this is bbc news. the headlines: explosions israel steps up its airstrikes on gaza, as the army says it's expanding ground operations. the un general assembly votes to adopt a resolution, put forward by arab countries, calling for a humanitarian truce. with more than 7,000 dead and the humanitarian situation facing total collapse, we report on the plight of the gazan people. and the man suspected of killing 18 people in a mass—shooting in the us state of maine has been found dead. let's return to the middle east, where there's been a significant intensification of israeli airstrikes over gaza, with huge explosions lighting up the night sky above the territory. it comes after the israeli army

said that it was expanding its ground operations there. 0ur middle east correpondent tom bateman, who is in jerusalem, has more. well, there has been intensive aerial bombardment by the israelis over a prolonged period of time, the heaviest that we've seen at night—time during the course of this conflict. and we heard from daniel hagari, the israeli military spokesman, in a live televised address to israelis, that he said that they were widening their ground operations. he talked about this being what he called a very significant attack against underground networks of hamas, he said, and also terrorist infrastructure, as he described it. now, one of the first signs that something significant was taking place here was that all communications for ordinary palestinians in gaza went dark.

there was a complete blackout. and remember, this is on top of more than two weeks of a complete cut of the electricity grid in gaza. now, i mean, i had tried for hours to reach people in gaza. a message i sent at about 6.40 local time in the evening via whatsapp just remained for hours and hours unreceived by the phone it was sent to. i couldn't get through via mobile phone network, i couldn't get through via messaging apps to people. there is, it seems, some very limited communications for people in gaza. if they have sim cards from foreign operators, turkish or egyptian, that can reach the masts of egypt or the israeli mobile phone masts if they're close to the edge of the gaza strip. but clearly, this is an extremely, extremely distressing and worrying time for ordinary palestinians with that aerial bombardment

and the fact that communications are out. and we were hearing from aid groups that they couldn't reach their own medical and emergency and humanitarian teams inside gaza. meanwhile, there were rocket siren alerts going off in parts of southern israel as hamas, it seemed, was still firing rockets while this intensive bombardment had begun. and at the same time as that blackout, you know, we had messages from hamas officials based overseas in qatar, one saying that, in his words, "the resistance was ready" if this was a full scale ground invasion. and then later, a message on telegram, the messaging app from the armed wing of hamas saying that they were fighting israeli forces on the ground. they said in parts of the northern gaza strip and the central gaza strip, they described,

in their words, violent confrontations. now, that's something that we haven't been able to verify. it's very hard to get any information out of gaza itself because of all the communications difficulties and all of this. on top of a warning about the absolutely desperate humanitarian situation inside gaza. the united nations refugee and works agency, the agency that provides services to palestinians. i was at their news conference injerusalem during the day, and they said that because of the continuing israeli siege, that gaza was, in their words, being strangled, they called for desperately needed fuel to enter the gaza strip. but clearly now the situation has escalated well beyond that. plus, it seems that what had been some negotiations that we were told were accelerating over a potential ceasefire in return for the release of some hostages. all of those talks now

appear to be stalled. the united nations general assembly has voted to adopt a resolution, put forward by arab countries, calling for a humanitarian truce in gaza. the resolution passed with a large majority. resolutions by the general assembly are non—binding but carry political weight. the result was delivered by the assembly's president, dennis francis. in favour, 120. against, 1a. abstentions, a5. draft resolution aes10 l25 is adopted. following that un vote, this is what the palestinian ambassador to the un had to say. we are grateful that

the general assembly, the bigger house for all the nations, the small and the big, the poor and the rich, the general assembly was more courageous, more principled. and the president of the general assembly, he was a brave man, met with us in the morning and he defended traditions and norms of the general assembly in dealing with issues related to the maintenance of international peace and security that required a two—thirds majority and the general assembly prevailed, and send the appropriate message, not only to the palestinian people that there is justice and fairness and international humanitarian law upholded by the general assembly. but also it sent a message to everyone, enough is enough. this war has to stop. the carnage against our people has to stop. and humanitarian assistance should begin to enter the gaza strip with at least 100 truckloads

of humanitarian assistance and to stop the crime against humanity of forced transfer. and the israeli ambassador to the un has also been giving his reaction. today is a day 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. israeljust endured the largest massacre ofjews since the holocaust, and according to a majority of the so—called

family of nations, israel has no right to defend itself. entire families and communities have been exterminated by genocidal hamas jihadists, whose sole goal is to annihilate thejewish state. there is no reasoning with evil like this. there are no talks or discussions to be held. we saw exactly what they dream of doing to every israeli and jew, and we will not sit idly by to let them rearm and commit such atrocities again. we want, just as every single other member state in this room wouldn't. 0ur un correspondent nada tawfik has been following the day's events. she sent this update. diplomats were voting just as israel had expanded its aerial and ground assault into 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. the united nations had described how palestinians were living a hell on earth because of israel's bombardment and siege, and they plead —— 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 7 october

attack, but the authors have argued that the resolution was strictly humanitarian, it didn't blame either hamas or israel, and it did mention the 7 october attack. but several european members did vote in favour of this, including france, ireland, spain and belgium whose ambassador remarked after the vote that even warhead rules. israel had opposed it, saying they had a right to self defence, that it 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 now to dr anas iqtait, a lecturer at australian national university's centre for arab and islamic studies. we have seemed this expansion of israel's ground offensive. is this the turning point that could see the conflict spread around the region? i could see the conflict spread around the region?— could see the conflict spread around the region? i think the answer to _ around the region? i think the answer to this _ around the region? i think the answer to this question - around the region? i think the i answer to this question depends on how successful the first round is for the israeli military. if the event, or if this round is unsuccessful that i think the israeli military will reassess their plans and then we'll make an official announcement that this was a simple incursion, to be followed then by a larger incursion which could eventually then roll into the complete reoccupation of the gaza strip. and if the outcome

of this current incursion is more successful than the israeli military had hoped for, and probably the israeli military would make an announcement that it is the first round or part of the wider attempt to reoccupy the entire gaza strip or parts of the gaza strip. i5 entire gaza strip or parts of the gaza strip.— the gaza strip. is that the lan, the gaza strip. is that the plan. and _ the gaza strip. is that the plan. and i _ the gaza strip. is that the plan, and i suppose - the gaza strip. is that the plan, and i suppose what| the gaza strip. is that the - plan, and i suppose what would success look like? israel has talk about wanting to wipe out hamas and i suppose the question is whether that is even possible, whether they could just disappear into the civilian population, or reform and regroup, what would you see success as being? i and regroup, what would you see success as being?— success as being? i think the israeli government _ success as being? i think the israeli government doesn't i israeli government doesn't really know what success will look like in the gaza strip yet. as an analyst what i can say is that it is impossible for the israeli military and the israeli government to completely omit —— eliminate hamas in the gaza strip because hamas in the gaza strip because hamas is a sociopolitical organisation and any analyst or

academic who has worked on palestine all worked on hamas as a sociopolitical and then militant organisation knows this. and the israeli government knows this very well as well. so the current objectives of the ongoing operation in gaza remains to be very unclear and obviously they are very unrealistic. what the palestinians are seeing however on the other side and what obviously the vast majority of the world's countries, particularly the global south and many european countries, is that palestinians in the gaza strip are being subject to collective punishment and genocide, particularly in the northern parts of the gaza strip. so this will certainly not bode well for israel and its image internationally. israel would dispute that has talked repeatedly its right to defend itself and tried to score —— and its right to restore security for its people. in terms of the possible occupation of gaza after this, possible occupation of gaza afterthis, do possible occupation of gaza after this, do you think that

is inevitable from israel, and i suppose what happens next, and what of the role of the palestinian authority and all of this? , , palestinian authority and all of this? , ., ., of this? just to reiterate, what israel _ of this? just to reiterate, what israel thinks - of this? just to reiterate, what israel thinks about. of this? just to reiterate, - what israel thinks about what is happening in the gaza strip is happening in the gaza strip is not really the most important factor. the most important factor. the most important factor. the most important factor is what we are seeing being documented in, by international media, by independent observers, by international organisations, by the un itself, that the palestinian population in the gaza strip is being collectively punished, and that potentially genocide is taking place currently in the northern parts of the gaza strip. and quite frankly israeli politicians are not shy of stating this both in hebrew and in english on their social media accounts and also across... media accounts and also across- - -_ media accounts and also across... a ~ ., , media accounts and also across... a ~ ., __ across... as you know, they say the are across... as you know, they say they are giving _ across... as you know, they say they are giving warnings - across... as you know, they say they are giving warnings to - they are giving warnings to people to move out of the area before their bombardments, they talk about how hamas is actually stopping people from leaving the north of gaza, and they put the blame surely at

they put the blame surely at the foot of hamas when they talk about the fuel and people not being able to move around, they talk about how hamas has they talk about how hamas has the ability to help people move out of the areas and that they do give you warning about their attacks. ., ., , ., , attacks. none of this has actually _ attacks. none of this has actually been _ attacks. none of this has actually been verified. i actually been verified. international organisations precisely have discussed and have talked about and documented the exact opposite. and quite frankly the hundred plus families that have been completely eliminated in the gaza strip by bombardment of residential areas contest, and theirfamilies also residential areas contest, and their families also object the notion that israel is giving warning to civilians before it actually bombards them. but with regard to the palestinian authority and what may happen in the gaza strip and the day after, let's assume israel successfully eliminates hamas and doesn't kill the entire palestinian population in the gaza strip i think the israelis and their allies, particularly the united states and many western powers are currently thinking about the possibility

for international coalition to govern the gaza strip or parts of the gaza strip, which may include the palestinian authority. but again this is all speculation, we don't know what will happen in the gaza strip over the coming weeks, and as the united nations general assembly has just affirmed, the vast majority of the world wants a ceasefire, particularly at least a humanitarian truce at the beginning which may then roll into a permanent ceasefire and an end to this ongoing conflict which quite frankly is seeing the palestinian population being genocide in the northern parts of the gaza strip. 0bviously israel disputes this and they have said many times they believe they are not taking international law, and they have a lot of support around the world when it comes to their right to fight back and try to get security, as you know. thank you for speaking to

us. well, against the backdrop of that diplomacy at the un we were talking about, gaza's hamas—controlled health ministry said 7326 people have been killed in the gaza strip since hamas attacked israel on october seven. the head of the 0ctober seven. the head of the un has warned the humanitarian situation in gaza is facing total collapse, with unimaginable consequences for the 2 million people living there, unless israel that's more aid in immediately. the processions are constant now. and grief follows with them. these, some of the last images from gaza. before links were lost to the world outside. the displaced seek shelter

anywhere they can. confined in anywhere they can. confined in a place the un says is becoming a place the un says is becoming a hell. some error nourella is exhausted. —— samira nourella. "you can see the pain we live in. my husband suffers from a stroke. i plead to the whole world to look at the palestinian people with a merciful i". samira is from a refugee family.— refugee family. these few -itiful refugee family. these few pitiful refugees _ refugee family. these few pitiful refugees rescue - refugee family. these few i pitiful refugees rescue what few belongings they can. like many palestinians _ few belongings they can. like many palestinians whose children and grandchildren were born in refugee camps. for nearly 75 years, the un has been working to meet the welfare needs of palestinian refugees. ii welfare needs of palestinian refu . ees. welfare needs of palestinian refugees-— welfare needs of palestinian refu~ees. ., refugees. if we look back over our shoulders, _ refugees. if we look back over our shoulders, this _ refugees. if we look back over our shoulders, this is - refugees. if we look back over our shoulders, this is a - our shoulders, this is a timeline. today, as events had towards a ground attack, its

representatives called for a ceasefire. what is happening now in gaza is just a horrific slaughter. 2.2 million people in a tiny patch of land, it is called the strip for a reason. it is 45 kilometres long by about 20 at its largest point. so it is a strip and there is nowhere for those people to go, there is nowhere for them to flee. a , ., there is nowhere for them to flee. n, , . ., flee. many have tried to find sanctuary — flee. many have tried to find sanctuary in _ flee. many have tried to find sanctuary in schools. - flee. many have tried to find sanctuary in schools. all- sanctuary in schools. all teaching has stopped in gaza. generations are crowded together here. still, the customer �*s abilities are observed. back in 1948, gaza was a refuge. today it is a trap. translation: it was a refuge. today it is a trap. tuna/mom- was a refuge. today it is a trap. translation: it is very hard. i trap. translation: it is very hard- i live — trap. translation: it is very hard. i live next _ trap. translation: it is very hard. i live next to _ trap. translation: it is very hard. i live next to the - hard. i live next to the toilets. i am very sick. more than 13 members of my family have been killed.—

have been killed. there is not much in life _ have been killed. there is not much in life she _ have been killed. there is not much in life she hasn't - have been killed. there is not much in life she hasn't seen l much in life she hasn't seen any choice about what she must now endure. in the hours before what israel called tonight's unprecedented attacks, samira comforted the children, caught in a place they cannot leave. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. in the us, the biden administration says it supports administration says it supports a pause in israel's military operations to enable age to enter gaza. at the white house, 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 into people that need it, or so

that they, the people, can get out of the area in relative safety. that is what a humanitarian pause is and we think it is an idea worth exploring. 0ne one other item of news today, police in the us state of maine have confirmed the suspect on wednesday's mass shooting in the city of lewiston has been found dead in nearby woods. the local commissioner told a news conference that robert card had died from an apparent self—inflicted gunshot wound. like many people, i am breathing a sigh of relief tonight, knowing that robert carter is no longer a threat to anyone. i know many people share that sentiment, but i also know that his death may not bring solace to many. but now is a time to heal. and with this search concluded, i know that law enforcement continues to fully investigate all the

facts, so we can bring what closure we can to the victims and their families, closure we can to the victims and theirfamilies, and i ask that all maine people continue to keep all those families and all the people impacted by this tragedy and our thoughts and prayers. live now to our correspondent shinghai nyoka, who's live in lewiston. this palpable relief from the people speaking out that news conference, wasn't there? this was a huge manhunt, in terms of our common land and sea? absolutely, and you could tell the atmosphere in that city hall briefing was so different from what it has been over the last couple of days. there were smiles, officials were hugging each other, and in that announcement, a very stark announcement, a very stark announcement byjanet mills, announcement by janet mills, the announcement byjanet mills, the governor of maine, in her opening statement she said,

maine police located robert carter and he is dead. it is what many people here were hoping for after those two days, 48 hours, where the city was essentially in a partial lockdown. many people were behind closed doors in their homes, businesses were shuttered, municipal buildings and lots of services were close, as hundreds of police officers, some of them from across state lines, launched this massive manhunt, they were helicopters, drones in the area, there were boots on the ground. earlier on there were divers in the river, trying to search for robert card, and so there really was this collective sigh of relief when the city officials announced that his body had been found at about 7:45pm local time, in a neighbouring town of lisbon, neara neighbouring town of lisbon, near a river. we have noticed some of the businesses have

started to open up again, there are vehicles on the road, people ijust really relieved this has come to an end. but i think there was also an acknowledgement that the city can now move forward, but that the community is still in grief. but now that the shelter in place has been lifted, the community can start to meet and consult each other in this collective grief.— consult each other in this collective grief. they also said that _ collective grief. they also said that the _ collective grief. they also said that the family - collective grief. they also said that the family of. collective grief. they also| said that the family of the gunman actually helped the police in their search.- police in their search. yes. the police _ police in their search. yes. the police officer- police in their search. yes. the police officer said - police in their search. yes. the police officer said that| the police officer said that even before they had made the announcement that robert card's body had been found, they called the president to inform him, they also called the families of the victims, but they said that robert card's family was also called. there was a reminder there that they are also going through their own loss and their own trauma. this is a really small community, 40,000 people or so, many people knew robert card,

many people knew robert card, many people knew robert card, many people said he could be seenin many people said he could be seen in this town as he came back from hunting, smoking his cigarettes, everybody here almost knew somebody that was linked to this tragedy, and this briefing was really an acknowledgement of that, robert card was a member of this community. card was a member of this community-— card was a member of this communi . , , , community. very briefly, there were questions _ community. very briefly, there were questions raised - community. very briefly, there were questions raised about i were questions raised about mental health evaluations he had, in terms of the specific gun laws in the state, to address that side of things? yes, he was an army reservist, 40 years old. he had been an army reservist to some 20 years. but the army confirmed he had never been deployed. he was a hunter, but they also said that during the summer, when he had attended particular training that sorry, we have to

leave it there, we're out of time, many questions remain unanswered. time, many questions remain unanswered-— unanswered. thank you very much. hello, there. it's remaining unsettled this weekend with low pressure sticking close by. we'll see showers or longer spells of rain, some sunshine, too — it's not going to be a complete wash—out — but winds will be quite blustery, particularly close to the coast, all thanks to this pretty vigorous area of low pressure which has been with us for a while now, anchored to the west of ireland, bringing all these showers, even longer spells of rain and stronger winds with little areas of low pressure running around it, one such system moving across the country during saturday night. saturday itself starts off with a fine note through the midlands. a bit of some low cloud, some sunshine but showers from the word go across the south and the west. they'll spread their way northwards and we'll continue

to see some more persistent rain affecting eastern scotland with stronger winds here. but some brightness, i think, for western scotland with some shelter from the easterly breeze. temperatures 10—16 degrees. now, later in the day, we'll start to see one of these little areas of low pressure bring some wet and windy weather to southern england and south wales. that'll spread northwards through the course of the night, ending up across parts of scotland and northern ireland. to the north of it, it stays very windy and it'll stay quite blustery for the second half of the night across england and wales with clear spells and scattered showers. those temperatures nowhere particularly cold — 9—11 degrees. but don't forget early on sunday morning, the clocks go back one hour so, for many of us, it is an extra hour in bed. but sunday does look unsettled — particularly scotland, northern ireland. it will be wet with some of the heaviest of the rain towards eastern scotland. could see some flooding issues here, strong winds as well. england and wales will see a mixture of sunny spells, scattered showers.

most of the showers towards the south and the west. some of them could be heavy and thundery again. temperatures a little bit cool across northern scotland. otherwise, it's the mid teens further south. little change, really, as we head into monday. that area of low pressure starts to fill, begins to weaken, but it's still close by enough to bring further unsettled weather and i think for most, it's going be a mixture of sunshine and showers again and most of the showers towards the south and the west, where they could be quite heavy. blustery winds across the south—west. for northern and eastern scotland, persistent rain continuing. a little bit of wintriness over the tops of the cairngorms. it'll be chilly here. further south, again, it's the low to mid teens. and it stays unsettled as we head into the first week of november with low pressure systems moving across the country. there is a chance towards the end of the new week we could see some severe gales with some deep lows,

good morning. welcome to breakfast with charlie stayt and unimaginative. 0ur headlines today: —— naga munchetty. huge explosions as an of gaza. israel serves ground forces are expanding operations. the un votes to call for an immediate humanitarian truce. a man suspected of killing 18 people in a shooting in the us state of maine has been found dead. in the us state of maine has been found dead-— in the us state of maine has been found dead. ,., ., ., ., found dead. good morning, england hold on to finish _ found dead. good morning, england hold on to finish third _ found dead. good morning, england hold on to finish third at _ found dead. good morning, england hold on to finish third at the - found dead. good morning, england hold on to finish third at the rugby. hold on to finish third at the rugby world cup. they beat argentina in paris to win the bronze medal match for the first time.—