you are very welcome. let's start with the very latest on the hamas attack on israel. prime mister benjamin netanyahu says that israel will use enormous force against hamas. the israeli defense forces report that more than 1,200 targets were hit in the gaza strips between saturday and monday morning, with more strikes continuing through the day and night. israel's defense minister ordered a complete siege of gaza, which would cut off food, fuel, electricity, and water supplies. the bbc�*s diplomatic editor paul adams reports if israel wants to deal hamas a decisive blow, the grouund operation will complicate matters for civilians and hostages in gaza. the white house says they have no plans to send troops into israelbut pledged support for it as it fights back against hamas, releasing a statement along with four other nations condemning the attacks and calling for peace in the middle east. in other developments, the armed wing of hamas has threatened to kill israeli hostages if palestinian civilians are not warned about impending air strikes.

there's been international condemnation of the taking of civilian hostages. israel says some 100 civilians and soldiers have been kidnapped, but both israel and hamas have denied reports of a possible prisoner exchange. so far in this conflict, at least 900 people have been killed in israel, and almost 700 people have been killed in gaza following israeli military action. right now we're looking at a live pictures of gaza city, where we've seen many flashes of explosions in the past hour or so. israel's allies, including the us, germany, italy, france and the uk have released a joint statement criticising the weekend's surprise strikes by hamas, saying:

let's get the latest from the ground now. 0ur international editor, jeremy bowen, is in the southern israeli city of ashkelon, just 13km — or about eight miles — north of the gaza strip, and has this report. inside gaza, it looks every bit as if palestinians are feeling the full force of israeli military power. israel says hamas is responsible for the suffering of gaza's civilians.

and its retaliation for the hamas attacks has only just begun. hamas has threatened to start killing its israeli hostages. the air strikes rolled on, hour after hour. palestinian armed groups, undeterred, kept up their own barrage of israel. 0ur bbc team was in ashkelon in southern israel, not far from the gaza border when a salvo came in. ashkelon is so close to gaza that there is no more than a ten—second warning. israel is moving in more fire power. the next stage of the offensive against hamas looks certain to be a ground offensive, much bigger than other incursions since hamas took over in gaza in 2007. lines of cars outside

a military base on the road

for duty, getting ready, saying their goodbyes. parents came to the base for a few minutes with their sons. we are praying and hope for the best.

amidst tough times now. and we are telling him to try and concentrate on his mission, without thinking too much about other friends that got injured or killed. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu broadcast to his nation. he said hamas has made a mistake of historic proportions. "we will," he said, "be exacting a price that we be "remembered by them and other enemies for decades." and now israelis are waiting for the government and army to act. sderot, the israeli town close to gaza littered with the debris of war felt like the essence of israel's trauma, almost deserted except for forces.

hamas has rocketed sderot for years but has never before stormed in. at the centre of the hamas killing ground was the police station. they broke in and used it as a fire base to shoot civilians as well as soldiers. blood from israel's dead and wounded smears the walls. even here in what is always a front line town, for israelis, this was not supposed to happen. they expected their military, backed up by the intelligence services, to protect them. and the fact that that didn't happen means recriminations about who might be responsible have already started. but at the same time there is a strong sense of national unity, with a country under attack, about what happens next. in the places that hamas attacked israeli military as well as the few civilians left are jumpy, still shocked. a ground offensive didn't feel imminent.

and in gaza, a few miles away, casualties come into the main hospital. the first few hundred of many more. it will get worse. palestinians and israelis once more caught on the anvil of war in a conflict a century old that is as deadly it has ever been. jeremy bowen, bbc news, ashkelon. within gaza itself, our bbc teams are reporting that power cuts and infrastructure damage have severely impacted the area. even still, our teams have been able to get some of their reporting out to us. bbcjournalist rushdi abualouf has this update from inside a building on the gaza strip. this is by far the biggest ever israeli air strikes in gaza, in this scale, in this intensity. this is the biggest. in this building, it's a seven—storey building

where, like, 20 to 30 families, they live in this building. i could hear the screaming of the kids, they were shouting. in the background, if you can see, it's totally black. most of the electricity supplies in gaza are not functioning, internet is down in every corner of this city. because many of the buildings that housing internet providing company and today they destroyed the headquarter of the palestinian telecommunications company, causing the problem to be bigger and the internet to be down in more areas. talking about the humanitarian situation, gaza has been suffering for three days without electricity. the crossings, most of the crossings are closed except the rafah crossing

with egypt, and it only allow people to go in and out — no goods. no fuel is coming, no medicine for hospitals. the health ministry issued a statement today warning that within 48 hours the essential medical supplies are running out in the hospital. nearby explosion and they need urgent supplies to be able to provide services to many people. they said "we are struggling to cope with the situation, we are struggling to cope with the number of injuries, people who are arriving to the hospital from different places." the us defense department has described the weekend's actions by hamas as "isis—level savagery". in a briefing to reporters, a senior defense 0fficial added that the us is working to working to expedite israel's —— in a briefing to reporters, a senior defense official added

that the us is working to expedite israel's requests for more munitions and air defence. the official added that "planes have already taken off" to deliver some of the support requested. additionally, the uss ford strike group is expected to arrive in the area quote "very soon", with capabilities ranging from intelligence gathering to long—range strikes. it includes the carrier, and accompanying cruisers and destroyers. the defense department is also working with israel and other partners to contain the conflict to gaza. us officials also say they have not seen corroboration of iran being directly involved in the planning of saturday's attack. let's discuss all of this. joining me now from colorado is retired us army lieutenant, —— us army lieutenant general mark schwartz. he last served as the us security coordinator for israel and the palestinian authority. thank you forjoining us. this attack wasn't anticipated by israel. how could hamas have put together what appears to be a sophisticated and quite brutal offensive and seemingly go undetected by israeli intelligence? i go undetected by israeli intelligence?— go undetected by israeli intelligence? i would first like to express _

intelligence? i would first like to express my - intelligence? i would first| like to express my sincere condolences for the excess of 900 lives lost, as were the lives lost, in the terrorist attack, and over 11 us citizens who have also been killed. and obviously thousands more have been wounded to date as well as innocent palestinians who have been caught in the midst of this tragedy that has been ongoing since saturday. i think what — the assessment is now, after 72 hours post attack, the level of discipline that the hamas exercised in surveying of technical communications to plan this operation, this raid that they conducted, and incursion into israel, and the terroristic acts that followed, i think that was the key. they are an enemy at a terrorist organisation that lives not just from other terrorist organisations in the region but

also from their own experiences, and they knew that by communicating and planning using any type of technical means that the operation would have been compromised. so i think that, in my assessment, is what i've heard in open source reporting, that that is the most likely way they were able to successfully this off. —— pull this off. a man with a nom de guerre of the guest, mohammed deif, is the commander of the military wing of hamas, is purported to behind the attack. what do you know about him? i know he has been wanted by the state of israel and certainly by the us and israeli allies for in excess of a decade and a half. i'm sure he is taking full credit for the planning and orchestration of the attack as it bolsters his prestige among her masts and

other terrorist organisations in the region. —— hamas. his whereabouts are well—known. if they were known he would no longer be on the earth. lie longer be on the earth. us department _ longer be on the earth. us department of defence has announced a big tranche of military support going to israel, including moving the uss ford strike group into position. what impact will that have? it will assist with strategic deterrence. 0ur president was clear that he wanted to send a strong signal of support to prime minister benjamin netanyahu and the citizens of israel but as important to other terrorist organisations in the region, including state sponsors of terrorism such as 0rion and hezbollah, that any involvement of piling onto the atrocity that took place over

the weekend would, you know, the weekend would, you know, the united states would be able to respond and support its allies. —— iran and hezbollah. deterrence is number one. number two, deterrence is number one. numbertwo, israel deterrence is number one. number two, israel runs out of targets. they have been doing targets. they have been doing target development since the largest ever exchange of indirect fire imprecision munitions in the gaza strip. eventually they will run out of targets so target development to continue to go after hamas infrastructure and leadership that still resides inside of gaza, their logistics and weaponry, the united states and the capabilities are being brought forward into the mediterranean will assist with that. ., ., ., “ mediterranean will assist with that. ., ., ., ~ ., that. 0k, and if we look to the hosta . e that. 0k, and if we look to the hostage situation, _ that. 0k, and if we look to the hostage situation, there - that. 0k, and if we look to the hostage situation, there are i hostage situation, there are reports of about 100 hostages. as a retired member of the special ops forces go with many tours in the middle east, what do you know about what the international community can do to rescue those hostages, if

anything? it to rescue those hostages, if anything?— to rescue those hostages, if anything? it is an extremely comlex anything? it is an extremely complex problem. - anything? it is an extremely complex problem. you - anything? it is an extremely complex problem. you havej complex problem. you have reported certainly since the start of the crisis the complexity of the environment of the gaza strip, in excess of to make million people in a tightly constrained an urban environment, makes it very hard to locate where the hostages are, let alone conduct an operation where you can, you know, mitigate not only the loss of civilian casualties, palestinians in the area but also bring the raid force or assault foreseen and come out successfully with the hostages coming out unharmed. i have heard reports today there is ongoing inaudible potentially through inaudible 0k, we are losing the line ever so slightly there. we ok, we are losing the line ever so slightly there.— so slightly there. we will leave it there _

so slightly there. we will leave it there for - so slightly there. we will leave it there for the - so slightly there. we will- leave it there for the moment. mark schwarzer, thank you so much forjoining us.— mark schwarzer, thank you so much forjoining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. in afg hanistan�*s herat province, rescuers are searching for survivors of saturday's powerful earthquake there. it flattened nearby villages and killed more than 1,000 people. more than 500 people are missing, according to the united nations. blocked routes and communication lines have delayed aid to the remote rural area dotted with mud brick homes. environmental lawyer and anti—vaccine activist, robert f kennedyjunior, says he's now running for the white house as an independent. it's a reversal of his plans to run against president biden as a democrat. the 69—year—old is a member of one of the country's most famous democratic families. speaking in philadelphia, kennedy says he wants a "new declaration of independence" from the media, corporations, and major political parties. this year's nobel

prize for economics has gone to claudia goldin from the united states. the royal swedish academy of sciences said the harvard university professor had advanced the understanding of how women impact labour markets. she is only the third woman in history to become a nobel laureate for economics. you're live with bbc news. more than 260 bodies have been recovered from the music festival attended by thousands in the south of the country. the bbc�*s anna foster spoke to one of the survivors. air raid sirens explosions there's a huge barrage going on overhead at the moment. we have taken cover. this is... it's actually a memorial building.

you can see we are all here in the... there's nick, he's got a camera. yeah, we're going to move. get down, get down. we heard all around us but didn't know we were there. when the siren started, i was talking to gilad. he had been at the music festival where more than 250 people were massacred as hamas launched its attack on saturday morning. shrapnel tore past his head. he was lucky to survive. the bullet went through here and through out here. so it went... yeah, you can see it went in and out. yeah. we got a fight orflight situation. you need to react really fast or that means you are dead, certain death. it's no wonder 250 people, 260 people died. and even more, i still don't know the body count. explosions people living here know these

moments of fear well. gilad and his mother didn't need words. we followed the smoke. we think this is where one of the missiles hit. yeah, look. here in the ground. in this poorer part of ashkelon, there aren't bomb shelters in most buildings. thin walls and windows don't stop missiles. so avi and anat hid their family in a stairwell. they told the children the explosions were thunder. "we need to be strong for them," avi told me, "but who's going to take care of us?" anna foster,

bbc news, ashkelon. a tenure memorandum of understanding. much of that 3.3 billion is said to be in the pipeline according to us officials. separately, military officials. separately, military officials say there are six pre— position stockpiles of american ammunition and arms throughout israel worth to make million dollars. both countries must sign up for them to be you. an hour ago we heard from a republican us lawmaker, now let's hearfrom a democrat. earlier, i talked with california congressman brad sherman, on the house foreign affairs committee, on his forecast for the crisis in israel and the us response to it. this is going to last many weeks, perhaps many months. you cannot leave hamas, you cannot just pretend this did not happen. and leave them with a sophisticated military power they have demonstrated. you have to disable hamas and that will be a difficult thing to do

and it will not be pretty. but, what is the alternative? you have been — what is the alternative? you have been a _ what is the alternative? you have been a member- what is the alternative? you have been a member of - what is the alternative? you have been a member of the house foreign affairs committee for 28 years and have seen lots of conflict like this. what you think the us should doing now? we should be aiding israel not only militarily but diplomatically because their already those who say israel should not try to defend itself those calls will be louder, as israel takes necessary action. and i think everyone with a voice in america has got to say that when an organisation like hamas dedicates itself for decades to kill or expel every due from the middle east, you should take them at their word. that is they objective, that is their programme.— their programme. should the biden administration - their programme. should the biden administration have i their programme. should the i biden administration have been more involved in this conflict before now? i more involved in this conflict before now?—

more involved in this conflict before now? i think the biden administration _ before now? i think the biden administration has _ before now? i think the biden administration has been - before now? i think the biden administration has been very| administration has been very involved and in fact may have triggered this through its success in bringing saudi arabian and israel together on the precipice of a deal that would be historic. 0n possible view of this is that hamas was acting out of fear that israel would conclude a deal with saudi arabia and with much of the arab world and that they would be left isolated. i don't think hamas did this because just because they could, i think they did it because they thought they had to. fin think they did it because they thought they had to.- thought they had to. on that normalisation _ thought they had to. on that normalisation agreement - thought they had to. on thatl normalisation agreement that the us has been working on between saudi arabia and israel, where sets are now given what has happened? i think it is certainly on hold. i would not expect any progress for the next leg, several weeks. we will have to see how this emerges. but i think the possibility of a coalition israel's government would help move that process along. and i

think saudi seeing the brutality of those who take the iranian line were probably going to see executions on live television. we have already been threatened with that. what is not being reported is the rapes and beheadings that have already occurred on israeli soil. i think that as that information comes out the saudis may feel they would be better off with israel than aligning themselves with iran and its proxy. aligning themselves with iran and its proxy-— aligning themselves with iran and its proxy. what can be done in a practical — and its proxy. what can be done in a practical sense _ and its proxy. what can be done in a practical sense by _ and its proxy. what can be done in a practical sense by the - and its proxy. what can be done in a practical sense by the us i in a practical sense by the us or others to stop the brutality that you are describing there? you have to defeat hamas. you cannot reform hamas. and that will take weapons from the united states and it will take diplomatic support from the united states. and i know that some have called for a — hamas has called for a truce right after pearl harbour, i'm sure

japan would have liked a truce having destroyed so much of our navy. that is not going to happen. navy. that is not going to happen-— navy. that is not going to hauen. �* ., ., happen. and what about the civilians in _ happen. and what about the civilians in the _ happen. and what about the civilians in the gaza - happen. and what about the civilians in the gaza strip? l civilians in the gaza strip? what can be done about inevitable humanitarian crisis there? ~ ., ., , _ there? well, i am troubled by this discussion _ there? well, i am troubled by this discussion of _ there? well, i am troubled by this discussion of turning - there? well, i am troubled by this discussion of turning off l this discussion of turning off food and water. i hope that is very short—term, meeting the exigencies. israel has done a phenomenaljob of working to avoid civilian casualties and hamas has done a phenomenaljob of trying to increase palestinian casualties. they use home—made rockets, large portion of which never reach israel but instead crashed into gaza strip, which is densely populated area. you have them storing their weapons in depots at mosques and schools. you see them using a human shield. so hamas tries to maximise palestinian civilian casualties. israel on the other

hand, i have never seen another military in the world do this, will actually inform people at a target that that target has to be hit and give people either through cellphones or through leaflets or through a mock or small explosion, the idea that this hamas building is going to be bombed. i have never seen a military anywhere in the world take such extraordinary efforts to try to reduce civilian casualties. fiiq reduce civilian casualties. ok. congress _ reduce civilian casualties. ok. congress brad _ reduce civilian casualties. 0k. congress brad sherman thank you wendy forjoining us.— wendy for “oining us. thank ou. that's all from us for now. i'm caitriona perry. we leave you with these live pictures of the white house, lit up in blue and white, as a show of support to israel. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello again. monday felt like another warm, summer's day — except, of course, it wasn't summer. no, its october. it's meant to be a lot colder than this. these blue, sunny skies sent temperatures soaring, particularly across england and wales — the warmest spot, east malling in kent, 26 degrees celsius. now, average for these cities at this time of the year is 15 or 16 degrees, so ten degrees above average. even the temperatures we had on monday were in excess of what we'd see in a typical july day, so that's why it felt like summer. now, you can see the clear skies that we had across england and wales, but lurking out in the atlantic, we've got more rain—bearing cloud around, and that's not good news for scotland, where we still have the bulk of the flood warnings in force across the nation. it's here where, of course, we saw torrential rain and flooding over the course of the weekend, and with more rain developing over the next few hours, that's not going to be exactly welcome rain that arrives. further southwards, across england and wales, we keep those clear spells over the next few hours.

one or two mist patches and a few fog patches developing, but it's a mild start to the day on tuesday. i think the biggest concern, though, will continue to be this area of rain affecting scotland. in the grand scheme of things, 50 millimetres falling from this weather front over the mountains of western scotland isn't a huge amount, but given that we've got flood warnings already in force, the ground saturated after what fell over the weekend, then this rain could cause some further extra issues. it does trickle southwards, reaching northern ireland and the far north of england, as well, late tuesday afternoon. south of that, it's very warm again. 0nce we've lost those mist and fog patches, temperatures could hit 2a degrees in the warmest spots. now, tuesday night sees this band of rain pull away from scotland, so hopefully things will begin to improve here, to a degree. but we've got some heavier rain setting in place further southwards across england and wales, and this rain band through wednesday slowly moves across wales, the midlands, into east anglia, perhaps not reaching the far south until after dark, where it will continue to be warm, with temperatures in the low 20s. but otherwise, those temperatures coming back down

closer to average levels for october. now, heading into thursday, we've got some more rain moving overnight and into friday, affecting parts of england and wales. so rain, at times, probably best sums up the weather picture. that rain clears away into the weekend, with temperatures dropping back closer to the october averages. overnight and into friday, affecting parts of england and wales. so rain, at times, probably best sums up

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. file: dozens of towns l and villages are flooded in ukraine after a major dam is breached. 0n the 6th ofjune 2023, the kakhovka dam, a critical infrastructure in the south of ukraine, was destroyed by an explosion. a huge reservoir of water on the dnipro river was unleashed downstream, with devastating consequences. we understand 16,000 residents on the banks of ukraine—controlled areas are in immediate, critical danger. shouts. ukraine and nato accused russia of committing the act. the un warned of grave and far—reaching consequences, which are being felt

across ukraine and beyond. this is the story of what happened after kakhovka.