is good. we all know what _ ventilation is good. we all know what we — ventilation is good. we all know what we can do and take personal responsibility.

that is the health secretary, matt hancock. some of the government's critics say that's part of the reason why the indian variant to see in the first place because the government was slow to stop flights from india. yes, they only put india on the red list from april the 23rd whereas other countries went on much earlier. there's been criticism that the government waited too long to do that. labour said it was not inevitable that we have ended up in this situation. ministers have been pushing back quite strongly and that this morning. they said at the time when it went on the red list, that was six days before this variant became a variant under investigation and another week before it became that much more serious variant of concern. other people have said they were more case numbers in india, shouldn't that be enough? again, this morning, matt hancock said it's not just about testing done in the countries, but they went on the proportion of people testing positive when they arrived in the uk. when pakistan went on the red list, that proportion was much higher than people arriving from india. when that started to go up, that was when they put it on the red

list. a bit more of an explanation about the thinking. that might not necessarily calm fears about importing variants and, of course, tomorrow international travel is due to resume. here's what yvette cooper, the labour chair of the select committee has said about that. i think the government needs to slow down its plans. i don't understand why they are lifting of the international travel restrictions tomorrow. i think they should be much more cautious about that. what they need to do is, we want as the vaccine is rolled out, as it is effective, of course, we want to be able to move back to international travel. but at the moment there are some significant gaps. they'll be very close monitoring of the next few weeks. scientists and ministers will be looking at the transmissibility of the indian variant and looking forward to what that means for potentially the next stage of the robot onjune the 21st.

also the possibility of what happens when things go forward to opening up tomorrow. i'm joined now by professor ravi gupta from the university of cambridge. he's a professor of clinical microbiology and has been researching the evolution of covid—i9, including new strains. thanks have been with us. how transmissible is this new variant? from what we've seen in india and estimates from the united kingdom, there may be a significant advantage of the virus. we have to bear in mind that the expansion has been in particular pockets and you can end “p particular pockets and you can end up over estimating how quickly something is growing. nevertheless, this is a virus which, in india, has appeared to be re—infecting people who have previously been infected. it is also infecting people who have had vaccination, albeit with mild

disease. this is a virus that is not any more transmissible but a vaccine or immune escape. that's not surprising, because that's what variants do. it is a significant and it is somewhere between the uk variant and the south african variant. it is somewhere in the middle, which means it has potential to worry us. it is middle, which means it has potential to worry us-— to worry us. it is worrying. is it enou~h to worry us. it is worrying. is it enough to _ to worry us. it is worrying. is it enough to derail _ to worry us. it is worrying. is it enough to derail the _ to worry us. it is worrying. is it enough to derail the road - to worry us. it is worrying. is it enough to derailthe road map| to worry us. it is worrying. is it. enough to derail the road map out to worry us. it is worrying. is it - enough to derail the road map out of lockdown, would you say? mi; enough to derail the road map out of lockdown, would you say? my personal o-inion is lockdown, would you say? my personal opinion is that — lockdown, would you say? my personal opinion is that we _ lockdown, would you say? my personal opinion is that we should _ lockdown, would you say? my personal opinion is that we should be _ lockdown, would you say? my personal opinion is that we should be waiting . opinion is that we should be waiting another two or three weeks before easing because it is all about knowledge. we need the knowledge to inform our decisions. it's only a matter of two further weeks. avoid being locked up for 16 weeks or more. it is a small additional delay. the benefits could be enormous because remember this virus is currently growing in an exponential weight.

is currently growing in an exponentialweight. it is currently growing in an exponential weight. it doubles every week. it is very hard to claw back those games once the viruses started growing in the community. we know there are vulnerable people who have not had all of their vaccination shots. we know young people are not vaccinated and transmission could happen in younger age groups. we are taking a big risk, in my view. fin taking a big risk, in my view. on the other hand, 70% or so of the aduu the other hand, 70% or so of the adult population have had at least one vaccination. surely, the likelihood is that even if this is more transmissible, it willjust result in an increase of cases but not necessarily hospitalisations and deaths. we not necessarily hospitalisations and deaths. ~ , ., deaths. we will see more hospitalisations, - deaths. we will see more hospitalisations, we - deaths. we will see more hospitalisations, we will i deaths. we will see more i hospitalisations, we will see deaths, because there are individuals who have not responded to the vaccine. in this country, we have many people on immune suppressant drugs. individuals have not responded properly to the vaccines. we know that. they are at

serious risk of hospitalisation. we also need to remember that within hospitals, if this variant starts transmitting between staff members, which we have seen in india, then hospitals could be quite a scary place to be. i'm worried about the kind of panic and morale of health care workers as well. [30 kind of panic and morale of health care workers as well.— kind of panic and morale of health care workers as well. do you think the government _ care workers as well. do you think the government should _ care workers as well. do you think the government should have - care workers as well. do you think. the government should have stopped flights from india earlier than it did? i flights from india earlier than it did? ~' flights from india earlier than it did? ~ , ., ., , ., did? i think there is no doubt that they should _ did? i think there is no doubt that they should have _ did? i think there is no doubt that they should have done _ did? i think there is no doubt that they should have done it - did? i think there is no doubt that they should have done it quicker. | they should have done it quicker. there was the issue of borisjohnson going to india for important economic talks. it's not say that wasn't important. but we should have acted quicker. it wouldn't have changed where now, necessarily. you'd still have a problem because the infections had already arrived in this country and were already expanding. i don't think we should focus on that.— focus on that. isn't there a reality that there — focus on that. isn't there a reality that there will _ focus on that. isn't there a reality that there will always _ focus on that. isn't there a reality that there will always be - focus on that. isn't there a reality that there will always be new - that there will always be new variants. this one won't be the last. we'vejust variants. this one won't be the last. we've just got to get used to them, we can't keep saying, we will go back into lockdown because there is a new variant. that go back into lockdown because there is a new variant.—

is a new variant. that is right. we are also scaling — is a new variant. that is right. we are also scaling up _ is a new variant. that is right. we are also scaling up the _ is a new variant. that is right. we are also scaling up the vaccine - are also scaling up the vaccine programme. it's not there yet. we have made huge gains of the vaccines, and wejust have made huge gains of the vaccines, and we just need a few more weeks to achieve high levels of immunity in the population. you're right. when we get to a particular place, we won't worry so much because we have covered the population of vaccines adequately, but we are not there yet. in lancashire a young child has died and two people have been seriously injured following a gas explosion. lancashire fire service were called to a row of terraced houses in heysham the early hours. the police have been giving a statement — let's listen to some of that now. there was significant damage to the houses. to have been destroyed and another is damage. a number of people have been injured. tragically, a young child has been

killed as a consequence of what has happened. troop reinforcements in myanmar have entered the town of mindat, where opposition activists took up arms against the military government three weeks ago. members of the group say they have withdrawn to spare the town further bombardment. the volunteer force, which opposes the military takeover in myanmar, began launching attacks against troops last month. it has demanded the release of detained activists. critics of the military government had warned of serious humanitarian consequences if the burmese military took control of the town. has lockdown left you yearning for the wild outdoors? well, if it has, there may be a job out there that's just for you. st michael's mount, a remote island only accessible by boat or at low—tide, is advertising for a live—in employee to work at its medieval castle. andrea ormsby has been to find out more.

they say an englishman's home is his castle. well, st michael's mount is quite literally that for around 30 people. now there's room for one more, a live—in castle officer. we've had an overwhelming response, which has been fantastic. we need people who are happy with boats, happy with heights. i just think a real passion for people coming to cornwall or the tourism industry really. newsreel: here in the west, where the cornish coast flings sheltering i on against the is abound in ireland where loneliness is only another name for enjoyment. st michael's mount has been capturing the imagination for years. i'm the castle steward, and i've been living here for around two yea rs now. what i love about the mount is having a sea view from every window and having the support of the community around you. everyone is really friendly here, and the challenge of living here — it's different from living on the mainland. you can't get a takeaway pizza,

so be prepared for that. you can cope for that, have good sea legs and fancy a pretty cool address, this might be what you need to hear. don't be scared to apply. i think a lot of people on the socials last night was saying, it's my dream job but i couldn't do this or that. don't be put off by that. it will probably be one of the most life changing experiences for someone to come over. there is no official closing date, but interest has already been huge. after seven decades on air, a 96—year—old radio host has hung up his headphones for the last time. ray cordeiro broadcast his final show in hong kong on saturday. in 2000, the guinness book of world records awarded him the title of the world's "most durable dj". during his career, he got to know some of the biggest

names in the music world, including the beatles, cliff richard and tony bennett. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello. there will be a few pleasant sunny spells at times today. it will be reasonably warm in the sunshine. but we are dodging downpours again across many areas. there was some sunshine today but clouds will build. heavy and thundery showers could be heading your way. the blustery winds around. no pressure tracks across wales and england as we go through the day. we will find not a huge amount of sunshine, even around the showers this afternoon. bright colours on the forecast indicates why some showers will be quite heavy. slow moving as well, with light winds. they will hang

around for a period of time. northern ireland and central belt to northern scotland. there will be some sunshine but the chance of catching a heavy shower. these are the windows. fairly light, but quite gusty around some showers. the strongest winds are in the channel islands, around a0 mph or so. temperatures i2 islands, around a0 mph or so. temperatures 12 to 15 celsius for the most part. the showers will be around this evening and well into the night across the eastern side of england before eventually fading as that the area of low pressure moves away. it is becoming mainly dry after midnight. a lot of cloud ads towards the east. there will be somehow fog. to be chilly as overnight in northern ireland. rural spots down to single figures. there will be some showers during monday. as the front drifts its way eastwards, we will start with dry weather. a mixture of cloud and

sunny spells. somehow the clouds move their way eastwards leaving western areas dry and sunny by the afternoon. temperatures are no higher. they want to get higher as we go through the week. on tuesday, some patchy rain into northern scotland, drifting a little further south. showers developing elsewhere. looks like some of the heaviest ones will be on the southern half of england and wales on tuesday. is the week goes on, when status looks to be a little quieter. more places staying dry. the potentialfor some knots just whacked but very windy weather coming our way on thursday and friday.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the un security council prepares for an emergency meeting later as the conflict between israel

and palestinians in gaza enters a seventh day. efforts to combat the indian variant of covid ramp up in england ahead of lockdown restrictions being relaxed tomorrow. i am confident that we can take this step tomorrow, but we should all be careful about how we take that step. so you ask me about eating indoors with people. it's still safer to eat outdoors rather than in when the weather allows. a young child has died and two people have been seriously injured after a gas explosion at a residential area in heysham in northern england. there was significant damage to the houses. at least two have been destroyed and a third is significantly damaged. as a consequence, a number of people have been injured. tragically, a young child has been killed. and fancy a job as a live—in officer at a medieval castle on a remote island?

st michael's mount is hiring.