live from london, this is bbc news. street battles rage in the west bank as hundreds of israeli soldiers carry out a large—scale assault on the city ofjenin. carry out a large-scale assault on the city ofjenin._ carry out a large-scale assault on the city ofjenin. the city of jenin. people are really waitin: the city of jenin. people are really waiting and _ the city of jenin. people are really waiting and watching _ the city of jenin. people are really waiting and watching to _ the city of jenin. people are really waiting and watching to see - the city of jenin. people are really waiting and watching to see what | waiting and watching to see what happens, listening, as we are, to the sounds of fighting not very far away. the sounds of fighting not very far awa . a, , a, the sounds of fighting not very far awa , a, , a, the sounds of fighting not very far awa. ,, , a, ”a away. calls for calm in france as the mayors _ away. calls for calm in france as the mayors of — away. calls for calm in france as the mayors of cities _ away. calls for calm in france as the mayors of cities across - away. calls for calm in france as the mayors of cities across the l the mayors of cities across the country affected by nearly a week of rioting. in country affected by nearly a week of riotinu. , , , rioting. in the suburb, where the town hall is _ rioting. in the suburb, where the town hall is protected _ rioting. in the suburb, where the town hall is protected by - rioting. in the suburb, where the town hall is protected by razor i town hall is protected by razor wire, the people have come out to support the mayor and his call for order and authority. that support the mayor and his call for order and authority.— order and authority. at his trial in london, order and authority. at his trial in london. jurors — order and authority. at his trial in london, jurors hear _ order and authority. at his trial in london, jurors hear evidence - order and authority. at his trial in | london, jurors hear evidence from the first witness against the hollywood actor kevin spacey. and it

is day one of wimbledon. novak djokovic takes to centre court. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. we start in the occupied west bank where intense gun battles are continuing. hundreds of israeli soldiers are carrying out an assault on the city ofjenin. at least eight palestinians have been killed in gun battles have been continuing. it started with multiple drone strikes on the jenin started with multiple drone strikes on thejenin refugee camp. and israeli army vehicles, were seen moving in. israel claims, the camp contains a command centre for palestinian militants. across the jenin skyline, smoke has been rising for much of the day — palestinian leaders say,

it's an attempt to destroy a refugee camp and that innocent people inside the camp have been bombed. gun g u n battles gun battles have raged, with palestinians seen firing at israeli troops. vehicles have been firing tear gas. a short while ago, the reuters news agency reported israeli military sources indicating the operation would continue for at least another 2a hours. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports jenin is no stranger to the sound of armed conflict. this is the largest israeli operation there for years. overhead, drones looking for targets on the densely populated streets. below, israeli troops inside the city and its refugee camp, on a mission, they say, to root out armed militants responsible for attacks on israeli civilians. officials hinting the operation could last for days. the assault began at night.

israel hitting an apartment it said was being used as a command centre by thejenin brigades, the alliance of palestinian groups which now dominate the camp. at local hospitals, a steady stream of injuries and a death toll that rose by the hour. israel says its operation is precise, focused and, as long as it lasts, civilians will be in grave danger. translation: what's going on in l the refugee camp is a real war. i there were strikes from the sky targeting it. every time we drive in with our ambulances, we come back full with injured people. street battles have raged all morning. jenin is a lawless place. these young gunmen have lost faith with the palestinian leadership. for them there is no peace process, only a struggle to end israel's 56 years of occupation. israel calls them terrorists, this morning showing off home—made weapons seized inside the camp

and saying all this is sponsored from abroad. i want to emphasise that we don't ever fight with the palestinians. actually, our fight is with the proxies of iran in our region. members of israel's far right government have been pushing for decisive action for months. it could escalate. in gaza and elsewhere, the atmosphere is boiling and the mechanisms for diffusing it are not obvious. paul adams, bbc news. earlier i spoke to danny danon, a member of the knesset with the likud party and member of the foreign affairs and security committee in israel. i started by asking him why israel has taken this action. in the last few months we have experienced a wave of terrorism that all came from jenin area. dozens of israelis were injured and killed and traced back tojenin. it became a hub for terrorism. that is what we had no choice

but to go insidejenin, go after the terrorists and make sure we can bring stability and security to the people of israel. you accept, though, there have been many civilian casualties? indeed. 16 palestinian terrorists, after they committed these horrible crimes, they fled into jenin area, they are hiding over there. when we saw the influence of iranian forces in the region ofjenin, we have experienced a rocket attack only last week from the jenin area. sure, butjust address my question, you understand that there have been many civilian casualties as a result of the israeli action today? no, absolutely not. we are doing our best to minimise any casualties to civilians, and so far we have been able to minimise any casualties. you can't minimise casualties

in an area that dense. you have ia,000 people living in 0.4 of a kilometre. despite saying it is targeted, that is almost impossible given the sort of action we are seeing. how dare you question our right to defend ourselves. how dare you put this equation. we are doing our best... i'm questioning your use of saying... exactly the opposite. they are targeting our civilians. today, what we are doing, we are targeting only militants that are to carrying weapons and are involved in terrorist activities. we will continue to do that and we will continue to make everything necessary to protect our people. what i'm questioning is whether that is practically possible in an area like this, that is so densely populated. i agree with you that

it is sophisticated. it is not easy. but so far, we have been operating for a few hours injenin and so far you saw that we texted residents not to leave their homes and we are targeting only the militants. i hope there will be no casualties among civilians. i know the terrorists are doing exactly the opposite. they are hiding under masks, near un facilities in order to force us to harm those civilians. but we are doing our best not to fall into their traps, to minimise any civilian casualties. two final questions, because israel has always said there are militants operating in this camp. why now? is it a reflection of the far right that are now key players in benjamin netanyahu's coalition, pushing for a far harsher stance? i will tell you why now. after 25 israelis were killed only

last week, four of them were killed by two terrorists coming from jenin area. the prime minister realised that we had no other choice. we have to eradicate the terror from this region, and that is exactly what he is doing. earlier i put to mustafa barghouti who leads the palestinian national initiative party that israel says it has a right to defend itself. it is very sad what is happening. the israeli army is committing yet another massacre. they speak about terrorists but the actual terrorist are the israelis who have been burning palestinian houses. thejenin camp, as you said, is an area of almost 20,000 people who have been displaced by israel. and it is highly densely populated area. and israel is using apache helicopters, using drones,

using tanks, using armoured vehicles to attack the civilian population there. and so far they have been attacking not only the people but the hospitals, the hospital was shot at. bullets entered the hospital where patients are lying. they have attacked our cars, they have attacked our ambulances. this is a massive attack by the most powerful army in the region... you say they targeted civilians. you will have heard what the israelis are saying. they are saying that they are targeting the terrorists that are operating out of that camp. to the israelis, we are all terrorists, all palestinians are terrorists regardless of how peaceful we are. this is the israeli government at the most extreme...

it has people that are fascists in it. you would accept thatjenin brigades operate out of this camp and launching attacks from this camp? you accept that, do you? i do say there are young people... they are not involved in the police to the peace process that has failed over the last 20 years because of israeli action. these young people have lost hope in all the so—called peace processes and in the west, who have been promising that they will help. let me remind you what we see is an army attacking the people who are under their occupation. sure, but ijust want you... this never happens apart from by fascist and nazi governments. but in terms of that fundamental point, that if you accept that some of those young people are carrying out attacks and are based in that camp, israel has a right to defend itself, does it not? that is exactly what the white house has said in the last 45 minutes. we also have the right to defend ourselves,

and don't forget that israel is the one that is occupying us, oppressing us. since the beginning of this year, they have killed no less than 190 palestinians, including a 2.5—year—old child. the israeli settlers have attacked our homes, burnt people, burnt cars, attacked communities that are civilians. under the supervision of the israeli supreme power. at the end of the day, let's remember the cause of all violence here is the continuation of the longest occupation in modern history, 56 years of occupation. if israel wants peace and real security for all of us, they should end occupation and stop violating... iam going i am going to take your life to

baltimore, police searching for multiple suspects after the city that left turn people dead, 28 others injured, they are hunting for at least two suspects. this includes both the department _ at least two suspects. this includes both the department of _ at least two suspects. this includes both the department of housing . at least two suspects. this includes | both the department of housing and community development, the public works, dlt, the free library, and baltimore city public schools. as we head into tonight and tomorrow, the 4th ofjuly, we know that people will continue to gather with their loved ones to celebrate. we want people to gather and celebrate at the inner harbour, at cherry hill, where they have their festival, as they do every year. we want people to do that. but i implore everyone to do that. but i implore everyone to please be safe, think of those around you and the lives you could potentially impact if you make a wrong choice. we are gearing up every resource at our disposal, from bpd, the mayor's office, neighbourhoods, all community engagement partnerships as we work

to ensure that we have a say 4th of july, to ensure that we have a say 4th of july, as always we want here in baltimore. i want to thank all of baltimore's community for the love and support we have shown for our neighbours in this most difficult time. and before i wrap up, i want to reiterate what i said yesterday once again. we won't stop until we find those responsible and hold them accountable. we won't. with that said, we need the help of our residents and anyone that knows anything to come forward and say something, so that we can bring those who are recklessly carrying out acts of violence like this to justice. we will continue to wrap our arms around brooklyn and the entire community, as we continue to hold those accountable who choose to carry illegal guns and use them in the commitments of crimes in baltimore like this tragic incident that we saw. again, thank you to all

of our partners that are here with us today. thanks to everyone who is working in the brooklyn community, and to those around the country who have offered their support, their resources, their love, everything they could offer to the city of baltimore at this most trying time. i will now turn over to the director to talk through the updates that here and her team are reading. modern director?— here and her team are reading. modern director? thank you, good afternoon. — modern director? thank you, good afternoon. i _ modern director? thank you, good afternoon, i am _ modern director? thank you, good afternoon, i am serving _ modern director? thank you, good afternoon, i am serving as - modern director? thank you, good afternoon, i am serving as interim| afternoon, i am serving as interim director_ afternoon, i am serving as interim director of— afternoon, i am serving as interim director of the mayor's office of neighbourhood safety and engagement. i want neighbourhood safety and engagement. i want to— neighbourhood safety and engagement. i want to first take a moment to acknowledge the weight and pain we are all_ acknowledge the weight and pain we are all feeling. the loss of our south — are all feeling. the loss of our south baltimore neighbours are not easy, _ south baltimore neighbours are not easy, we _ south baltimore neighbours are not easy, we know their families, the community— easy, we know their families, the community and all of us at this time will face _ community and all of us at this time will face the — community and all of us at this time will face the trauma associated with this event, — will face the trauma associated with this event, these losses, these injuries, — this event, these losses, these injuries, for years to come. the trauma — injuries, for years to come. the trauma associated with what our residents — trauma associated with what our residents experienced yesterday is why we _ residents experienced yesterday is why we are bringing together a host

of resources and partners to provide services _ of resources and partners to provide services from mental health counselling supports, to employment assistance _ counselling supports, to employment assistance and conflict mediation in real time _ assistance and conflict mediation in real time. as of yesterday at 12 noon. — real time. as of yesterday at 12 noon. we — real time. as of yesterday at 12 noon, we have been on the ground as part of— noon, we have been on the ground as part of a _ noon, we have been on the ground as part of a neighbourhood community stabilisation response, pulling together resources which include the following, _ together resources which include the following, mental health counselling, with partners from baltimore crisis response, catholic charities, — baltimore crisis response, catholic charities, red cross of central moral— charities, red cross of central moral and... charities, red cross of central moral and. . ._ charities, red cross of central moral and... we will keep an ion that news _ moral and... we will keep an ion that news conference, _ moral and... we will keep an ion i that news conference, baltimore's acting police commissioner will also be updating the situation. please continue to —— police continue to hunt two suspects, 15 injured were children. we will continue to monitor that and bring you the significant parts from the news conference as and when they come in. to paris now — where there have been more calls for calm after almost a week of rioting. crowds gathered in solidarity

with one of the mayors of a paris suburb, whose wife and children were forced to flee, after a burning vehicle was targeted at their house. it was calmer on the streets of france last night — with around 150 arrests compared, with more than 700 the night before — but pressure on the government continues. live now to our correspondent tom symonds. take us through today's events. that attack on the — take us through today's events. twat attack on the mayor of this quite quiet suburb in south—eastern paris has led to the town hall there, you can say, being protected by razor wire. that is because vincent jeanbrun, his house was attacked with a car, it was driven at his house. he wasn't there, he was at work. his wife and children were in the house and his wife was injured. today, this afternoon, a lot of people from the town turned out to support him as he walked through, down the streets, outside the town

hall, to call for order to be restored on the streets of paris and elsewhere. i asked restored on the streets of paris and elsewhere. iasked him, when restored on the streets of paris and elsewhere. i asked him, when i grabbed a word with him in the crowd, how his wife was. she said she was not very well and it was a difficult situation. i asked him about what he made of the protest. translation: what happened today is really strong, shows when we're on our own. _ really strong, shows when we're on our own. we — really strong, shows when we're on our own, we are weak, but when we are together, — our own, we are weak, but when we are together, that is when we strong — are together, that is when we strong. unity is what we are trying to build _ strong. unity is what we are trying to build here, and i hope this will spread _ to build here, and i hope this will spread across france at all levels of our _ spread across france at all levels of our fragile democracy. we need to rise up— of our fragile democracy. we need to rise up to _ of our fragile democracy. we need to rise up to this occasion and show that we _ rise up to this occasion and show that we want to move forward, not only because there has been a tragedy, — only because there has been a tragedy, but because of our pure well and — tragedy, but because of our pure well and love for our republic. the hope is that this is a turning

point. what happened in this town and other towns where mayors appeared in front of their town halls, to say that there needs to be peace, that that will change things when it is night. a government spokesperson stressed that emmanuel macron is hit with a difficult situation where he has to deal with the emotions clearly at play here, and in the surveys at a variety of things, not least the way they are policed, but also the need for justice. the police officer who carried out the shooting is being investigated, the need to deal with the violence. the spokesperson said there will not be a review of the way police use guns. if there are problems, there will be an investigation into each individual incident. they also said there was people rioting are not the people rioting are not the peoples of are delinquents within the immunities and are not supported by the people who live alongside them. fairly tough words from emmanuel macron, who will meet political leaders,

mayors and others, tomorrow. around the world and across the uk, you are watching bbc news. lets look at some of the other stories making headlines in the uk. there are growing calls for nhs whistle—blowers to receive more support after a record number came forward for support after speaking out. sir robert francis, who led the inquiry into hundreds of patient deaths at stafford hospital said some people still pay a heavy price for speaking up. some people still pay a heavy price forspeaking up. nhs some people still pay a heavy price for speaking up. nhs england admits too many staff remain afraid to raise issues. rail passengers are being warned of disruption for the next six days, due to an overtime ban by train drivers in the aslef union. 15 train companies based in england are being affected from today, with many reducing their services. it's the latest move in the union's long—running pay dispute. and a group of conservative

mps have warned the prime minister he risks eroding public trust if he fails to drastically cut migration, calling themselves the new conservatives, they published a plan to cut net migration by about 400,000 by the time of the next election. you are live with bbc news. kevin spacey�*s trial continues in london with his first alleged victim giving evidence. he says he was groped by an —— the actor while driving a car. the oscar—winning actor is accused of 12 sexual offences against four men, between 2001 and 2013. he denies the charges. sanchia berg is at southwark crown court with the latest updates on this. yes, well, the evidence has finished for today, of course. the court has closed. at what we had today was, for the first time, the evidence of a witness, a complainant in the case against kevin spacey. kevin spacey

denies all of these charges. he is pleading not guilty. this witness presented evidence first in the form of a recorded statement, the one he had given to police, that was taken about a year ago. he was then cross—examined by kevin spacey�*s barrister. what he laid out in the police statement was his claim that he was assaulted many times in the early 2000s by kevin spacey. he said one of these occasions happened when he was driving mr spacey to a celebrity party in the english countryside. he said mr spacey had leaned over and had to grabbed his genitals with such force that he had to stop the car and pull off the road. he told him that was the wrong thing to do, and he didn't want him to do it, but he claimed that mr spaceyjust laughed. kevin spacey, spacey just laughed. kevin spacey, as spaceyjust laughed. kevin spacey, as i say, denies all of this. his lawyer said last week that he was baffled under deeply hurt by the claims from this particular wetness,

and this afternoon, what happened was patrick gibbs casey, who is kevin spacey�*s barrister, set out to undermine quite a lot of what the witness had said in his police interview. he questioned the app accuracy, the timing of some of his claims, he also suggested that the claimant was here for any potential when in damages. he said you saw a bandwagon and decided to hop on it. is one of the highlights of the uk sporting calendar and it started today. the next fortnight, wimbledon will be running with the defending men's singles champion novak djokovic. opening proceedings on centre court today. let's head to wimbledon. so, it is under way in terms of what has been on the courts, just take us through it. matthew, it's been eventful on day

one. these championships feel like they are back to normal now. two years ago, think of covid restrictions, no russian or belarusian players, which meant no daniil medvedev, or victoria sabalenka. we have one of the highest seeded russian players looking very good, he reached the eastbourne final recently. in terms of that, we have normality. centre court, normality as well. novak djokovic is safely through to round two, really untroubled in the end against pedro kashin of argentina, the 28—year—old who was only playing his second ever match on grass. djokovic has not lost on centre court for a decade. job done in straight sets. remember the sort of history he is still chasing. yes, he passed rafa nadal, is looking for 24, is eighth wimbledon title that

would bring him with roger federer. you would not bet against it. what you would not bet against it. what about the record _ you would not bet against it. what about the record numbers, in terms of all the bookings, the queues, it is right back, if not better than before covid. what are they saying about the russian and chechen athletes, and tennis players, this time around?— athletes, and tennis players, this time around? well, in terms of the cueues, time around? well, in terms of the queues. there _ time around? well, in terms of the queues, there were _ time around? well, in terms of the queues, there were some - time around? well, in terms of the i queues, there were some challenges getting in this morning, i have to say. i don't think as well as slickly done as wimbledon would have liked. they had another issue last year, which was that the queue was not as long as they were expecting, and a lot of people are changing the way in which they access to tickets post—pandemic. at the numbers that were snaking around outside was a sizeable this morning and i can tell for day one on the hill, there are good numbers watching as well. in terms of russian and belarusian players, they have all had to sign a piece of paper, a contractor does not exist anywhere else in tennis

other than here, to show they will be neutral athletes and not make any political gestures or political messages, that includes their entire team and all belarusian and russian players have signed that piece of paper. ukrainian players, of course, very critical of wimbledon overturning its ban. when all the other grand slams and no other tennis tournament outside of britain had a similar ban in place, the all wimbledon club said that british tennis could not impose the ban once again. it remains an incredibly divisive issue in itself. i have to say, matthew, all eyes will be on centre court, elina svitolina, one of the most liked players on the tour, she gave birth in october and is try to get herself into the latter stages of wimbledon. she will play the 43—year—old venus williams, still going strong. we'll get a great reaction. t’m still going strong. we'll get a great reaction.— still going strong. we'll get a great reaction. i'm sure that is absolutely _ great reaction. i'm sure that is absolutely true. _ great reaction. i'm sure that is absolutely true. a _ great reaction. i'm sure that is absolutely true. a huge - great reaction. i'm sure that is absolutely true. a huge draw. | great reaction. i'm sure that is. absolutely true. a huge draw. it looks a pretty gloomy wimbledon, but

hopefully the rain will hold off. i'm back with more headlines in a moment or two. we start with the news thatjune was the hottest on record, and we absolutely annihilated to the previous record. normally we see the records broken by the tenth of a degree or so. this year, we beat the previous record by nine tenths of a degree's celsius. scientists said that the likelihood of beating the previous record had doubled as the result of emissions of greenhouse gases, differ carry on like this, jeans like the one just gone will come round every two years by the time we are into the 50s. some heavy deluges and thunderstorms rumbling across parts of the midlands and northern england. more of those showers to come overnight as well. lengthy spells of rain pushed southwards across scotland, which in

the central belt by dawn. showers by northern ireland and will start to see an area of rain moving back in across parts of south—west england and southern wales as well. into the forecast for tuesday, it will be an unsettled day as the weather fronts merged together to give longer outbreaks of rain across eastern england. so, expect rain at times. i think this area of rain could end up being a lot more extensive, working across east anglia, southern england and could be very slow to let up as well. further northwards, we have a band of rain sliding southwards across northern ireland, turning showery in nature. temperature still disappointing for the time of year, 17 or 19 celsius. although we saw some interruptions to play at wimbledon on monday, i suspect that we will have much land interruptions around what tuesday. the weather could get in the way of play for some time. by wednesday, low pressure still with us, but it is weakening. although there will be showers around, the majority of

those will be across parts of west scotland and northern ireland. elsewhere, probably a dry morning. there might be a few showers building through england and wales. a pretty isolated. i think there will be much bigger gaps between showers. more in the way of dry weather or sunshine, that should boost temperatures into the low 20s. towards the end of the week we will see a slow—moving weather front across the west bringing heavy rain. might see some flooding issues across parts of northern ireland. the rain band really intense. further eastwards, southerly wind will drag up much warmer air. temperatures could hit 27 degrees in london towards the end of the week.

this is bbc news. let's turn to our main headlines this half hour. street battles rage in the west bank as hundreds of israeli soldiers carry out a large—scale assault on the city of jenin.