this is their arrival at hospital in tel aviv after they were handed over to the israeli military. soldiers carried their women into the medical facility on stretchers. they are nurit cooper and yocheved lifshitz, who were taken hostage just over two weeks ago. this is the moment they were transferred to ambulances at the rafah border crossing with egypt. yocheved lifshitz�*s daughter confirmed her release. she said, while i cannot put into words the relief that she is now safe, i will remain focused on securing the release of my father and the 200 hostages in gaza. their release brings the total number of hostages freed by hamas to four, but israel says more than 200 hostages are still being held. released by hamas after more than two weeks in captivity, yocheved lifshitz and nurit cooper were taken out of gaza into egypt.

freed on health grounds, hamas said — no longer hostages but survivors. both were kidnapped by hamas gunmen from their homes in nir oz, the scars of looting and destruction still mark the empty kibbutz. this was what they lived through. the vision of home they took to gaza, just three miles away. and this was what they lived through there. israeli air strikes, more than 300 a day, caught between their army and hamas. many palestinian civilians feel the same. gaza's hamas—run government says israeli strikes killed more than 400 people in a single day. hope, draining from the chance of peace, still surfaces

in the chance to save a life. ibrahim from blackpool is trying to leave gaza with his mother and three siblings. they have been living here for a year. buildings very close to us on our street, destroyed. we had to flee the house, flee our flat where we were living, and go to khan younis, and stay with family members. there were 43 of us staying in one flat. 0n the israeli side of the border, they have already left. in the town of sderot, 90% of the residents have gone. rocket attacks here in recent weeks, early warning signs of a wider war. shalom already has ptsd from a rocket attack on a building here in 2005. seeing hamas gunmen running through the streets

was unreal, he says. translation: it's like a bad dream and i want to wake . up and not be here. i am frozen. i don't want to be here. the whole building was shaking last night and we spent all night in the safe room, again. it's the same thing over and over again. as we were speaking, a taste of what life is like here now. translation: it was - a rocket attack from gaza. now you've experienced it live. it happens all the time. sderot is less than a mile from the border, so close you can see the explosions from israeli air strikes inside gaza. the geography here is local, the politics are global. as israel's prime minister juggles visits by world leaders, his army is waiting to go in.

rockets were still being fired into israel today. and israeli air strikes fired in. hostages complicate a ground offensive — pawns in a conflict that israel vows it will end. president biden spoke with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on monday. a white house readout of the call says biden welcomed the release of the additional hostages and also underscored the need for sustained continuous flow of humanitarian assistance into gaza and he reiterated the us support for israel. barbara plett usher reports on the us influence on the war and the dangers it may present to us troops elsewhere. the dangers it may present to us troops elsewhere.— troops elsewhere. the us is advisina troops elsewhere. the us is advising israel on _ troops elsewhere. the us is advising israel on military . advising israel on military operations and also its

concerns, one of those is the hostages. if they start rolling into gaza, the window of opportunity to get more release will almost certainly close. another big concern is attacks on us interest in the region. us troops in iraq have come under attack from militant groups backed by iran. about 2500 us troops in iraq. and 900 in syria. where there are shia militant groups backed by iran. the us is concerned about this escalating, notjust into a wider war, but into more attacks against american targets. they want more time to prepare. they are sending more missile systems, they have redirected an aircraft carrier strike group to the central command, which covers the persian gulf. and they have also ordered families and non—emergency staff in diplomatic missions in iraq to depart. i spoke to a military analyst.

how do you perceive the threat to the us at the moment? it seems iran, which backs hamas and hezbollah, another terrorist group, has put out... ..has been waging a slow and sneaky war against israeli and us interests in the middle east. what they are trying to do is provoke, i believe, the us into overreacting, to create a david versus goliath situation that they can live off through propaganda. by attacking american troops through their proxies in iraq and perhaps other places, they are trying to widen the war in the middle east for their own gains. is there a likelihood that might happen? it's hard to know. the only law of warfare is the law of unintended consequences. whether it's the peloponnesian war, 2500 years ago,

world war i or the iraq and afghanistan wars, they all started small, we'll get it done quickly and efficiently, and it expands into a quagmire that kills a lot of people. there's always the possibility that it will become a regional conflict that sucks in iran, israel, the us and the middle east, into a wider conflict. that's the worst case scenario. not necessarily the most probable scenario. if we look at israel's place in all of this, obviously the atrocities committed by hamas two weeks ago, the retaliation bombing since and the mass loss of life in gaza. what strategy is israel employing? israel has a deep conviction to uproot hamas once and for all. and the only real way to do that is to go in,

to pound the gaza strip and go in, boots on the ground like stalingrad, and clear it out. and because hamas as a terrorist group, is disguising itself as civilians, that means there will be lots of potential collateral damage, a lot of civilians dead. if that happens, what we are seeing strategically around the region is a duality between the united states, eu and israel on the one side, and middle eastern countries on the other side. as we saw this saturday in the cairo peace summit, where middle eastern countries are saying, hey, us, israel and the eu, you are hypocrites. when putin does this in ukraine, you say it's a human rights abuse. but when israel does it in gaza, that's self defence. so we are seeing the fissures in the middle east start to take place right now. the question is, can it be contained and controlled?

you mentioned the ground operation. we have heard from prime minister netanyahu that the troops are ready to go in. that would likely mean further bloodshed and a further rising of emotion in that region. would that achieve what israel are trying to do? israel, despite the 200 hostages, and it's deeply against the grain to sacrifice them, i think there is an overwhelming concern that israel needs to go into gaza and square it away, once and for all. and yes, where that leads, that is the question we are all discussing right now. any possibility of a ceasefire, do you think? i am not optimistic that there can be a political settlement at this stage. given how much the biden administration has backed israel, and as we mentioned

earlier, that kind of moving around of the us military troops, do you see any situation where there could be american troops on the ground in israel? absolutely. the us has already mobilised troops to go in that region. they have put two aircraft carrier groups. you will remember in the 0bama administration, the infamous red lines in syria... the problem is, if you go to a fight and you pull a gun and say, don't or i will shoot you, and somebody does it, then you've got to shoot them. does that mean we're going to take aircraft planes and bomb lebanon, syria, iran? and if we do that, where does that lead? but if we don't do that, where does that lead? when secretary blinken says we put all these military weapons in the region, for deterrents, what happens if somebody calls the us�*s bluff?

that can suck in a war, because americans, again, if they see 300 marines get killed... in an election year, could that force more mobilisation? this is a very hot situation. is there any chance of a de—escalation based on what you are saying? there's a lot of hope for that. the past weekend in cairo, several world leaders met for a de—escalation brief, but tellingly, there is no joint document signed. so i think there's a lot of intention and desire for it, so i wouldn't lose hope that it's a foregone conclusion. the humanitarian bite is in gaza could get worse as much needed fuel in short supply is not being allowed in. the unrwa says it will exhaust fuel reserves into days, but some

aid trucks are crossing into gaza through the rafah border. the latest updates as 20 trucks closed on monday, half carrying medicine, food and water, on top of 3a trucks over the weekend. the update says the number of internally displaced people in gaza is estimated at 1.4 million. shelters won by the eu have reached two and a half times capacity. rushdi abualouf has the latest. there is still some sort of a negotiation going on with israel on how in which ground and who is going to handle... the little fuel that came from an oil tank near the border and also about 40 or 45 trucks carrying

medicine, food, water. distant explosion. yeah, there's been intense air strikes tonight as well. this is the third or fourth one just close to the hospital. so another night of heavy bombing in southern gaza, khan younis. this is the area where israel asked 1.2 million people to come in. they said it's safer for you to be south. but as you can see, every night, there is airstrikes here in this area. but in gaza city, i think tonight, hamas local authority said that israel is committing massacres. as they said, they destroyed three houses over the heads of their people. more than 20 people killed and dozens other injured. this is bbc news. let's look at other stories making the news. an off—duty pilot in the us has been charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after allegedly trying to crash an alaska airlines passenger jet on sunday night. according to a company statement, joseph emerson was in the cockpit and tried to shut down the engines. he was subdued by crew members.

80 passengers were on board at the time. members of a militia in brazil have set fire to 35 buses after one of their leaders was killed by police. the second—in—command of the largest paramilitary group in rio state. the militias were originally formed to combat drug gangs but have evolved into organised crime groups. officials from the us and china had a two hour virtual meeting. us officials said the two sides talked about domestic and global developments and described the talks as productive and substantive. it comes before a visit to washington by the chinese foreign minister later this week. more stories from the families of hostages are amazing following hamas's surprise attack on israel two weeks ago.

a woman witnessed the murder of her daughter by hamas shooters. a warning this report contains disturbing footage. a terrified family. held at gunpoint by hamas. they are shooting us? no! it's shocking and upsetting to watch. but they wanted us to show their ordeal. just out of this picture lies the lifeless body of 18—year—old mayan, their oldest daughter. her father's hands are still covered with her blood. translation: it was always the nightmare of nightmaresj and suddenly it was real. a war is going on around my house, and they're inside. gunfire.

the family isn't whole any more. tsachi is being held hostage in gaza. # and i try to explain, when i do he turns away... and mayan is dead. # from the moment i could talk, i was ordered to listen... - # and i know that i have to go away. as the same song from that happy day plays, she's laid to rest. but her beloved dad is miles away. translation: tsachi is broken. he saw his daughter die. - he saw her getting shot in her head and die.

next to him, his daughter that had just celebrated turning 18, the house is full of balloons and congratulations and blood. she invited us to be here and film this. she wanted you to see this moment. but also the message behind it. that she is doing one of the hardest things she's ever had to do — burying her daughter miles from home and without her husband here by her side. what was he doing, he was in his pyjamas and it is covered in his daughter's blood. i don't think he has the opportunity to mourn. i want them all to come back here, now — not tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow, i want him here now. tsachi is one of more than 220 people still held hostage in gaza and the message

is simple — in his family's darkest moment, they need him. as negotiations continue to free more hostages, we spoke to a senior intelligence officer in the middle east, who helped secure the release of an israeli soldier in 2011. the situation is really tragic in general terms. with regard to the hostages in a particular way. i am very sceptical, frankly speaking, concerning a benign outcome. what we are seeing now is possibly a kind of release... we are possibly seeing a kind of release of maybe three

dozen hostages possibly. the rumours point to that direction. it won't solve the basic issue of still 150, 170 hostages. theirfate hinges, depends on the further development on the military grounds. what makes you sceptical? look, hamas abducted these hostages to force their will upon israel. israel has started to wage a veritable war on hamas. hamas in turn uses, or mis—uses the hostages. it's a kind of life insurance. that's the bottom line, first of all. it's quite clear that at least a substantial part of the hostages will be misused as this kind of human shields, life insurance, blackmailing assets, as you want to depict them.

why was the exchange in 2011 successful and what might be able to be applied now? gilad's case in compared _ able to be applied now? gilad's case in compared to _ able to be applied now? gilad's case in compared to today - able to be applied now? gilad's case in compared to today was | able to be applied now? gilad's| case in compared to today was a minor case. it's only one soldier, as we have seen he was exchanged after five years of painstaking negotiations. intervals and breakdowns of negotiations. it was already a power game. now we have a multitude of hostages. it's quite difficult now to see how hamas, which is for the time being in a much more uncomfortable situation between 2009 and 2011... hamas was in a kind of consolidated situation, not under fire,

kind of consolidated situation, not underfire, and during that time hamas was bargaining, haggling and finally achieving what they achieved in 2011. nowadays, for the time being, hamas is under heavy fire, gaza is underfire. the hamas is under heavy fire, gaza is under fire. the first issue is under fire. the first issue is just to survive for hamas. if they can't achieve that... the whole operation, the stated aim of israel and its supporters, to deny hamas any success. to supporters, to deny hamas any success. ., ., ., . success. to eradicate hamas. we have seen — success. to eradicate hamas. we have seen the — success. to eradicate hamas. we have seen the israeli _ success. to eradicate hamas. we have seen the israeli military - have seen the israeli military say they are carrying out limited grades into gaza to try to locate the hostages. if they are located in the extensive tunnel system underneath gaza, will it be possible to find them and free them? again i am sce tical.

them and free them? again i am sceptical- we — them and free them? again i am sceptical. we have _ them and free them? again i am sceptical. we have to _ them and free them? again i am sceptical. we have to assume i sceptical. we have to assume that they are distributed into various caves or places, and it would be a folly not to do it for hamas of course. so you might be able to rescue ones or others, but i would be flabbergasted if israel, despite all its intelligence capabilities, that they undoubtedly have, is able to liberate all of them in one instance. liberate all of them in one instance-— instance. so from your experience _ instance. so from your experience in - instance. so from your experience in dealing l instance. so from your. experience in dealing with hamas in the past, what do you think they would want to get in return if they were to release some or more of these hostages? the core demand was just to have many prisoners released. possibly that was the original aim. now things have completely changed. the first aim is to

survive, the second is to be reinstated if possible, and then to negotiate.- reinstated if possible, and then to negotiate. qatar has -la ed a then to negotiate. qatar has played a central _ then to negotiate. qatar has played a central role - then to negotiate. qatar has played a central role in - played a central role in mediation and negotiations. you started as a senior intelligence officer in the arab world for many years, how much influence does qatar have on hamas right now? it’s on hamas right now? it's interesting, _ on hamas right now? it's interesting, a _ on hamas right now? it�*s interesting, a relatively new development. in my time until 2011, hamas's influence was not that clear. it was egypt, finally, which was. i assume it depends on the problem, the military wing of hamas has created the problem for the political organisation. the political organisation. the political leadership of hamas, which is outside the gaza strip, has to coexist and co—operate with their host country, and the host country could say, listen, what you did

is reallyjust darkening our image. you must be more flexible. so a strong political pressure on the military wing. the military wing is on the military pressure itself. we have not seen that before from qatar. . ~ , ., have not seen that before from qatar. ., ~ , ., have not seen that before from qatar. ., ~ i- . have not seen that before from qatar. ., ~ . ., qatar. thank you so much for “oininu qatar. thank you so much for joining us _ qatar. thank you so much for joining us on _ qatar. thank you so much for joining us on bbc— qatar. thank you so much for joining us on bbc news - qatar. thank you so much for| joining us on bbc news today. many thanks for having me. you can find the _ many thanks for having me. you can find the latest _ many thanks for having me. you can find the latest on the israel gaza wore on our website or check out the app. updates on the latest hostages and our teams in israel, gaza and around the world. a new study says increased melting of west antarctica ice shelves is unavoidable in the coming decades. the report was published in a naturejournal and says humans have lost control of the fate of the i

street, and as a result sea—level rises would be greater than previously assumed. —— of the ice sheet. that's all from washington. thanks for watching and stay with us on bbc news. hello, there. we've started this week off on a fine note, but things are turning more unsettled now for tuesday onwards, and by the end of the week, it'll be turning windier with plenty of blustery showers. so, rain at times over the next few days, but there will be some drier, brighter, sunnier moments at times. the pressure chart for tuesday is pretty complicated. we've got a mess of weather fronts across the country, so generally cloudy, i think, today with variable amounts of rain. i think most of the rain, persistent at times, will be across northern and eastern england — areas that really don't need any more rainfall, so we have a met office yellow warning in here in force for tuesday up until around 4pm. elsewhere, there will be some sunshine around,

best of it, scotland, maybe southern england, but even here there'll be a few showers as well. temperatures 10—15 degrees and winds will remain light and variable for many. now, as we head through tuesday night, that area of low pressure starts to push back in towards the northeast and we could see some rain for eastern scotland, northeast england — again, areas that don't need the rain. another pulse of rain running across southern britain thanks to another area of low pressure. but in between, drier spells with clear skies, variable cloud, but a milder night to come — temperatures 5—8 degrees. for wednesday, again, we're in between weather systems. with light winds, we'll start off with some rain perhaps across the southeast. it could linger here through the day, and that weather front across the northeast will still push some cloud and rain in towards eastern scotland, maybe northeast england — again, areas that really don't need any more rainfall. but elsewhere, from northern ireland, down through much of england, wales, we should see some sunshine around. the highs of 14 or 15 degrees, but then it starts to turn wetter and windier

in the southwest later in the day, and that's because this much larger area of low pressure will dominate the weather scene for thursday and friday and even into the weekend, bringing plenty of showers and strong winds, particularly towards the south and the west. so, the winds picking up across western areas through thursday. band of rain spreads northwards again bringing rainfall to areas that don't need it. but for much of the country, northern ireland, the rest of england, wales, sunny spells, scattered showers. some of these will be heavy and thundery in places, particularly towards the southwest. temperatures reaching 15 degrees. if we factor in the wind, might not feel that mild. similar story on friday and into the weekend — low pressure sticks nearby with further showers or even longer spells of rain. take care.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. in war, not all soldiers are fighting on or for their own soil. thanks to the internet, it has become easier than ever before for foreigners to immerse themselves in conflicts very far from home. my guest today is a young british man, aiden aslin, who has a remarkable story.

hejoined the ukrainian army. he was captured, tortured and sentenced to death by putin's forces. he survived thanks to a prisoner swap. but why did he risk everything in someone else's war? aiden aslin, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is just over a year since you were released from captivity after being held by the pro—russian forces in occupied donetsk. looking at you, your physical scars have healed. what about your mental scars? erm, definitely my physical scars have definitely healed

or, like, i'm now a lot bigger compared to