israel continues its bombardment of the gaza strip, with fighter 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.

hello from the bbc sport centre. defending champions england have suffered a shock defeat at the cricket world cup, losing in delhi to afghanistan. who in turn have registered the most significant one day win in their history. afghanistan batted first and after more on all those stories coming up. but let's pause and take a look at today's sport. an opening stand of 108, eventually made 284, a total that proved too much for the holders. england lost wickets regularly throughout the chase and were bowled out for 215, 69 runs short, leaving them with two defeats out of their three games so far. at of their three games so far. no time when we were we at no time when we were batting did we think we were running away with the game. we had a decent total, but you he had to bowl well and feel welcome and the guys did that. it was very pleasing, and hopefully a lot of confidence will come from this when competing against the bigger nations. it will have a knock—on effect not only for this world cup, but for the future as well about what afghanistan cricket can achieve. it’s

well about what afghanistan cricket can achieve-— can achieve. it's a big setback, obviously- _ can achieve. it's a big setback, obviously. before _ can achieve. it's a big setback, obviously. before the - can achieve. it's a big setback, i obviously. before the tournament starts, _ obviously. before the tournament starts, you — obviously. before the tournament starts, you have _ obviously. before the tournament starts, you have a _ obviously. before the tournament starts, you have a different- obviously. before the tournament starts, you have a different idea i obviously. before the tournamentl starts, you have a different idea of how the _ starts, you have a different idea of how the first — starts, you have a different idea of how the first three _ starts, you have a different idea of how the first three games - starts, you have a different idea of how the first three games would . starts, you have a different idea of. how the first three games would pan out. how the first three games would pan out we _ how the first three games would pan out we have — how the first three games would pan out we have got _ how the first three games would pan out. we have got to— how the first three games would pan out. we have got to show— how the first three games would pan out. we have got to show a - how the first three games would pan out. we have got to show a lot - how the first three games would pan out. we have got to show a lot of. out. we have got to show a lot of character — out. we have got to show a lot of character and _ out. we have got to show a lot of character and resilience - out. we have got to show a lot of character and resilience within i out. we have got to show a lot ofi character and resilience within the team _ character and resilience within the team and — character and resilience within the team and most— character and resilience within the team and most of— character and resilience within the team and most of all, _ character and resilience within the team and most of all, a _ character and resilience within the team and most of all, a lot - character and resilience within the team and most of all, a lot of- team and most of all, a lot of belief — team and most of all, a lot of belief. there _ team and most of all, a lot of belief. there are _ team and most of all, a lot of belief. there are a _ team and most of all, a lot of belief. there are a lot - team and most of all, a lot of belief. there are a lot of- team and most of all, a lot of- belief. there are a lot of excellent players _ belief. there are a lot of excellent players in — belief. there are a lot of excellent players in there _ belief. there are a lot of excellent players in there and _ belief. there are a lot of excellent players in there and we _ belief. there are a lot of excellent players in there and we haven't i players in there and we haven't played — players in there and we haven't played well _ players in there and we haven't played well enough _ players in there and we haven't played well enough today. i players in there and we haven't played well enough today. butl players in there and we haven't i played well enough today. but we must _ played well enough today. but we must keep — played well enough today. but we must keep that _ played well enough today. but we must keep that belief. _ from one world cup to another and england have beaten fiji to reach the semifinals of the rugby world cup in marseille. england led comfortably by m points with 15 minutes remaining, but when fiji scored two tries in four minutes, it was level at 24—24. then the boot of owen farrell got england over the line as the captain scored a drop goal and a penalty to give his side a 30—21; win. they'll play the winner of the last of the quarter finals which is under way in paris. hosts france against defending champions south africa. it's an absolute thriller. 19—17, now 19—19 between hosts france and the holders south africa. rangers have appointed former monaco

and club bruges head coach philippe clement as their new manager. the 49—year—old former belgium defender succeeds michael beale, who was sacked earlier this month — and has signed a three and a half year deal at ibrox. his first match in charge will be against hibernian next weekend. sirjim ratcliffe's ineos group wants to take control of the football operations side of manchester united — as they look to buy a 25% stake in the club with an offer worth an estimated $1.7 billion. the british billionaire is thought to be increasingly confident of securing what he hopes will be the first stage of an eventual buyout of the glazer family. the bbc�*s been told that his principal rival — qatari banker sheikh jassim — has withdrawn from the bidding process having failed to meet the glazers' valuation of more than 6 billion manchester city are top of the women's super league after a 5—0 victory over bristol city. jill roord and khadija shaw both scoring twice. elsewhere, manchester united and leicester drew 1—1. two goals in stoppage time saw arsenal snatch victory against aston villa. spurs and everton also won.

and don't forget, there's lots of european championship qualifiers taking place around europe today. all the details on our website. scotland could reach the finals if spain avoid defeat to norway in oslo. if spain win, they'll be in germany next year too. albania and turkey could also qualify on sunday. you can go to our website. that's bbc.com.sport. and that's all the sport for now. thanks very much. let's return now to our top story — us secretary of state antony blinken has urged israel to do everything possible to avoid harming civilians, as it prepares for a major ground offensive into gaza. these are the live pictures from gaza, where it isjust after 10.30 at night. more than 2,600 palestinians have now been killed by israeli attacks on gaza, since the hamas assault on israel just over a week ago. the israeli prime minister,

benjamin netanyahu, says the military is ready at any moment to begin the operation, aimed at crushing hamas — which is designated as a terror organisation by many western governments. diplomatic efforts continue to ease tensions and avoid a wider conflict. us secretary of state, antony blinken has been meeting the egyptian president on the last leg of a tour of arab countries in a bid to stop the war spreading. meanwhilejordan�*s king abdullah is holding talks with rishi sunak here in the uk. last night the prime minister reiterated the attacks in israel were an "act of pure evil" and that israel had every right to defend itself. 0ur diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley has more. bound for the middle east, a second american aircraft carrier. you can see the fighter planes on board. they're meant as a warning to deter anyone minded to open up

another front in the war, to try to prevent this conflict spilling over. the american secretary of state, antony blinken, has been on a frantic tour of the region all week. behind every handshake, the horror of the hamas attack and now its deadly repercussions. in every arab capital, there is alarm at what israel is doing in response. so leaving cairo, he had this message. the way that 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. there's growing international concern at the ever mounting casualties in gaza, the human cost of israel's retaliation. at a hospital in the town of khan younis, a desperate race to save lives after overnight israeli strikes. children among the injured.

and this is the south of the gaza strip, where palestinians in the north have been told to go to keep safe. israel works within the framework of international law, the rules of armed conflict and by asking civilians to leave the territory we are making our effort to avoid civilian casualties. these lies right live on camera that israel sticks to the rules of international law. seriously? cutting food, electricity, targeting schools, churches, mosques? cutting people off from any sort of humanitarian assistance is the contours of international law? anger in arab and muslim countries at the suffering of gaza's civilians is growing. this was a protest in support of the palestinians in pakistan. there have also been anti—israel demonstrations in tunisia as well as turkey, yemen, iraq and jordan. this afternoon, king abdullah ofjordan came to downing street to meet rishi sunak.

it's the first stop on a tour of europe to rally support to stop what the kingdom has called the war on gaza. last wednesday, the foreign secretary, james cleverly, visiting southern israel, had to take shelter as sirens warned of incoming rocket fire from hamas. today he urged restraint on israel, but declined to say it was committing war crimes. have they broken international law? there will be other very well informed and thoughtful voices that will disagree with that interpretation. what is the uk government interpretation? _ the point that i'm saying is the uk government is absolutely committed to the adherence of international human law and when we see breaches of that, we raise that, including with israel. tonight, israeli bombs are continuing to rain down on gaza where somewhere, there are british hostages held by hamas as well as a terrified population. caroline hawley, bbc news.

under to the conflict? —— how should the world respond? there's differing opinions and loyalties between the west and other nations on israel's counter—offensive, so with more on this i'm joined now by professor yossi mekelberg. that message of unconditional support for israel and that israel can defend itself here, why is there such a strong support and the us for israel? ,., ., ,, , ,., israel? good evening. supporting israel, as israel? good evening. supporting israel. as a _ israel? good evening. supporting israel, as a result _ israel? good evening. supporting israel, as a result of _ israel? good evening. supporting israel, as a result of what - israel? good evening. supporting i israel, as a result of what happened last week, seeing the hideous killing of civilians... it is

understandable that saying for this not happen again is reducing the military power, so all of this is completely understandable, the dilemma is how this can be conducted in a way that would minimise casualties on the other side. hamas will look at the danger right now that comes from israel's military excursion and decide to surrender, in an ideal world, but this will not happen of course. and then i think one way to support israel as well, it is quite a cliche, the right to defend itself, it has an obligation to defend its citizens and one of the problem is, we are in this situation because it failed to defend its citizens with president

biden warned already, this is not a licence to harm civilians and cause unimaginable suffering. yes. licence to harm civilians and cause unimaginable suffering.— unimaginable suffering. yes, and that is an important _ unimaginable suffering. yes, and that is an important point, i unimaginable suffering. yes, and that is an important point, that i that is an important point, that idea of unconditional support, whether that emboldens israel beyond. and we have heard the rhetoric of whether this goes beyond simply self—defence? flit rhetoric of whether this goes beyond simply self-defence?— simply self-defence? of course, the ri . ht to simply self-defence? of course, the right to self-defence _ simply self-defence? of course, the right to self-defence enshrined i simply self-defence? of course, the right to self-defence enshrined in i right to self—defence enshrined in international law, naturaljustice, but again, it is not a licence to go and do that, conduct a war in a way that causes huge suffering to the other side. that causes huge suffering to the otherside. many that causes huge suffering to the other side. many civilians right now, while everyone understands while israel wants to eliminate

hamas, it is almost unacceptable that the result of which would also be many thousands of palestinians killed in the process. yes. be many thousands of palestinians killed in the process.— killed in the process. yes, and if that happens. — killed in the process. yes, and if that happens, sorry _ killed in the process. yes, and if that happens, sorry to _ killed in the process. yes, and if| that happens, sorry to interrupt, killed in the process. yes, and if. that happens, sorry to interrupt, if that happens, sorry to interrupt, if that happens, sorry to interrupt, if that happens do you expect there would be a shift in sympathies? if there are more palestinian deaths and perhaps evidence of war crimes committed, do you expect from the uk, the us and other allies there will be a shift in sympathies? for israel? i will be a shift in sympathies? for israel? ~ , will be a shift in sympathies? for israel? ~' , ., israel? i think there will be a ti -|n~ israel? i think there will be a tipping point _ israel? i think there will be a tipping point at _ israel? i think there will be a tipping point at one - israel? i think there will be a tipping point at one point i israel? i think there will be a tipping point at one point or| tipping point at one point or another where they can only be 70 casualties on the palestinian side. —— so many casualties. there will be a tipping point in which public opinion and the palestinian

government, but at the end of the day, they are destined to be neighbours and one way or another they need to learn to coexist peacefully and it was said last week, but there must be a space by the end of the war in which both sides can go back to some negotiation and start looking to a future which does not need to evolve so much bloodshed. and if the result of a war in gaza is many thousands of a war in gaza is many thousands of people killed, it would make any peace agreement so much more difficult. it peace agreement so much more difficult. , ., ., difficult. it is good to have you with us on _ difficult. it is good to have you with us on the _ difficult. it is good to have you with us on the programme. i associate fellow, middle east and north africa programme at chatham house. to other news now and to poland, where the parliamentary elections have been taking place. poles have just finished casting their votes in what some have described as the most

significant elections since the end of communism. the right—wing law and justice party is seeking to secure a third term in office, locked in a fierce battle with the liberal opposition led by former european council president donald tusk. according to the the first exit poll released in the last few minutes, the governing law &justice party might be short of a majority, opening the the possibility that opposition parties could take power in a coalition. let's go live now to warsaw. explain the background to this election because it has been a bitterly fought campaign, hasn't it? it has. it has revealed a very polarised, divided country here in poland where there have been a two camps battling it out to the very

end, those who support the law and justice party, a right—wing party, and those who back the main opposition here, the civic coalition, whose headquarters we are at right now. they were battling at this election that the law and justice party was a threat to basic values like freedom of media. the government has been talking about security, that has been its big issue in this campaign, talking about the threat from russian aggression but also illegal migrants which has been another big topic in this bitterly fought campaign. here at the election headquarters, the election event headquarters for the main opposition, there were jubilant scenes in the last hour because when that exit poll came in, people i think were taken aback, very pleasantly surprised. they were chanting the name of the leader of

civic coalitiondonald tusk, and there was a young crowd on chanting his name. they are essentially declaring victory but this is an exit poll only and donald tusk was making strong statements, saying we will make a new democratic government, poland has win, you have won, democracy has won. the ruling party has said they are waiting for further developments. they say there are days of struggle and tension ahead and i think that is certainly very true. ahead and i think that is certainly ve true. ., ., ., ,, ahead and i think that is certainly ve true. ., ., ., ~' , ., very true. ok, for now, thank you. we will check _ very true. ok, for now, thank you. we will check in _ very true. ok, for now, thank you. we will check in with _ very true. ok, for now, thank you. we will check in with you - very true. ok, for now, thank you. we will check in with you a - very true. ok, for now, thank you. we will check in with you a little i we will check in with you a little later as we start to get a clear indication of which way that election in poland is heading. that is our correspondent thatjoining us from warsaw.

back now to our top story — the situation in the middle east as israel prepares for a ground offensive in gaza. around the world more vigils and demonstrations have been held. firstly these pictures are from parliament square in central london. hundreds of people gathered at a vigil to commemorate israeli victims of the hamas attack last week. many were spotted draped in israeli flags and posters saying "bring them home" with names and faces of hostages captured by hamas. to norway next and a pro—israel rally in oslo. it was organised by a group called "with israel for peace". it works to create greater sympathy for israel and jewish people. there was a sea of israeli flags in rio de janeiro in brazil. some people at the demonstration near the famous copacabana beach held signs and banners saying "no to terrorism" and "terror never again". there's been a large pro—palestinian rally in istanbul in turkey. thousands of people turned out in one of the main square waving both turkish and palestinian flags. the demonstration was organised by three turkish political parties.

thousands of moroccans have protested against israel's actions in gaza in the biggest such rally since the country normalised ties with israel. crowds stretching for two kilometres and marched through the capital rabat chanting "down with zionism" and "free palestine". some protestors stamped on israeli and american flags. finally to the netherlands. thousands marched through the streets of amsterdam in support of palestinians. "stop the attack on gaza" one of the slogans on placards there. planes also flew overhead, one trailing the message "shalom, salam", the word "peace" in hebrew and arabic respectively. as we've been hearing, the israeli prime minister has told the first meeting of his emergency cabinet that his country's forces are ready at any moment to demolish hamas. the israeli military says it's awaiting a political decision on when to begin a ground offensive, following more than a week of aerial

bombardment of gaza. lt col peter lerner is a spokesperson for the israeli defence force — he gave me the latest on the expected ground offensive. we have amassed a huge amount of forces, several hundreds of thousands. we recruited 300,000 reservists. and yeah, we need to make sure that hamas can never butcher babies in their bedrooms. i want to talk about the humanitarian situation on the ground in gaza. there's been international condemnation of that forced evacuation and the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation. the un's aid agency has told the bbc that gaza is being pushed into an abyss. this is not sustainable. what hope is there for people, civilians who are being caught up in this? so first of all, it's important to remember how we got here and when hamas

launched its brutal, coordinated attack across our border, they declared war on israel. israel now is in a state where we need to change that reality and make sure it can never happen again. regarding the palestinians of gaza, they are not the enemy of israel. it is hamas that is the enemy of israel. and i would also say they are the enemy of the palestinians of gaza. they have let them down in such a way, in a miserable way, and they are basically doing everything to exasperate their situation of the people they are supposed to lead. as far as our operations, you know, we've called now for three days for people to head south. and as you reported, we've seen a huge movement of people from the north of the gaza strip towards the south. it's a temporary humanitarian measure to remove them from harm's way, something that hamas was actually trying to prevent, as you reported, so it physically prevented and also they sent

messages out in order to tell people, "no, stay put, put yourself in danger." and this is just something that hamas does. they do it because they put people in harm's way. they put their weapons like drones with explosives on the roofs of houses, something we destroyed a few days ago, but they don't care who is in those houses. so what we do is we send text messages, tell the people, "we're going to strike this location, because hamas has abused the urban arena." indeed, we are pushing forward in order to make sure hamas can never penetrate our borders again. that they have from yahya sinwar at the top of the pyramid, who is the mastermind of the massacre, all the way down to the terrorists that breached and butchered families in their houses and abducted families, just last night we took out one terrorist who was the commander of the khan yunis nakba force, which is the commando force of hamas.

and actually he penetrated and he conducted atrocities in a kibbutz near him. last night we closed the deal with him, we took him out and killed him, and that is what we intend to do, remove hamas so they cannot use the gaza strip as a staging position for attacks against israel. indeed, the people of gaza are paying a very dear price for the poor leadership that they have. so i understand what you're telling me, that this military operation is designed to incapacitate the ability of hamas to attack israel. we understand that. but you will know as well as i do that civilians are being caught up in this. i'm just looking at numbers now. the palestinian civil defence says more than 1000 people are missing right now under the rubble of gaza's destroyed buildings. the warning from the arab league and the african union together, in a statement, they say that the ground invasion of gaza that is imminent could lead to a genocide of unprecedented proportions. the world health organization says

that israel's orders for the evacuation of gaza hospitals are a death sentence for the sick and injured. i understand you have asked people to leave areas that could be subject to that ground invasion, but we know not everybody can leave. 1.1 million people cannot leave that area practically overnight. so we've now for three days, we've actually seen people actually moving, shifting down south and evacuating the area. as i said, it's a temporary humanitarian measure in order to safeguard human life and remove people from harm's way whilst we root out hamas and the terrorists that conducted the attack. so, yes, there is an operational concern and like you and like the uk and other militaries around the world, we don't seek to target or harm civilians. unlike hamas, who does. and our response is well within the laws of armed conflict

and that is what we intend to do. so, yes, we instruct people to keep out of harm's way while hamas tries to keep them in harm's way. we are coordinating with the various international organisations, and i would encourage them to also facilitate the shifting and the moving of people down south for their own well—being. we will strike... the reason i'm asking, though, the reason it's important to establish whether this response is proportional is because there is criticism that what you are doing has gone beyond the scope of self defence. that's the view of china's foreign minister. he has called on your prime minister and the emergency government to cease its collective punishment, in his words, of the people of gaza. your response has gone beyond the scope of self defence. that is the allegation here. well, i would say, first of all, that's a ridiculous allegation. it's an allegation coming from china's foreign minister. what is proportionate to babies being butchered and mutilated?

what is proportionate to women being abducted? what is proportionate? we operate in a way, and under the guidance of distinction, military necessary, necessity and proportionality. that is exactly what we are trying to do here. and i would say, yes, there is a challenge for any professional military, but nevertheless, we are a professional military and we will banish hamas from the realm of existence. the israeli defence force speaking to me a little earlier. ijust want to me a little earlier. ijust want to show you the live scene in gaza tonight. it is in darkness and that is because there is no electricity. we know it's really authorities have turned the water back on it but a lot of people telling us they need electricity to make the pumps work.

hello, for most of you today has been dry, plenty of sunshine, glorious skies and underneath the sunny skies you could make out some snow on the tops of the scottish mountains in glencoe. meanwhile, in cumbria, a beautiful weather watcher picture from the keswick area. in cumbria we had a particularly cold start to the day, “4 reported earlier. across northern scotland, there was this week when the front that brought persistent rain into parts of north highland, northern parts of north highland, northern parts of north highland, northern parts of aberdeenshire with some showers around as 12 west of scotland. 0vernight, that zone of rain is going to push northwards, crossing 0rkney and shetland so there will be rain her free time. 0therwise there will be rain her free time. otherwise a dry night with clear skies and it will turn cold again, temperatures getting down into low single figures and cold enough for a nip of frost. for most, another dry

day tomorrow. more in the wave cloud, quite thick cloud, so bright and hazy spells likely. there are likely to be some showers working into the thames estuary and a few showers at times for 0rkney and shetland. for tuesday, there is a risk of seeing mist and fog patches of starting the day. these can be slow to clear. a fine unsettled day for most on tuesday but there will be rain moving in to south—west england and wales. for the middle part of the week all change, this area of low pressure moves across the uk, bringing a zone of heavy rain and strong winds. 0n the uk, bringing a zone of heavy rain and strong winds. on wednesday, the heaviest rain is going to be falling across england and wales where i think we could see around 20 to 40 where i think we could see around 20 to a0 millimetres of rain building in. that could cause one or two issues but as well as the rain, we will also have strong winds developing, particularly for scotland, eastern coast of scotland where we have patches of light rain

developing here with the best of any limited sunshine likely across the north west of scotland. temperatures about average, 13 to 16 degrees. beyond that, heavy rain moving into scotland for thursday and that is its but then we have another low pressure coming on friday with more heavy rain to end the week.

live from london. this is bbc news. israel continues its bombardment of the gaza strip, with fighter planes and drones striking targets across the territory.

the white house says israel has turned on the water supply in southern gaza following a conversation between us president biden and the israeli prime minister. 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. 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 shared values that we have for human life and human dignity. hello, i'm ben thompson. the israeli prime minister,

benjamin netanyahu, says the military is ready to begin at any moment a ground offensive