the white house say israel has turned the water supply to southern gaza back on. the white house says the move follows a conversation pick between president biden and the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. israel continues its bombardment of the gaza strip, with fighter planes and drones striking targets across the territory. hospitals in gaza have been told to evacuate — but doctors have told the bbc they will refuse to do so. meanwhile thousands of other palestinians continue to flee from the north of gaza — our correspondent says he and his family are living in a room with four other families. i. i, for example, with my family, i share a very small space, it is two bedrooms, with four or five families. meanwhile — the israeli prime minister benyamin netanyahu holds a first cabinet meeting for his new national emergency government. and the us secretary of state is to return to israel following talks in the region.

hello, i'm christian fraser. the white house says israel has turned the water supply to southern gaza back on, after it was switched off following the hamas attack eight days ago. it said the decision followed a conversation between president biden and the israeli prime minister, binjamin netanyahu. the israeli energy minister insisted the decision is in line benjamin netanyahu. the israeli energy minister insisted the decision is in line with israel's existing policy, which is to block all food, fuel, and waterfrom entering gaza until hamas agrees to hand back more than a hundred hostages seized in last saturday's assault. people in the northern half of gaza are continuing to flee the area ahead of an expected israeli incursion. thousands of troops are already massed on the border with gaza. the israelis say they hit over a hundred military targets in air strikes overnight. hamas has continued to fire rockets into israel, including towards tel aviv. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is in egypt,

he has been in riyadh, these are pictures of him leaving riyadh. he's been pressing for humanitarian aid to be allowed into gaza through the rafah border crossing. aid has arrived in sinai, but egypt says it won't allow foreigners to leave unless there are guarantees the aid will be sent into gaza. we start the hour with this report from nick beake. (vt gaza is bleeding. its hospitals already full, deluged with more patients. these some of the youngest victims in this latest chapter of an ancient conflict that's now erupted so violently. israeli air strikes continue to kill civilians in gaza, bringing more searches amid the rubble, often in vain. translation: dozens - of families were massacred. we're beyond capacity. we're treating people in the corridors and on floors. this is a very dangerous situation. israel says this is self—defense to ensure its survival

and that this aerial bombardment is a proportionate response to the atrocities hamas committed a week ago from outside gaza. a glimpse of the aftermath of the israeli raids. all day we heard militaryjets heading towards their targets. israel says its assault on gaza is onlyjust the beginning and that it will be followed by a major offensive by air, land and sea. united nations agencies say that gaza is being pushed into an abyss and that by forcing the evacuation of more than a million palestinians, it is, for the most vulnerable, a death sentence. israel reinforced its ultimatum that civilians in the north of gaza must move to the south. it said it opened another supposedly safe corridor for three hours today. it accused hamas of blocking routes and that no residents of gaza city. translation: residents of gaza city,

i call on you again. _ hamas is trying to prevent your evacuation. we will allow it. get out of gaza city and the surrounding areas for your own safety. many gazans who have tried to seek shelter at schools run by the united nations say getting out is impossible. translation: they said leave towards the south, but there is no transportation. some cars got bombed by air strikes during the night. the children hug me and scream, save us, save us. gaza's border to the south with egypt has been closed, so leaving that way has not been an option. there are trucks full of aid waiting to go into gaza, but for now they're going nowhere. a population of more than two million trapped as israeli forces say they're on their way in. nick beake, bbc news in southern israel. our middle east correspondent tom bateman has been monitoring events

for us from jerusalem — he outlined the preparations being made following a meeting of the israeli war cabinet. it's hard to tell when... if a piece of activity is connected to the potential start of a ground invasion, because we were seeing artillery fire, for example, even by the middle of last week. we've seen other activity with localised incursions actually over the last sort of three days where the israelis have tried to attack rocket launching squads. and in one of those, two or three days ago, they found, they said, information that could lead them to more information or knowledge about the hostages that being held in gaza. so there's a lot going on. it doesn't always mean that it is significant when it comes to the potential timing of this ground invasion. clearly, it is going to happen. we knew that from a very detailed statement from the israeli military last night that this huge operation

of logistics to supply a front line when it begins has been amassing. and what the israeli military are saying this morning now is that it is now a political decision about when it starts. so that would signify that they are ready, but waiting for the green light. i've been following some of the interviews this morning with british officials here, tom, and the numbers missing keep changing. i know the number of dead and missing in israel keeps changing. can you explain a bit of that to us a week on why the numbers fluctuate so much? are they are they still uncertain of who is in gaza city and who is dead and bodies not yet found? it is exactly that. i mean, it's been the task of identifying the remains as they found them. i mean, a lot of that area around the gaza strip was in utter chaos. and it wasn't until, in some of the places affected

by the heaviest fighting, it wasn't until well into the week that the israeli forces were fully gaining control. and even then you were getting sort of sporadic reports of potential gunmen on the loose or in hiding. so it was chaotic. and in terms of the number of fatalities, a large number of bodies have been taken to a military base where they had been going through this task of identifying remains. now that it's taken a long time and it's still going on. so in terms of them understanding who is. ..who's missing but has died as opposed to who is being held in the gaza strip, you know, they haven't known. that was tom bateman reporting from jerusalem. i want to show you this

picture. you should be able to see antony blinken�*s playing on the runway in cairo. they are sorting out the cameras now. we are expecting to hear from antony blinken any second. any ideas, we will dive out from what we are here. he has been meeting today with the president. the americans are trying to get all of their citizens out of gaza, dual citizens still in gaza. also, the french and uk have similar motivations. they said they would not allow them to do that until they can get the aid in. the aid been forestalled in parts of the sinai peninsula and is ready to go. they want assurance from the israeli defence force that aid will be allowed in unfettered. a two minute warning there, we are being told, from the secretary of state. we will watch that. the reason, then, that would suppose that that is the reason why, from cairo, he is going

back to tel aviv tonight, to communicate that message to the israeli authorities. let me also show you pictures that we have where we watch that, of gaza city tonight. the sun is just going down. we watch that, of gaza city tonight. the sun isjust going down. we have seen a lot of activity today in gaza city. that is a plume of smoke. i have been sitting here for almost the last three or four hours on the horizon. plenty of bombardment of areas where they are targeting the hamas militants. also, we have seen areas close to sderot, in the no man's land between sderot on the israeli side and the palestinian side before the more built—up areas that are being pounded as well. so, the israeli defence force are softening off those areas that you would presume the incursion will travel through towards gaza city. trying to ensure that, when they cross the border, they do not walk straight into a trap, because, as

many of our contributors have been saying this afternoon, hamas know full well that it was going to mount this operation in southern israel, and therefore, you must assume, it is as ready for the inevitable that would respond the other way. letting me show you the natures of the runway in cairo. this is a picture there. we are told that the secretary of state will arrive promptly. the americans have some leveraged over the egyptians, they do supply them with an awful lot of military aid. in september, they gave $250 million to the egyptians, that was money which had been held back because of the situation in egypt, the repression in egypt, which the president, president biden talked about a lot. he says that the fact that they have given that money over does not mean that they approve of the way that the president

controls his opponents and opposition forces in the country is a lot of tension in egypt at moment. they do not want to take 2 million refugees from gaza. the security application of that and it would be very difficult to set up refugee camps in the sinai where they do not have water or supplies. very difficult to keep people in the desert he will need all sorts of support when they come out of gaza. in the background, the conversations are that, whether pressure to build on to the israeli defence force going into gaza, and people are pushed further south, does it build to such an extent that that border, the rafah crossing, that will have to open to alleviate the pressure? that is what the egyptians will be worried about, they will be seeking reassurances from the americans and the secretary of state, antony blinken to that effect. it has been quite a whirlwind tour for the secretary of state, he has been to qatar, he has been tojerusalem to

speak to benjamin netanyahu, then to jordan, then to riyadh, where he spoke to the crown prince yesterday. and then, this trip to cairo. 0f and then, this trip to cairo. of course, the concern for the americans, having made so many inroads diplomatically, the bilateral agreement between arab countries, not african countries with israel in recent years, not all that work does not unravel. we may see a realignment of some of the alliances in the middle east because of what is going on, but from their perspective, from the white house perspective, from the white house perspective, they would very much want to give the talks between saudi arabia and tel aviv on that will much depend on what happens on the ground in gaza. let mejust quickly show you some of the pictures as we wait for antony blinken that we have had from across gaza today. these are pictures from the biggest hospital, the biggest medical facility in gaza city today. i

should warn you that some of the pictures are distressing. arsenal has continued to receive a steady flow of injured people through the last few days. the palestinian health minister said that 300 people, mostly children and women, had been killed in 2a hours. more than 800 injured. you can see a number of these patients are young children. i said number of these patients are young children. isaid before number of these patients are young children. i said before that 40% of the population in gaza is under the age of 15, a very young population. 0utside age of 15, a very young population. outside the hospital, these are pictures taken by a freelance cameraman of people lining up, looking for loved ones. the local medical centres, the morgues, they have been overwhelmed with the number of dead recovered. they are now putting the body bags out on the streets. local people are carrying them onto the road as families looked on. some of them are looking for people that are missing. and these pictures here, i will show you some of the explosions that we have been talking about from inside

northern gaza city, this was a few hours ago. they continue to bomb the israeli airforce areas hours ago. they continue to bomb the israeli air force areas of the city that they are targeting with drones and aircraft. the reserve force, around 300,000 people, they are still waiting on the border, waiting for orders. and, we are still waiting to hearfrom for orders. and, we are still waiting to hear from the unity government, from the new wall cabinet what the planners and when they will go. i willjust take you back to the runway in cairo. whether or not antony blinken, and his trip back to tel aviv, and therefore to jerusalem, is going to come became a manchester when they go, i do not know. lyse doucet said that she does not think that will be factored in by the israeli military, that they would go when they want to go, when they are getting ready, not because of who is in the country. let us in fact listen to lyse doucet as we wait for antony blinken. she is in

ashkelon at the moment. thousands of troops which have been amassing on the borderfor the past week, the artillery and armour that we have seen racing past when we have gone down toward sderot, towards the edge of the closed military zone. there is also the nonstop bombardment. almost since those massacres by hamas on saturday morning, the israeli army keeps updating us on how many targets, hundreds, sometimes thousands of targets a night. we also had a few days ago that they had carried out with reconnaissance units a limited raid inside northern gaza. they said that they were looking for some signs of where the hostages could be. and that also they had been able to track down some hamas cells. so, phase by phase they are building up to what they have. not said that the political order has taken, but the military operations are almost there. i have to say, we woke up this morning and there was rain, and we know that there are reports

that they might... we have contemplated starting a bit sooner, but this bad weather held them back a bit. weather matters a lot in war. on this side of the border there were a lot of rockets into sderot this morning. you should have a viewer to the scene. we have spent the last few days right on that corner. sderot was evacuated today when we were there earlier in the week, the mail was frustrated that some people were leaving and they said they didn't have resources, nowhere to go. now, we understand an official evacuation took place today. that border town, about 30,000 people, most had gone. but there were still some stragglers. ashkelon, today, is relatively quiet. yesterday, almost every hour there was an air raid siren into the night. so far today, relatively quiet. but there have been rockets in tel aviv too. well, i don't think, even though the relationship is so strong, that the staunchest of allies, i think the military has its own clock whether or not

antony blinken easier. antony blinken is here. it is interesting that he has come back. he will come back with a number of messages, i think, he talked to the king injordan, he was in qatar where many of the hamas political leaders are based, in saudi arabia where of course the saudi leadership, they play a major role in the region as the custodian of the two holy shrines. before this all happened, they seem to be on a parfor the recognition of the jewish state. of course the message from egypt which always plays a mediating role, it is right on gaza's southern border, it has a role to play in terms of the humanitarian side. with all of this discussion of a possible buffer zone. i think antony blinken is gathering all of those messages from the arab world and arab leaders who are watching this so closely and with nervousness, and then coming back to see what he hears from the israeli side. whether or not there is some way that they can align.

but it is rather the jagged edges right now. a lot of moving parts, as lyse doucet says. let us focus on events in london. hundreds of people gathering in a vigil at the centre of the city to celebrate victims of the hamas incursion last week. simon jones is at parliament square. it is very busy. jones is at parliament square. it is ve bus . , ., jones is at parliament square. it is ve bus. very busy. hundreds of people here remembering _ very busy. hundreds of people here remembering last _ very busy. hundreds of people here remembering last weekend, - very busy. hundreds of people here j remembering last weekend, around 1300 people lost their lives in israel. it has been a pretty sombre mood here today. they have been prayers, songs, people having lighting candles. i think that perhaps the most striking thing is that people have been wandering with posters of people who have been taken hostage. when you look at those posters,

showing the faces, what is striking is the age range of people. one poster shows a little boy who is only four years old, and shows a man who is 80. it gives you a sense of the age range of the people who have been caught up in this, and i think that the mood here is one, really, of desperation. people are wondering what exactly they can do. what is interesting is that, this time yesterday, there was, here in central london, pretty much in the same spot, a pro—palestinian protest. the mood of that was very different, a lot of anger there. today, things have been more contemplative and sad. speaking to people, theyjust are saying that they want the hostages released as soon as possible. the fate of those caught up in this remains unknown, thatis caught up in this remains unknown, that is why people here are so worried. there has been a police presence. we have seen a few offices

around the square, but it has been pretty calm. they have simply been watching from a distance, we have not seen any particular anger or trouble. certainly, what is happening in israel and in gaza, it is very much occupying the minds of the politicians here, which is why there has been so much focus on westminster in the uk. religious leaders are also being drawn into this. we have heard from the archbishop of canterbury here today, who is saying that, ultimately, he is calling on this order to evacuate hospitals in gaza to be rescinded, because he is saying it is a desperate situation, and he is saying that people should pray, regardless of their religion, at for everyone caught up in this conflict, whether israeli palestinians. the forei . n whether israeli palestinians. the foreign secretary, james carefully, he has been speaking today about the number of hostages. it is our fluctuating number that we get in

the report. ——james fluctuating number that we get in the report. —— james cleverly. fluctuating number that we get in the report. ——james cleverly. we talked about that on the programme. people feel that they are getting enough information from the government?— enough information from the government? well, i think that --eole government? well, i think that peeple here — government? well, i think that people here are _ government? well, i think that people here are just _ government? well, i think that people here are just desperate | government? well, i think that i people here are just desperate for any kind of innovation that they can get, particularly those who are linked to the families involved. inevitably, they cannot get as much information as they want, because the fate of some of these hostages is simply unknown. now, some of them are calling on the british government to do more to try to intervene, but i think that from the number of posters you see that i've been plastered up around the square, you just get a sense of the feeling of desperation and helplessness of the people when you look at the faces of those featured in these posters. these are people who have been taken hostage by hamas. there is a sense here of, what can be done? what can we do? how can we use a situation? and that is particularly when there is a sphere that israel are going into gaza

possibly very soon. the fate of those people caught up in the hostage situation, that is really primary in the mind of the people who have been taking part in this vigil today, and that is why we have seen prayers being said, candles being lit, songs being sung, very much a mood of contemplation, and very much a mood, you have to say, of desperation.— of desperation. simon jones in parliament _ of desperation. simon jones in parliament square, _ of desperation. simon jones in parliament square, thank- of desperation. simon jones in parliament square, thank you | of desperation. simon jones in - parliament square, thank you very much for that. let me take you back to the runway in cairo which we have been watching closely. we have just seen the secret service arriving on the apron of cairo airport, that tells me that these people are taking their positions, so the secretary of state will appear any second. from here in cairo, he is heading back to tel aviv for meetings injerusalem tomorrow heading back to tel aviv for meetings in jerusalem tomorrow with meetings injerusalem tomorrow with prime minister netanyahu. as lyse doucet was saying, there are a lot of moving parts in the diplomacy,

not least because they are trying to find a way to get aid into gaza. the egyptians have put the aid in a place around one hourfrom egyptians have put the aid in a place around one hour from the egyptians have put the aid in a place around one hourfrom the rafah crossing, but they are not allowing that to go in until they have some assurances over the humanitarian situation in gaza. the americans are keen to get their own citizens out of gaza. there are a number of days: from a uk perspective, we know that the mother—in—law of the first minister in scotland is still trapped in gaza. they are trying to get her out. one of the things complicating this, actually, is the situation at the rafah crossing. in the south, there is an amount of bombardment near the border where people would want to get out. we have been speaking to a doctor on the border today who was telling us that they had been told to evacuate from the rafa hospital. here are

some secretary of state antony blinken, letters listening. we are here at what _ blinken, letters listening. we are here at what is _ blinken, letters listening. we are here at what is an _ blinken, letters listening. we are here at what is an extremely - here at what is an extremely difficult and very tenuous time for the region in the wake of the slaughter perpetrated by hamas. we came here with four key objectives: to make clear that the united states stands with israel, to prevent a conflict from spreading to other places, to work on securing the release of hostages, including american citizens, and, to address the humanitarian crisis that exists in gaza. we started, as you know, in israel. and, it was important to make it very clear that the united states has israel's back. we will stand with it today, tomorrow, and every day, and we are doing that in word and deed. i spent time with pro minister netanyahu to go to the needs israel may have to make sure

it can effectively defend itself and you have already seen a lot of that assistance moving forward. that is a conversation that will continue. israel has the right, indeed it has the obligation, to defend itself against these attacks from hamas, and, to try to do it can to ensure that this never happens again. as i said in tel aviv, president biden also said, the way israel does this matters. it needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and dignity. taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. after we left israel, we have gone now to i think six countries in the region: jordan, bahrain, qatar, the united arab emirates, saudi arabia, and the

purpose of seeing our partners was, first and foremost, to listen to them, to hear how they are seeing this crisis, and to listen to what we can do together to deal with many of the concerns it has raised. i have heard from virtually every partner that they have a determination and a shared view... what a shame, i think that we have lost the line to antony blinken in cairo. you heard that the extent of the diplomacy that he has been involved in, coming to six different countries: jordan, saudi arabia, egypt-- countries: jordan, saudi arabia, egypt... the issue that stood out in the early part of that address was at the united states expect israel to conduct this operation affirming the shared values that the two

countries have, taking every possible precaution to protect civilians. to that end, this afternoon, the water has been turned back on in southern gaza to where people are fleeing at the moment from the north. so, maybe those conversations are ongoing. the key thing, from that perspective, is of course to get the aid into gaza through the rafah crossing. we will see if we can pick that back up. i'm sure that someone is recording that speech, we will take that up when we can. more than 200 people were killed in southern israel last week. it is important we remember how this all started. it's started because the hamas fighters went into israel, stormed the festival and opened fire indiscriminately on all the people. live now to natalie sanandaji, who was at the festival. thank you very much a being with us, we are one recon. how are you? hello, i am doing 0k considering the

circumstances. i was at the festival along with thousands of other innocent kids who just came to enjoy themselves, kids that had nothing to protect themselves. the rockets started at around 630 in the morning. i was there with three other people that i knew, and when the rockets began, i looked to other people, all of these kids, israeli citizens, to see their reaction, to see how i should react. 0ne citizens, to see their reaction, to see how i should react. one of the girls came over to inform me that some rockets have been intercepted over our heads, but that everything should be ok. i would like to point out something: if this festival took place anywhere else in the world, and suddenly, rockets were being

intercepted over our heads, nobody would have a reaction like that. these kids have gone through this before, they have lived in war for their entire lives. this is not their entire lives. this is not their first time experiencing something to that extent, of rockets being intercepted over their heads. and nobody could have imagined how bad it was going to get. the security of the festival shut off the music and asked as to evacuate to our cars, which i think for a lot of the kids was the first time when they realised the severity of the situation. at first, they thought that maybe it would just be a few rockets, and that it would end, and that it would be ok, and that we were safe. we went to our cars, packed up our things, and yesterday i saw a video that was released, it was the first time i had seen it, off the hamas terrorists shooting at the bathroom stalls on the festival

grounds. when we first evacuated and went to our cars, i asked my friends, i knew it would take awhile for us to get off the ground is, everyone was frankly the same time, and i asked them, do you think i have time to go to the bathroom? i have time to go to the bathroom? i have time to go to the bathroom? i have time to go back before we head out? they said yes, of course. and i was in those exact stalls that were being shot at to see that video. to see how close i was being killed if i was in those tools minutes later... it was very intense for me to see. after we had gotten into our cars, the security of the festival, they asked everybody to start driving out. we started driving and eventually they told us to turn around and drive another direction. i think that was the second time i started to get nervous. i started to realise that we did not have all of the information, we didn't know everything was going on, maybe it is

notjust rockets. there is a reason they are asking to drive in a different direction. after driving and that other direction, they started to yell letters to get out of our cars and start running. astor drew at first, we couldn't understand why, that is when we heard the gunshots and for the first time realised that the terrorists were much closer than we thought they were. they were here on foot, they were. they were here on foot, they have guns, and they were shooting at us. we got out of our cars at that exact moment and started running. imagine you are one of these kids, you are on an open field, you do not know which direction to run in. everybody was running in different directions. after running for a bit, one of the scariest things that i saw was dozens of children running in my direction and making me realise that we are not running to safety, there

is no safety, because they were running from a terrorist and shooting at them. we had to make a split—second decision to run in another direction to try to run to safety. a lot of children tried to hide stop we ran past a ditch with a lot of children in it, and they told us to come down into the ditch to with them. and one of my friends that i was with yelled at us and said no, don't hide in a ditch, if we hide in the ditch and they come from others, we have nowhere to run. so, we capture running, and i later found out that many of the children in that ditch are no longer with us today. they were shot and killed. we ran for about four hours. we were told to run in the direction of a nearby town, to try to run to safety. after two hours of running, we came across a police officer. he

didn't have much information for us, either. eager not even call back—up. the local police station had been taken over by the terrorists. they had taken over the radio station. the police officer's walkie—talkie, we could hear the terrorists yelling on it. he could not tell anyone to come and help is because then they would hear it and come for us. after four hours of running, we decided to take a break and sit and catch our breath. we were under a tree, in the shade. we had been running in the sun for hours. when we sat down, we saw a pick—up truck driving towards us. our saw a pick—up truck driving towards us. 0urfirst reaction saw a pick—up truck driving towards us. our first reaction was that it was a terrorist coming for us. we tried to get up and run, but we realised there was nowhere to hide. after a few minutes, the driver

arrived, and we realised it was someone from the town who left the safety of the town and drove towards all of the chaos to save innocent people. all of the chaos to save innocent --eole. ~ all of the chaos to save innocent peeple-- if _ all of the chaos to save innocent peeple-- if it _ all of the chaos to save innocent people.- if it was _ all of the chaos to save innocent people.- if it was not - all of the chaos to save innocent people. itrefoil. if it was not for this people. well. if it was not for this man, i'm people. well. if it was not for this man. i'm most — people. well. if it was not for this man, i'm most likely— people. well. if it was not for this man, i'm most likely would not be here today. that's truly extraordinary. i am sorry that you are having to relive, probably every day the moments that you could have been shot and killed and it sounded like you were extraordinary lucky to get out alive. it must be strange to be in new york and the relative normalcy of new york and leave all that behind. how do you feel about that? to be one of the survivors, it simply, i don't know whether to call it luck but it does feel very surreal. like i said, seeing that video of the terrorist shooting at

the bathroom is where i was moments before was one of the times where it really fair to me how close i was to being killed. as if hearing gunshots fly—past you wasn't enough to make you realise how close you were to being killed and not knowing whether gunshots were coming from. but being here in new york, i don't necessarily feel safer, all of my friends, all of my family are still there in israel. people who were there in israel. people who were there with me at the party that made it out have re—enlisted in the army and are risking their lives once again to protect our country. it's incredible to see how many people, how many dues and israelis from all over the world are flying back to israel instead of trying to escape, they asked flying back to try and protect our country and protect our

people and end this.— people and end this. natalie, it's extraordinary _ people and end this. natalie, it's extraordinary to _ people and end this. natalie, it's extraordinary to listen _ people and end this. natalie, it's extraordinary to listen to - people and end this. natalie, it's extraordinary to listen to and - people and end this. natalie, it's extraordinary to listen to and it l people and end this. natalie, it's| extraordinary to listen to and it is a timely reminder why we are where we are and it's important not to lose sight of that amid this humanitarian tragedy in gaza that is unfolding. there are very good reasons why the israeli defence force has mounted this operation and you have outlined for us very clearly what those are. thank you for coming on the programme and talking about it. you look after yourself. thank you.— talking about it. you look after yourself. thank you. thank you. so brina to yourself. thank you. thank you. so bring to listen _ yourself. thank you. thank you. so bring to listen to _ yourself. thank you. thank you. so bring to listen to isn't _ yourself. thank you. thank you. so bring to listen to isn't it _ yourself. thank you. thank you. so bring to listen to isn't it -- - bring to listen to isn't it —— sobering to listen to, isn't it? the exnerience _ sobering to listen to, isn't it? the exnerience of— sobering to listen to, isn't it? the experience of so _ sobering to listen to, isn't it? the experience of so many young people just eight days ago. joining me now is consultant surgeon nick maynard, who makes regular trips to gaza to train surgeons there. he was meant to be on the ground this week. i was saying to a guest on the programme that i myself have spent some time at that hospital in gaza

and i was really struck by the extraordinary talent of some of the surgeons there, not only are they some of the best trauma surgeons but they work with the bombardments all around them. i wonder if you have had any communication with any of them and what they have told you? yes, i have had regular communications. i go out to gaza regularly with a team of colleagues from oxford and we have all been in regular contact for the last week throughout the day and night with some of our colleagues who are working in that hospital and other hospitals throughout the gaza strip. how resourceful do you have to be as a doctor working in gaza? i how resourceful do you have to be as a doctor working in gaza?— a doctor working in gaza? i think, all the time _ a doctor working in gaza? i think, all the time they _ a doctor working in gaza? i think, all the time they have _ a doctor working in gaza? i think, all the time they have got - a doctor working in gaza? i think, all the time they have got to - a doctor working in gaza? i think, all the time they have got to be i all the time they have got to be very resourceful. i have never been on a trip there where there hasn't been bombs going off. what they are experiencing now is unlike anything they have ever seen before. they are working under profoundly difficult

circumstances and the hospitals are overwhelmed with trauma victims, they can't treat any other patients at the moment other than the trauma victims and they haven't got enough resources even to do that. electricity is running out, their generators are running out of fuel, they are running out of blood products, medicines. they have run out of surgical gloves, they are having to re—wash all of their surgical gloves between operations at the moment. without blood products, without gloves, without electricity, they will not be able to keep any of the patient alive. all doctors taken oath but they don't take it thinking that their own lives will be at risk and they will be told to evacuate and leave their patients behind. how difficult is it to process the sort of pressure that they are under at the moment, the instructions that they have been given by the israeli army?

they are finding it terribly difficult not being to treat their patients. they have been ordered to evacuate the hospitals and they are refusing to do so, they will not abandon their patients. knowing full well that they may be killed, some of them have been killed. some doctors that i know, my colleagues have died in the last few days. everyone i have spoken to michael has spoken to, have had relatives and close friends die but they are staying with their patients. they will not leave them. they will not be evacuated. they are refusing to go. they are desperately keen for everyone here to hear what is going on. we have set up a platform called gaza medic voices on instagram and twitter where all their experiences, photographs, posts are being put so we can all hear what is going on in

the hospitals at the moment and the humanitarian catastrophe that they are experiencing. this presumably, that awful decision _ are experiencing. this presumably, that awful decision that _ are experiencing. this presumably, that awful decision that all - are experiencing. this presumably, that awful decision that all doctors | that awful decision that all doctors have to make when you are overwhelmed by patients who have suffered traumatic injuries, who you say first. shill suffered traumatic in'uries, who you sa first. �* ., , ., say first. all doctors involved in acute services _ say first. all doctors involved in acute services had _ say first. all doctors involved in acute services had to _ say first. all doctors involved in acute services had to go - say first. all doctors involved in | acute services had to go through this triage process in the western world and in the middle east, of course, they are doing it in far more appalling circumstances and they are having to make very quick judgments as to who they can realistically save and who is beyond salvage. and of course, as their resources diminish, as they have less blood products, less drugs, those decisions become ever more difficult and they are having to... they are not able to treat patients

who they would otherwise be able to save in different circumstances. i remember from my experience and it's perhaps not understood from the way the ambulances are treated in the rest of the world, one of the most dangerous jobs at the moment is to be driving these vehicles that we are looking at now on our screens. evenif are looking at now on our screens. even if you were inclined to evacuate patients on life—support or pregnant women or children that are in incubators, the roads are so dangerous when you are travelling in those vehicles that you would probably take your chances in the hospital, wouldn't you? yes. probably take your chances in the hospital, wouldn't you?— probably take your chances in the hospital, wouldn't you? yes. and all ofthe hospital, wouldn't you? yes. and all of the access — hospital, wouldn't you? yes. and all of the access roads _ hospital, wouldn't you? yes. and all of the access roads would _ hospital, wouldn't you? yes. and all of the access roads would have - hospital, wouldn't you? yes. and all of the access roads would have been bombed so that the ambulances cannot travel over some of those roads. some of the ambulances have been bombed as well so this notion that patients can be evacuated to the south of gyles is frankly fanciable, there is no way that these patients can be moved and it is impossible to

move them. that is why their doctors and nurses are staying with them and refusing to leave themselves. [30 refusing to leave themselves. do we... i mean, it's not what i mean but it is in a way, do we have british doctors in the hospital at the moment? i british doctors in the hospital at the moment?— british doctors in the hospital at the moment? . ., ., ., ., the moment? i am aware of one in there at the _ the moment? i am aware of one in there at the moment. _ the moment? i am aware of one in there at the moment. there - the moment? i am aware of one in there at the moment. there were l the moment? i am aware of one in | there at the moment. there were a regular mission teams of british doctors going out there most weeks, as you mention at the beginning, i was meant to be going out next week, another team is meant to be going out this week. usually there will be several british doctors working there. at the moment i am aware of one who is working.— one who is working. what would you sa to one who is working. what would you say to james — one who is working. what would you say to james cleverly _ one who is working. what would you say to james cleverly who _ one who is working. what would you say to james cleverly who has - one who is working. what would you say to james cleverly who has been | say to james cleverly who has been the rounds today who is supporting the rounds today who is supporting the israeli operation, what with the doctors who go there regularly say is required and what onus would you put on him for the safety of our own doctors who are there? it is

put on him for the safety of our own doctors who are there?— doctors who are there? it is a humanitarian _ doctors who are there? it is a humanitarian catastrophe. i doctors who are there? it is a l humanitarian catastrophe. the supplies that they have electricity, and blood and water, indeed, in the north of gaza that will last no longer than a day or two. the siege needs to stop, they need to let a den, they need to let electricity, water, drugs, blood products. there are people who are willing to give blood but donors cannot get to hospitals. this needs to be recognised and the siege needs to end so that aid can get to these patients and these doctors to save the lives that they want to say. consultant surgeon, good to talk to you. thank you for giving your perspective. you. thank you for giving your perspective-— you. thank you for giving your --ersective. . ~' ,, , . perspective. thank you very much. just an idea _ perspective. thank you very much. just an idea of _ perspective. thank you very much. just an idea of how— perspective. thank you very much. just an idea of how difficult - perspective. thank you very much. just an idea of how difficult it - perspective. thank you very much. just an idea of how difficult it is - just an idea of how difficult it is in these hospitals at the moment. also for people making the journey south from their homes. 0ur correspondent rushdi aboualouf is in khan younis

in the southern part of gaza — where he's evacuated with his own family. i spoke to him a little earlier about conditions there — and the impact on the area of having thousands of evacuees move in. khan yunis is a city in the south of gaza, is the second largest city, and it's now have to accommodate1 million people, over1 million people, according to the local authorities here. the original residents of this area is 400,000 and they have now received about 600,000 refugees, 400,000 from gaza and northern gaza, according to the local authority, and about 100,000 from the eastern part of khan yunis. the place which experienced the israeli ground operation back in 2014, where a lot of people there were killed and many houses were were destroyed. the people here in the hospital not only struggling to cope with the number of injuries and number of and the shortage of medical and essential medical kits, they are overwhelmed by the number of people

who are taking the hospital as refugees, because everywhere in public spaces, in buildings, in the streets, in the schools, people are sleeping on the ground. it's a catastrophic situation here in khan yunis, a city that overnight has to feed, treat and accommodate over double of its original population. the city itself, it was suffering even before because it's part of the entire picture where israel for the ninth day closing the border and not allowing any fuel or any food or any water into gaza. there is a severe shortage of water here in the hospital. they only give, like every person, 300 million of water 300 millilitres of water

for the whole day. that's we are talking about the patient, not not a healthy guy, but in the street. i have been trying to find a bottle of water in many of the shops. most of them are running out, they don't have water. it's essential. it's a serious issue here in gaza. and khan yunis, doctors are struggling to to not to give the people medicine, but to give them water. i'm always keen to remind our audience, rushdi, because we've worked together before in gaza that you report it, but you also live the story. so while you're reporting for us, you're thinking of your family, you're trying to source water and food. what have you been able to take with you from your home? how much money do you have? how much food and water do you have for the coming days? in a very simple way i want to tell the audience what happened. that about like 5:00 in the morning. the day before yesterday, we had we received warning from the israeli army saying that

you have to leave your area and head south to khan yunis, and suddenly we have to deal with evacuation. evacuation, which we were planning too, but not not this far and not this quick. so i left behind a lot of water in my house, a lot of food that i stored there, because i thought we are going to be stuck in the house, not displaced. i managed to take some that could last for a couple of days, but i tried here to find some, any essential food or water. when we talk about a million people, all of them are looking for the same thing that is not is not available and is not coming. it's extremely, extremely difficult. people shared very small accommodation. 50 families are sharing, like, one space. for me personally, i live with three or four other families in the same

flat that is two small bedroom in the home. and me and my three children and my wife, i have like a space of 2x2 metre to accommodate me. and i am lucky to, to, to find it because other people are sleeping in the street. so i was lucky enough to find a family that willing to accommodate accommodate me. this is very serious situation. for me, being a reporter and always in the back of your head is your family is extra burden. indeed, he is a very brave man, this is the fourth conflict he has lived there as a reporter was trying to protect his family as well. the good news is that the negotiations that have been ongoing, they have turned on the water in the northern part of the strip so that should be more than there was earlier in the day, let's hope so. 0ne the day, let's hope so. one line to bring you from iran's foreign minister, if this does not stop, the

hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger. that is of huge concern of course because we are watching the northern border and the activities of the iranians, his brother word—mack,. hugo bachega, our middle east correspondent, has sent us this update on the exchanges of fire between lebanon and israel that have intensified since this morning. he has been very tense and i think you can probably hear the sound of it seems to be a march here of people with palestinian flags and also flags. so today, it's been the most intense day in terms of cross—border violence between his brother here in lebanon and israel. earlier today, israel had its first civilian death as a result of a of an attack carried out by hezbollah. a man in his forties was killed when the community of shula was hit in an attack by hezbollah. and in the last hour

or so, we had the idf, the israeli military, saying that it had retaliated after hezbollah carried out another attack targeting positions in northern israel. and we had an update from hezbollah in the last few minutes saying that he had hit an israeli military barracks in the in a kibbutz in northern israel, causing a number of casualties. so we haven't had confirmation from the israeli military yet, but i think it shows how how tense the situation is here along the israeli—lebanese border. and perhaps as an indication as an indication of these tensions, we've had a number of different players reacting to what's happening here. just moments ago, the israeli defence minister said that israel was not interested in engaging in waging a war against hezbollah. we also had comments from the us national security adviser who said

that the biden administration was holding backchannel conversations with iran, warning iran against escalating the situation here. iran obviously is hezbollah's main supporter. and on the other hand, we had some comments from the iranian foreign minister. he was here in lebanon yesterday. he had talks with the hezbollah leader, hassan nasrallah, and he said that if the united states is interested in preventing an escalation of this conflict, it should tell israel to stop what he described as brutal attacks against civilians in gaza. so i think it shows how tense, how difficult the situation has been along the israeli lebanese border. and i think the fear here is, is that lebanon could end up becoming a part of this conflict. yes, it is precarious. you get there

in lebanon, that is why israel has sent a second strike group to the ward the eastern mediterranean, the uss eisenhower steaming towards the middle east. before we spoke to the doctor a short while ago. we were speaking to antony blinken who was leaving cairo after speaking with egyptian leaders. he said that the us is putting in place a mechanism for the us, egypt and israel to talk and liaise and get people in gaza the assistance that they need. let's have a listen into what he was saying before we were interrupted and that line broke up. this is what he had to say. we came here with 40 objectives, to make clear that the united states stands with israel, to prevent the conflict from spreading to other places, to work on securing the

middle —— release of hostages including us and to address the humanitarian crisis that is in gaza. we start, as you know, in israel. it was important to make it very clear that the united states has israel's back, we will stand with them today, tomorrow and every day. we are doing that in word and also indeed. i spent time with prime minister benjamin netanyahu to go with the needs that israel may have to make sure that it can effectively defend itself and of course, seeing a lot of that assistance moving forward and that is a conversation that will continue. israel has the right, indeed it has the obligation to defend itself from these attacks from hamas and to try and do what it can to make sure that this never happens again. as i said in tel aviv, as president biden said, the way israel does this matters. it needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for

human life and human dignity. taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. after we left israel, we have gone now, i think i have lost track but the six countries in the region, jordan, bahrain, cairo, the united arab emirates, saudi arabia. the purpose of seeing all of our partners was first and foremost to listen to them, to hear how they are seeing this crisis and to look at what we can do together to deal with many of the concerns that it is raised. secretary of state anthony bleating there after his meetings in cairo there after his meetings in cairo there earlier this afternoon. i'll show you some pictures now in gaza. these night—time pictures are quite interesting because of course the electricity, the power is off in gaza, thatjust gives you an impression of the darkness that there is over the strip at the

moment. we have had one line of news that the water is being turned on in the south, whether or not they will turn the power on in the south of people who are evacuating, i don't know. that is certainly a step forward. the other huge talent is getting humanitarian aid into the areas that need it for the palestinians. let mejust areas that need it for the palestinians. let me just remind you as well that our live pages updating by the minute. really interesting detail, actually, in some of the pages i was reading earlier today about the numbers being evacuated. if you were to evacuate 1 million people you would need 18,000 coaches which if you line them tail to tow would take you from london to manchester, that is the enormity of the situation, the numbers of people they need to move from north to south. do stay with us as we head to a short break. we will be right back. hello there. for the vast majority of the uk, we are looking at a fine

and sunny afternoon. mind you, it was a cold start to the day. in cumbria, shap, we had temperatures down at —4 earlier this morning but plenty of sunshine across the board now. 0n the satellite picture you can see that, really. the only exception is across parts of scotland where showers will continue to affect western areas and we have this weather front bringing a zone of more persistent rain just across the north of mainland scotland so it will be quite wet here through the course of the afternoon. there will be some showers for the northern isles where it will continue to be quite windy but not as windy as it was yesterday and temperatures across the board continuing to be below average for the time of year, about 11 or 12 celsius. it feels 0k in the sunshine. 0vernight tonight, we will keep the clear spells for a good part of the night and that will allow temperatures again to dip down just below freezing in the countryside, whereas many towns and cities will see temperatures just a degree or two above freezing. tomorrow morning, there could be the odd patch of mist first thing but that should clear out of the way. there will be quite a bit

of high cloud in the sky across western areas, making any sunshine rather hazy in the west but i think for most parts of the uk it is looking like another fine and dry day with some sunny spells coming through pretty widely and temperatures about 11—13 , so similar what we have got this afternoon. 0nto tuesday's forecast, probably a few more mist and fog patches to start the day. most of the uk again having a dry day with sunshine but we will start to see a band of rain working into south—west england, perhaps reaching southern wales late in the day. that rain is tied in with an area of low pressure to our south and as we go through wednesday and thursday, that low pressure will bring wet and some windy weather northwards across the uk. it will also bring some pretty large rainfall totals. midweek, we could see around 20—40 millimetres of rain, the wettest weather across england and wales then moving its way northwards into scotland and northern ireland by thursday. but the focus is on the heavy rain affecting england and wales on wednesday, the winds picking up across scotland, probably bringing quite a lot of cloud to eastern coastal areas, maybe a few patches of drizzle there and temperatures just coming up a few degrees,

a bit closer to average, 12—15. but then we have that heavy rain pushing northwards into northern ireland and scotland on thursday and another area of low pressure to end the week will bring rain pretty widely.

live from london. this is bbc news. the white house says israel has turned on the water supply in southern gaza following a conversation between president biden

and the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. israel continues its bombardment of the gaza strip, with fighter planes and drones striking targets across the territory. hospitals in gaza have been told to evacuate — but doctors have told the bbc they will refuse to do so. meanwhile thousands of other palestinians continue to flee from the north of gaza — the un estimates nearly a million palestinians there have now been displaced. meanwhile — the israeli prime minister benyamin netanyahu holds a first cabinet meeting for his new national emergency government. and the us secretary of state antony blinken is to return to israel following talks in the region — he says that israel should take every precaution to avoid harming civilians. the way that israel does this matters. it needs to do it in a way that affirms the share values affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity.