he's now flying back after his visit, pledging unwavering american support to israel, but warns them not to act on rage. the us president backs israel's claim that they weren't behind the gaza hospital explosion. but many arab countries still blame an israeli air strike. the evidence remains inconclusive. the uk prime minister, rishi sunak, is on his way to israel as part of the diplomatic efforts to prevent the conflict spreading across the middle east. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. president biden, on a high stakes visit for talks with israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, in tel aviv, has secured a deal, allowing aid into gaza, via egypt, bringing in much needed food, water and medicine to more than a million people. he said egypt has agreed to open the rafah crossing, into the territory, allowing in 20 trucks carrying aid. but mr biden�*s trip was overshadowed by tuesday's blast at a hospital in gaza, which the gazan health ministry says killed a71 people. it has inflamed tensions and sparked protests across the region. israel has maintained it was not responsible, saying the blast was caused by a rocket misfired by the palestinian militant group islamichhad. on wednesday, us president biden agreed with the israeli

leader, saying it appears the blast was "done by the other team." but hamas, palestinian authorities and other arab nations have blamed israel for the explosion — which triggered protests across the middle east. the bbc is trying to verify the claims from both sides. after their talks, prime minister netanyahu called biden a "true friend", saying he commends his "deeply moving" decision to visit israel during the war. over the last couple of hours, mr biden has been speaking to reporters on board air force one about his phone call with egyptian president abdel fattah al—sisi about opening the rafah crossing. he agreed that what he would do is open the gate to do two things — one, let up to 20 trucks through to begin with. satterfield, my ambassador, is down there... not down there, in cairo now. he's going to co—ordinate this. he has my authority to do

what is needed to get it done. they're going to patch the roads. they have to fill in potholes to get these trucks through and that's going to occur. they expect it'll take about eight hours tomorrow, so there may be nothing rolling through until... what's today? i'm losing track of days. wednesday? probably until friday. and that's the rafah crossing you're talking about? yes. yes — for this purpose, for this purpose. not to allow a lot of people out... for humanitarian assistance? for the humanitarian... for the trucks to be able to get through. president fighting there, speaking to reporters on air force one. —— president biden. but now our international editorjeremy bowen reports from southern israel.

a warning — his report contains some very distressing images. a car park outside the al ahli hospital became a killing ground. the arguments about who's responsible come too late for the people whose lives ended here. even with their bodies taken away, the clean up this morning also meant collecting small pieces of flesh. "god have mercy," he said, "they were civilians." and muhammad, a neighbour, can't unsee children with legs blown off and the bodies he helped to carry. they all, he said, thought they'd be safe near a hospital. early this morning at the defence ministry in tel aviv, the military presented data it said proved israel did not attack the hospital. instead, they said, it was a malfunctioning rocket fired by palestinian islamichhad.

the trajectory analysis from the barrage of rockets confirms that the rockets were fired in close proximity to the hospital. according to our intelligence, hamas checked the reports, understood it was an islamic jihad rocket that had misfired and decided to launch a global media campaign to hide what really happened. they went as far as inflating the numbers of casualties. coming to tel aviv was a gamble for president biden. he wanted to ease gaza's humanitarian catastrophe while supporting israel's war effort — perhaps an impossible circle to square with israel's leader, benjamin netanyahu. but a deal emerged from their meeting — food, water and medicine, but no fuel, from egypt to gaza. for israel, more military aid and agreement that they didn't hit the hospital. and based on what i've seen,

it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. i wanted to personally come and make that clear. thank you for having me, and i'm looking forward to having a thorough discussion about where everybody goes from here. the president won't change the minds of those who insist israel attacked the hospital. joe biden�*s presence here will only deepen the conviction among palestinians and millions of other arabs that america isn'tjust on israel's side but that it's also complicit in everything israel is doing in gaza, including killing civilians. until the hamas attacks on israel, president biden dreamt of transforming the middle east. the americans were negotiating with saudi arabia and israel, to try to get the two countries to recognise each other. that is not on the

agenda any more. grief is crushing the families of gaza's dead. israel was warned byjoe biden not to be consumed by rage, while in gaza's shifa hospital, a father was saying goodbye to his dead children in a corridor that's been turned into a mortuary... ..a waiting room for the grave. jeremy bowen, bbc news, in israel. some very, very difficult pictures they're coming out of gaza and israel. once again, just to reiterate, palestinian health officials in gaza say a71 people were killed in the explosion with hundreds of others injured. our correspondent in gaza, rushdi abualouf, has been to the site of the al ahli hospital, in the centre of gaza city, and sent this report.

a warning — viewers may find some of the images distressing. when i arrived at the hospital this morning, they were still collecting the dead. after what looks to have been the deadliest moment we have seen so far in gaza. there were burnt out cars after a huge fire following last night's blast. i was talking to one of the people who witnessed what the palestinians are calling a massacre. he said that they were just sitting in their garden peacefully, and suddenly a huge explosion rocked this area he said, "we collected bodies, injured people, "we evacuated serious injuries using motorcycle." "some people evacuated on foot," he said, "from there to shifa hospital." blood—soaked mattresses

lay on the ground. as we picked our way through the devastation, wreckage. children's backpacks and collapsed tents where people had been sleeping. doctors told us thousands were seeking shelters at the hospital when it happened. eyewitnesses said the hospital grounds were packed with people living under siege and underfire. people are still collecting body pieces from on the ground. people are still in panic. people are still trying to understand what happened. fear, grief and anger. translation: my message to the world, _ "stand up for the right thing, don't be afraid "of the americans. "don't be afraid of the israeli air forces. "we will continue this fight until the last drop of blood." health officials here

are saying hundreds are dead, injured and missing. this is a moment of horror for palestinians already traumatised by this war. rushdi abualouf, bbc news, gaza city. my my colleague rushdi, working under difficult circumstances, having had to relocate himself and his family multiple times as that conflict plays out on the ground there. but let's also break down the visit of president biden. we can speak tojoshua landis, the director of the center for middle east studies at the university of oklahoma. thank you very much for your time on newsday here on bbc news. how do you think presidentjoe biden will be filling at the end of his visit? i filling at the end of his visit? ~ ., . . ., , , visit? i think he accomplished what he set — visit? i think he accomplished what he set out _ visit? i think he accomplished what he set out to _ visit? i think he accomplished what he set out to do, - visit? i think he accomplished what he set out to do, which. visit? i think he accomplished | what he set out to do, which is to travel to israel, show the israelis that he is on their site, he has their back, and that there can be no light between the united states and israel were there never will

be, and that he stands with them against terrorism and this terrible attack in gaza and that they have the right to defend themselves. and i think he gave a very eloquent speech. i know manyjewish americans were extremely pleased with it, and many americans are pleased with it, and so i think he has done what he set out to duke, which is to reassure the israelis and to establish the democratic party as a pro israel party firmly in the united states.— israel party firmly in the united states. �* �*, ., united states. but there's also an underlying _ united states. but there's also an underlying concern - united states. but there's also an underlying concern when i united states. but there's also an underlying concern when it| an underlying concern when it comes to the arab nations, and i want to get to that. the fact that after that hospital explosion, most arab leaders cancelled their meeting, but president biden still managed to make that phone call to the egyptian president al—sisi. what does that indicate when it comes to a simultaneous diplomatic push in the circumstances?- diplomatic push in the circumstances? ~ . , ., , circumstances? the arab leaders were clearly _ circumstances? the arab leaders were clearly looking _ circumstances? the arab leaders were clearly looking for - circumstances? the arab leaders were clearly looking for some -

were clearly looking for some support from biden, to stop this fighting, some pressure on israel to stop the fighting, and to bring this war to a close so they can return to their people and say, look, we have influenced the americans, the americans are evenhanded on this and we are going to stop the killing of palestinians, and i think they fear they were not going to get that and in fact they have not gotten that, and we saw that in a un resolution today which failed because of us opposition, to stop the fighting. the us has got israel's back on this and thatis got israel's back on this and that is going to of course raise anti—american sentiment in the middle east and in other places as well. in in the middle east and in other places as well.— places as well. in fact on that oint, places as well. in fact on that point. as _ places as well. in fact on that point, as someone _ places as well. in fact on that point, as someone who - point, as someone who understands the region well, we have seen strong condemnation from the arab states. there are protests that are intensifying in the west bank and other areas. where do you think discomfort is going from here

and are you concerned about the possibility of a wider escalation?- possibility of a wider escalation? , . ., . possibility of a wider escalation? , . , escalation? -- this conflict is auoin escalation? -- this conflict is going from — escalation? -- this conflict is going from here? _ escalation? -- this conflict is going from here? it - escalation? -- this conflict is going from here? it really . going from here? it really depends on how long the united states wants to give israel cover further conflict in gaza. the israelis say they are going to do a ground attack in washington and biden has said, ask them not to do that. much will depend, i think the united states is giving them cover, both in the un and international community and in the media, to do what they want to do right now and to try to destroy as much of hamas as they can, but at some point, it is going to be very difficult for the united states to do that. we saw that in the invasion of lebanon in 1982, where ronald reagan gave the israelis several weeks of bombing beirut, trying to kill aeroflot and the leadership of the plo, but eventually, world opinion began to turn against this bombing and people felt badly for the lebanese and ronald reagan had turned and asked him to stop it —— kill

arafat. i think people are waiting for that point to come with president biden. we waiting for that point to come with president biden.- with president biden. we will have to leave _ with president biden. we will have to leave it _ with president biden. we will have to leave it there, - with president biden. we will have to leave it there, but. have to leave it there, but thank you very much, mrjoshua landis, for your time on newsday and giving us your inputs. we have been talking about the us president's visit, but now will be talking about the uk prime minister rishi sunak�*s. he will arrive in israel on thursday for a two—day trip to the wider region as concerns grow over the conflict in the middle east. he'll meet the country's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, and president isaac herzog. our political editor chris mason has more on this. downing street say that rishi sunak will express his condolences for the terrible loss of life in israel and gaza as a result of hamas's brutal terrorist attacks. he's also expected to press for humanitarian aid to get to the people of gaza as quickly as possible and for the british nationals that are trapped there to be

able to leave as quickly as possible, as well as making the argument in israel and elsewhere in the next couple of days that the violence and the anger in the middle east must be contained as much as possible. the foreign secretary, james cleverly, also in the region tonight. he's going to visit egypt, turkey and qatar in the coming days. and i think what we're seeing here, diplomatically, is the prime minister and the foreign secretary using every last moment they can to use whatever diplomatic levers they can before the anticipated escalation from israel in gaza, perhaps in the coming days. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the inquest into the death of manchester arena bomber salman abedi has returned a conclusion of suicide. the record of inquest was published today by thejudge—coroner who chaired the manchester arena inquiry. the formal conclusion recorded by the inquest was, quote, "suicide while undertaking

a terror attack that murdered 22 innocent victims and injured many others". official figures show that food prices have seen their first monthly fall in two years, but fuel prices have risen sharply. milk, cheese and egg prices all fell, but petrol rose by 5.1p a litre. it means the uk's overall rate of inflation holds steady at 6.7% after three consecutive monthly falls. the met office has issued a rare red weather warning for parts of eastern scotland on thursday. forecasters are concerned that heavy rains and winds brought by storm babet could cause a risk to life. the storm is currently hitting ireland after sweeping in from the atlantic. you're live with bbc news. we have been telling you about the developments in israel and gaza and about the us president's visit. joe biden said it appeared the hospital explosion was not carried out

by an israeli air strike. but he acknowledged there were, quote, "a lot of people "out there not sure". ros atkins has spent the day with the bbc�*s verify team looking at what we do know about what happened. israel has highlighted this footage, saying it shows a palestinian rocket misfiring. some weapons experts say this does look like a rocket. bbc verify examined the direction of travel of the projectile. we can't be sure where it was fired from or by whom. then we see an explosion on the ground. bbc verify has geolocated this to the al ahli hospital. we have this video, too. weapons experts tell us the size of the fire on the ground could be caused by rocket fuel, propellant and vehicle fuel, though we can't be sure. next, this photo shows the hospital courtyard this morning. there are scorch marks and burnt out cars, but there's

no significant visible damage to the buildings. bbc verify has also been examining pictures of a crater in the courtyard. as you can see, it's small. this image shows the same thing. and israel says the absence of a large crater and the lack of damage to buildings proves its weapons didn't cause this. some experts we've consulted cautiously agree. from the evidence we have right now, the israeli explanation looks to be the most plausible — that is that this was an errant rocket. there's a small crater and then some burned out cars. that's consistent with a rocket striking the parking lot and setting the cars on fire. hamas, though, blames israel for this explosion, without providing evidence that can be independently verified. and so while bbc verify continues its investigations — as do many weapons experts — based on available evidence, it's not possible to be definitive about what caused this.

i have been speaking to ivo daalder, a former us ambassador to nato who's now ceo of the chicago council on global affairs, and asked whetherjoe biden achieved his objectives in this visit. well, we'll have to wait and see. i think he wanted to do three things that were important. first of all, he wanted to make absolutely sure that the israelis knew and the world knew that the united states stands squarely with israel following these horrific events that we saw on october 7 and are still seeing the results from. secondly, he wanted to send the message that no—one should be thinking about escalating this war and attacking israel, whether it's iran, hezbollah or anyone else. and third, he wanted to have a very serious conversation with prime minister netanyahu and the war cabinet about its strategy for the future, for the way ahead. and i think, clearly, he achieved the first, another major speech by the president, but we will have to see whether he's able

to convince people not to get involved in the war any further and no further escalation. and, of course, we will have to see what is going to happen on the ground with regard to gaza. importantly, as you reported, he did convince the israelis and now the egyptians to allow humanitarian aid into the gaza strip. and that is a very critical step. but how this goes further is something we'll have to wait and see. in fact, i wanted to ask you that point about the humanitarian access. that seems to be one of the big tangibles, at least from this trip, at least as far as the announcement has been made by the president. but how is that likely to play out, in your opinion, given the circumstances and the difficult situation on the ground? well, everything that comes into gaza at this point, in terms of food, medication, water, is welcome. the situation is dire, it is extremely difficult, as you and everyone else has been reporting, for the people

in gaza that remain and some form of humanitarian aid is absolutely necessary. and the us has been working diligently together with other countries to try to convince both the israelis and the egyptians to allow that aid to flow in. hopefully, we've now broken the logjam and that will start the process. but a lot of aid is necessary and a lot more will be necessary in the coming days. that's right, consistent supply of aid there. but also one final question in terms of preventing the conflict from escalating. has president biden committed himself to any red lines with his warnings if iran does make a move? and what could those red lines look like, according to you? i don't think he's drawn any red lines. he's just made very clear that this is something they should not be doing and should not contemplate. the reason the united states

has deployed two aircraft carriers, 2,000 marines and put more forces on alert is to make it very clear that there are going to be very serious consequences without necessarily spelling those out in public. but we do know that the us has been communicating with iran privately, through channels that are established for that very purpose, and iran no doubt knows exactly what the us is prepared to do. it's just not something that the president at this point is willing to say publicly. one area where israelis and palestinians live and work together is east jerusalem. clive myrie has been there to find out what both communities think about the events of the last few days. in occupied eastjerusalem, some palestinians and jews living here prefer to keep a wide berth. but cheek byjowl, they live. to reach the western wall, a sacred site in thejewish faith, you went to the old city ofjerusalem through

the damascus gate, an important cultural icon for palestinians. and in between, along al—wad street, competing narratives of who owns the ancient stones beneath their feet and beyond. hyatt ali is 78, watching events in gaza with sorrow. translation: we can't doj anything, just pray and cry. there is nothing, nothing... god help us all. moshe knobel, who works in a synagogue on al—wad street, says he knew in his heart israel did not attack the hospital in gaza, that anti—israeli propaganda is everywhere. so it is clear in your mind what happened in gaza? with the hospital? last night? 100%. even biden that came here today said, i checked it out

and it's not the israelis. so there is a lot of lies, a lot of fake news. it is much quieter here today. the palestinian shops are closed in protest over the gaza hospital blast. but the israeli defence force remains on guard. there is a tension here, with the nation at war. broken by the exuberance of youth. we came across nitai atari and his friends, all 19 years old, with their lives ahead of them and the pride in their nation. like, i don't hate palestinian people. i hate terrorism. it's really hard for us to live here, but we're not going leave, this is our land, our home. then, as the call to prayer sounds, riyad najib appears with his son. for palestinians, the gaza blast and everything else they have endured over decades, they blame on israel.

translation: yes, honestly, the feeling was pain _ and sadness, for what the occupation has done to us, crimes towards our people in this holy land. this is not the first crime and not the last. how old is your son? four. four years old. do you think he will grow up to know peace in this land? thank god, all of us love peace, but how many times have we just talked about peace? that's all for now. stay with bbc news. hello there. well, storm babet continues to push northwards across the uk. its impacts are likely to be felt for much of the rest of the week. in fact, the met office has issued its highest level of alert. it's a rare red warning, in force for rain, valid from 6pm on thursday evening, right through until midday on friday.

it's for north—eastern areas of scotland, parts of angus and southern aberdeenshire. the totals are really going to start to stack up. the rain is quite widespread across the uk as we head through the rest of the week, but nowhere more so than across north—eastern areas of scotland, where there could be as much as two months�* worth of rainfall by the time we get to the end of the day on friday, around 200 to 250 millimetres of rain. and that heavy rain is moving northwards. this is storm babet, of course. the winds are strengthening out towards the east coast of scotland. gusts of wind here of around 70 miles an hour. the winds lightening towards the south. it's turning drier here. it is a mild start to the day, but of course, the temperatures are largely academic. and so that rain will continue to push northwards as we head through the morning. sunshine and showers, some of the showers possibly heavy and thundery across england and wales. the rain will start to turn very heavy, very persistent. it aligns with that strong south—easterly wind as we head through the day on thursday

and it willjust keep coming as we come into thursday night and friday morning itself. so that south—easterly wind driving more rain, acting as a kind of conveyor belt. and there are wider amber weather warnings in force across scotland as well, another one for rain across caithness and sutherland. and this one is for wind, too. now, with that brisk south—easterly wind, it's not the prevailing wind direction, so there could be some trees down, likely to be some impacts from these strong, gusty winds. but this, of course, is of most concern within the red warning area. now, there could be some extensive flooding, possibly some deep, fast flowing flood water, maybe some structural damage as well, some very tricky travelling conditions as well, so dangerous for travel. and then we see a second area of low pressure. that's just going to enhance the rainfall a little further, i think, on friday. but then as that low pressure builds through, we still see these gusty winds out towards the east coast. the focus of that rain will tend to be across central areas of england, down through parts of wales and particularly the south—east of england as we head

towards the end of the day. still very windy for eastern coasts, but at least the rain lightens across scotland. do keep tuned to the forecast.

us presidentjoe biden announces unprecedented aid for those in displaced by the war in gaza. plus... right now i'm injakarta, and i'm heading to bandung. if we were driving, it would take about three hours. but with whoosh, it'll

take about 45 minutes. as leaders meet in beijing for a major infrastructure summit, we assess the impact of chinese investment in south east asia. hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. the us president has announced $100 million in aid for those displaced by the war in gaza. joe biden said he would ask congress this week for the funding to be folded into a massive $100 billion package. mr biden has now left israel — he arrived just hours after a massive explosion killed hundreds of people at a hospital. it's not clear who was responsible for the deadly blast. meanwhile, the us treasury is targeting hamas' financial network, saying it has sanctioned two senior members of the armed groups�* leadership. today, i'm also announcing $100 million in new us funding