the israeli military says it has killed a hamas commander who led part of last week's incursion in which 1,300 israelis were killed. israel has vowed to completely destroy hamas after last week's attack, saying its forces are preparing to expand their operations on the ground. in a statement, the idf said it was gearing up for a comprehensive offensive by land, airand sea. on saturday, israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu visited troops near the gaza strip, telling them, "the next stage is coming." the united nations has said the situation in gaza is fast becoming untenable. the un says nearly a million palestinians there have now been displaced, due to airstrikes and israel's warning that people should leave the north of gaza. and the bbc has confirmed that young children were among those killed yesterday in an air strike on vehicles leaving northern gaza along an israeli—designated route south.

the israeli military has confirmed there are 126 hostages in gaza but there are fears that number could be as high as 150. a military spokesperson also said the bodies of some hostages have been found on the edges of the gaza strip. our correspondent frankie mccamley has been speaking to families of some of those missing. posted online, this video of shiri and her baby, surrounded by militants. you can just about see nine—month—old kfir in her arms, believed to be one of the youngest taken hostage. and this is 84—year—old ditza heiman, one of the eldest, still missing. her niece debbie says her aunt was hiding in her safe room, on the phone to her family, just before she was taken. when her phone was answered, this time, it was answered by a man speaking arabic, and he said, "hamas, hamas". they later heard from a neighbour

of hers in the kibbutz that he'd heard her crying for help, and he'd rushed out of his home and he'd seen her surrounded by gunmen, being led away. the aftermath, following the reported abduction of ii people from this home, burnt to the ground, now just a shell. and one of the assumptions was that they put the house on fire to force my family out of the shelter and then, at gunpoint, took them to the vehicles and to the borders. my sister, she's 38. her husband, he is also 38. their child, naveh, he is eight years old.

and another child, yahel, she is three years old. the age of my son. ten of herfamily members are still missing, as well as her uncle's carer. in order for our team to try and work out from those who are missing who may have been taken hostage, we've been listening to the testimonies of dozens of families. some say they were on the phone to their loved ones just before they were taken. others have managed to track mobile phones before they were cut off. we've also been sent videos from families that appear to show their relatives being put into the back of vans and trucks, before being driven off. as for where people have been taken after videos like this emerge, it's unclear. we also don't know what condition they're in. and the complexity of this ever—changing situation has been highlighted again in the case of shani louk, a tattoo artist from germany. she was at the supernova music

festival which was stormed by militants, who killed at least 260 people and kidnapped many others. news outlets were initially reporting that she had died after this footage emerged of her in the back of a pick—up truck, which we've edited because it's too upsetting to show. but after, her mother released a video to german media to say she believes shani is in hospital and alive, which is the desperate hope for so many other families. but this is a war with no end in sight. frankie mccamley, bbc news. several countries including egypt, qatar, turkey and russia have indicated they would take part in mediation talks to release the hostages. but it is a complex operation. lukwesa burak has more from the newsroom. now, what took place on the 7th of october, saturday the 7th of october, was unprecedented, when hamas fighters entered southern israel.

they took 120, perhaps more people as hostage and took them into gaza. so, as israel prepares the next stage of the war against hamas and also that ground incursion into gaza, there are many questions, and concerns, about the fate of those hostages. but there are some key factors at play here. the first of which is who exactly they are. 23, 2a countries have indicated, reportedly indicated that they do have citizens who are missing. at the bbc, we have only been able to verify these countries as having citizens who are either missing or indeed confirmed been taken as hostage. where are they, though? we know they are in the gaza strip. hamas themselves said that they are being held in safe places all within those tunnels. those tunnels are notorious and they are spread right across the strip itself.

they are often regarded as the underground city beneath gaza strip. these were the words of an idf spokesperson on friday trying to describe the scale of the problem they are facing. he said, think of the gaza strip as one layer of civilians and another layer for hamas. we are trying to get to that second layer. the problem is that it is also where we believe some of those hostages are being held. so they are undoubtedly very valuable to hamas, but what about their well—being? fairly early on, they were family members who were concerned about the elderly, who were in poor health and taken without their medication. the youngest, we understand, is only six months old. we have also heard talk of a prisoner swap. there is precedent. back in 2011, this gentleman here, gilad shalit was released after being held since 2006. initially, benjamin netanyahu said he wasn't going to give into hamas demands but following huge public pressure, he did, and he was part

of the swap that involved the largest number of palestinians are released as part of that swap. so, as we wait for that ground incursion and families have been watching those israeli troops entered gaza, they will undoubtedly have their own family members at the forefront of their minds. and in the past few hours, we've heard from some of the families of israelis abducted by hamas. in a news conference, they demanded the establishment of a humanitarian corridor for the transfer of medicines and humanitarian aid to those abducted. next you'll hear from adva. her sister tamar was taken from the supernova music festival, that was attacked by hamas last weekend. she is 27 years old and is now missing.

tamar suffers from crohn�*s disease. it is an inflammatory bowel disease. she uses humera. it's a biologic... i'm sorry... it is a biologic medication and she needs it. she has a lot of exacerbation, and she is hospitalised a lot during the years. if she won't get her medical treatment, she can suffer from bowel obstruction, fistula, inflammation, abscess, she could die without her medication and without medical treatment. and this is just my sister. there are so many others that need medications. some of the impact there. we have correspondents across the region

following developments in the story. let's get more on the latest from southern israel. 0ur correspondentjonathan beale there and gave us this update. you get the impression something big is about to happen soon, notjust the israeli prime minister visiting troops, he also spoke with the us president again tonight, joe biden, but the statement from the israel defence force tonight which says they are preparing for a wide range of offensive operations from air, land, and say, and this is the important bit, with a significant emphasis on ground operations, and they will have to be significant errors rallies to achieve its goal, its stated goal of destroying hamas. when will this happen? the answer is we simply don't know, whether it is hours or days away by the rhetoric certainly are stepping up, suggesting something is fairly imminent. what will it look like? we already know that urban warfare is the most brutal, bloody type of

conduct. you can see that from the images inside city and the impact of those israeli air strikes on the gaza citizens. israel has the advantage, in terms of numbers, and equipment, but hamas has that element of surprise, knowing the streets of gaza like they're back of the hand and that network of underground tunnels that could cause problems for israel. lats underground tunnels that could cause problems for israel.— problems for israel. lots of questions _ problems for israel. lots of questions about _ problems for israel. lots of questions about what - problems for israel. lots of i questions about what happens problems for israel. lots of - questions about what happens next. i've been speaking to the israeli historian and writer ilan pappe. he is also a professor and director of the european centre for palestine studies at the university of exeter. i asked him what he thought israel is likely to do next. we are going to witness an israeli land invasion into the gaza strip which will end with disastrous of course consequences for the people living in gaza. the israeli's call upon the million or so people in gaza

to move either to the north or to the south is impractical. and it seems that quite a large number of civilians would be caught within the zone into which the israeli military would enter. so, this is one thing to look at, an imminent israeli invasion. the next kind of possible development is that such an invasion might persuade hezbollah in the north to be more deeply involved in this conflict, and also would raise the tensions in the west bank, might even lead to a third uprising in the west, if indeed this invasion will take place. and with the dreaded consequences to human life.

the question is will the international community continue to stand by and kind of license israel to these kinds of policy in the name of revenge? as an historian, i always found it difficult to find many cases in history where revenge, as a policy, was totally condoned by the international community, but there are no signs, no indication as yet, that the international community, especially the united states, are going to intervene and therefore we are unfortunately before another bloody and terrible chapter in the history of this confrontation. yes, and i want to come onto that international response in just a few moments but let's talk first, you touched on the people that are unable or unwilling to leave the areas in the north of gaza as per that request, that demand from the israeli military. talk to me about some

of the concerns that people have about leaving their homes. and the big question about whether they will ever return. that in history has precedent. indeed. i think we have to remember that a very large number of these people are a second or third generation of the palestinian refugees from 19118 who were expelled in 19118 and could never return to their homes. so, as refugees, they understand very well that once they are being expelled or even if they leave voluntarily, the chances of coming back are very slim. the second concern is that egypt is not likely to open the rafah crossing, apart from maybe some humanitarian cases, so what we will have here is people locked within this enclave without any route of escape.

and as we have already seen in the last few hours, contrary to what the israelis promised, the kind of carpet bombing that they are now beginning to launch, this has not turned the escape routes into safe routes, they are also part of the area, or if you want, the killing fields of israel. so, the concern is that this kind of uprooting would be even worse than the one in 19118 because it includes bombing from the air and we just heard on the news the other problems of water, energy and so on. yeah, and i want to talk, as promised, about that the bbc has confirmed that young children were among those

killed in an air strike on a convoy of vehicles leaving northern gaza on friday — along a route designated by israel. the palestinian health ministry says 70 people died — the israeli military says it's investigating what happened. our team at bbc verify analysed two videos of the strike on the vehicles heading towards southern gaza. both videos have been verified —— these first images show a lorry both videos have been verified — these first images show a lorry carrying at least 30 civilians, moving south. and these are still images taken from a subsequent video from the aftermath of the strike, too graphic to show in detail. the video shows men running to a lorry — part of the same convoy — trying to help those who've been hit. there are at least 12 visible dead bodies in the video. paul brown from the bbc verify team — has been investigating the authenticity of the gaza convoy pictures. very graphic imagery, very disturbing but it is important to help us understand what is going on and to communicate it to our audience. being able to verify this footage in active conflict areas helps us

understand these major developments and weed out disinformation of which there is been an absolute flood over the last week. we tend to use satellite imagery and other online resources to try and get a sense of where and when an incident took place based on the footage that we are looking at. in this particular incidence, we thought there was likely to be this salah al—din road which is a major road running north to south, through gaza and was one ofjust two evacuation routes for civilians leaving the north and heading down to the south, presumably to safety. it's a 45 kilometre road, so we scanned the route, starting from the north where they would have left from and tried to match details that we saw from this satellite imagery with those we saw in the video. in this case the layout of several buildings, some road markings and a sign helped us to pin down the location and we even used online tools to analyse the angle of the sun,

the length of the shadows, to get an idea of when this incident took place or at least when the footage was shot and it looked around 5:30pm yesterday local time. yeah and that's the key thing, isn't it? it's about a painstaking process to match so many different elements to getting a clearer picture and you're able to say with some confidence that is exactly what it shows. you touched on it paul at the beginning, this is a war being played out on social media too and there's a lot of disinformation out there. people can be overwhelmed with videos, with statements and pictures and it's about breaking through some of the disinformation and working out exactly what's going on and that's what your team are doing. exactly, that's what we're here for. increasingly there's footage that comes out that will be misattributed, it will be old footage that's being presented as new footage. it clouds the whole picture of what's going on and that doesn't

help anyone when it comes to real—world consequences, particularly dangerous in situations like this when people are fleeing their homes, trying to find safety. if they're not well informed and the people they are speaking to aren't well—informed, this can be dangerous. that's the point, isn't it? this isn't just about telling the rest of the world going on. it's also a valuable source for the people caught up in the conflict. also interesting too the way that all players in this conflict are using social media to get their message out. just tonight, we know the israeli prime minister putting his statement out, talking to the troops on the border and saying we are ready for the next stage and we can see that video here. using social media as a direct way to address people. yeah. the narratives, counterclaims, all of that is played out on social media on various channels. it's quite confusing at times, trying to figure out what's going on and that's why we dedicate ourselves to this work

and have a whole team working on this around—the—clock. we've been flat out on this particular conflict for the last seven days, trying to figure out what's been happening and where it's happening. the chaos of last saturday, when the attacks began, we were quickly able to ascertain where the breaches in the border fence had taken place, where attacks on civilians were taking place and that really helps us to build a picture of what's going on in real time, almost. to really give an understanding of the scale of this kind of attack. yeah and people will be fascinated by how you are able to do thatjob given that, you know, a lot of the footage may be grainy or rushed, especially when you reference the events of last saturday. you know, it's not always very clear what's going on or indeed the footage itself isn't always very clear and you can't always hear the people talking for example in the videos. what's the hardest bit to get right? that's a good question.

the hardest would be, exactly as you say, when we are dealing with grainy footage where the details are unclear and we are dealing with regions where there isn't clear satellite image, we often use street view, these online tools that allow you to take to street level. in gaza we don't have that. that's not available online so we have to base it on what we are seeing from the satellite imagery which makes it a lot trickier and more time—consuming but it's really important we do this. it has been a day had significant developments, it now marks one week since the start of this war. i have been speaking to mike thompson, our regional editor for been speaking to mike thompson, our regional editorfor his been speaking to mike thompson, our regional editor for his thoughts on israel's next most.

the prime minister is really talking things up, talking about hitting hamas with unprecedented might, and this is only the beginning and saying to all the soldiers, are you ready for the next stage? really trying to hype up things there. and they have said it will be an attack on all fronts, from sea, air, and land air, and land so it is really going to be a question of when all this happens and everyone is bracing for themselves, the tanks have been moving all day pretty much around the south of gaza. and whatever happens is going to happen very soon. yes, and there is a certain significance, here we are one week on since those hamas attacks on israel last weekend. and perhaps of course it has taken time and we know we have been told time and time again that some of the military raid so far from the israeli side have been about trying to damage some of that hamas military infrastructure but also to gather intelligence. talk to me, though, and we have been talking about the hostages as well,

they will be a lot of concern about a land assault, given that we expect there are some hostages there, too. indeed, more than 100 hostages there, and bake worry is going to be indeed, more than 100 hostages there, and the big worry is going to be already they must be suffering terribly, not only from the air strikes but as we know, feel and water, most notably, has been cut off by israel. so the deprivation that faces many of the civilians there will also of course be affecting the hostages. and this is one of the most crowded areas, urban areas on earth, so it is going to be very hard to find the hostages for the israeli soldiers, and also it looks like whatever battles happened there are going to be very bloody and very costly on both sides. yes, and we know that that evacuation has been going on for some 2a hours now, people moving from the north of gaza moving further south, some people who cannot move, some people who are unwilling to move, and the humanitarian situation there deteriorating by the hour.

yes, and dealing with a people who aren't able to move, principally those who are injured as well as the elderly and infirm, but al—shifa, the biggest hospital there is saying it really is struggling, 95% of its medicines have run out and there is something like an estimated 40,000 people, apparently, just within the grounds orjust outside the grounds of the hospital, waiting desperately. and those who have managed to get out safely, they are being faced from all the accounts we are getting of the sort of flattened buildings, no water available for drinking, and many heading into areas with no shelter, mainly agricultural land, so their worries aren't over, certainly, not yet, sadly. we have been reporting as well not particularly us authorities advising its citizens to try to cross at the rafah crossing, that is the crossing of course into egypt. but that remains closed

and we are hearing testimony there of people who have been turned away from that crossing. do you expect that they will be any movement at that border crossing? i strongly suspect secretary of state antony blinken has been negotiating on this one, and it looks like there is a very good chance that that crossing will be opened. the problem was before, apparently according to egypt, there was a lot of bombing happening on the gaza side and it wasn't safe, now that will hamas allow people, allow the foreign nationals, the americans to leave through that crossing? and as far as i can tell so far that issue has not been fully resolved. and so where we are right now, of course, it is very nervous time on all sides for everyone in this, but we know, and just to reiterate those lines we have heard within the last hour or so, that combined and coordinated strike from air, sea and land, and the military spokesman saying they are ready. there is also a lot of nervous

diplomacy going on behind—the—scenes about not dragging other regional powers into this conflict, even though it seems we are perhaps on the eve of something pretty significant. indeed, that has been one of mr blinken�*s top priorities, to try and avoid that happening. but we have seen several clashes happening, both overnight and indeed today, several people killed in exchanges between israel and hezbollah, in lebanon, the lebanese militia, and that is a very serious threat because hezbollah is an extremely powerful militia group and a worry for israel and the us. that is mike thompson from the bbc world service. coverage continues here on bbc news. hello there. the weather for quite a few of us has been feeling a lot colder today.

sunday will be getting off to a cold start in most places and it promises to be a rather chilly day. but it won't be as windy as it was on saturday and they won't be as many showers, high pressure building its way in from the west, notice the isil are still quite tightly packed across northern and eastern parts of scotland, still quite windy here, and a weak frontal system bringing rain into the north of scotland, wintry for a time over high ground though much will turn back to rain. southern scotland, northern ireland, england and wales having a fine day after a cold and frosty start, long spells of sunshine, a few showers around the coasts, still plastering the north—east of scotland but lighter winds elsewhere, temperature 7 degrees and loic, 1a fawcett had, elsewhere ten to 13 degrees. sunday night will be a cold one, light winds in most places, mist and fog patches could well develop, breezy

in the south than in the north, the odd shower in the north of scotland and perhaps in the south—east of england. in between, temperatures dropping to close to or even below freezing with our area of high pressure still with us. low pressure trying to squeeze in from the south and from the north so it is northern and from the north so it is northern and southern parts that will turn a little bit windy as we go through the day on monday. in between light winds, early mist and fog clearing, brisk winds in the north of scotland, may be the shower, also in southern england where it will also turn quite windy, the strong wind also affecting the channel islands. temperatures generally 11 to 13 degrees in most places. 0n temperatures generally 11 to 13 degrees in most places. on tuesday, the winds will ease in the north but will pick—up across the south, breezy across more of england and wales, and some showery rain across the channel islands, the south—west of england, but temperatures rising up of england, but temperatures rising up to 15 or 16 degrees, a sign of

things to come. it will turn unsettled through mid week, weather systems pushing up through the south, potentially heavy bursts of rain but with southerly winds temperatures climbing easily to 16 degrees, it could get warmer in some places, but we will see some outbreaks of some quite heavy rain.

live from washington. this is bbc news.

israel masses troops near gaza as it prepares for the next phase of its military operation to, quote, wipe out hamas. thousands of people flee the north of gaza, amid israeli evacuation orders as the humanitarian crisis in the territory deepens. and president biden speaks to the israeli and palestinian leaders — as the us steps up efforts to contain the escalating conflict. hello, i'm carl nasman. israel's military says that its forces are ready for the next stage of the war — and that it is planning an attack by land, airand sea. in a statement, a spokesperson said that the goal of the operation was to �*completely destroy the governing and military capabilities of hamas'. it comes a week after hamas, which is classed as a terrorist

organisation by many western governments, killed more than 1300 people in israel and took dozens hostage. we can show you these live pictures of gaza city right now where it is shortly after 1am in the morning. in a drone strike, the israeli military said on saturday that it has killed a hamas commander who led part of the assault on israel. meanwhile, on the ground in gaza, thousands of civilians are on the move. that's after israel warned over one million living in the north to move south beyond the wadi gaza river here, an order the world health organization has said is a "death sentence" for those already sick and injured. the authorities in gaza say more than 2,200 people have already died in retaliatory israeli bombing, including children, while attempting to evacuate along a designated safe route. earlier, on saturday, israel's prime minister visited an army post, and asked troops whether they were ready for the next stage.

0ur correspondent lucy williamson reports. every day, hamas sends rockets into israel, and waits for israel's response. after last weekend's attack, israel says these air strikes are just the beginning, and that people living in the north of gaza should leave now. gaza's salahadin road has become a lifeline for people flowing south, a humanitarian corridor labelled "safe". not always. a strike here yesterday killed at least 12 people. the bbc has verified the location. women and children under five among the casualties. israel says it's investigating. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, visited the troops gathered

at gaza's borders today. "the next stage is coming", he told them. "are you ready?" the israeli army has been pounding gaza from here across the border and also from the air. israel says it doesn't deliberately target civilians, and that this is directed at the people who do. today, israel said it had killed the organiser of last weekend's attack. ali qadi was released from an israeli jail more than a decade ago in a prisoner exchange deal with hamas. israel says it was he who planned the attacks on communities like be'eri. gunmen arrived there last saturday, caught on a security camera relaxed, unhurried and well—prepa red.

they brought everything they needed to kill and kidnap — grenades, gaffer tape, plastic cable ties. three members of the gat family are still missing. among them, carmel and her sister—in—law. their family home, shattered. it looks like indiscriminate violence, but it wasn't. this was a targeted attack. some of the people who lived here are now thought to be just a few miles away inside gaza — a different world. be'eri has lived for years with occasional rockets or infiltrations, but destruction like this signals a different kind of vulnerability, and the build—up of israeli forces here, a different kind of response. but what will that response mean for hostages inside gaza? i don't know the effort, i don't know the intelligence, i don't know anything. they don't tell us anything.

they don't tell us afterwards. nobody calls me to say there is negotiation for them. frankly, nobody really knows if they are taken or not. you're angry about that? i am very angry. there is not even a place for sad, to be sad for me. israel's soldiers are now massing at gaza's borders, their weapons pointing towards both hamas and their hostages. for the army that failed to protect its people at home, how much harder will it be to protect them there? lucy williamson, bbc news, southern israel. the united nations says nearly a million palestinians have fled their homes in the gaza strip in the week since israel launched its military response to the killings and kidnappings by hamas. the entire enclave is being hit by israeli strikes from gaza city in the north to rafah in the south. the border crossing there with egypt has remained shut since the hamas attacks last weekend.

crowds of palestinians and foreign nationals have been gathering at the crossing after news that an evacuation route may temporarily open. you may find some of the images in this report now from jon donnison distressing. outside the main hospital in rafah, ice cream trucks. the morgue is full. "some of the dead have been here for two days", this man tells us. "these freezers are meant forfood, not bodies." and this is right in the south of gaza, where people are now being told to go. hundreds of thousands are now heading in this direction. the question is, where do they go? at the border with egypt, hundreds of palestinians who are lucky enough to have foreign citizenship, are hoping to get out.

among them, clutching her british passport, is maryiam. i'm really in fear and every time i just have to have the thought of me dying in a bomb in gaza. it's not a good thing. every place i go, i run away and ijust find bombs and i find dead people. and maybe one day i will end up like them. it's a really scary thing for me. sobbing but egypt says it won't open the crossing, even forforeign nationals, until israel agrees to allow aid in. and hamas also controls this border and has a say on who is allowed out. the nearby united nations school is packed with those seeking shelter, but it was already at full capacity before this latest evacuation order.

"as palestinians, what did we do for this to happen to us?", hanan asks. she tells us she ran out of the house barefoot with nothing when israel bombed her neighbourhood, and came straight to the school. at noon today, many were praying — one would think for better times. many of those here are children, still smiling despite it all. around half gaza's population is under 18, and some are old beyond their years. ramez is just 15. this is his fifth war. "i can barely stand it", he says. "and look around you at all these kids. "ask them, �*do you want to live or not?�* "we just want to be secure", he goes on. "0ur dream is to live, that's all we want." jon donnison, bbc news.

0ur correspondent rushdi abualouf is one of the very few journalists reporting from inside gaza and he's in khan younis in the south of the territory from where he sent us this update. i am back here in the city of khan younis after taking the journey with hundreds of thousands of palestinians who are displaced from the north and gaza city and coming all the way from salahaldin road into khan younis. it's been one week since israel launched the retaliation against hamas, following the deadly attack across the border. the situation, the humanitarian situation here is really at the edge of catastrophic. the city, which already had 400,000 people, has to accommodate now more than1 million people, feed them, treat them and accommodate them.

you guys are live pictures from inside gaza city at the moment. —— those are live pictures. a short while ago i spoke to our defence correspondent, jonathan beale in ashkelon, southern israel. i get the impression that something big is about to happen soon. notjust the israeli prime minister visiting troops massing on the border with gaza this afternoon. he also spoke with the us president again tonight, joe biden. and the statement from the israel defense force tonight which says they are preparing for a wide range of offensive operations from air, land and sea. and this is the important bit with a significant emphasis on ground operations. and they will have to be significant if israel is to achieve its goal, its stated goal of destroying hamas.

now, when will this happen? the answer to that is we simply don't know whether it's hours away, days away. but the rhetoric certainly is stepping up, suggesting something is fairly imminent. and to further complicate the situation we understand that there are many hostages being held inside gaza. will this change any plans for an invasion by the israeli military? we spoke recently to the families of those with loved ones who have been taken and many of them would not want to see full—scale military

operations launched by israel and they would look for a potential swap of prisoners. but you do not get the sense that the hostage situation, and it is in the minds of israeli politicians and commanders, that it will not dissuade their goal to destroy hamas. we don't think they will hold off for that long. live now to retired lieutenant general mark schwartz — and former us security coordinator for israel and the palestinian authority. the israeli military says "the next stage is coming" —— which is expected to be an invasion of gaza. by by land, sea and air.

how prepared is the israeli military for this kind of mission? thanks for having me this evening. i'm confident that the israeli military has stated publicly that they are increasing their level of readiness and increasing their numbers of reservists into tactical formations. they have received help with continuing with the ground offensive, and as we can see from your reporters on the ground there, you've got combat formations, tactical assembly area doing final preparations for things that a few days away. there will be logistical sustainment required for dealing

with the hard to assess numbers of casualties taking place by the israeli military but they will also be casualties from the terrorists as well and more importantly, the civilians caught in the crossfire of this ground assault and from the sea as well. , ., ., , ., as well. interesting to hear your oint of as well. interesting to hear your point of view — as well. interesting to hear your point of view that _ as well. interesting to hear your point of view that this _ as well. interesting to hear your point of view that this may - as well. interesting to hear your point of view that this may not l as well. interesting to hear your. point of view that this may not be imminent but it could take a day or two longer but in the meantime, what kind of defence is hamas capable of putting up? it's happening on their home turf. ., , , home turf. that point is very important — home turf. that point is very important so _ home turf. that point is very important so they _ home turf. that point is very important so they are - home turf. that point is very important so they are on - home turf. that point is very important so they are on the home turf. that point is very - important so they are on the home terrain. they've had the capability to prepare above and below the ground, 150 miles of tunnels so they

can move without impunity until such time as their fixed underground, but there is no more complex operation than fighting in this type of environment and they are doing preparations to move the population out of northern gaza. that said, the real hard work occurs where you don't have the ability to use your long—range direct fire weapons systems and it will be building to building, house to house, room to room fighting. an individual readiness, one of the major challenges that we will face is the integration of all these reservists. and while they are very capable they still have the majority. it's

extremely complex.- still have the majority. it's extremely complex. still have the majority. it's extremel comlex. , ., ., extremely complex. they are rock or went on for — extremely complex. they are rock or went on for a — extremely complex. they are rock or went on for a lot _ extremely complex. they are rock or went on for a lot longer _ extremely complex. they are rock or went on for a lot longer than - extremely complex. they are rock or went on for a lot longer than what i went on for a lot longer than what was expected. how long in your mind you think this could last? fix, was expected. how long in your mind you think this could last? a minimum of several weeks _ you think this could last? a minimum of several weeks but _ you think this could last? a minimum of several weeks but i _ you think this could last? a minimum of several weeks but i believe - you think this could last? a minimum of several weeks but i believe it - of several weeks but i believe it will be months. there are the stated objectives to annihilate hamas as's military and that could take weeks of searching and discovering where cachets are located because it will be possible for hamas to blend into the population mostly. there are

probably sales on the other side of the gaza strip that the israeli forces might not know about. but we are waiting for this military hardware to come in so i think it will take a few months for us to achieve the objectives. the will take a few months for us to achieve the objectives. achieve the ob'ectives. the former securi achieve the objectives. the former security coordinator _ achieve the objectives. the former security coordinator for _ achieve the objectives. the former security coordinator for israel -- i security coordinator for israel —— israeli forces. israel's intelligence services have long been considered one of the world's most sophisticated. but hamas's attack caught israel completely by surprise — and was the worst breach of the country's defences in 50 years. new york times staff writer ronen bergman has been investigating how this could have happened, and who was involved in the planning. bergman is also the author of rise and kill first: the secret history of israel's targeted assassinations.

ronan, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. we're one week on now from the attacks on israel by hamas. just first of all, talk us through what appears to be a massive failure of intelligence on the part of israel. and according to your reporting, what appears to have gone wrong? i think there's nothing the israeli side that didn't go wrong. there were mistakes and failures on three different levels, the intelligence that was supposed to supply a reliable alert enough time before the attack. and just 50 days, 50 years in a day after the previous major intelligence blunder of the yom kippur war, was not able to supply, as it happened 50 years ago, was not able to supply any alert that this is coming. hundreds of hamas operatives, militants were working for at least a year, i believe, even more than that. but looking at documents of hamas,

we have initial plans that were drawn in november of 2022. so at least a year they were active in active preparation, drilling, planning, thinking, collecting intelligence, doing all sorts of drills, exercises. and israel didn't know anything. in order to mobilize 2,000 people over the fence after major assault on the fence, you have to have a lot of people in the know how, look and these kind of forums with so many people considered to be maybe the easiest to penetrate that israel didn't know anything. this is a major intelligence achievement for hamas and a major intelligence failure for israel. i know the details in here quickly, because you mentioned

that that israel seemed to not be prepared or not know that this attack, which had been in the making, was about to take place, according to your reporting. why is that? why do you think israel seemed to be caught so flatfooted? well, not to put all the credit, the negative credit to israel. there's also, from their point of view, positive credit for hamas for planning secretly and executing this horrifying massacre. i think hamas has learned the lesson, the lessons from years of confrontation with israel, with or without iranian guidance and help. it was able to identify the channels that israel was monitoring. just in 2018, hamas was able to uncover a group of alleged ngo activists working in gaza that were, in fact, israeli commandos and agents working undercover. and they were monitoring, they were installing a massive

bugging device to encrypted hamas switchboard. hamas was able to get their equipment. they withdrew under fire and they left equipment, the classified equipment that they were working with. so hamas was able to identify this channel and maybe other channels that israel was looking at using, apparently other channels that israel didn't know about. and i think that israel was also caught in some kind of conception, which apparently was also guided by hamas deception that relatively, relatively to hamas this is a moderate time. tens of thousands of people gathered for pro—palestinian demonstrations across the uk amid growing international concern

over the situation in israel and gaza. marchers filled the streets of central london on saturday as thousands also gathered in manchester, liverpool, edinburgh and other parts of the uk. in london more than 1,000 police officers were deployed as crowds marched from the bbc�*s new broadcasting house to downing street. the met police said seven people had been arrested, including one for criminal damage and two for public order offences. president biden has spoken to both israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas in another effort to de—escalate the ongoing conflicts. when speaking to netanyahu, president biden reiterated his condemnation of the attacks by hamas forces. meanwhile in his call with president abbas, biden offered the palestinian authority support for humanitarian assistance to the palestinian people, particularly those in gaza. joining me now is our north america correspondent, shingai nyoka. presidentjoe biden has had separate phone calls with israeli prime

minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas? what more do we know about those conversations?2. two very important calls with two parties on different sides of this conflict. we understand according to the white house that president biden really gave prime minister benjamin netanyahu his unwavering support. he also updated him on the military support that the us has said it will give. we also know that the us has promised it will provide weapons and what it says is the speed of war but he also emphasised his concerns about the palestinians and the need to provide safe passage for the civilians. it was something he

reiterated in his conversation with the palestinian president mahmoud abbas. he also more importantly really spoke about the need to try and de—escalate this conflict to ensure that other countries don't get involved in those countries he was referring to were iran and syria. and i understand we are expecting an address by president biden in just a short while? what more do we know about the us citizens still in gaza, attempting to leave? the us have advised their citizens in gaza to leave as soon as possible. we understand some of made their way to the border with egypt

and this is at the crossing there. the us has advised that there is around 500—600 dual national people. they were supposed to be an opening on saturday between the hours of ten and five o'clock, around five hours that they had to cross but this was closed and so many of them are still at the border trying and hoping that the opening will be available on sunday. indie the opening will be available on sunda . ~ , . , ~ the opening will be available on sunda . ~ , . , �* ., sunday. we expect president biden to seak in a sunday. we expect president biden to speak in a short _ sunday. we expect president biden to speak in a short while _ sunday. we expect president biden to speak in a short while and _ sunday. we expect president biden to speak in a short while and we - sunday. we expect president biden to speak in a short while and we will - speak in a short while and we will be sure to bring you any updates from that. we'll take you now to some live pictures in a of the situation in gaza.

sunday will be getting off to a cold start in most places and it promises to be a rather chilly day. but not as windy as it was on saturday and there won't be as many showers. high pressure building its way in from the west. notice the isobars quite tightly packed across northern and eastern scotland. still quite windy here and a weak frontal system bringing cloud and showery rain into the north of scotland. something wintry for a time on the higher ground although much of it will turn to rain. southern scotland, northern ireland, england and wales having a fine day after a cold night. some showers around the coast. blustery in the north—east of scotland but

temperatures 7 degrees in lerwick, 1a in st helier but elsewhere 10—13. sunday night will be another cold one, light wind in most places, some mist and fog patches may well develop. breezy in the south and north. temperatures dropping close to or even below freezing with an area of high pressure still with us. low pressure trying to squeeze in from the south and also from the north. northern and southern parts will turn a bit windy as we go through the day on monday. in between, light wind, early mist and fog clearing, some good sunshine but brisk wind in the north of scotland and the odd shower, and maybe in the south where it will turn quite windy and the strong wind affecting the channel islands. temperatures generally 11, 12, 13 in most places. on tuesday the wind eating a bit in the north but conversely picking up across the south. breezy across more of england and wales and some showery rain across the channel islands, the south—west of england but temperatures rising a bit, up to 15, 16.

a sign of things to come. turning much more unsettled in the midweek, weather systems pushing up from the south, potentially quite heavy bursts of rain but temperatures climbing easily to around 16 degrees. it could get warmer than that in places. but we will see some outbreaks of quite heavy rain.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines at the top of the hour. straight after this programme. this was once a place full of tourists. but when the pandemic came to cuba, the country lost a vital source of income. medicine and food shortages sparked unprecedented demonstrations against the government. and the biggest exodus to the us since the 1959 cu ban revolution. many put their lives in the hands of human smugglers, on dangerous journeys across central america.