live from london. this is bbc news. israel's prime minister says the war in gaza will be hard and take time, but his priority is to win against hamas. translation: it is our second war of independence- _ translation: it is our second war of independence. we _ translation: it is our second war of independence. we will _ translation: it is our second war of independence. we will fight - translation: it is our second war of independence. we will fight and - translation: it is our second war of independence. we will fight and we i independence. we will fight and we will not surrender. we will not withdraw. meanwhile, hamas's leader in the gaza strip offers to release all hostages being held there in return for the release of all hamas prisoners in israeli jails. here in london, thousandsjoin pro—palestinian demonstrations. similar protests take place around the world, calling for a ceasefire. hello, i'm a lewis vaughanjones.

welcome to the programme. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the war in gaza has entered a second phase, warning it will be long and difficult. speaking at a joint news conference with his defence minister, yoav gallant, and emergency war cabinet member benny gantz, mr netanyahu described the conflict as israel's second war of independence. he declared israel would win the war and make every effort to bring the hostages home. in his first comments since the war began on seven october, hamas's leader in the gaza strip has offered to release all hostages being held in gaza in return for the release of all hamas prisoners in israeli jails. in a statement, yahya sinwar says: "we are ready "for an immediate exchange deal that includes the release "of all prisoners." "of all prisoners "in the prisons of the zionist enemy in exchange for the release of all "prisoners with the resistance." it comes 2a hours after israel stepped

up its bombardment of gaza. israel said the night—time attacks hit 150 targets and killed some key figures within hamas, which is designated a terror group by the uk, us and many other western nations. this evening, mr netanyahu confirmed israeli troops were inside gaza, in the north and in the south. here's a little more of what he had to say during that news conference. translation: again, | met - with the hostages' families today. my heart broke. and i reiterated that at every stage up to now... and i promise that we are going to do our utmost to bring them back. if you think that you can accuse our soldiers of war crimes, that is hypocrisy.

we are the most moral army of the world. we are preventing, as much as possible, any collateral damage. we don't want any innocent bystanders hurt. they are using these heinous crimes against humanity when they use their people as human shields. so many people around the world understand that israel is fighting on behalf of the entire humankind. our allies in the western world and in the arab world. that if we do not win, they will be next on the list of hamas.

that was the israeli prime minister there. danny danon is a member of israel's knesset who sits on the israeli foreign affairs and defense committee. i got his reaction to hamas calling for a prisoner swap. it is not the first time that hamas is conducting psychological warfare. they are trying to confuse everybody. there were few serious negotiators in the last few days. we are trying to broker a deal between israel and hamas and it didn't go anywhere. they are playing games with the negotiators, and we realised they are not serious about it. i think that now, when we started to apply more pressure against hamas, and we are killing more terrorists, maybe that will create the atmosphere for serious negotiations. we are determined. we are determined to bring all hostages back to israel and to eliminate hamas. they are not going to escape from the atrocity

they committed three weeks ago. can i ask you about that? we haven't forgotten the massacre. we haven't forgotten the raping. we haven't forgotten the 30 babies that they kidnapped. we will get them. we will kill them. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams, who's injerusalem, gave us his assesment of the israeli leader's news conference. it circled back endlessly, didn't it, to the subject of the hostages. that is what a lot of the questions were about. benjamin netanyahu, in his opening remarks, actually made only a rather brief reference to meeting the hostages' families. he said his heart broke talking to them, and that his military was doing everything in its power to bring them home. he, as you mentioned just now, said there was no contradiction between these two objectives of fighting hamas, trying to destroy hamas, and bringing the hostages home. but he did say immediately after that that bringing the hostages home was, in his words, our second objective. the first, obviously being to destroy hamas. his defence minister was also asked about this and he said,

and i'm quoting here, "the more we hit out at them, "we know that they will be willing to reach some kind of agreement." so, i think the message there was this relentless pressure on hamas is going to continue, that the israeli government believes that that is the way to bring hamas to some kind of negotiation about the fate of the hostages. not, as some people, including representatives of the families themselves are arguing, not to suspend israel's military operations at the moment and to devote all israel's efforts to securing some kind of hostage release. we know that there are lots of intensive discussions going on, still involving the gulf state of qatar, who would very much like to try to orchestrate a hostage release. it is very hard, i have to say, it is very hard, particularly in light of the escalation that began about 2k hours ago to see those efforts bearing fruit.

our international editor jeremy bowen is following events as they happen. after another day of major developments, he sent this report from southern israel. heavy artillery is pounding geyser constantly. —— pounding gaza. the israelis say they're making the earth shake. and, as residents of one of gaza city's refugee camps inspected what had happened in the night, that was how it felt. "it's like an earthquake," said al—ahmadi. "no—one's paying us attention. it's an execution." many palestinians believe israel wants to force them out of gaza, and they interpret it as a threat, not a warning, when israel tells

them again to move south from places like this. as for the israeli people, benjamin night you issued a solemn morning. the war will be difficult and long and we are prepared for it. —— benjamin night dermot netanyahu issued a solemn morning. —— benjamin netanyahu issued a solemn warning. in sderot, the israeli town closest to gaza, the streets where hamas killed civilians and soldiers three weeks ago today are deserted. the danger didn't stop zelah cohen and her son driving down here to bring a picnic to her daughters who are doing their military service. they sat down in a car park, not far from the border wire. the war, they said, was about survival. hamas had shown it wanted to force them out. you can hear the war. aren't you scared? i'm scared, but my daughter is here, so i go... i go where she is.

and you bring lunch? yes, to all the soldiers. you know, when you live side by side with people and you come to understand that you cannot trust them... so, what...? what do you do? what is the answer for that? what any other nation would have done? much more than we are doing right now, and i'm assuring you, much more than we will ever do. the new phase of israel's assault started last night with dozens of air strikes. israel believes overwhelming military strength can pacify gaza. but military power alone has never brought lasting quiet, let alone peace, in this conflict�*s long history. israel claimed one of its strikes killed a senior hamas commander. israeli tanks and soldiers moved forward into the north of the gaza strip. gaza's visible from a hill in sderot.

israel will resist pressure for a ceasefire. and there is another factor. the more palestinians that israel kills, especially civilians, the greater the levels of anger and outrage elsewhere in the middle east among israel's friends as well as its enemies. now, that doesn't guarantee that the war would spread. but it does increase levels of anger and volatility in a part of the world that is already very fragile. israel's ground war has started. containing it here is now the biggest political and diplomatic challenge in the world. jeremy bowen, bbc news, in southern israel. communications in gaza are limited, with phone lines and internet connections down. our correspondent rushdi abu—alouf was able to get through to us a little earlier though. he said the north of the territory was hit overnight �*on a scale we've never seen before'.

you know, communication is very, very difficult in gaza since 2a hours, as israel cut all of the communication, mobile carrier, the two main mobile carriers are not functioning. the internet lines are not functioning everywhere, and getting information is really hard and difficult. very few people who are still having international sim cards, and they can do roaming, using israeli mobile services, people who are close to the border. they still can communicate and between time to time, they post some social media. also, some of the local radio stations are still functioning, and they were able to talk to their correspondent in the north, who described what happened last night as the biggest ever air strike that targeted this area. he said that it was like an earthquake. we understand that the indonesian hospital was struck with an air strike yesterday. the hospital was out of service

for quite a long time, for quite a long time. a week ago, the hospital was out of service, because of no fuel and it was evacuated. but today, the main building of the hospital was destroyed. also, around shifa hospital in gaza city, there was a lot of air strikes. ten, 15 air strikes, according to people around shifa hospital. they are cutting most of the roads towards that hospital. communication, as i said, is extremely difficult. we are unable to verify a lot of reports about the number of people dead or injured, but as far as the health ministry was doing a press conference, this afternoon, they said about 400 people were killed overnight, but they said hundreds of others are missing under the collapsed building in the north. the un secretary—general, antonio guterres, is in doha for talks on the israel—gaza war. he said there is growing consensus in the international community for the need of a humanitarian

pause, and expressed concern that fighting has intensified. he said, "regrettably, instead of the pause, "i was surprised by an unprecedented escalation of the bombardments "and their devastating impacts, undermining "the humanitarian objectives. "this situation must be reversed. "i reiterate my strong appealfor an immediate "humanitarian ceasefire, together with the unconditional "release of hostages and a delivery of humanitarian relief." i was joined earlier in the studio by ambassador husam zomlot, head of the palestinian mission to the uk and strategic affairs advisor to the palestinian president. i began by asking him about the message that was sent today at the pro—palestinian protests happening across london and around the world. this is an opportunity, lewis, to thank the tens of thousands, the hundreds of thousands who flooded the streets

of london today, of manchester, glasgow, cardiff, everywhere. this was a scene like never before of the british people who are renowned to side with right, not might, to always side with fairness. that is what the british people are famous for, and today, they have really delivered a loud and clear verdict that they are pro, not palestine by the way, they are pro—international law, pro—humanity, pro—justice, pro—peace. for that, we salute every one of them who came out, despite the intimidations and attempts to silence them, to say enough is enough, ceaseefire now and full and equal application of international law. that is commendable, lewis, really commendable. i spoke to a representative spokesperson for the israeli government. i put to him these protests taking place around the world and asked whether it would factor into any decision—making on the israeli side, and he said frankly, no. what is your reaction to that?

it is very regrettable but he needs to learn the lesson of history. in fact, the anti—apartheid movement that ended apartheid in south africa emanated from london. it was the british people who started it, and that is why you have south africa house in trafalgar square standing there to remind everyone of the role of the people, particularly the british people. so what happened today, what happened every saturday since the beginning of the assault on gaza is such an indicator that the british people, the people of the world, in europe, in the us, in africa, in asia, everywhere, are going to continue the pressure until israel quits its occupation, its colonisation, its besiegement and its apartheid in palestine. there has been an update from benjamin netanyahu in the last couple of hours, saying the war has entered phase two. so, the intensification of air strikes last night, increased role of ground forces. what is your reaction to the war entering phase two now?

lewis, everyone is hurt, shocked. israeli people, palestinian people, of course, thejewish people worldwide and the people of the world. what we needed now was a statesman, a wise man, a father who comes out and tells everybody that we will deal with this. we will actually say the hard truth. instead, what we got was a politician who was defensive, hysteric, and in fact, trying to save himself, not his own people. it is obvious that that is not the message we needed. it is just revengeful. the message we needed... i think the israeli people need to hear the hard truth that israel needs to end its control over an entire nation that doesn't want that control. that israel has to end its occupation and this is the moment that we tell the israeli people by their leaders that the message is not what you want to hear, the message is what you should hear, and benjamin netanyahu didn't do that. his message tojewish people

all over, you spoke about them all earlier, these hundreds of thousands, many of them were jewish people, christians, muslims and jews, and the biggest demonstrations in america are done by thejewish people. what are the fundamental values of the jewish faith? it is this, justice, truth and peace. these are the three words. they needed a netanyahu, a leader to tell them we are going to stick by our values in this moment, and we, the palestinians needed to hear they're not fighting ourfamilies, they are not fighting our civilians. they were very clear to say they were not fighting civilians, they were fighting hamas and they are targeting hamas, they are targeting the terrorist network, in their words. they were targeting the underground tunnels, and he was saying that palestinian lives will be better off, will improve if hamas was gone. i would believe your reporters, the bbc reporters, not netanyahu.

targeting ourfamilies, neighbourhood, killing 8000, among them, 3000 children, is targeting hamas? bombing hospitals is targeting hamas? bombing churches and mosques is targeting hamas? bombing our entire civil infrastructure, rescue teams, medical teams is targeting hamas? cutting water, food and electricity? cutting telecommunication? now ijust heard, before i got into this studio, that one of the israeli generals is sending a message to the palestinian people in gaza. how will they receive it? how will they know? there have been repeated messages to move from the north to the south for days and days. that has been clear. let me be clear, israel is not fighting hamas, it is fighting our people, not only in gaza, but fighting our people as we speak in jerusalem and the west bank. today, we have seen horrific scenes of pogroms against our communities all over the west bank, of illegal settler militias, armed to their teeth by their minister of national security, the supremacist ben—gvir, to kill palestinian civilians in the west bank. and guess what, palestinian

citizens of israel, inside israel, are also being targeted and pushed away, so therefore, this is a war against the palestinian people, and this war has been lasting for 75 years, lewis. this has not begun recently. the israelis today saying that hamas use palestinians as human shields. do they? you know, killing the victims then blaming the victims for killing themselves like hamas rocket on the hospital. like shireen abu akleh was killed by a palestinian, remember your colleague, thejournalist? blaming the victims for killing themselves, and when all that that doesn't work, then the victims are using children for human shields. ok, for the sake of israeli propaganda, let's assume that. let's imagine a psychopath

in london takes ten children into a hospital and takes them hostage. the british authorities would go and bombard that hospital, seriously, lewis? i mean, really? the british army bombarded belfast or dublin? what is this logic that palestinian groups take their own people hostages? this is racism. the israeli government says it believes 229 hostages are still being held by hamas inside gaza. and that it is doing everything possible to bring them home. the israeli prime minister met some of the families of those being held on saturday — and they spoke to the press after that meeting. we are here, as everyone knows, 21 days, which felt like 21 years. and we have been for a long meeting with the prime minister and other people. we were very loud and clear, speaking about the situation now. we

were speaking about our concern about what we feel, and about how worried about the military operation that had been done now. we are very worried about our dearest, and we don't know that if the whole military operation takes all these hostages under consideration, but nobody will be injured. —— that's a nobody. and of course, we say that we want home the hostages, back home, all the hostages. it will not be part by part. it will be all the hostages with any negotiation that will be with the enemy.

crowd: bring them home! we were very clear that all the hostages will come back home with any kind of negotiation that is done, all will be done, that we want them all back and we don't care what they will give for that, so that is what we were very clear. the prime minister was listening. he was listening to everything and he said that he will do everything for that. the bbc�*s lucy williamson met with some of the families before they met the prime minister. she has this report from tel aviv. there are those in israel watching the bombing of a people and seeing only one single face — their child, parent, spouse, their child, parent, spouse, sibling.

in tel aviv, they've laid a place for each of them at a shabbat table. more than 200 hostages held by hamas in gaza. their families today demanded to speak to israel's prime minister about his escalation of the war. jonathan was one of the hostages taken from the nova festival site. what would you say to prime minister netanyahu if he comes here today? you've asked him to come here. what happens? we want him to come here to look to my eyes and tell me "you should trust." "you should trust me." to tell me, "listen, the kidnap is in first priority. "after that, you will get all the support of all the country "to kill all the hamas.

but now, first of all, our kidnapped. meeting representatives of the families tonight, mr netanyahu suggested that the heavy bombing could help bring the hostages home. the family said they'd consider releasing all israel's palestinian prisoners as a price worth paying to get their relatives back. 2a hours ago, hope was beginning to sprout here. four hostages had been released, negotiations were ongoing and there was talk of a deal to release many more. now, 2a hours later, the mood here is different. a member of the kibbutz, yaffa, she was one of the founders of the kibbutz. one of the freed hostages told leo perry that she'd seen his father, chaim, alive and well in gaza. the first news of him since he was taken captive from kibbutz nir 0z. now, it puts me in a very delicate spot, because now i have something to lose. and that's the worst thing, because i know that hamas didn't kill my father yet. and i know that now the ball is in the israeli court.

as benjamin netanyahu met families this evening, sirens cleared the memorial site. sirens blare more rockets sent from gaza intercepted in the skies above tel aviv. israel says destroying hamas is about protecting its people. protecting which people? families here ask. "bring their relatives home", they say. "everything else can wait." lucy williamson, bbc news, tel aviv. we will just take you we willjust take you to the live feeds, and we have to live feeds at the moment we are monitoring. this is southern israel a couple of hours ago. benjamin netanyahu said we are entering the second phase of this war. these pictures here are looking out towards gaza as they prepare for whatever that second phase of the war will mean. plenty more coverage

coming up. i am a lewis vaughan jones. this is bbc news. hello. it's been another day of big storm clouds giving some really heavy downpours across many parts of the uk. this was the scene in dorset for one of our weather watchers, thanks to this stripe of cloud here, this band of really heavy rain pushing its way northwards. you can see some shower clouds elsewhere, all circulating around the centre of an area of low pressure anchored to the west of our shores. so as we head through the night, we will see showers or longer spells of rain drifting across many parts of the country, some clear spells in between, staying blustery in the south and the winds actually picking up even further in the north east of scotland. temperature wise, generally, 7—10 degrees, so low pressure still with us for sunday. around that low, we will see plenty of showers and this band of persistent rain, this weather front, which is going to become slow moving across some eastern parts of scotland. so really wet here to start the day.

heavy rain, too, for northern ireland and northern england, that tending to clear to sunshine and showers. wales, the midlands, east anglia and the south of england, sunshine and showers, some really heavy thundery ones again in the southeast corner. but it's this persistent rain across eastern scotland that could bring further flooding. we may see 100 millimetres over higher ground falling on already sodden ground and these very strong northeasterly winds bringing big waves crashing into the coastline. coastal flooding continues to be a risk. also quite windy, quite blustery down towards the south of england and the channel islands. and temperatures north to south, generally between eight and 15 degrees. now, as we head into monday, the winds will tend to ease a little bit. still some showers around, though, particularly around western parts. some more persistent rain could push back into the south east of england. and we keep some rain going in the north east of scotland. those temperatures again in that range between eight and 15 degrees. now, the weather turns a little bit quieter into tuesday.

we could see some mist and fog patches developing. this brief gap between the weather systems. but later in the week, particularly as we move from wednesday into thursday, we could see a really deep area of low pressure developing the potential area of low pressure developing. the potential for some stormy weather. we'll keep a close eye on that and we will keep you up to date. in the shorter term, don't forget tonight, the clocks go back an hour. that's all from me. bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines: israel says it's now in the second phase of the war. prime minister benjamin netanyahu warns the battle will be long and difficult. translation: it is our second war of independence. - we will fight and we will not surrender, we will not withdraw. the un secretary—general criticises what he calls the �*unprecedented escalation of bombardment in gaza'. our correspondent says a hospital was hit — in the most intense attack yet. a week ago, the hospital was out of service because of no fuel, and it was evacuated. but today, the main building of the hospital was destroyed. hello, you're watching bbc news.

just want to bring you some breaking sports news, in the last half an hour or so, south africa have won the rugby world cup. you hour or so, south africa have won the rugby world cup.— hour or so, south africa have won the rugby world cup. you can see some pictures _ the rugby world cup. you can see some pictures of _ the rugby world cup. you can see some pictures of some _ the rugby world cup. you can see some pictures of some fans - some pictures of some fans celebrating in cape town. this was their reaction, very happy indeed. second macro they be new zealand. they have gifted as an ex ordinary and inspiring national achievement which lifts our heart and hosts are flagged even higher. so south africa, beating new zealand in the rugby world cup final. former us vice president, mike pence, has withdrawn from the 2024 presidential race. he said it is not his time.

our north america correspondent, david willis, gave me more details. he made this announcement half way through a speech to donors in las vegas, and by all accounts, it took a lot of people, including the events planners themselves, by surprise. members of the mike pence team were even caught unawares by this announcement. but mike pence making the declaration that as he put it, now is not his time, and since he entered the presidential race back injune, he has been struggling to attract the sort of supports, particularly the financial support that he needs, and that one needs in a presidential race here in the united states. it is just a couple of weeks away before the next republican presidential debate, and mike pence, by all accounts, had been struggling to get the financial support he needed to qualify for that, so in many

ways, despite the incredible name recognition that he enjoyed going into this race, it is perhaps little surprise to hear that mike pence has now dropped out of that very crowded field. and david, where does this leave the race then? well, it leaves mike pence's former boss donald trump with a considerable lead over rival such as ron desantis, the former florida governor, nikki haley the former us ambassador to the united nations. it is such a great lead, in fact, despite all donald trump's legal problems, that he has been refusing to take part in the republican presidential debates. he claims there is nothing to gain by doing so. let's take a look at some of the other stories around the world now. a man suspected of killing 18 people in a shooting

in the us state of maine, has been found dead after a three—day manhunt. police say robert card, who was 40, was found dead from an apparently self—inflicted gunshot wound. the victims ages ranged from 1a to 76, with a number from the deaf community. police say the shooter legally bought his guns days before the attack. the number of people killed in hurricane otis, which unleashed devastation on the mexican resort city of acapulco, has risen to 39. the storm pounded the city with winds of up to 266 kilometres an hour on wednesday, flooding the streets while and tearing roofs from homes. widespread looting has been reported in the aftermath. thousands of soldiers and police have been deployed to restore order. at least 35 people are reported to have been killed and more than 50 others injured in a crash involving multiple vehicles on an egyptian highway. up to 53 people are said

to have been injured in the pile—up on the desert road between cairo and alexandria. at least 32 people have been killed following a fire at a mine in kazakhstan, owned by the steel giant arcelormittal. the blaze came on the same day as a deal to nationalise the company's mining operations in kazakhstan was confirmed. a further 1a of the 252 people who were working at the kostenko mine are missing. let's return to our top story, and israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the war in gaza has entered a second phase, warning it will be long and difficult. speaking at a joint news conference with his defence minister, yoav gallant, and emergency war cabinet member benny gantz, mr netanyahu described the conflict as israel's second war of independence. he declared israel would win the war, and make every effort to bring the hostages home. translation: again, | met -

with the hostages' families today. my heart broke. and i reiterated that at every stage up to now... and i promise that we are going to do our utmost to bring them back. if you think that you can accuse our soldiers of war crimes, that is hypocrisy. we are the most moral army of the world. we are preventing, as much as possible, any collateral damage. we don't want any innocent bystanders hurt. they are using these heinous crimes against humanity when they use their people

as human shields. so many people around the world understand that israel is fighting on behalf of the entire humankind. our allies in the western world and in the arab world. that if we do not win, they will be next on the list of hamas. just want to show you the live pictures we have been monitoring for the last few hours and continue to monitor. . . the last few hours and continue to monitor. , . , . , ., monitor. these are live pictures of gaza. monitor. these are live pictures of gaza- you — monitor. these are live pictures of gaza- you can _ monitor. these are live pictures of gaza. you can see _ monitor. these are live pictures of gaza. you can see the _ monitor. these are live pictures of gaza. you can see the darkness, l gaza. you can see the darkness, because it is so late there but also because it is so late there but also because power, fuel and electricity are in such short supply. the building is used to be lit up but now it is pretty much darkness. we

are getting flashes of orange as bombardments seem to be continuing. certainly we are hearing sounds and noises, potential drones or potential air strikes, we are not sure what the sounds are coming off the feed. from this vantage point, it is far less intense than 2a hours ago, we were sitting here and watching in the sky was almost continuously lit up with these orange flashes. it hasn't been as intense, from these angles, i should stress. we have a second live feed to show you but again it is difficult to see given the blackness. but that is looking out towards gaza. those are the two main feeds we are continually monitoring to see the status of the continuation of the air strikes from israel into gaza. we just heard from the israeli prime minister. meanwhile, israel's defence minister

said the country's armed forces had the operation against hamas was its biggest yet. translation: the power of the fire is unprecedented from the point - of view of what that hamas have ever suffered before since their foundation. we are hitting out at their main infrastructure and systems from the air, sea and from the ground. they have never suffered such fire as they are now. here in the uk, about 100,000 pro—palestinian protesters have rallied in london, urging an end to israel's attacks in gaza. similar demonstrations took place in many uk cities including manchester, cardiff and belfast. tom symonds reports

stop bombing gaza! a protest, the organisers said, of more than 300,000 people. at one point, it stretched a mile and a half through the streets of london. there have been many personal responses to this month's horrifying events in israel and gaza. here today, there was one central demand. what do we want? ceasefire! when do we want it? now! you know, when you kill- an innocent person with a bomb, ora gun, ora knife, _ it doesn't matter who is doing it. it's the same terrorism. in the last week, the metropolitan police has been put under pressure by the home secretary, suella braverman, to take a tough line on any protesters who might say — or in the case of banners, write — anything which breaches terrorism laws. as far as we can tell, protesters have generally not done that today, and the policing has been light. ordinary people, from towns and cities across the uk, have had to prove that they are not here supporting terrorism, that they are here supporting human rights. but they are coming, despite that pressure, despite the outrageous statements

from our government, they are coming in the hundreds of thousands and they are raising the flag of palestine high and proudly. there were shouts of, "from the river to the sea, palestine will be free," regarded byjewish groups and israel as a threat to its existence, and by the home secretary, suella braverman, as anti—semitic. supporters of palestine say it is a call forfreedom from repression, and not a threat. no action was taken today by police. they were holding back in side streets. there has been just one arrest, in connection with racist remarks and a threat to kill. there were smaller protests here in cardiff, and in glasgow, belfast and other cities. organisers of the main demonstration say there are more to come. tom symonds, bbc news, central london. israel says it is recalling some of its diplomatic envoys to turkey, after president recep tayyip erdogan

accused israel of "war crimes", during a huge pro—palestinian rally in istanbul. president erdogan said hamas was not a terrorist organisation, a claim which this week drew angry condemnation from israel. hamas has been proscribed as a terror group by the uk, us and other western governments. in response, israel said it would conduct a �*re—evaluation�* of relations between the two countries. reporter victoria craig, was at the rally in istanbul. a huge turnout. i don't have the exact numbers, we are still trying to estimate the crowd size, but to give you a sense of the scale, the stage behind me where president erdogan addressed the crowds, thousands turned out and they started streaming in about an hour before he started speaking.

as he was speaking, you mention some of the things he mentioned in his speech. the crowds were flying both turkish flags and palestinian flags as they were entering the gates this afternoon. benjamin netanyahu, israel's leader... they were cheering some of the other thing president erdogan had to say. a passionate crowd. also a passionate president erdogan today. demonstrations of support for palestinians have also taken place in paris, despite a ban. a french court said the march could risk �*disturbing public order�*, given the rise in anti—semitic acts in france since the beginning of the war. elsewhere in europe, people protested in cities including stockholm, copenhagen, and rome. thousands marched down the swedish capital to show their support for palestinians.

more on the israeli hostages in gaza — which earlier i spoke to idan roll, who is member of the knesset for yesh atid — a centrist, liberal party in israel, that refused to join benjamin netanyahu�*s war cabinet. i asked him what he made of the prime minister�*s promise to bring. we have over 200 babies, children, young women, holocaust survivors who have been taken hostage by hamas. the second goal is to destroy hamas completely, both its political wing, so to speak and its military wing. both, by the way are the same because both wings belong to the

same terrorist organisation, they all terrorist and they will be taken down and we need to safeguard our citizens. . down and we need to safeguard our citizens. , ., , citizens. this idea, this contradiction _ citizens. this idea, this contradiction that - citizens. this idea, this contradiction that was l citizens. this idea, this - contradiction that was rejected citizens. this idea, this _ contradiction that was rejected by benjamin netanyahu, between benjamin neta nyahu, between dismantling benjamin netanyahu, between dismantling hamas and bringing the hostages home. in his eyes he said there is no contradiction between those two aims. d0 there is no contradiction between those two aims.— there is no contradiction between those two aims. , ., ., , those two aims. do you agree? yes, i actually agree- _ those two aims. do you agree? yes, i actually agree. you _ those two aims. do you agree? yes, i actually agree. you know, _ those two aims. do you agree? yes, i actually agree. you know, obviously l actually agree. you know, obviously it is not an ideal situation in any way. we would be able to do a lot more and different ways of carrying out this attack in case we didn�*t have any hostages. which would have been a winner. we still agonise and very deeply about each and every one of them. we believe that going forward with our strategic plan will

improve the odds and our ability to win them back home. == improve the odds and our ability to win them back home.— improve the odds and our ability to win them back home. -- bring them back home- — win them back home. -- bring them back home. even _ win them back home. -- bring them back home. even when _ win them back home. -- bring them back home. even when some - win them back home. -- bring them back home. even when some of - win them back home. -- bring them | back home. even when some of them said their biggest concern is this escalation in the military operation? escalation in the military operation?— escalation in the military operation? escalation in the military oeration? , ., , ., operation? yes, i find it a bit odd because i hear _ operation? yes, i find it a bit odd because i hear the _ operation? yes, i find it a bit odd because i hear the conversation l because i hear the conversation throughout the world about the ground manoeuvre and so—called escalation. this is not anything done by choice. this is as having to defend ourselves against a nazi terrorist organisation. we cannot pull out and say, let�*s put all of this behind us. we are at war. they attacked us on october the 7th. our people do not feel safe. this is our obligation to make sure that this

terror organisation is completely annihilated off the map and that we can now say that people can exist in our country and feel safe and take care of their loved ones. and we have to do whatever we can to retrieve all of our loved ones. these are the live pictures over gaza. in the last couple of minutes we have been seeing some flashes of orange. we will keep the pictures on the screen so we can monitor exactly what is happening there. earlier i spoke to mark regev who�*s a senior adviser to the israeli prime minister and former israeli ambassador to the uk. we asked him about the families of hostages who met with prime minister netanyahu earlier saturday. let�*s ta ke let�*s take a listen. of course, they were listened to.

it was a very emotional meeting and a long meeting and the prime minister heard each and every one of them, head them out and said what needed to be said. without going into what was said in the meeting, i can tell you what the position of the government is. precisely because hamas are not humanitarians, we will only get our people released if they are under very strong pressure and only if they feel that pressure is constantly escalating against them. we believe the best way to get the hostages out is to keep that pressure up, keep the pressure on hamas, keep increasing the pressure on hamas, that is the way to get the hostages out. we saw protests, people out in the streets in various cities around the world, supporting palestinians. do protests like that factor into any decision making process? the truth is, no. we are fighting for our lives, we are fighting for our country and we are fighting for our people to be able to live here in peace and security. and those people, they are

either hostile to us, they don�*t like israel, they don�*t like jews, they don�*t think my country has the right to exist in aby borders. live in any bodice. if those protested at to live with what they inflicted on us, what would they be saying? i have tojump in because there are people out protesting who do not support hamas, they respect all israeli life, they are not their concerns at all, they are campaigning for improvement in the lives of palestinians? i would argue that if we defeat hamas, the people of gaza it will get a government, a leadership that might be a little bit more concerned about their well—being. it is clear that hamas has no concern whatsoever about the people of gaza. and everybody wants to see peace and justice in the middle east, hamas has opposed historically, since its founding in 1987,

if i am not mistaken, hamas has said any country that collaborates with israel is againstjihad. in defeating them, i hope there will be room for more moderate and more pragmatic voices to enter the scene. but there will be more moderate and pragmatic voices in gaza right now, without the aid they need, without power, without communications. can you tell us if you have any plans to restore, for example, the telecommunications in gaza anytime soon? i would say the following, when we defeat hamas, and we will, and the destruction that will unfortunately cause across gaza, i think there will be a lesson for everyone, that the path of extremism, the path of hamas, the path

of only bring suffering. so much more can be gained from cooperation, from collaboration, from working together. hamas represents death and destruction, the horrific violence we saw on october the 7th. surely there is a better alternatives, surely israeli and arabs, israelis and palestinians can meet together in an arrangement where we cease to kill each other. hamas insists we must kill each other, we say no. the international community and israel�*s allies, we have seen plenty of senior world leaders stand shoulder to shoulder with israel, defending its right to defend itself. but almost everyone has also added the caveat, that it must be done within humanitarian law, even war has laws. are you worried that if more civilians are killed in this latest intensification of the military strikes, the support, the international allies that israel

had will start to ask more questions of israel? first of all, i must say that israel is acting in accordance with international law. we are trying to minimise collateral damage, we are trying to minimise civilian casualties. our enemy is not... we are not targeting the civilian population of gaza, we are targeting hamas. it is hamas who is interested in civilians. we asked them to leave the north where there will be come back because we don�*t want to see them caught up in the crossfire. hamas says, stay, you cannot leave and they physically put up roadblocks to prevent people from leaving, because they want martyrs for their crazy course and they are willing to fight to the loss of a limb. we have had leaders in europe and america talking about hamas�* policy of using human shields, they are being exposed for what they are.

the information we shared yesterday with the international media, about there being an hamas command centre right under the hospital in gaza city, that shows exactly who we are dealing with. at least 200 british citizens are trapped in gaza. lull—luh ali faten�*s 29—year—old daughter zaynab is married to a palestinian and went to gaza to attend a wedding just days before the hamas attack in israel. zaynab travelled there with 11 other members of herfamily from the uk, including a 13—year—old. our community affairs correspondent ashi—tha nagesh has been speaking to lullah about her daughter�*s ordeal. hello, my name is zaynab, i am a british national. me and my family came here two days before the war started and been unable to get out ever since. zaynab, a schoolteacher in greater manchester, had gone to

gaza for a wedding and is now trapped near the rafah crossing. is this here? yes, that's manchester. her mother lalah, is hoping that she�*ll be home soon. how does it feel for you being here and sort of watching what�*s happening from afar? i feel powerless. i feel, as much as i can do, it's not enough, and it's a very painful experience to have to go through to see people go through so much suffering and not be able to do anything. thousands of bombs have landed... zaynab posted this video on instagram two days ago. we have contacted the british embassy to two at the very least get out its own citizens but with no luck. the fcdo says it has been keeping in close contact with british nationals in gaza and will update them on the status at the southern border. the death toll is rising every day.

everyday we wait to hear from zainab in the morning or in the afternoon, whenever she gets a signaljust to see if, you know, whether she made it through the night. this was the last message lalah had from zainab letting her mother know she was alive. but she hasn�*t heard anything since last night when communications from gaza were cut off. the last few weeks have been really quite harrowing. just to watch the images on tv and to see such high numbers of deaths of innocent women and children, and civilians, it's been very painful. iam i am lewis vaughan—jones, this is bbc news.

hello there. it is remaining and settled this weekend with low pressure sticking close by. we will see showers or longer spells of rain. some sunshine as well, not a complete wash—out but it will be quite blustery, specially close to the coast. thanks to this area of low pressure which has been anchored to the west of ireland, bringing the showers and longer spells of rain and strong wind with low pressure running around it. one such system moving across the country during saturday starts on a find out through the midlands, low cloud but showers from the word go across the south and the west. they will spread north and we will see more persistent rain affecting eastern scotland with stronger winds here. brightness for western scotland with some shelter from the easterly breeze. temperature is ten to 16 degrees. later in the day we will see little areas of low pressure

bringing wet and windy weather to southern england and south wales. that will spread northwards through the course of the night and ending up the course of the night and ending up across parts of scotland and northern ireland. not that it stays windy and it will stay quite blustery for the second half of the night across england and wales with clear spells and scattered showers. temperatures, no particular cold, nine to 11 degrees. 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. sunday looks unsettled, vertically scotland, northern ireland, it will be wet with some of the heaviest rain towards eastern scotland and flooding issues here. strong winds as well. england and wales was a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers are most of the showers towards the west and some of them could be heavy and thundery. temperatures cool across northern scotland otherwise it is the mid—teens further south. little change into monday, low pressure begins to weaken but it is still close by enough to bring further unsettled weather. for most it will be a mixture of sunshine and

showers. most of the showers towards the south and the west where they could be quite heavy. blustery winds across the south—west and the northern and eastern scotland, persistent rain and may be winteryness over the tops of the cairngorms. it is the low to the mid—teens. 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 and we could see some severe gales with deep lows. stay tuned to the forecast.

live from washington, this is bbc news. israel prime minister says the war in gaza will be hard and take time and the priority is to defeat hamas time and the priority is to defeat hama ., , _, ., ., , . hamas our second war of independence and we will fight _ hamas our second war of independence and we will fight and _ hamas our second war of independence and we will fight and we _ hamas our second war of independence and we will fight and we will _ hamas our second war of independence and we will fight and we will not - and we will fight and we will not surrender, we will not withdraw. more devastation, communities blacked out in situations in some areas is now catastrophic. the hos - ital, areas is now catastrophic. the hospital, today, _ areas is now catastrophic. the hospital, today, it _ areas is now catastrophic. the hospital, today, it was areas is now catastrophic. tta: hospital, today, it was in areas is now catastrophic. tt2 hospital, today, it was in the main building of the hospital was ruined. mike pence withdraws from the 2024 presidential race.