needs to be done to - rotect civilians and _ needs to be done to protect civilians and make - _ needs to be done to protect civilians and make sure | _ needs to be done to - protect civilians and make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them, far too many palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past weeks. figs suffered these past weeks. as concerns mount over the hostages in gaza, we will speak to one man whose family members were either killed or abducted. and as the war approaches its fifth week, will answer your questions about the conflict at this hour. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, hamas officials in gaza claim 13 people have been killed by israeli airstrikes that hit the al—shifa hospital, the biggest hospital in the territory. videos show a missile hitting an area where people were taking shelter,

followed by screams. israel claims that hamas, described as a terror organisation by the uk and us governments, uses hospitals as a base for military operations. people sheltering in the grounds also recorded the moment and its aftermath. israeli tanks are reported to have surrounded several other hospitals in gaza. israel says it will continue four—hour pauses every day in its military action in the north of the gaza strip to allow civilians to flee. these are the pictures from earlier today. it is now almost five weeks since the start of this war. the hamas—run gaza health ministry said over 11,000 people have been killed, including ii,500 children. the us secretary of state, antony blinken,

says far too many palestinians have died in the conflict, which began after hamas killed more that 1,400 people in the attacks on october the 7th. let's start this hour with this report from yolande knell. explosion panic and bloodshed in gaza's shifa hospital this morning. as families sheltered here, they were caught up in the battles between israeli forces and hamas fighters with deadly results. israel says it is closing in on the underground tunnels of hamas. translation: those terrorists who are staying in the basements underneath shifa tonight can hear the thundering sounds of tank chains, the bulldozers that pound the ground. they can hear it underground. they hear it and tremble with fear. last night, this was an attack near the indonesian hospital further north.

and at another hospital in the city, tanks took up positions right outside. fearful, gazans are flooding to the south. israel says that as it is tightening its grip on the strip's biggest city, it's giving safe passage along this route. the us says israel has agreed to pauses in fighting and to get more aid into the south. it welcomed the move but wants more to be done. these steps will save lives and will enable more assistance to get to palestinians in need. at the same time, much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that the humanitarian assistance reaches them. far too many palestinians have been killed. far too many have suffered these past weeks. in paris, world leaders have been gathering at a peace forum, with calls to work towards a ceasefire. palestinian officials condemned israeli actions. the israelis don't

want any ceasefire, because today the israelis are in the mood of revenge, genocidal revenge, collective killing, killing for the sake of killing, and the goals that they are setting, they will never reach these goals. queueing hungrily with empty pots in southern gaza this lunchtime. a hot meal being prepared. the charity says it tries to help as many as it can, but there is never enough to go around. in gaza, this is a key point in the war, and for palestinians living there each day is about survival. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. live now to our diplomatic correspondent paul adams. paul, tell us a little more about what you are hearing about the fighting around these main hospitals, al—shifa and al-quds. fighting around these main hospitals, al—shifa and al—quds. i hospitals, al—shifa and al-quds. i think it is a very complex picture today, matthew, and we are piecing together what we can, but look, this is a military operation taking place

in a sizeable city, and the information that is coming out is both partisan and fragmentary, so we have to figure out what we know and what we do not know. what we do know is that the israelis now have their military parked pretty much outside at least three of the main hospitals in gaza, al—shifa, al-quds, and the indonesia hospital. all three of those hospitals are ones that the israelis have said in the past are places where hamas have some of their infrastructure based, so it is no surprise that the israelis are focusing on those three hospitals. what we're also hearing is that there are air strikes taking place in a number of places, reports in the last hour or two of bodies being pulled from a school in the northern part of gaza city, as many as 50 bodies there, and the thing to remember there is we are constantly

hearing about schools and hospitals — these are the places where civilians are still seeking shelter, because they believe that they are places that will be safe, because they are un facilities because they are hospitals. the israelis want all of those people out of the way, so they are trying to pressure the civilian population to leave the area, keeping open that corridor to the south, but also making their military presence very clearly felt in a number of places. and military presence very clearly felt in a number of places.— military presence very clearly felt in a number of places. and we have seen again — in a number of places. and we have seen again those _ in a number of places. and we have seen again those pictures _ in a number of places. and we have seen again those pictures of - in a number of places. and we have seen again those pictures of peoplei seen again those pictures of people leaving the north of the territory, we are nearly five weeks into this conflict, your assessment of where we are. ~ , ., ., we are. well, this battle for gaza ci , we are. well, this battle for gaza city. which _ we are. well, this battle for gaza city. which has — we are. well, this battle for gaza city, which has been _ we are. well, this battle for gaza city, which has been going - we are. well, this battle for gaza city, which has been going on - we are. well, this battle for gaza | city, which has been going on now fall, what, a week or so, is, city, which has been going on now fall, what, a week orso, is, i think, if you are looking at this from an israeli perspective, going pretty well. they are advancing deep

into parts of the city, they do not appear to be incurring many losses on their own side, they have finally persuaded large numbers of those remaining civilians to leave, that is something that they have been trying to do for a very long time. and so they feel that the city is theirs to take. how long it is going to take, how many hamas fighters are still there, where the hostages are, there are so many unknown questions that, you know, we could be having this conversation a week from now and things will look broadly similar. all of these hospitals may have fallen into israeli hands, and the israelis might be starting to turn their attention to the south. we just don't know. it is a very, very fluid, complex situation in which we are being constantly bombarded by information, a good

chunk of which is almost certainly exaggerated, not true, misleading, and you know, we have to try to make sense of it, and right now it is about as hard as it has been for the last several weeks.— last several weeks. yes, it is a military war — last several weeks. yes, it is a military war and _ last several weeks. yes, it is a military war and an _ last several weeks. yes, it is a| military war and an information last several weeks. yes, it is a - military war and an information war. paul atoms injerusalem, thanks very much. -- paul —— paul adams. live now tojens laerke, spokesperson for the un humanitarian office. describe what it is currently like from the communications you are having with your people. the daily information _ having with your people. the daily information reports _ having with your people. the daily information reports that _ having with your people. the daily information reports that we - having with your people. the daily information reports that we get i having with your people. the daily i information reports that we get from gaza amounted to a situation where, if you are living in northern gaza, you could be excused for saying i am living in hell. if there is a hell

on earth, it is in gaza right now. people are living in fear, despair, displacement, water to drink. so on top of that, there is a complete blackout, an electricity blackout for a month now, and no fuel has gone into generators. so the situation is hellish. we have seen the continued exodus of people from the continued exodus of people from the north, un agencies are warning again the north, un agencies are warning aaai . the north, un agencies are warning aiai ., ., the north, un agencies are warning aaai . ., , again that nowhere is safe, including — again that nowhere is safe, including southern - again that nowhere is safe, including southern gaza. i again that nowhere is safe, | including southern gaza. do again that nowhere is safe, i including southern gaza. do you again that nowhere is safe, _ including southern gaza. do you draw any distinction between north and south? _, . , ., any distinction between north and south? . , ., ., ., south? the conclusion that we draw from all this — south? the conclusion that we draw from all this is _ south? the conclusion that we draw from all this is that _ south? the conclusion that we draw from all this is that we _ south? the conclusion that we draw from all this is that we need - south? the conclusion that we draw from all this is that we need a i from all this is that we need a humanitarian ceasefire that covers the entirety of gaza. that is what is required. no place is truly safe

in gaza. at the same time, there is very little or no possibility for people there to leave the place. so they are trapped, and there is no place that is truly safe. in they are trapped, and there is no place that is truly safe.— place that is truly safe. in terms of what is _ place that is truly safe. in terms of what is happening _ place that is truly safe. in terms of what is happening in - place that is truly safe. in terms of what is happening in the i place that is truly safe. in terms l of what is happening in the south, the who talks about a desperate concern now, about the spread of infectious diseases for those who have taken refuge there, are you equally concerned about that as well, of course, just people escaping with their lives from the bombardment? it is escaping with their lives from the bombardment?— escaping with their lives from the bombardment? , ., ., , bombardment? it is almost inevitable that we see these _ bombardment? it is almost inevitable that we see these secondary - that we see these secondary consequences in a crisis like this, because there is not adequate humanitarian assistance going in. it is actually not surprising that we see crisis on top of crisis, particularly health, waterborne diseases and such. that is what happens when a humanitarian catastrophe is created and there is

inability for us to go in and help. and that is, of course, what fundamentally needs to change. the un and our partners, we are ready, we are impatient frankly to go in, we are impatient frankly to go in, we have a response planned, we have put out an appeal for $1.2 billion to resource the plan, but we need to get access to get in to do our work, otherwise we will see this crisis adding to crisis. at otherwise we will see this crisis adding to crisis.— otherwise we will see this crisis adding to crisis. at the moment we have these — adding to crisis. at the moment we have these pauses _ adding to crisis. at the moment we have these pauses during - adding to crisis. at the moment we have these pauses during the i adding to crisis. at the moment we have these pauses during the day, | have these pauses during the day, are you as aid agencies able to do very much in a pause of that sort of duration? ~ . ., ., , duration? well, i humanitarian pause should of course _ duration? well, i humanitarian pause should of course be _ duration? well, i humanitarian pause should of course be done _ duration? well, i humanitarian pause should of course be done with - should of course be done with humanitarian input, it should be

donein humanitarian input, it should be done in collaboration with us so that it done in collaboration with us so thatitis done in collaboration with us so that it is meaningful, and it gives the proper aid that people need to have. of course, we are looking at possibilities to save lives and alleviate suffering, whenever such an opening may arise, but again, the bottom line is only a humanitarian ceasefire would truly allow what we need to see happen, so that we can provide, at scale, repeatedly, continuously, the aid that needs to go in. continuously, the aid that needs to no in. �* ., continuously, the aid that needs to rain, ., , , continuously, the aid that needs to coin. ., , , .,, continuously, the aid that needs to go in. and of because only yesterday we were reporting — go in. and of because only yesterday we were reporting that _ go in. and of because only yesterday we were reporting that president i we were reporting that president biden had been pushing for a three—day humanitarian pause and perhaps even longer, but that was rebuffed by the israelis. how frustrating is it for you, trying to operate, trying to help all of those people we see who are affected, when any attempt to actually get any sort

of extension on the pause, there is instant pushback, it is simply not happening?— happening? well, it is deeply frustrating. — happening? well, it is deeply frustrating, because - happening? well, it is deeply frustrating, because it - happening? well, it is deeply frustrating, because it is i happening? well, it is deeply frustrating, because it is a i happening? well, it is deeply i frustrating, because it is a pause, is it a ceasefire? how long should it last? why should it be? those who really need our help are being kicked around in this game, and our focus is of course on helping those people. we need to the political voices to allow us to do that. it is a question of life and death, and i can understand if people in gaza are frustrated by this. we are too, frankly, because it is not helping today, and it is yesterday that this help should be provided. iens help should be provided. jens laerske, there _ help should be provided. jens laerske, there we _ help should be provided. jens laerske, there we have to leave it, but thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. as you conclude there, let mejust us on the programme. as you conclude

there, let me just tell you the very latest from the al-quds hospital, a statement from the palestinian red crescent saying one person was killed and 19 injured in shooting by israeli forces at that location, the al-quds hospital, so as the idf have been saying, they continue their operations around several of those hospitals, and that is the latest being reported by the reuters news agency, the palestinian red crescent saying one person killed, 19 injured. around the world and across the uk, you are watching bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. latest official figures show no economic growth in the uk between july and september after a succession of interest rate rises. the performance was slightly better than expected. many analysts had believed it would shrink. last week, the bank of england said the uk economy was likely to see zero growth until 2025, although it is expected to avoid a recession.

england's chief medical officer has warned that the uk faces a health crisis because of a rapidly ageing population. in his annual report, professor chris whitty says while more people are living longer, many of their later years are spent in bad health. there's also concern that large numbers of elderly people will be concentrated in rural or coastal areas with poor nhs provision. australian television star and singerjohnny ruffo has died aged 35 after a battle with brain cancer. ruffo rose to fame on the reality show x factor australia, before turning to acting in the soap home and away. after his diagnosis in 2017, he raised money and awareness of brain cancer. negotiations over the fate of israeli and foreign hostages held in gaza have been going on for weeks. live now to ahal besorai, whose sister yonat 0r and her husband and two of their children were abducted from kibbutz be'eri. he joins us from the philippines.

thank you so much for being here on the programme. just describe for me first of all how you are coping with the last five weeks. it first of all how you are coping with the last five weeks.— the last five weeks. it is, you know, the last five weeks. it is, you know. really _ the last five weeks. it is, you know, really heartbreaking, l the last five weeks. it is, you i know, really heartbreaking, you know, really heartbreaking, you know, because i lost my sister and her husband and two children, how sore his 15, and 13, they are expected to be held by hamas terrorists. —— herson expected to be held by hamas terrorists. —— her son is 15 and 13. ifeel very terrorists. —— her son is 15 and 13. i feel very sorry terrorists. —— her son is 15 and 13. ifeel very sorry for terrorists. —— her son is 15 and 13. i feel very sorry for my dad, not easy. i feel very sorry for my dad, not eas . ., y ., i feel very sorry for my dad, not eas. ., ._ i feel very sorry for my dad, not eas. ., ., , ., easy. how did you actually find out what had happened _ easy. how did you actually find out what had happened to _ easy. how did you actually find out what had happened to your- easy. how did you actually find out what had happened to your sister. easy. how did you actually find out i what had happened to your sister and other family what had happened to your sister and otherfamily members? 50 what had happened to your sister and other family members?— what had happened to your sister and other family members? so on october seven, ou other family members? so on october seven. you know. _ other family members? so on october seven, you know, i— other family members? so on october seven, you know, i heard _ other family members? so on october seven, you know, i heard what - other family members? so on october seven, you know, i heard what was i seven, you know, i heard what was happening in israel, be'eri, the

kibbutz where i grew up, and when i moved to the uk at the age of five, my dad and sister still lived there, so when all this started i made phone calls and spoke to them, and i spoke to my younger sister and then around nine o'clock she said there are shootings, i cannot tell, and she hung up the phone on me. and then i lost contact with her for the rest of the day, and an evening i spoke to her older son, who was not in the kibbutz, and he said they had been dragged out of the burning house, and we worked on the assumption that four of them were kidnapped. the wednesday, ten days after, they pulled out 120 bodies out of the kibbutz, some were burnt, beheaded, serious atrocities, babies

that cannot be identified. and on the friday, i got a phone call that my sister's body was identified as part of the 120 bodies. i made arrangements to travel to israel for the funeral, we wanted to bury her immediately, because we were not sure about the fate of the rest of the family, her husband and two other children, so we waited, and then when we got confirmation that they were probably held captive, hostages in gaza, we decided to conduct the funeralfor hostages in gaza, we decided to conduct the funeral for my sister. so, you know, really very sad, she has one son who was 18 and was not with them, and he is now sort of left alone in the world until maybe his father and two siblings are

returned safely to israel. it is excruciating, _ returned safely to israel. it is excruciating, listening - returned safely to israel. it is excruciating, listening to that story, and my commiserations to you and the widerfamily, story, and my commiserations to you and the wider family, but you obviously have to maintain hope for your brother—in—law and the two children, but you also have to grieve for your sister. i mean, children, but you also have to grieve foryoursister. i mean, can you do both things at once? we grieve for your sister. i mean, can you do both things at once? we have no choice, you do both things at once? we have no choice. you _ you do both things at once? we have no choice, you know. _ you do both things at once? we have no choice, you know. it— you do both things at once? we have no choice, you know. it is— you do both things at once? we have no choice, you know. it is not - you do both things at once? we have no choice, you know. it is not an i no choice, you know. it is not an easy thing to do, but i cannot bring my sister back, you know, rest her soul. so, you know, this is something that is done, it is painful when i think about it, i try to keep positive and stay positive and hopefulfor the rest of to keep positive and stay positive and hopeful for the rest of the family, for my brother—in—law and my nephew and niece. hopefully, they will be released by hamas, something which i really do not expect, may be

through this military operation the israelis are conducting, they will be able to rescue them, they died already with one hostage. i will come back _ already with one hostage. i will come back to _ already with one hostage. i will come back to what _ already with one hostage. i will come back to what is _ already with one hostage. i will come back to what is happening in terms of tactics on the ground, but there were media reports this week that benjamin netanyahu had rejected a deal early on in his warfor the release of children, women, the sick and elderly in exchange for a five—day ceasefire. there are also these constant rumours swirling around, emanating from kata about a larger group being released. how difficult is it to hear of that but see no real progress in real terms? so i am not really expecting for any of these rumours to become true, you know, i do not really listen to them, i think it is all part of some psychological war that hamas is

conducting against us part of the destruction of israel, so i do not pay too much attention to it, but if there is something that is not a rumour, something really serious is happening, then i will comment, but at the moment it is just your bridge, and we have to be very careful not to be fooled by these tactics and psychological warfare that hamas is conducting. it is... it is totally and utterly sadistic to create this hope in us, you know, people who want their loved ones to be returned because they have done nothing wrong, and they spread these rumours and false hope, so ijust try not to listen to them too much and not to be fooled by them, you

know. 50 and not to be fooled by them, you know. ,,_ ., ., and not to be fooled by them, you know. ., ., ., ., , know. so psychological warfare is art of all know. so psychological warfare is part of all of _ know. so psychological warfare is part of all of that. _ know. so psychological warfare is part of all of that. there - know. so psychological warfare is part of all of that. there has i know. so psychological warfare is| part of all of that. there has been public anger, there has been growing in israel with demands for the government to make hostages the number one priority. so many of the family is not convinced that it is the absolute priority, they fear that the military strategy over arches, trumps the priority about getting hostages, where do you stand on all of that, how the government is actually approaching this? so on all of that, how the government is actually approaching this? 50 i is actually approaching this? so i take a different _ is actually approaching this? cr i take a different view, is actually approaching this? 9 i take a different view, i is actually approaching this? 5r i take a different view, i think the government has the return of the hostages as their first priority. without this, i do not think killing all of the terrorist operatives would achieve the victory we are looking for, that israel is looking for, and i believe that only through military operation and pressure on

hamas will be free them. i think the rest is just rhetoric and psychological games by hamas in order to save themselves from the destruction that israel is going to bring about. and again, you know, i want to say that i don't have hatred, or i don't have a sense of revenge, you know, what i am seeking does not come from that. ijust think it is a cancerous organisation and when you deal with cancer, you apply chemotherapy, sometimes you hurt live cells, you know, that are being killed, and i don't think they live cells are any more to blame apart from the cancer, and i do not think there is anyjustification of arguing that it is the fault of the chemotherapy. it is

arguing that it is the fault of the chemotherapy-— chemotherapy. it is a very interesting _ chemotherapy. it is a very interesting perspective. . chemotherapy. it is a very interesting perspective. aj chemotherapy. it is a very i interesting perspective. a final thought, then, because as the war escalates, you have seen the pictures, you have seen israeli troops now in circling gaza city, the levels of bombardments, the focus on the tunnel network, for example, where perhaps some of the hostages are being held. when you see all of that, in terms of the family members, what does that put you through? is there growing alarm? how do you cope with that? obviously, i am worried, but on the other hand, you know, i think hamas understands the value of these hostages that they hold, and you know, from my understanding, they have tried to look after them to a certain extent, because they know ultimately that is what would save them or help them to get something out of this battle, you know, with israel. and so i think they will do

a lot to save them, i hope they will do, i think israel is very careful when they do these attacks not to harm the hostages when they know where they are. and you know, ijust pray that they will be returned safe. and you know, i want to make just another point, you know, that i think is quite important here. hamas notjust hijacked 240 israelis, i think it also hijacked the palestinian story, and i think this does a massive, massive, massive disservice to the palestinian desire to have their own state. hamas is the terrorist organisation that is nothing to do with the palestinian quest for their own state, and putting hamas at the front of the palestinian quest is a total disservice to the palestinians which will put them back many, many years, rather than put them forward to

having a state alongside israel. ahal besorai, thank you for taking the time to speak to us on the programme, the very best of luck in terms of new information and developments with your family. thank you so much for taking time to be with us. ., ~ you so much for taking time to be with us. ., ,, , ., you so much for taking time to be with us. ., ,, i. you so much for taking time to be with us. ., ~' ,, . you so much for taking time to be with us-_just i you so much for taking time to be i with us._just let with us. thank you so much. just let me tell you — with us. thank you so much. just let me tell you news _ with us. thank you so much. just let me tell you news coming _ with us. thank you so much. just let me tell you news coming in - with us. thank you so much. just let me tell you news coming in as i i with us. thank you so much. just let me tell you news coming in as i was| me tell you news coming in as i was doing that interview from the metropolitan police, who have said that they will double the numbers of police for this coming weekend, that march, april palestinian march on saturday, they will double the numbers for saturday, and also for sunday, remembrance day, because of the growing concerns. more on that and your questions answered just a moment. hello. frost and fog feature in our forecast for the weekend. and some of the fog could be quite stubborn, quite reluctant to clear. saturday should be a largely dry day, a window of fine weather

with some sunshine, but there will be some rain for some of us on remembrance sunday. some rain out there right now, mostly in the form of showers. some of those showers continuing towards the end of the day, particularly in the north—east of scotland. the odd wintry shower here up over the highest ground. these are the temperatures as we end the afternoon and start the evening. signs that things will be getting quite chilly and it will continue to turn colder through the night. the winds will be easing. the showers mostly will be fading and under clear skies, some of us will get down to freezing. some places will drop below freezing. there will be a touch of frost in places and some fog patches to start saturday morning. this is our window of fine weather between weather systems. where you are closest to this area of low pressure in eastern parts there could just be the odd shower first thing. one or two elsewhere, but most places having a dry start to the day with some patches of mist and fog. some of that murkiness could be slow to clear, but for the majority, we will see plenty of sunshine

to take us into saturday afternoon. temperatures north to south between six and 12 degrees. down to the south—west, you can see cloud and rain gathering. some of that on the heavy side, actually, as it pushes in across the far south—west of england and the channel islands during saturday evening. further north and east, rather chilly through the night. there could be some more fog. into sunday, we will see frontal systems starting to push in from the south—west. ahead of that, particularly across parts of scotland and northern england, we could have some quite dense and quite widespread fog on sunday morning, so if you are off to any commemorations at 11.00am on remembrance sunday, expect rather murky and rather cold conditions across scotland and parts of northern england. some rain moving in here, certainly some rain getting into northern ireland, parts of wales, the midlands, the south and the south—west of england. so the increasing chance of rain the further south and west you are. that rain making a little progress further northwards and eastwards through the afternoon. i think there will be parts of scotland that stay quite murky and cold through the day. signs, though, of something a little bit milder down

towards the south—west. as we head into next week we will see some milder conditions, particularly at first, but it stays unsettled with more rain at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines... palestinian officials say civilians have been killed by israeli strikes in several areas in gaza.

the head of the territory's largest hospital says that at least