live from jerusalem — this is bbc news. the head of the un agency for palestinian refugees says the last remaining services it is providing in gaza are collapsing. israel carries out more air and ground attacks in gaza overnight, hitting dozens of hamas targets. the israeli military says it has killed a senior hamas commander who helped plan the attacks on 7th october. do you love her? and new life amid the suffering, we hear what life is like for pregnant women inside gaza.

hello, i'm lyse doucet. israel's military says it carried out a new ground raid in gaza overnight to target hamas fighters. it is the second night in a row. infantry and armoured units were accompanied by helicopter gunships as they entered eastern gaza city. these pictures, supplied by the idf, apparently show a hamas tunnel being struck by a guided missile. positions for launching anti—tank missiles and command and control centres were also hit and the military says it has killed a senior hamas commander who helped organise the 7th october attacks.

the army said all israeli troops exited the area with no injuries. this is the second ground incursion in as many days. many are asking when a wider ground attack will take place. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has insisted a full offensive is coming. he said the timing had yet to be determined. there is more news now, dire warnings from the united nations. the un humanitarian coordinatorfor the occupied palestinian territory, lynn hastings, says eight more lorries carrying food, medicine and water are expected to cross into gaza from egypt today. she said around 7a lorries have so far been able to enter since the war began. the un says every aid truck is

welcome, the supplies are urgently needed, but that they are far, far less than what has been needed. today there has been a dire warning from unwra. it says because of the lack of feel it is going to have to cut back drastically on its operations,. its commissioner general, philippe lazzarini, warned that basic services are crumbling, food, water and fuel are running out, and streets are overflowing with sewage. he gave a press conference in jerusalem this morning. let's hear what else he said. gaza is on the brink of a massive health hazard as the risk of diseases are looming. a few days ago, i warned that we will not be able to continue our humanitarian operation if we do not get the fuel supply. my warning still stands. over the last few days,

unwra has drastically limited its consumption of fuel, but this came at a cost. our team had to make a tough decision that no humanitarian workers should do. a dire warning there from the commissioner general of unwra. well, earlier i spoke to unrwa spokesperson tamara alrifai. i asked her because fuel supplies are running so short, they had to make these tough decisions now about what should be the top priority. so i asked her what was the most important need at this hour. everything is a priority. because right now the question we are asking is, should we unplug incubators for premature babies in hospitals?

should we stop providing fuel to the bakeries knowing that around a million people only get one piece of bread per day? should we stop pumping clean water through our desalination plants? that is the only way for people to drink water that is not contaminated. this is the state of discussions that we have as aid workers and it's really excruciating to have to ask ourselves these questions. is there anywhere else that you can go to get aid? are there some of the many charities working in gaza? do they have fuel storage? and, of course, israel says that you should get your fuel from hamas. they say that hamas does have fuel stocks but they are not sharing them. we cannot talk about what others have in gaza, including hamas. we should not be begging warring parties for fuel anyway. we are an independent un organisation that vets very, very strictly, our vendor

is and our beneficiaries and we deliver our aid directly. we should have our own resources. to put us in such a squeezed place and then tell us there, knowing what can come later if we effectively take this view, is really disingenuous and dishonest. unwra warning that gaza is in their words on the brink. the idf has been giving more details today on the second night of a limited ground raid into gaza. to get more detail i have been speaking to willie davis in southern israel.

there have been two admitted incursions by israeli troops in the last couple of nights in the first was in northern gaza and the second one you are talking about was another land incursion further towards central gaza and involves several ground troops and tanks and the idf, the army, said it was aimed at a specific set of targets, hamas—related targets in the central part of gaza not far from the border fence and the idf said the objective was met and the target was destroyed and there were no israeli casualties, but this is the second consecutive night. the first night there were significantly more vehicles involved including tanks and bulldozers and the israeli government said its been part of the process of laying a path for what might be to come, clearing minefields close to the border and hamas positions closer to the border, and also last night the israeli said they killed a senior hamas commander, a deputy hamas commander who israel

said was directly involved in preparing the attacks on october the 7th when thousands of hamas armed men broke through the fences and ended up killing moo israelis. israel is notjust taking out sites and hamas targets where it can identify senior operatives, it's also, in the words of israel, is neutralising them as well. and all the time mindful it's on the mind of the israeli public is the fate of the hostages who are being held in the gaza strip either by hamas or islamichhad. yet again today the number was revised upwards with the israeli military saying they could confirm there were 229 hostages and you've been speaking to relatives, the relatives of one of the hostages who did get out, but also to other families and the impression is that this is a growing political pressure in israel that the israeli army

will have to take account of people want the hostages to come home before there is a widening war. you are quite right. up to this point benjamin netanyahu's only preoccupation would have been that once he said israel's objective was to defeat hamas was when the ground invasion started and we're almost three weeks away from the start of the war, the ground invasion has not happened and one of the considerations, as you say, is the fate of those 220—plus hostages. not all israelis, many of them british and american, and other nationalities as well and many of them are thai workers working on some of the kibbutzes when they were abducted, so there's a lot of international and domestic israeli pressure which is growing. i spoke to a woman last night, a relative of the two elderly women who were released last week, and she has made it abundantly clear that she thinks benjamin netanyahu's war aims should take a back seat until hostages are released. and we heard joe biden

speaking in israel last week and saying that it was his number one priority as well. there's an awful lot of diplomatic pressure on benjamin netanyahu to think about things before he launches his full—scale invasion because it will undoubtedly have an impact on the hostages themselves. so many decisions and factors for military planners in terms of when to go in for a broader attack. let's get more on the us strikes in eastern syria overnight on facilities used by iran's revolutionary guards. officials said the strikes hit weapons and ammunition storage facilities near the border with iraq, and were carried out by f—i6 fighterjets using precision munitions. in a statement, the us secretary of defence,

lloyd austin, described them as �*precision self—defence strikes in response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks groups that began on october 17." the pentagon said at least 16 attacks have injured more than 20 us military personnel in recent weeks. earlier, us defence officials said they were in the process of moving some 900 troops to the region, amid fears the gaza conflict could spread into a regional war. let's get a perspective on the us moves and thinking. security correspondent frank gardnerjoins me now from our london newsroom.

the us says that these strikes in eastern syria were not connected to the israel— gaza front and said they did not inform israel, but in sense they are linked in a way, are they not? ,, . , they are linked in a way, are they not? ,, ., , , ., ., , not? the us has been at great pains to sa this not? the us has been at great pains to say this is — not? the us has been at great pains to say this is a _ not? the us has been at great pains to say this is a complete _ not? the us has been at great pains to say this is a complete separate i to say this is a complete separate action, don't confuse it with what is going on in gaza, but you are right, it is a sign of the increasing tension, a further notch up increasing tension, a further notch up in that ladder of tension across the region, and a fear that this conflict could spread beyond its borders. i don't think we should over egg gate because this is a relatively small action and it is not the first time that us bases in iraq and syria have come under attack. over previous years i have come under attack several times, but what this was was the result of a direct warning from the white house, to around, made personally by, i don't know what exactly form it took, but by presidentjoe biden to the supreme leader in iran, to stop these attacks or there will be

consequences. iran has responded with his foreign minister saying we can'tjust with his foreign minister saying we can't just stand with his foreign minister saying we can'tjust stand idly by and watch the carnage going on in gaza. the us is partly responsible for that, it says, the iranian view. it is a by—product, yes, ithink, in some ways of the conflict between hamas and israel but it is a very limited operation. we are talking about a pretty small isolated, a couple us bases, one in syria, a very small us military presence on the eastern borders they are, about halfway between damascus and baghdad, and the other is at the al—assad airbase, us operated on iraq, they have come underjoint tax before, there have been some injuries, one death of a contractor, but this isn't a huge conflagration yet, but one of the things we are seeing from this is the us is asking israel to give it a bit of time before it does

its big incursion that is expected, to get its air defences into place across its bases throughout the region. across its bases throughout the re . ion. ., , ., , region. indeed. you will remember as ou region. indeed. you will remember as you reported — region. indeed. you will remember as you reported at _ region. indeed. you will remember as you reported at the _ region. indeed. you will remember as you reported at the time, _ region. indeed. you will remember as you reported at the time, in _ region. indeed. you will remember as you reported at the time, in the - you reported at the time, in the early days of this war they moved the carriers, or ships into the region, this is widely described as a deterrence, send a warning to any other countries which may want to try to exacerbate the crisis. now as you say, they are saying they have to put their defences into place, the pentagon this morning saying they are moving around some 900 personnel. as this crisis drags on and the war intensifies, do you see and the war intensifies, do you see a shift in us thinking and preparation?— a shift in us thinking and re aration? ., preparation? the immediate aftermath. _ preparation? the immediate aftermath, and _ preparation? the immediate aftermath, and you - preparation? the immediate aftermath, and you have - preparation? the immediate - aftermath, and you have covered it extensively on your podcast, conflict, the immediate aftermath of that horrific attack on the 7th of

october, western leaders were very quick to back israel and say whatever it takes for israel to defend itself, but because of the incredibly high death toll and injury toll and displacement and human suffering that is taking place in gaza and the ensuing weeks, there is privately behind the scenes quite a lot of concern now that israel has gone too far in its reaction. of course that is contested by israel, but there is a concern that if the next stage is crossed, in other words a full—scale land incursion into gaza, with potentially weeks or months of intense street to street, house—to—house fighting in the tunnels, backed by constant air strikes, drone strikes etc, that thatis strikes, drone strikes etc, that that is going to inflame tensions even more across the region, and thatis even more across the region, and that is i think a concern that has been passed to the israelis. iran has signalled that if that happens,

that changes the paradigms. of course the big fear, the big elephant in the room and i think hezbollah, this massive iranian—backed proxy militias sitting across the border in lebanon with around 100 rockets and missiles, many of which are very sophisticated. they have had a lot of iranians help to design and manufacture and import, smuggle them in, some of them are precision guided long—range missiles that will potentially take out entire ministries if they can penetrate the israel defences. they have enough of them should they choose to join this war to overwhelm i think i will bleat the israel air defences, but the retribution would be huge, catastrophic for lebanon, that is partly why these huge us strike force carriers, they are sitting just off shore, saying to israel we have got your back, if you get attacked from the north by lebanon, they haven't said it specifically but the implication is they will help israel retaliate.—

but the implication is they will help israel retaliate. very briefly, we are expecting _ help israel retaliate. very briefly, we are expecting from _ help israel retaliate. very briefly, we are expecting from the - help israel retaliate. very briefly, we are expecting from the un - help israel retaliate. very briefly, - we are expecting from the un general assembly today, voting on that motion, proposed byjordan and other arab states for a ceasefire, even though israel is listening to its allies, to its own planners to delay the ground attack, a ceasefire it seems for israel is out of the question. seems for israel is out of the question-— seems for israel is out of the cuestion. ., , ., . ., , question. problem with a ceasefire israel, question. problem with a ceasefire israel. and — question. problem with a ceasefire israel, and let's _ question. problem with a ceasefire israel, and let's be _ question. problem with a ceasefire israel, and let's be clear _ question. problem with a ceasefire israel, and let's be clear on - question. problem with a ceasefire israel, and let's be clear on this, i israel, and let's be clear on this, pretty much everybody wants a ceasefire because they want to see this stopped, they want to see more aid get in and a respite, certainly in the arab world, and around the region, but the problem for israel but that is they worry that this will simply give hamas time to regroup, rearm, reposition its forces to give them a space. remember, you have been following israel for the decades, longer than me, you know what kind of prime minister benjamin netanyahu has. he likes to present himself as mr

security, and don't let's forget the october the 7th attack by hammers, took place on his watch. it was a mass security and intelligence failure so he doesn't want to be seen to be giving any quarter whatsoever. the background all of this, the issue of the hostages. , which qatar has been mediating and thanked by britain, the us and israel for its role in trying to negotiate the safe release of the hostages, who for only four have come out. there talk of 50 more but we are not seeing that. you not going to able to get that amount of dozens of hostages out if there is constant round—the—clock air strikes and bombing. so that is another reason why people want to see at least a pause in the fighting. thank ou for least a pause in the fighting. thank you forjoining _ least a pause in the fighting. thank you forjoining us — least a pause in the fighting. thank you forjoining us with _ least a pause in the fighting. thank you forjoining us with your - you forjoining us with your observations and insight. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

let's look at some other stories making news. an independent review has found that "serious failings" were made by natwest in its treatment of nigel farage when it closed his bank account. the report said the communication with mr farage did not follow the bank's policies, but the closure was lawful. natwest apologised for the failings. a health think tank predicts that waiting lists for non—urgent treatment in england will rise by a quarter of a million, to eight million, by next august. the new owner of collapsed high street retailer wilko says it plans to open five new stores before christmas. cds superstores will launch the first two new shops in plymouth and exeter, with former staff given priority in recruitment processes.

you're live with bbc news. we are reporting from jerusalem and reporting all the breaking news. nearly three weeks ago we started reporting this and there has always been a concern that this is a crisis at will inflame passions across the region and has the potential to escalate into a much wider war. the fears of this will emphasise today with those air strikes eastern syria on the border of iraq by american f-16 on the border of iraq by american f—16 warplanes. i have been speaking to our world affairs editorjohn simpson who is in beirut. i asked him about these concerns, about a wider conflict across the region.

i think what we're looking at in those attacks are america's decision just to flick the whip a little bit, as far as iran is concerned. there is a clear link between iran and hamas, we know that. the suggestion is that, in most times, that iran actually gives hamas its instructions in many ways, as it does with hezbollah here in lebanon. so this isjust, i think, america saying, "look, we're not forgetting the attacks on our own bases in the last few days. we're not forgetting the wider links between hamas and hezbollah and iran. we're here and we are part of this and we are watching you." i suspect that that is really

the basis for the attacks. plus, maybe, you know, the desire to affect the situation on the ground a bit. and with every week, john, we see these preparations by the us being described as deterrents in the early days of the war but moving strike groups, aircraft carriers into the region and now the pentagon says it is moving around 900 personnel in the region. we heard reports in the us media saying joe biden needed to get the air defences into place. the longer this goes on, the more concerns about the widening war and the us and others are taking these precautions. yes. you see, it's important for president biden, for the white house to demonstrate that it is the dominant power in this area.

that regardless of what's happening on the ground, american military and diplomatic power is what still counts for the middle east. i think it's absolutely essential that biden feels that it is absolutely essential for him to demonstrate that. how do you do that? well, you have the aircraft carrier groups just off the coast here. you have the ability to fly in air strikes, and it is just a way of saying, "look, we are here, we are dominant, we're the powerful entity here." john simpson emphasising the going concern about the widening war, but growing concern also about the

humanitarian crisis in gaza. the focus today and for many days has been on fuel running out. that is affecting hospitals. with hospitals in gaza either shut or unable to provide medical help, pregnant women are being forced to give birth in dangerous conditions. one of them — a journalist called jumana — has made a video diary of her experiences. she's been speaking to bbc arabic�*s dalia haider. they speak arabic. a precious moment captured between a pregnant mother and daughter. translation: i'm about to deliver any time soon. - i hope my second baby arrives safely and peacefully, but apparently she will come within a destruction. as israel carried out air strikes we asked jumana, a journalist from gaza city, to record a video diary in the lead up to giving birth.

what scares me the most, what i think about every night as i fall asleep, is that we may not wake up. two days after the conflict started jumana evacuated with her four—year—old daughter and moved in with relatives further south, where they thought it was safer. i moved to another home. this is all the stuff i was able to take, the small bag and these things. like the 2 million palestinians in gaza struggling with food and water shortages, jumana and herfamily are often cut off from the outside world. we don't have electricity so we can't watch the news on the television. there's no internet. the radio is all we have if our phones don't die.

dalia haider reporting. it is the story of so many women in gaza. the un says 5000 women will give birth this month. things are looking very autumnal and unsettled unchangeable. heavy downpours of rain and blustery winds. low pressure to the rest of us at the moment. we have low pressure systems and showers rotating around at low pressure, driving it in. this area of low pressure could be quite a trouble maker on saturday into sunday in the south. let's look at the rainfall we are seeing accumulate over the next few days and it is eastern scotland that will see the heaviest rain perhaps up to 100 millilitres by the end of saturday, following unsaturated grant. the potentialfor further flooding unsaturated grant. the potentialfor furtherflooding problems. today we have that rain sitting across eastern scotland, quite windy and with his here. elsewhere some

sunshine particularly for the south—west but also a scattering of showers moving through on a south—westerly breeze. temperatures between 10 and 16 for most of us. a little cooler across a four north of scotland in the clear air. through this evening at the night we keep cloud in outbreaks of rain when north—east england and eastern scotland, south clear spells some mist and fog patches or some centuries but heavy thundery showers around purses learning and, some of the irish sea coast, wales, northern ireland, it isn't going to be cold or proxy but it could be quite a murky start to your saturday morning. this mist and fog will clear away from central parts of the uk and again we have got more cloud and rain for parts of southern and eastern scotland, north—east england, few showers elsewhere but more persistent heavy rain in from the south later in the day, thunderstorms and the potential for some of those heavy rain could cause some of those heavy rain could cause some localised flooding. across parts of southern england on saturday night. and forget the clocks go by one hour through the early hours of sunday morning. two an and when i am again. through sunday this area of low pressure

drifts northwards but we have the tail end of this plant which will again sit across eastern scotland where we really could do without even more rainfall accumulating. we could see further flooding problems here on sunday. further south some sunshine but again it is around parts of southern england into wales that we could see the bulk of the heavy thundery downpours. blustery winds around us all. some sunshine for the likes of eastern england and perhaps and temperatures in the mid—teens. it is notjust unsettled into the end of october but the start of november also. plenty more showers in the forecast. bye for now.

china's foreign minister is in washington to meet his us counterpart, with trade tensions high on the agenda. and profits surge at the online retail colossus amazon, with its cloud business promising even better days ahead. welcome to world business report. let's start with an important meeting between the world's two economic heavyweights. chinese foreign minister wang yi is in washington. he's been meeting us secretary of state antony blinken