live from washington, this is bbc news. huge explosions over gaza as israel intensifies aerial bombardment and expand its ground operations. the un calls for an immediate humanitarian truth is 120 countries vote in favour of a resolution. meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in gaza grows worth. the hamas run health ministry says 7000 people have been killed since israel's bombing began. glad you could join me. they

have been waves of intense israeli air strikes over gaza, much heavier than in the previous night. the israeli army says it is increasing the number of abstracts on the territory and expanding its ground force operations. in gaza, sire are warning of more extracts to come and communication including phone and internet have been cut off making it impossible for residents to reach anyone. amid the darkness explosions are intensify and israel is warning residents to move south for their safety. residents to move south for theirsafety. hamas residents to move south for their safety. hamas military wing says it is flashing with israeli forces in northern gaza and targeting intense missile barraged. an overwhelming majority of the un general assembly voted in favour of an immediate truth in gaza, it calls for aid. it opens is the

eu military situation in gaza is growing increasingly dire. the palestinian red crescent societies that they will run out of fuel in the coming hours and will be unable to provide emergency medical services in gaza without fuel for ambulances. jeremy bowen has the latest from jerusalem. not long after dark, the bombardment of gaza intensified. israel called it expanding ground operations. hamas said it was fighting an israeli incursion into the northern gaza strip, and fired salvos of rockets back into israel. the un secretary—general�*s pleas for a humanitarian ceasefire were drowned out. "this is a moment of truth," he said. "history willjudge us all." the day that led up to this had moments of quiet, though not of hope. in khan younis hospital in southern gaza, they stopped for the noon prayer, after another deadly night. then israel released video

of its naval commandos raiding targets on the gaza coast. somewhere, hidden inside gaza, are more than 200 hostages taken by hamas. talks to free at least some of them were said to be going well in the hours before israel's new onslaught. many palestinians believe israel wants to force them out of gaza for good. this lawyer was writing, "my heart, my heartbeat," on the shroud of his baby, stillborn after his pregnant wife was killed. like many other civilians, they stayed in northern gaza after israel ordered them to leave. later, israel released video of what it says was an attack on the hamas tunnel network. was it a clue of what was coming? israeli military commanders said again that hamas uses

palestinian civilians as human shields, and they said hamas has bunkers under gaza city's main hospital. this is an illustration of shifa hospital, and the underground facilities. i want to repeat, this is only an illustration. we will not share here the true material. terrorists move freely in shifa hospital, and other hospitals in gaza. we have concrete evidence that hundreds of terrorists flooded into the hospital to hide there, after the massacre of october 7th. about ten kilometres from gaza, in ashkelon, volunteers were signing up for duty with the israeli police. they were issued with brand—new american assault rifles by itamar ben—gvir, israel's national security minister. he has a conviction for inciting racism. many israelis think he is a dangerous extremist.

ben—gvir believes israel can eliminate hamas and destroy palestinian hopes for independence. but he was popular here at the police station. the volunteers believe his plan to arm civilians is the best way to protect their families. 0n the other side, they are not humans, they are monsters. we need to take gaza. gaza belongs to us. we need to take gaza and then we can transfer it to the palestinian authorities. but first we need to take gaza. it's beach weather, but they were empty as israel's troops prepare to go into gaza. it feels as fragile here as in the years after the holocaust, according to the former speaker of parliament. people sentimentally and emotionally are back to �*45-�*48. we are pre—state emotionally, we are no—state economically and socially, and we have no answer what to do with the next—door neighbour. so of course there is a need for a new call, for a new paradigm.

it's a very, very difficult trauma. but a very promising renaissance. and every birth comes to the world with a lot of pain and blood. before the chance of a brighter future comes a present that is grim and getting grimmer. a hamas rocket beat ashkelon�*s defences in the last hours before the israeli offensive. and this evening... explosions. ..in the dark night over gaza, israel is sending in wave after wave of strikes by heavy artillery and aircraft. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. in washington, the biden administration says it supports a pause and israel military operations to allow aid to

enter gaza. at the white house this afternoon, john kirby, the spokesman for the national security council told reporters that temporary specific pauses on the battlefield were an idea worth exploring. there should be consideration made right now for humanitarian pauses. these are localised, temporary, specific pauses on the battlefield so that humanitarian assistance can get in to people that need it or they, the people, can get out of that area in relative safety. that is what are humanitarian pauses and we think it is idea worth exploring. 0ur our state department correspondent had more on the view from the us. us officials are not commenting about the expanded israeli ground incursion and about the escalation in the air strikes. they say that is what the israeli military should talk about, it would not be appropriate talk about it from washington, they would not want to say anything that affected the security

of israeli military operations. they repeat that they support israel's right to defend itself, that they will supply it with the security assistance that it needs. they are not drawing any redlines in terms of the execution of the operation. having said that, they are very clear about their concerns. john kirby, the white house spokesman, in his press briefing, talked a lot about their concerns, about the need to get humanitarian aid in, fuel, about the need to continue negotiating about hostages, their concerns about the conflict spreading to the region. he said that they were having these conversations with the israelis, they were asking them hard questions about where is this going, how will it end, what is your strategy, what are your aims, how they conduct the operations. he said, at the end of the day, it was up to israel to have the answers to those questions, about the soundness of its planning and the effectiveness of the execution of those plans and it is something that the americans have very much connected themselves to because they support israel so strongly but they are also

very aware of how complicated it is and what the consequences could be and they are clearly conveying that to the israelis. for more on the us response we can speak to aaron david, a senior fellow can speak to aaron david, a seniorfellow at the can speak to aaron david, a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment. great to have you with us once again especially on this particular evening. i want to start by getting your thoughts on what we could potentially be seeing unfold here. i potentially be seeing unfold here. . , ., potentially be seeing unfold here. ., , ., ., potentially be seeing unfold here. . , ., ., “ here. i really do not think we know. there _ here. i really do not think we know. there is _ here. i really do not think we know. there is a _ here. i really do not think we know. there is a certain - know. there is a certain reality that will only be revealed tomorrow morning, the extent of it. apparently thousands of infantry company inaudible whether this is phase one of make a sort of periodic

incremental approach, one of make a sort of periodic incrementalapproach, inaudible incremental approach, inaudible it is incrementalapproach, inaudible it is unclear. i am not even persuaded yet that the administration inaudible. im’ith administration inaudible. with all of this in _ administration inaudible. with all of this in mind _ administration inaudible. with all of this in mind and _ administration inaudible. with all of this in mind and the uncertainty right now and as you point out the fact that we likely will have a clearer idea tomorrow, what kind of conversations do you think will be happening at the state department right now? i know it is somewhere you have awoke and i know the israelis would have been speaking to the us what kind of conversations do you think would be happening behind closed doors at this particular juncture? i closed doors at this particular “uncture? ~ , juncture? i think there will be important _ juncture? i think there will be important conversations. - important conversations. inaudible it is a conversations that the administration, the president, secretary state, and

the national security you have foreshadowed in your report inaudible. (audio breaking up) is it a strategy where they will clear certain areas and proceed incrementally. at the end of the day, i suspect that will be period of inaudible it is not going to be a matter of weeks in terms of inaudible. what sort of transitional mechanism could be created?

amidst all the death and destruction. mil amidst all the death and destruction.— destruction. all of this unfolding _ destruction. all of this unfolding at _ destruction. all of this unfolding at a - destruction. all of this unfolding at a time - destruction. all of this i unfolding at a time when destruction. all of this - unfolding at a time when we are seeing a diet humanitarian situation on the ground in gaza which has been well documented. we know of course right now there are no communications so we do not know the full extent of the picture at this particular hour but how concerned do you think washington would be right now, cognisant of the fact they appear to be at least some kind of phase or another reiteration of phase or another reiteration of this operation at a time when many civilians are living in dire circumstances? the importance _ in dire circumstances? the importance of _ in dire circumstances? tie: importance of communitarian pauses has been talked about but right now the only way in to gaza is in the south and for the life of me i cannot explain to you why we are only witnessing a trickle of humanitarian assistance. we need 500 trucks a day. (audio

breaking up) the requirements of the people and a combination of the people and a combination of israeli, egyptian and hamas (audio breaking up) to limit drastically the amount of aid that gets through. i cannot see a humanitarian border opened up from the south. that is a real problem and, again, we're dealing with destruction and devastation on the palestinian side, certainly in gaza. (audio breaking up) it is all driven by (audio breaking up) and what by (audio breaking up) and what sort by (audio breaking up) and what sort of legitimate authority can in fact face hamas if

israeli succeed in extinguishing sovereignty. d0 extinguishing sovereignty. do ou extinguishing sovereignty. do you think there has been sufficient conversation about what happened the day after this operation?— what happened the day after this operation? there has been a lot of discussion _ this operation? there has been a lot of discussion but - this operation? there has been a lot of discussion but a - this operation? there has been a lot of discussion but a lot - a lot of discussion but a lot of folks but so much of it is not going to be how it actually concludes. and if there are opportunities to rebuild (audio breaking up) opportunities to rebuild (audio breaking up) you opportunities to rebuild (audio breaking up) you are going to end up with two traumatised sides. that is the other problem. in order to make anything positive come out of this you're going to need (audio breaking up) an israeli leader prepared to interact with the palestinians seriously. you're going to need

a palestinian leader and a relatively unified palestine and an american president who is prepared (audio breaking up) in an election year. with that, i am not encouraged that (audio breaking up).— i am not encouraged that (audio breaking ur).— i am not encouraged that (audio breaking up). thank you so much for bein: breaking up). thank you so much for being with _ breaking up). thank you so much for being with us. _ on thursday the united nations approved a non—binding resolution calling for a humanitarian truth in gaza, just hours after israel defence forces announced their expansion of ground operations. this is a moment that the resolution and to third supports and passed. it is the first un response to the ongoing war after the security council failed ongoing war after the security councilfailed on ongoing war after the security council failed on for attempts to reach consensus on any

action. the resolution was proposed byjordan. it had the backing of more than 45 member states, including egypt, a man and the uae. 120 state voted to pass it. 45 state abstain from voting altogether. the resolution calls for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truth. it also demands that all parties comply with international humanitarian law and it also calls for the flow of essential aid into gaza and for the release of all civilian hostages. jordan's resolution makes no mention of the unprecedented attack on israel bite hamas on the seventh of october. it comes as residents of gaza struggled to access aid and as we have been mentioning they now appear to have lost communications with the outside world. the director—general of

the world health organization posted... touch of its staff, health facilities, both workers and humanitarian partners in gaza. he goes on to add that this siege makes me gravely concerned for their safety and the immediate health risks of vulnerable patients. back at the united nations, the israeli ambassador condemned the resolution.— the resolution. today is a day that will go — the resolution. today is a day that will go down _ the resolution. today is a day that will go down in _ the resolution. today is a day that will go down in infamy. l the resolution. today is a day l that will go down in infamy. we have all witnessed that the un no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance. this organisation was founded in the wake of the holocaust for the purpose of preventing atrocities, yet the spectacle we just saw proves beyond a doubt that the un is committed, sadly, tragically not to

preventing but ensuring further atrocities. . , ., atrocities. the palestinian ambassador _ atrocities. the palestinian ambassador has _ atrocities. the palestinian ambassador has also - atrocities. the palestinian| ambassador has also been speaking. take a listen. the general assembly _ speaking. take a listen. the general assembly prevailed and sent the — general assembly prevailed and sent the appropriate message not only— sent the appropriate message not only to the palestinian heapie _ not only to the palestinian people that there is justice and — people that there is justice and fairness and international humanitarian law upheld by the general— humanitarian law upheld by the general assembly, humanitarian law upheld by the generalassembly, but humanitarian law upheld by the general assembly, but also it sent— general assembly, but also it sent a — general assembly, but also it sent a message to everyone: enough — sent a message to everyone: enough is — sent a message to everyone: enough is enough, this war has to stan. — enough is enough, this war has to stop, the carnage against our people has to stop, and humanitarian assistance should begin— humanitarian assistance should begin to — humanitarian assistance should begin to enterthe humanitarian assistance should begin to enter the gaza strip with— begin to enter the gaza strip with at— begin to enter the gaza strip with at least 100 truckloads of humanitarian assistance, and to stop— humanitarian assistance, and to stop the — humanitarian assistance, and to stop the crime against humanity of forced — stop the crime against humanity of forced transfer. our un correspondent nada tawfik has been following the days event and sent us this update. days event and sent us this u.date. , , ., ., , days event and sent us this udate. , , ., ., , ., update. diplomats were waiting 'ust as

update. diplomats were waiting just as israel — update. diplomats were waiting just as israel had _ update. diplomats were waiting just as israel had expanded - update. diplomats were waiting just as israel had expanded its l just as israel had expanded its aerial and ground assault in gaza. the resolution passed with a round of applause, with an overwhelming number of nations in the general assembly supporting it. some noting that the world was watching how the general assembly would act, after four failed resolutions in the security council. now, the united nations had described how palestinians were living a hell on earth because of israel's bombardment and siege, and they pleaded for life—saving supplies to get in unhindered, including water and fuel and basic medicines and food supplies. they also had wanted to see a ceasefire. look, this issue has divided western nations. we saw the united states, israel's staunchest ally, vote against this resolution. the uk, canada and some other european nations abstained. they argued that

there wasn't a direct condemnation of hamas in the resolution for the october seven attack, but the authors had argued that the resolution was strictly humanitarian. it didn't blame either hamas or israel and it did mention the october seven attacks in the text. but several european members did vote in favour of this, including france, ireland, spain and belgium, his ambassador remarked after the vote that even more had rules. israel had opposed it, saying they had a right to self—defence, that this would stop their ability from protecting their citizens from the threat posed by hamas, and in the chamber, they attacked the legitimacy of the united nations, and they claimed that there was no humanitarian crisis in gaza. well, this draft put forward by arab nations is not legally binding, and so it is unlikely to cause

israel to change its course, but it does carry the weight of world opinion. live to the editor in chief of foreign policy, who isjoining us, we believe this evening. great to have you with us once again, ravi. ijust want to begin by getting your assessment on the events of the past 12 hours of what we are witnessing here.— witnessing here. well, it is awful all — witnessing here. well, it is awful all around, _ witnessing here. well, it is awful all around, isn't - witnessing here. well, it is awful all around, isn't it? | witnessing here. well, it is awful all around, isn't it? i | awfulallaround, isn't it? i mean, the internet has been cut off, cellular service is off now within gaza, and what we're witnessing really is immense humanitarian distress amid the fog of war, with israel at this point at least not fully confirming whether it has commenced a ground operation or a ground invasion of gaza, but it has heavily escalated its siege of gaza and its advance into gaza. there have been

tanks that have been going in and out over the last two days now, and prime minister netanyahu has signalled that a ground invasion is imminent at some point soon, and amid all of this, of course, the 200 plus hostages that remain scattered around gaza, we believe, capped by hamas, wondering whether they will see safety and the light of day and be returned to their loved ones at the end of this. so this is incredibly fraught, and as your correspondentjust pointed out, the weight of world opinion isn't falling clearly in any one direction. the world is quite divided in how it should try and help alleviate the situation, as israel responds to what, we must add, was an awful, terrible attack on october seven by hamas. let's talk a little _ october seven by hamas. let's talk a little bit _ october seven by hamas. let's talk a little bit more _ october seven by hamas. let's talk a little bit more about - talk a little bit more about the weight of opinion here, because you mention the heavy escalation where we are seeing

the white house calling for humanitarian causes in certain areas. a un resolution here today as well. do you think that will carry any weight? i’m that will carry any weight? i'm afraid not- _ that will carry any weight? i'm afraid not. it's _ that will carry any weight? i�*en afraid not. it's hard to see how that works, its hard to see how israel would implement it, it's hard to see how when you have a kind of siege situation in the current moment without internet, without cellular connections, where you have the palestinian aid agency or the un has lost contact with its people on the ground, the un has lost contact with its people on the ground, it's very hard to see how to organise a humanitarian sort of rescue corridor to allow for the last hundred metre delivery of aid and assistant to the people who need it most. the situation is quite dire of course, and it's hard to see a way out of that,

unless the siege itself ends, and unless hamas gives up these hostages, which i'm sure is one of the things that israel is very concerned about at this point. very concerned about at this oint. ., _, very concerned about at this oint. ., ,., ., .,. point. you point to the fact that it is — point. you point to the fact that it is a _ point. you point to the fact that it is a very _ point. you point to the fact that it is a very dire - that it is a very dire situation already for this apt operation to be taking place in. do you think the united states anticipated it happening at a time when there were so many unknowns, so many loose threads, as it were, just so many dire circumstances? it didn't. israel didn't come clearly. this was a massive intelligence failure on israel's part, and it was also an intelligence failure on america's part, and america, for the longest time, has been trying to pivot away from the middle east, from the crises of the middle east, for well over 15 years now, to try and engage more with asia, and every time it tries to do that, it somehow ends up being dragged back in,

whether it was the arab spring protests of 2011, whether it was the war in ukraine, which began 21 months ago, and forced it to turn its attention elsewhere yet again, or whether there were other crises in the middle east that drag it back into the region, so america keeps trying to have a more diversified portfolio in its foreign policy. but the middle east has just been this long, persistent problem, and at the heart of it really is exactly best what we are seeing. a long—running conflict between two people and two lands and two people and two lands and two religions that so much effort, diplomatic effort went into it to solve it that it has been lying dormant for all these years. fin been lying dormant for all these years.— been lying dormant for all these years. been lying dormant for all these ears. ., ,., these years. on that point, we know the _ these years. on that point, we know the pentagon _ these years. on that point, we know the pentagon press - know the pentagon press secretary brigadier pat ryder had said there would be 900 more us troops deployed to the region. what do you make of that, does that signal anything, any further us involvement in the region? i think america is trying to make

it very clear signal to israel just to say we are there, we are your ally, we've got your back, we're here for you, that's number one, and that is why us presidentjoe biden went there all the way to but beyond that, i think the secondary role of the united states in that region right now is to prevent things from escalating, so to make sure that other fronts, new reference to the war don't open up, that hezbollah to the north isn't involved enough to escalate and open up a new front to the war, that iranian proxies, and remember hamas is an iranian proxy, that other iranian proxies don't try to create any mischief in a moment of weakness for israel, so america's role is very much to try and stabilise, and then finally i would say behind the scenes to try and advise israel on how to deal with the situation, not only the hostage negotiations and the third parties involved in trying to help out and others, but also

america's own experience after 9-11 with america's own experience after 9—11 with the war on terror, which lasted the better part of 20 years. part of america's role here is to tell israel don't make the same mistakes america made, don't get mired in things you can't get out of. in other words, have a plan, have a clear vision for the next three or four days, three orfour next three or four days, three or four weeks look like, if you're going to go in, figure out how to get out and figure out how to get out and figure out what happens next. that's crucial here. do out what happens next. that's crucial here.— crucial here. do you think that [an is crucial here. do you think that plan is there. _ crucial here. do you think that plan is there, as _ crucial here. do you think that plan is there, as you - crucial here. do you think that plan is there, as you said, - plan is there, as you said, president biden saying don't make the same mistakes of iraq and not have a clear plan for what happens if the enemy" is defeated". do you think that is clear, and a huge question to you, but right now what do you think this means for any possibility of the two—state solution? possibility of the two-state solution?— solution? yes, so it is not clear to — solution? yes, so it is not clear to me _ solution? yes, so it is not clear to me that - solution? yes, so it is not clear to me that there - solution? yes, so it is not clear to me that there is l solution? yes, so it is notj clear to me that there is a plan, and every time we have tried to ask israeli officials, they have quite rightly said that if they did have a plan, they wouldn't divulge it to the world, which makes sense. they

should be saying that. but anecdotally and behind the scenes, it isn't clear that they have a clear vision for, eh, how to release those hostages, who are also under fire right now in the aerial bombardment of gaza, who are also in this horrible, dire humanitarian situation. second, if they go in, what happens next? is it even possible to eliminate hamas, is it even possible were you to do that to imagine what replaces them? these are all tough, complicated questions that are mired in a region and a land thatis mired in a region and a land that is mired in a history of problems. it is not going to be easy. revenge is not the answer. vengeance isn't a policy was to what happened to israel of course is just beyond awful, it's unthinkable, there has to be a plan. i think the saving grace of this is that over the last three weeks, israel hasn'tjust gone in on day one, they have waited. but

again, the clock is ticking, because with each passing day, releasing those hostages becomes harder, and then the death toll in gaza has continued to rise. so in many ways this has just been an unwinnable situation for all parties, and awfulness all round. , , ., parties, and awfulness all round. , ., ., . ., round. just a touch on something _ round. just a touch on something you - round. just a touch on something you said i round. just a touch on l something you said that round. just a touch on - something you said that about defeating hamas. president biden has been very clear, not all palestinian people are hamas or support hamas. in light of what people have been going through there, how do you defeat an idea like hamas? that's a huge question, isn't it? it hamas? that's a huge question, isn't it? , �* , ., ., isn't it? it is, it's an idea, it's a political— isn't it? it is, it's an idea, it's a political party - isn't it? it is, it's an idea, it's a political party that l isn't it? it is, it's an idea, i it's a political party that won an election, it is also what many would call a terrorist group. how do you defeated when it is spread out all over the region? they are not easy identifiable, some of them live abroad, its leader lives in

doha, qatar, it is not going to be easy to define how to eliminate them, i mean what does that even mean? what is the interstate goal? we know from history of militant groups around the world, you don't just eliminate them. sometimes it like wack a mole, where were you to take out one big leader, other offsprings or offshoots can arise elsewhere. new leaders emerge. is not as simple as that, you asked about the two state solution and i did not quite answer then, but the ultimate, final solution to this has to be some way for these two people to live together, some form, some way for them to share that territory in a way that is organised and settled, that the two agree on, and that is really in the longer term the only way we can imagine how to fix this very intractable historic problem, and for that, it's hard to imagine in this

moment but for creative people,