the hostage, ori megidish, reunited with her family — the israeli soldier was kidnapped by hamas during the attacks on october 7th. a video of three hostages still being held is released by hamas. family and friends of all the hostages expressed despair. 2a days have already passed. how is it possible? how are they not free? sisters in gaza reunited after the ordeal of war — a un agency says more than 3,000 children have been killed in three weeks also on tonight's programme... the covid inquiry hears a former key aide to borisjohnson say, there was a "systemic failure"

to prepare for the pandemic. and the deepfake scam on fiona bruce. we look at how ai can be used to spread misinformation ahead of a major government summit on artificial intelligrance. 0n bbc london. a met firearms officer charged with murder of chris kaba in south london is to be named after a judge rules to lift an anonymity order. good evening from jerusalem — where the israeli military have announced the first rescue of a hostage — a soldier. she was kidnapped on october seven by hamas, classed as a terrorist organisation by the uk government. m00 people died in the attacks by hamas just over three weeks ago. she is private 0ri megidish —

she is said to be doing well and has been reunited with herfamily. no details have been given of the circumstances of her rescue. the families of three other hostages being held in gaza have spoken this evening, and called for every possible effort to be made to bring them home. we'll have more on those stories in a moment, but first the head of the un relief agency, helping palestinians in gaza, philippe lazzarini, has told an emergency meeting of the un security council tonight that the human tragedy unfolding under their watch was unbearable. he said more than 3,000 children had been killed in gaza in just three weeks, following israeli airstrikes. israel says it's targetting members of hamas. tonight we have the story of one family in southern gaza, filmed by freelancejournalist mahmoud bassam and told by our special correspondent

fergal keane who's injerusalem. you may find some of his report distressing. they were living here in rafah when the war came. the rescuers found them in the rubble... ..and rushed 18—month—old julia to el—najar hospital. it is hard to imagine consolation in this place — until this moment, when her sister learns littlejulia has survived. "my sister, my beloved," sasturi, aged five. "this is my sister," she tells the nurses. the girls�* physical

wounds can be treated. but how is it possible to heal the trauma of being a child in such a war? their dad bilal has a minor head wound but consoles the girls�* uncle, mohammed. for he and wife lena have lost their six—month—old daughter, selah. witnesses to the grief of adults, the baby's sister fatima, her brother suleiman and her cousins, the two sisters julia and juri. "one hour ago i was playing with her," says mohammed. go to any hospital in gaza, and the flow

of casualties is relentless. those who can be treated, and those who join the growing list of the dead, many of them refugees who sought shelter in crowded buildings after being forced to flee their own homes. so when these air forces strike the building, at least 20 or 30 persons will be killed. the sisters will sleep in another crowded building tonight. there is no safety. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. israeli forces in gaza have cut off one of the main roads running north to south, as part of their expanded ground operations against hamas. witnesses there have reported seeing tanks and bulldozers

on the salah al—din highway, which connects gaza city to the rest of the territory. this footage from social media — which our colleagues at bbc verify have geolocated — shows an israeli tank firing at a car travelling towards the city. with more on this and on tonight's rescue of a hostage, we can go to our international editorjeremy bowen who's in southern israel. thanks very much. wars are about a lot more than simply the men with guns, there is also the civilians, the pain, strain and the things they go through. and on the palestinian side, of course, those air strikes. very large numbers of deaths of civilians, they don't buy the israeli argument that the israelis are trying very hard not to hit them. they think that is completely untrue. but on the israeli side, a lot of the anguish has come from the

hostages, the families, the things they are going through. today, some families had some bad news and some had good news. there's good news for one family at least. private 0ri megidish was rescued by the israeli army last night. she had been held in gaza since the 7th of october. they had a lot to celebrate. for the rest of the hostage families, the agony of waiting goes on. in the centre of tel aviv, the families of the hostages have set up a vigil opposite the ministry of defence. these are the faces of many of those who are missing. there's a table set for a jewish sabbath dinner, empty places for those who are held in gaza. and along with the concern, more of the anger at the actions of hamas, which is powering the response of israel.

annihilate hamas, so it won't happen again. never again. you cannot butcherjews joyfully, send messages to your parents, "i killed ten israelis, i am using the phone of one of them." after the video was released by hamas on social media, the israeli government said it was hugging the families of the hostages. but some of those families blame the prime minister and his government for not listening to their warnings about border security. hostage videos are made under duress, but danielle aloni, in the centre echoed that.

in the hostage video, one woman calls for a deal to free the hostages and free palestinians in israeli jails. prime minister netanyahu's response was a ringing call to support israel in this war. translation: when i saw on the television, we _ translation: when i saw on the television, we were _ translation: when i saw on the television, we were shocked. - translation: when i saw on the television, we were shocked. in i translation: when | saw on the | television, we were shocked. in one aspect we felt relief, relief she was alive. the images of the 7th of october torment israelis. the prime minister has not accepted personal responsibility for the failure to protect the border. and his response today was a ringing call to support israel.— call to support israel. victory over these enemies _ call to support israel. victory over these enemies begins _ call to support israel. victory over these enemies begins with - call to support israel. victory over these enemies begins with more i these enemies begins with more clarity. it begins with knowing the difference between good and evil, between right and wrong. it means making more distinction between the deliberate murder of the innocent and the unintentional casualties that accompany every legitimate war.

even the mostjust war. life that accompany every legitimate war. even the mostjust war.— even the most 'ust war. life is on hold even the most 'ust war. life is on new here — even the most 'ust war. life is on new here in _ even the mostjust war. life is on hold here in the _ even the mostjust war. life is on hold here in the israeli _ even the mostjust war. life is on hold here in the israeli towns - even the mostjust war. life is on i hold here in the israeli towns close to gaza. most people have moved somewhere safer with no end in sight to this war. hamas took hostages in the first place to gain average over israel. when the israelis launch their ground operation when talks to release those hostages were still going on, they said they would not grant hamas any kind of impunity for what they have done. but now by making this video, hamas has hit back, with a calculated act of psychological warfare directed at the prime minister. the israeli military has released video of its tanks advancing into gaza. somewhere out there all the rest of the hostages. israel has declared a clear objective to wipe hamas of the face of the earth, assuming its tanks and troops can do that, israel has not spelt out what comes next.

israel continues to inflict pain and death on palestinian civilians. throughout all the wars in gaza, israel's assertions that it targets hamas and not civilians have been dismissed by palestinians as lies. this war is no different. in the grounds of the hospital in gaza city, another palestinian couple mourn their dead children. israel claims there is a hamas bunker under the hospital. this looks as if it will be a long war, with cruelty heaped on cruelty. jeremy bowen, bbc news, in southern israel. jeremy, as you told us that you a very close to the border with gaza,

how are things looking tonight? there is a great deal of military activity coming from the israelis, i can tell you that. i can hear it as i stand here. can tell you that. i can hear it as istand here. my can tell you that. i can hear it as i stand here. my microphone is right there, so you won't be able to pick it up at every couple of minutes there is a fastjet going over towards gaza, clearly on some kind of bomb run for an air strike. one hasjust gone over as of bomb run for an air strike. one has just gone over as i am talking to you. there is a lot of deep reverberations of heavy artillery being fired, five or six heavy rounds per minute, i have been counting. that means the israelis are attacking at quite a high pitch, trying to do what they say they want to do, which is to wipe hamas of the face of the earth. they are moving quite slowly but looking a little bit into the future, if they are able to try to achieve what they say they want, they have to think if they want, they have to think if they remove hamas from power, about

what comes next. they haven't been talking about that because it is a very difficult conundrum and the absence of that sort of objective certainly concerns the americans. because eventually, what it is going to have to mean is some kind of political solution with the palestinians, not with hamas, but with other palestinians. because if they don't get that, this will not be the last war.— they don't get that, this will not be the last war. 0k, jeremy, many thanks as always. _ be the last war. 0k, jeremy, many thanks as always. our _ thanks as always. our international editor, jeremy bowen. well as i mentioned the un security council has been holding america editor sarah smith. there's been bitter criticism of israel's bombardment of gaza by a un refugee agency — what more has been said? he gave a very passionate briefing to the security council about the situation as he sees it in gaza. he

said the tragedy unfolding is unbearable. the level of destruction, he said, is unprecedented. he said that in his opinion, palestinians in gaza are being subjected to forced displacement and collective punishment. he said that civil order is breaking down, accelerated by the communications blackout over the weekend and that if it continues this way, the un simply won't be able to do its work in trying to assist some of the palestinian refugees. he was talking about the un buildings in which hundreds of thousands of refugees are sheltering, very short of clean water and he said no place in because i will say. he was giving a very stern warning about the conditions and said in terms, and immediate humanitarian ceasefire is required, otherwise millions, he said millions of lives are at risk. around the same time we heard from

the white house that the biden administration is not calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. the national security spokesperson said now it is not the right time and a ceasefire would only help hamas. we had from the uk representative at the security council talking about a humanitarian pause to allow aid in. the 21 tonnes of aid that has been flown into egypt but has not made it into the hands of any palestinians. sarah, thank you very much. well, here, even in the quieter parts of the country, israel remains very tense. here injerusalem, there had been a sense of real life starting up again in the last week, with more traffic and more people out and about. but even this relative calm can be suddenly shattered. out of the blue, this. very close by just as we started work. armed police were there immediately. jerusalem is full of them, on heightened alert

because of the war. on foot, by car and on horseback. down below, we could see the injured man, a police officer being rushed to an ambulance. he'd been stabbed. around the corner, this footage was taken by a bystander through a car window. it captures the moment the assailant was shot dead. he was killed outside the anglican cathedral. local reporters later said he was a palestinian from the mount of olives area of occupied eastjerusalem. the minister of national security was on the scene shortly afterwards. the streets quiet again, but a reminder of the brittle atmosphere that prevails. the fraught tensions of the region playing themselves out right on our doorstep. that is it from me and the team for another night here injerusalem. now it's back to you,

clive, in the studio. reeta, many thanks to you and the team there injerusalem. there has, of course, been widespread fallout from events in the middle east, and in the russian republic of dagestan 60 people have been arrested after a large crowd stormed an airport looking for israeli citizens. video footage shows people running through makhachkala airport, some shouting anti—semitic slogans. israel has urged russia to protectjewish people. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. outside makhachkala airport, the mob was determined to break in. they brought with them palestinian flags and hatred ofjews. once inside, they ran riot through the terminal building, searching for passengers from israel, furious that a flight from tel aviv was expected here. it had all the hallmarks of an anti—jewish pogrom in the mainly muslim russian

republic of dagestan. they cried in arabic, "god is greatest," and chanted anti—semitic slogans. as they pushed their way through the airport, there was no resistance. terrified staff could do little to stop this. back outside, disembarking passengers were told to reboard immediately for their own safety as the mob spilled onto the runway. the russian authorities blamed the violence on external forces. vladimir putin summoned his senior aides and did what he did so often, he blamed the west. translation: £371 he blamed the west. translation: , ., , translation: of the events last

niuht translation: of the events last ni . ht were translation: of the events last night were instigated _ translation: of the events last night were instigated through - translation: of the events last l night were instigated through social networks, not least from ukraine, by the hands of the agents of western special services. only a few days ago, president putin had met with russian religious leaders to tell him that interfaith harmony was the basis of russian statehood. there were other anti—semitic protests in dagestan at the weekend. a crowd gathered outside a hotel where a jewish guest was believed to have checked in. they threw stones at the windows and a sign was hung on the door. it read, "entrance strictly forbidden to israeli citizens, tojews." steve rosenberg, bbc news. rishi sunak chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee, cobra, to discuss how the israel—gaza conflict is affecting communities here in the uk. jewish schools in london and manchester

have had to be step up security over concerns about a rise in anti—semitism. our religion editor, aleem maqbool, has that story. chanting. the demonstrations in the uk calling for an end to israel's bombing of gaza have drawn tens of thousands of people. stop bombing gaza! but the protests and some of the chants recorded have been viewed by many britishjews as threatening acts, that make them feel unsafe. in the last 48 hours, we've seen calls for an intifada that last time involved suicide bombings, attacks on kids, on people at discos, restaurants. it"s no wonder that the jewish community at the moment is full of dread, full of fear, like i've never seen before. campaigners say the fact that some of the protesters were jewish is evidence the demos were not anti—semitic. onejewish group was part of this sit—in at waterloo station. i saw no hate.

comedian and author alexei sayle is bothjewish and a patron of the palestine solidarity campaign that organises the demos. he sastews that condemn israel's actions also pay a price. it's cost me friendships, i think. it's made relationships with people difficult sometimes. you know, it's made me feel uncomfortable in a way to speak out for the palestinian people. there has been a huge rise in incidents of anti—jewish hate in the uk over the past three weeks. twojewish girls schools in north london have been vandalised. we are unfortunately used to it to some extent, but we do feel that, you know, we should be feeling safer, shall we say, here in england. the children should feel comfortable to come to school in the morning and not get harassed on the way. manyjews have talked of not

being comfortable close to protests. the home secretary today flatly gave her view on such demos. to my mind, there is only one way to describe those marches. they are hate marches. that has led to an angry reaction from organisers. what is clear is the longer the tensions in the middle east go on, the more profoundly and intensely this will affectjews here across the spectrum. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in london. chris mason is here, chris, we are seeing how events in the middle east are playing out here in the uk, but also, as aleem pointed out, and suella braverman said, political tensions are developing for all the parties. we tensions are developing for all the arties. ~ . , tensions are developing for all the arties. . . , _ , ., , parties. we have seen the symptoms ofthat parties. we have seen the symptoms of that worry. — parties. we have seen the symptoms of that worry, the _ parties. we have seen the symptoms of that worry, the anger, _ parties. we have seen the symptoms of that worry, the anger, the - of that worry, the anger, the dilemma is that some mps face, reconciling their own view, the view of their constituents, and then that of their constituents, and then that of their constituents, and then that of their party leaderships, and two examples today, one in the conservative party, one of the

labour party. a ministerial aide has been sacked from his government role, he had said they should be a ceasefire in gaza, that is not government policy, paul bristow is the mp for peterborough, a marginal seat with a sizeable muslim population. he said he understood the prime minister's decision. labour have suspended an mp from the parliamentary party, andy mcdonald was at a pro palestinian rally at the weekend, and he said, we will not rest, addressing a crowd, until we have justice, not rest, addressing a crowd, until we havejustice, until all peoples, israelis and palestinians, between the river and the sea, can live in peaceful liberty, free, free palestine. laboursaid peaceful liberty, free, free palestine. labour said the remarks were deeply offensive, some say that reference to the river and the sea implies the destruction of israel, but he said it was a heartfelt plea for the killings to end on both sides. keir starmerfaces for the killings to end on both sides. keir starmer faces a for the killings to end on both sides. keir starmerfaces a bigger challenge, which he has faced a fair number of his own frontbenchers saying that there should be a

ceasefire, the very thing that cost that conservative ministerial aide hisjob, but he is not sacking there was on his own front bench who are saying that, they are managing to keep theirjobs, that is how he is managing the difference of opinion within his own party, which is unconventional. expect him to face questions on it tomorrow.- questions on it tomorrow. indeed, thank you. — questions on it tomorrow. indeed, thank you, chris _ questions on it tomorrow. indeed, thank you, chris mason _ questions on it tomorrow. indeed, thank you, chris mason there. - the covid inquiry has heard that no updates on coronavirus were sent to borisjohnson, nor were emergency cobra meetings held, during a ten—day period in february 2020 coinciding with the half—term holidayjust a month before the first lockdown. a former key aide of borisjohnson also said there was a "systemic failure" to prepare for the pandemic and that government plans were "inadequate". our health editor, hugh pym, has more. he was close to borisjohnson for much of the pandemic and usually in the shadows. today, martin reynolds, in the glare of the public inquiry, was challenged on what the government was doing in the weeks before lockdown. and nothing but the truth. did you have plans to deal with the crisis

which had broken upon the united kingdom government? there is a standard set of protocols which are actually cabinet office protocols for dealing with crisis. where i agree with you is they were inadequate to deal with the crisis we were confronted with. lines from a diary kept by the chief scientific adviser, sir patrick vallance, were read out, including calling mrjohnson "weak and indecisive". in the face of a viral pandemic, if those views are right, that was a deeply unfortunate position to be in, was it not? er, yes. so what about the e—mail sent by mr reynolds inviting colleagues to drinks in the garden at number ten? i would first like to say how deeply sorry i am for my part in those events and for the e—mail message which went out that day. whatsapp messages were also shown.

the head of the civil service, simon case, said of mrjohnson, "i'm at the end of my tether, he changes strategic direction every day." "it has to stop." "government isn't actually that hard, but this guy is making it impossible." and from the downing street aide dominic cummings, "totally agree, and he's careering around on whatsapp as usual, creating chaos and undermining everybody." another official, imran shafi, was asked about a note he'd taken about a meeting between mrjohnson and the chancellor, rishi sunak, just before lockdown. "why," it was said, "are we destroying the economy for people who'll die anyway soon?" mr shafi, who said those words? i can't say for sure. i think it was _ the former prime minister. tomorrow it'll be the turn of dominic cummings to give evidence, boris johnson's former key adviser. and later in the week, lord stevens, who used to run the nhs in england. as for boris johnson, he and other politicians at the time will get the chance to have

their say later in the year. hugh pym, bbc news. international leaders and tech companies will gather at a summit at bletchley park this week, organised by the government to discuss how to maximise the benefits and guard against the dangers of artificial intelligence. one issue being discussed is the use of so—called deepfakes. they're videos of people which have been altered or created using ai to spread false information or are used in online scams, as as my colleague fiona bruce has discovered. just ahead of the labour conference a few weeks ago, an audio clip was circulating of keir starmer berating an assistant. it's completely fake. and then there's this. britons won't have to work any more. elon musk has unveiled

his new project in which he has already invested more than $3 billion. no other project has ever given this kind of opportunity. we asked elon about the news, and here are his comments on it. spot the difference — that's not me. did you think it was me? i mean, it's pretty convincing. it's very disconcerting to find yourself deepfaked in this way. this is a financial scam trying to get people to hand over money, and i was worried that people would fall for it. and, in fact, even people who know me, know me well, were taken in by it. my hairdresser was watching videos on his phone and saw something that suddenly looked familiar. you're reading the news, and ijust thought... i just listened. and you thought that was me? 100%. and it was basically a scam to get money out of you. did you give them your information? i gave them my phone number. totally regret it, cos they bombarded me for days and weeks and, um... how many times a day were they calling? at least 20 times a day, sometimes more. it was shocking.

creating a deepfake can take just minutes, thanks to increasingly sophisticated ai websites, and it's hard to know who's behind them. how worried should we be? we're fundamentally unprepared to deal with the consequences of hyperrealistic deepfakes, whether that is audio, video or indeed images, partially because they're so convincing now, they have become so much more realistic, and to that end we've seen them increasingly over the last year being introduced into the political sphere with disinformation in places like ukraine, sudan and venezuela. so how true is it that venezuela is such a poor country? this isn't a newsreader — it's an ai avatar spouting fake propaganda supportive of the government in venezuela ahead of the election, a blatant attempt to try to influence the vote. there we go! even the prime minister has fallen victim — faked to look like he can't pull a decent pint. from elections to financial scams, how can we know what to believe? the technology to tell if a video is real or a deepfake is still unreliable. viewer, beware.

fiona bruce, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, here's louise lear.