live from washington — this is bbc news. the israeli army reaches a community attacked by hamas on saturday. they find women and children among those killed. the un warns of a humanitarian catastrophe as palestinian officials say more than 900 people have been killed in gaza since saturday. the white house promises unwavering support for israel as president biden describes hamas�* attack as an "act of sheer evil". hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. further evidence has emerged of the violent attacks on civilians by hamas gunmen during their surprise incursion into southern israel

from gaza on saturday. efforts are under way to recover the bodies of those killed by the attacks. the death toll in israel has reached 1,000. presidentjoe biden has described the attack on israel as an act of sheer evil. he confirmed 14 americans were killed and pledged full us support to israel. meanwhile, the health ministry in gaza says that 900 palestinians have now been killed during israel's recent airstrikes — with around half of these women and children. and we're keeping an eye on the skyline over gaza city, where israeli airstrikes have been continuing each night since the initial incursion by hamas. let's go on the ground now, to kfar aza, israel, where the bbc�*sjeremy bowen has been reporting on the carnage some israeli forces are confronting there. a warning — you may find some of the images in his report distressing. the first few days of war at this small israeli community called kfar aza are a microcosm

of israel's trauma and a glimpse of what might come next. israeli troops only seized back full control of the kibbutz this morning. it's one of a series of small israeli villages along the gaza wire. when we arrived they were still firing on houses across on the gaza side. israeli soldiers started their fightback here at around six o'clock on saturday evening, around 12 hours after hamas attacked. during that day, hamas carried out a massacre. decomposing hamas gunmen are still lying where they were killed.

the everyday is they stormed through the kibbutz, killing families, including babies. 0nly families, including babies. only this morning could israeli troops finish recovering all the civilians that hamas killed. without weapons, without nothing. just normal citizens who want to take their breakfast, that's all. they cut some of their heads. it's an aggressive thing to see. it's very difficult to see it. we must remember who is the enemy and what our mission — our mission is thejustice, we're on the right side, and all the world needs to be behind us. a woman under cover was decapitated, he said they killed her in herfront garden. even for experienced soldiers, fighting their way back in against a determined

enemy was hard going. how difficult was the fighting? you cannot imagine. have you ever had to do anything like this before as a soldier? no, not like this. what do you do next? what does israel do next? i don't know. i do worry. i hope that we will go inside. into gaza? that will be tough fighting. we are ready for it. the bodies will have to be identified. their murder was without doubt a war crime but what about the palestinian civilians israel is killing in attacks on hamas? all armies have obligations under the laws of war to protect civilian life, even in war zones. are you doing this, with this

level of air strikes and any ground operation that might happen? we fight for our values and our culture all our life. you keep your value in the same time, and i know that we will be very aggressive and very strong, but we keep our morals and our values. we are israeli, we arejewish and war is a very difficult problem. people that stay in the battlefield suffer a lot. you can see what happened here. but we come to kill the enemy, not the civilians. but in only a few days, israel has inflicted immense damage in gaza. they have cut off supplies of food, water and power and killed hundreds of civilians. palestinian suffering, israel says, is the responsibility of hamas.

israel has already been accused of breaking the laws of war and that will get louder as more palestinian civilians are wounded and killed. at kfar aza israeli troops are thinking of what is next, perhaps a ground invasion of gaza. it was tough enough for the israelis to come in to recapture this area, these small border communities. it is a different order of military challenge to cross the wire, to get into gaza, potentially to fight house to house at a time when hamas will have made its plans and will be waiting. some of these men are moving north in case war starts with hezbollah, the powerful lebanese militia backed by iran. what happened here is why israel is shaken to its core, why it insists it must break hamas and it points to the danger and uncertainty ahead.

jeremy bowen, bbc news, kfar aza. moving now to gaza, where the bbc has a rare insight into the situation on the ground with our correspondent rushdi abu alouf. he's lived there his entire life and has reported on the conflict for decades. he gave us this update. very quickly, if we can see the scale of destruction in this neighbourhood. it's called rimal neighbourhood. it's the economic hub for gaza that has been completely targeted yesterday. many buildings were destroyed. behind me is the ii—storey building that was knocked down very quickly, if we can see the scale of destruction two days ago, but the destruction in this area has been targeted quite recently, last night. israel has said they carried out 200 air strikes, targeting the hamas infrastructure. in fact, they hit many buildings, government buildings, belonging to the hamas—run authority, but look to the scale

of destruction in the area and how civilian homes were completely affected and some of them were completely destroyed. translation: i lost everything. my house, my shop has been destroyed completely. where do we go? we have become homeless. this gentleman just told us we have to leave the area, because it seems the israelis are warning residents of the areas that they should leave, they are going to target another building in the area. but look at the scale of destruction. this is happening overnight, with israelis targeting houses, shops, ministries, mosques, everything. the whole neighbourhood was levelled to zero. this is one of the most important economic hubs for gaza, where, as you can see, most of the shops were damaged, houses were

damaged, the infrastructure, the street. this is the street that leads to the southern part of the city. it's completely blocked. back here in washington, president biden has described the mass killing of israeli civilians by hamas as an act of sheer evil. after speaking to israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, mr biden said he would make sure the country got everything it needed. we know that american citizens and among those being held by hamas, i've directed my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the united states government to consult with and advise israeli counterparts on hostage recovery and recovery efforts. because as president, i have no higher priority than the safety of americans being held hostage around the world. meanwhile, the state department announced secretary of state antony blinken will travel to israel on wednesday. he will also visitjordan. this comes as the uss gerald r ford carrier strike

group has now arrived in the eastern mediterraean. the israeli military also says that the first plane carrying american ammunition has arrived in the country. earlier, my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke with white house national security spokesmanjohn kirby about us support for israel. admiral, great to have you back on bbc news. i want to start with a phone call between us presidentjoe biden and benjamin netanyahu. can you tell us what the us is hoping that support will do? first and foremost we want to make sure that support will better help them defend themselves and to go after these hamas terrorists where they are, and to affect their ability to continue to conduct terrorist attacks. so that is the main purposes. obviously giving israel the capabilities they need

to better defend their citizens. can you tell us more about what the israeli prime minister has asked the us president for? i don't want to get into the specifics of the conversation that president biden and prime minister netanyahu had too specifically. i think it should be obvious, based on the president's remarks, that we made it clear to prime minister netanyahu that we would continue to provide them the necessary military support as they prosecute this fight against hamas, and already one tranche, the first tranche of military aid is on its way to israel, it will be there soon. i fully expect there will be more. it was important for president biden to make it clear to prime minister netanyahu that we stand with them and that extra support will be forthcoming. president biden also confirmed that us citizens are among those being held hostage. what is the us doing right now to work to secure their release? the first thing we've done is offer support to israel,

with respect to the expertise that we have in the law enforcement community, in the military community here in the united states, even in the intelligence community. we've got hostage recovery experts in, we have offered their expertise to israeli officials, as they think through how they might want to go about recovering hostages. we now know, and it is a recent development, literallyjust within the last hour or so now, we have been able to confirm that at least some number of those hostages are americans. so obviously we want to do whatever we can to help israel in these efforts. we have also had reports of explosions in southern we know the israel defence minister has called for a full siege, now food, no fuel, no gas. the eu's foreign policy chief says that israel does

have the right to defend itself, but it has to be done according to international law. he says some things are not according to international law, cutting electricity and food. is the us concerned about this? hamas is responsible for the civilian life lost here. the innocent butchery of innocent civilians. 0ne innocent butchery of innocent civilians. one of the great things — the president talked about this in his speech, we heard great things about the relationship between us and israel, we're two vibrant democracies and we respect human life. we respect the rule of law and we respect the need to absorb the law of wars specifically. the president talked about that. again, we don't want to see any more innocent life taken. we recognise what has been visited upon the israeli people isjust horrific. the numbers are now approaching, what, 1,000.

that'sjust dead, let approaching, what, 1,000. that's just dead, let alone the thousands more that have been wounded by this butchery and we know they're going to be prosecuting this aggressively. we understand, given the circumstances, their desire to do that. we obviously don't want to see any more innocent life taken here. i want to see any more innocent life taken here.— life taken here. i want to follow up _ life taken here. i want to follow up on _ life taken here. i want to follow up on the - life taken here. i want to follow up on the point i life taken here. i want to i follow up on the point about respect for democracy. we have a fellow at the centre for middle east policy. he told us this. a, middle east policy. he told us this. �* ., ., , middle east policy. he told us this. ., ., , ~ ., this. a lot of people like to say that — this. a lot of people like to say that israel _ this. a lot of people like to say that israel takes - this. a lot of people like to say that israel takes greatl say that israel takes great caution to prevent all limit civilian casualties, but that simply hasn't been born out by the facts. not in this conflict and not in previous ones. mai; and not in previous ones. may is our and not in previous ones. may is your response _ and not in previous ones. may is your response to _ and not in previous ones. may is your response to that? again, i leave it to what i said before. no—one wants to see more innocent life taken here. one of the great things about our relationship with israel is as two democracies, we really do respect the rule of law and the law of war specifically. i of law and the law of war specifically.— of law and the law of war

secificall . ., ., ~ specifically. i would also like to ask you — specifically. i would also like to ask you about _ specifically. i would also like to ask you about something | specifically. i would also like i to ask you about something we heard from president biden, a warning to other countries in the region to not get involved in this conflict. is that something the us is acutely concerned about right now? absolutely we are. there's no question about it. a bit driving force for why we move that carrier strike group to the eastern mediterranean is to send a strong signal, any nation who wants to take advantage of the situation in israel to escalate this conflict, to make it more than just the israeli defence forces against hamas needs to think again. the united states will take very seriously any threat our challenge to our national security interests in the region. we have a wide set of security interests in the region. we don't want to see any new fronts opened up. you said despite — any new fronts opened up. you said despite what _ any new fronts opened up. you said despite what we're seeing happening at the moment, the biden administration remains committed to a 2—state solution. do you still see that

as possible?— as possible? the president still believes _ as possible? the president still believes in _ as possible? the president still believes in the - as possible? the president| still believes in the promise of a 2—state solution. it requires leadership on all sides. we understand so far it's been elusive but it doesn't mean it's not worth pursuing. as you and i are talking right here, today, there's a stronger focus on making sure that israel can defend itself against these terrorist attacks and hamas is a terrorist organisation, make no mistake about it. they don't speak — this goes to your question — they don't speak for the vast majority of the palestinian people. in their terrorist attacks, not only of course are they butchering innocent israeli life, they're making life harder on the palestinians in gaza as well, using them as human shields, and not representing fairly their aspirations for an independent state and peace and security for them and for their children. around the world

and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. us prosecutors have announced 23 new criminal charges against congressman george santos. they relate to allegations thta he stole the identities of donors and used their credit cards for his personal gain. the new indictment replaces an earlier one, to which mr santos pleaded not guilty in may. so far, mr santos has resisted all calls to resign. officials at luton airport in the uk say that all flights have been suspended, following a fire in a parking garage. footage shared to social media shows flamesjumping from the roof of the structure. firefighters said the building had suffered a significant structural collapse. five people have been taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. french troops have begun withdrawing from niger. this is video of military convoys arriving in the country's capital niamey after departing

from bases in south—west niger. the west african country's junta began demanding for french forces to leave after a july coup. french president emmanuel macron agreed to the withdrawl in september. you're live with bbc news. let's return to the situation in israel, and we have an update to the death toll in israel. state media now says 1,200 people have died, most of them civilians. well, some of the first reports of saturday's attack came from eyewitnesses at a music festival in southern israel. hamas gunmen killed at least 260 people there, and took hostages. lucy williamson reports. bodies and debris still line the route into this festival site. police have told us this vehicle was used by hamas militants. you can still see the ground here is covered with the remains of weapons, the uniforms they used. days on from this attack, families all across this area are still trying to trace

exactly what happened to their loved ones. four members of one family listed among the hostages kidnapped by militants. among them his nephews, 12 and 16 years old. the boys phoned their mother as gunmen took them from a nearby house. and then they said they heard someone breaking into the door and walking in the house. about ten minutes later i heard people speaking in arabic outside the door. the door opened and i could hear my youngest say, "don't take me, i'm too young." that was the last i heard from them. those barbarians took kids out of their houses and out of their beds and just kidnapped them. they're keeping them hostage. theirfather and his girlfriend are also missing. this video appears to show them in the hands of militants. but the waiting is killing us. i can see my mum broken.

that's the hardest part for me. i can be strong, i can lift up all my family, but it's hard to see my mum breaking. as israel continues to pound targets in gaza, hamas has threatened to begin executing hostages in response. with every strike, some see the face of israel's military might. ranana sees the faces of her children. lucy williamson, bbc news, southern israel. earlier, i spoke with marc ginsberg. the former us ambassador to morocco. his nephew, eli, was killed rescuing hostages at a kibbutz. former ambassador ginsberg, thanks forjoining us. first of all, our condolences to you on the loss of your nephew. we do appreciate you speaking to us at this time. you might start by telling us what you know about what happened to your nephew.

my nephew eli was a lieutenant colonel in the commando unit that was called up and mobilised immediately after the saturday morning attack. he was deployed to kibbutz reim which was the site of the music festival where so many innocent civilians were massacred. and his unit that he commanded was responsible for trying to free hostages that were being held by hamas inside the kibbutz buildings. and in one of the efforts to free hostages that were being held in one of the apartment blocks, he was killed in a gunfire fight. and when did word reach you and yourfamily about what had happened? my sister—in—law contacted me, his mother, who lives on the northernmost kibbutz in israel on the lebanese border and it is a kibbutz that my entire family has been raised on and eli was born

at that kibbutz — misgav am. and tell us a little bit about him, as you say, he was born there, he had a great military career and four children, i believe. yeah, he had four wonderful children, a beautiful wife, malki. he has two brothers, both of them are wonderful young men, rani and dar. his father, my brother, was killed in the 2006 lebanese hezbollah war. so my family has lost not only his father but now eli. eli was revered by many in the military, he was a navy seal. he was commander in the navy seals of israel. he was also one of the instructors at the counter—terrorism school in israel.

he had an infectious smile, a wonderful personality, he was built like a tank but he had the personality of what we call a sabra. he was tough on the outside and extraordinarily warm on the inside. we loved him and his smile was infectious. and as you said there, he was killed in a gunfight trying to free people in that same kibbutz. have you managed to speak to anyone who was there at the time about what that scene was like? no, there's been some postings on israeli media about his leadership in that fight and in that struggle because there were so many terrorists who had occupied the buildings and had committed horrific massacres against the civilians that lived in that kibbutz as well as, as you well know, the people

who were attending the supernova festival outside the kibbutz. we've read some postings, his name has been mentioned frequently on israeli television in recent days because of stories that have percolated out from his unit to israeli media, but i only have access to one of the stories which was a wonderful story about his heroism. and have you speaking to his wife or have you heard from your sister how his wife is doing? i speak to her now almost every couple of hours. part of the problem here, as you well know, jews who die are supposed to be buried within 2a hours. we were all trying to see if we could make it from the united states to the funeral and we found out from my sister—in—law today that the israeli army is just not able to schedule his funeral because there are so many israelis who are in the military

who have died in the conflict already and the army cannot even give us a date for the funeral, that's how bad the situation is. i was raised in israel. i knew eli growing up, obviously i was very close to his father. and so this affects all of us that he's unable to be rest in peace at this point. and as you say you haven't been given 0k, well, ambassador ginsburg, thank you so much for taking the time just talk to us given the circumstances that you and your family find yourself in and again, our condolences to you. she survived the attack but died several months later. and a reminder you can head, to our live page on bbc.com/news — for all the latest updates on the conflict from our teams on the ground in israel, and around the world. that's all from us here in washington, i'm caitriona perry. we leave you with these pictures of london as we hand off

to our colleagues there. hello there. so far this october, we've been building in some pretty big contrasts in terms of rainfall. parts of the south haven't even had a single drop of rain yet, whereas across northern scotland, aboyne in aberdeenshire, we've already had 113 millimetres of rain. that's already more than an average october. and of course, we're only a third of the way through the month. then we had these temperature contrasts on tuesday — 26 degrees in writtle near chelmsford in essex, just 13 in lerwick, behind a cold front across the far north of scotland. and over the next few days, as that cold front pushes its way gradually southwards, we are going to see those temperatures drop away. and certainly by the time we get to the weekend, we'll all be feeling as if autumn has firmly arrived. mind you, for some of us, the temperatures will be dropping as we look at the weather into wednesday. here's our cold front, bringing some rain southwards, clearing away from scotland and northern ireland, so the flood warnings continuing to fall here. but we've got the rain

heading in across parts of england and wales. a mild start to the day on wednesday here. a much colder start, though, in scotland, with temperatures down into low single figures in the countryside. now, we've got this band of rain, this cold front, with us through the day on wednesday, some particularly heavy rain across the hills of mid wales. could bring one or two impacts here. some wet weather as well for the midlands and parts of east anglia for much of the day. to the south of our front, it's another warm day, with temperatures again reaching the 20s. otherwise, for scotland, northern ireland, northern england, those temperatures will be dropping away. and it will be blustery for the far north of scotland too, gusts reaching 60 miles/hour, driving in plenty of showers here.

now, heading through wednesday night and into thursday, our weather front sinks across into southern parts of england. it's very weak by this stage, just a few patches of rain. temperatures for most of us much closer to the october average. we still have some heat hanging on across the very far south of england. and for a time on friday, we actually get a zone of warmer air pushing back northwards. but with that heavy rain for england and wales, scotland and northern ireland, a day of sunshine and blustery showers. so the cool weather continues across these northern areas. across the south, more of us will see temperatures climbing back into the high teens to low 20s. but that won't last. into the weekend, it will cool down properly, with temperatures around about 10 to 1a degrees. and for the mountains of northern scotland, on saturday, it'll be cold enough for a little bit of snow over the very mountain tops. that's the latest.

voiceover: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. for the first time since russia's full —— full scale invasion, the war raging in ukraine is not dominating the international headlines and geopolitical discussion. as the israeli military targets gaza in response to hamas's brutal

assault, will kyiv be impacted by the shift in