this is footage released by the israeli military who believe hamas has been operating a command centre from tunnels under the hospital. the bbc was taken to the hospital last night, as pressure grows on israel to prove hamas was operating from there. israel also says the body of one of the israeli hostages kidnapped on october 7th has been found near the hospital. i'll be talking to our international editor, jeremy bowen, who's here in the studio, about the latest developments. also on the programme... the new foreign secretary, david cameron, arrives in kyiv for talks with president zelensky. we'll have the latest on ukraine's counteroffensive against russia. the sacked home secretary suella braverman weighs in tonight with her solution to the prime minister's rwanda migrants plan. another night, another intervention from suella braverman but she is much less angry this time, reckoning

the new government plan amounts to tinkering and suggest the law will need to change big time to get migrants on flights to rwanda before the election. and we fly over the volcano in iceland that's threatening to erupt, as thousands of people are forced out of their homes. and on newsnight at 10.30, we'll go deeper behind the headlines and speak live to key players on today's big stories. plus, a first look at tomorrow's front pages. good evening. israel says its soldiers have found a tunnel shaft and a vehicle containing a large number of weapons in the grounds of al—shifa hospital in gaza city, as the military operation there intensifies. israel is under pressure to back up its allegation that al—shifa, gaza's biggest hospital, was used for military

purposes by hamas. you can see from this satellite image just how big the hospital complex is. bbc better on a red verify at work to geo— locate the video here by the burns unit in the hospital —— bbc verify. hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government, denies that there was a command centre in tunnels beneath the buildings. israel also says its soldiers have found the body nearby of one of the israeli hostages, a 65—year—old woman who was kidnapped by hamas last month. our international editor, jeremy bowen, is here with me in the studio. we will also hear from we will also hearfrom our reporter inside gaza. but first let's go to jerusalem and our correspondent lucy williamson, who was taken into al—shifa hospital last night by the israeli forces. as israel's control over the al—shifa conscripts alli grows, so

does the pressure on it with its claims that hamas was using that location to plant military attacks. we went in with the israeli army last night to the hospital, we had about 30 minutes on site and we were heavily supervised by the military during that visit, not allowed to talk to doctors or staff, for example. but it is clear the army is keen to try and show what it is finding there and since our visit last night, there have been fresh discoveries, they say. this, israel says, is what and where hamas has been trying to hide. the entrance to an underground network of tunnels uncovered today, it says come in the hospital grounds. this uncovered today, it says come in the hospital grounds.— hospital grounds. this is where they choose to hide _ hospital grounds. this is where they choose to hide everything. - hospital grounds. this is where they choose to hide everything. is - hospital grounds. this is where they choose to hide everything. is a - choose to hide everything. is a wants to show _ choose to hide everything. is a wants to show that _ choose to hide everything. is a wants to show that hamas is using this hospital as a military base, to explain why israel is as well. this vehicle, full of weapons, was also discovered there today, the army

said. the israeli army has been keen to justify its military operation inside the hospital and last night they took us in. we're inside the gaza strip with the israeli army. they are taking us to gaza city and the shifa hospital which, over the last few days of intense fighting, has emerged as the epicentre of this conflict. tonight they are offering us a first glimpse of what they found inside. israel's intense bombardment of gaza has meant growing pressure over the humanitarian cost of their military operation. we are driving into gaza city now and it is clear what it took to take control of this area. whole neighbourhoods have been completely shattered. there are columns of tanks moving through the streets here. the area around shifa is still very tense. we are taken into the hospital in darkness, using a light sensitive camera to film. just clambering through a collapsed wall here

in the perimeter of the hospital. we are told to keep all our lights off so it is quite hard to see. they have used armoured bulldozers to punch through here. we are still being told to keep our lights off. are we going this way? inside the hospital, we are shepherded straight to the mri department by israeli special forces. we are not allowed to talk to any doctors here. they have described the situation as catastrophic. now in control of the hospital, israel is under pressure to prove hamas is there. they have been looking for evidence of this being a hamas base, a place where hamas planned attacks. and they say that among the things they have uncovered are more than a dozen kalashnikovs, grenades, personal protective equipment, some of it with the hamas military brigade insignia on it. you can see some of them here, hidden under these bags of medical supplies. the army also showed us laptops

they said contained recent files on the hostages and evidence that hamas had been at the hospital within weeks or days. it seems as if, at this point, neither the hostages nor hamas are here in any number. we will continue. hamas aren't here because they understood and saw that we were coming and i think that, had we taken them completely by surprise, we would have seen mountains of evidence of hamas abuse of the hospital. tonight, a hamas leader in lebanon denied the weapons found in al—shifa belonged to the group. israel came to fight hamas in a place where civilians are fighting for their lives. the battle for shifa hospital is now the eye of israel's military offensive, and gaza's human crisis. lucy williamson, bbc news, gaza. the israeli military are still inside the hospital and the situation remains tense. it is very difficult to reach our

team on the ground in gaza, but late this afternoon our reporter rushdi abualouf was able to send us an update on the latest situation in gaza city. all communication is down tonight in gaza and is going to be down for a long time because this time it's not by israel — it's because of the lack of fuel. getting the information is very difficult. the last call i made to our contact in shifa hospital, he was talking about tanks and hundreds of soldiers storming the hospital again, searching from room to room, calling on loudspeakers the people where to go out. he said they were shooting randomly onto the building, destroying many cars and also bulldozing some of the external wall to the hospital. he said tanks were inside the hospital and he was screaming on the phone, saying that this is maybe the last call. it's extremely difficult to contact people in the north, and in gaza city, and also communication among the people here — about a million people are displaced in the south of gaza

tonight — is also difficult. rushdi abualouf with his latest report this afternoon. 0ur international editor, jeremy bowen, who has spent the last five weeks in israel, is with me now. israel is under huge pressure here, hamas denying this was a military command centre. this hamas denying this was a military command centre.— hamas denying this was a military command centre. this goes to the heart of what _ command centre. this goes to the heart of what they _ command centre. this goes to the heart of what they have _ command centre. this goes to the heart of what they have been - command centre. this goes to the l heart of what they have been doing. they have said from the very beginning that shifa was one of their main objectives because of this command centre they absolutely insist it was underground there and that the story has been going around since 2014, that there might be one there. so the priority that they gave to shifa group means that as they drove into gaza city, they killed a lot of people. so their argument has always been that so many people have been killed because hamas have been using them as human

shields. in all the other hospitals as well as at shifa so that is why they want to prove it. they have taken some journalists in, they want to prove it. they have taken somejournalists in, given them very little freedom to move around, almost none. of the evidence up around, almost none. of the evidence up to now, those piles of kalashnikovs and so on, frankly is not convincing. wherever you go in the middle east, you see an awful lot of kalashnikovs and it is not inconceivable that, i don't know, maybe the security department of the hospital might have them and certainly the police do. so the israelis may get the proof that they want, they have found this tunnel entrance but so far they haven't and i think there was a really big moral, a set of moral, strategic political questions here. because israel knows that even its allies are saying that a ceasefire might have to come at some point and if they cannot prove this point about human shields, the pressure for that

ceasefire is going to increase. jeremy bowen, thank you. the former home secretary suella braverman says the prime minister's new plan to try to send migrants to rwanda amounts to "tinkering". writing in tomorrow's daily telegraph, mrs braverman sets out how she believes the law needs to change to ensure the policy can go ahead. 0ur political editor, chris mason's, been reading her article. what does she say, chris? by my by my reckoning this is the third time injust eight nights by my reckoning this is the third time in just eight nights that suella braverman�*s words have made news but it is telling tonight that they are shorn of the anger and animosity of the first two interventions. it is instead a a policy solution to the bind the government find itself in. yesterday there plan a for rwanda and migrants was rejected by the supreme court and we got the beginnings of the plan be fleshed out by the prime minister and this is a suella braverman�*s reaction to that and she

think it immense to tinkering, that it will not be enough to ensure flights set off before the general election. she says the government needs to stop indulging in spin and what she called self—deception and instead help rwanda build a better asylum system, ensure that parliament sits across the christmas break to try and get a new law in place. and to ensure that new law excludes all avenues of legal challenge, as she puts it, to ring fence the new plan from the human rights act, from the european convention on human rights, and from the refugee convention just for starters. clearly suella braverman has given this quite some thought but clearly also it is bold, it is controversial, and it would prove difficult to make happen. as things stand, there has been no response from downing street. ichris stand, there has been no response from downing street. chris mason, thank yom — our home and legal correspondent dominic casciani is with me.

compare what the prime list is trying to do what's well government is calling for. trying to do what's well government is calling for-— is calling for. there are no easy 0 tions is calling for. there are no easy options with — is calling for. there are no easy options with either _ is calling for. there are no easy options with either of _ is calling for. there are no easy options with either of these - is calling for. there are no easy i options with either of these plants but there are two parts to the pm's plan, the new treaty with gabriel kovari in which it gives a guaranteed not to send migrants back to where they have fled and that is the key stumbling block at the supreme court —— treaty with rwanda. that is where the most risk of harm is the point of the second is a law to declare that rwanda is a safe country which parliament would be asked to pass on the problem with thatis asked to pass on the problem with that is the issue of pacts on the ground and that is where the suella braverman plan is much broader on paper, because she talks about embedding permanent independent monitors in rwanda, more training out there, those kind of things. the most significant thing in her plan, as chris mentioned, is this huge attempt to propose shifting away from a whole lot of international laws, european convention on human rights, refugee convention, and that would be really significant if the government bought into that and ask parliament to vote on it. find government bought into that and ask

parliament to vote on it.— parliament to vote on it. and what are the main _ parliament to vote on it. and what are the main obstacles _ parliament to vote on it. and what are the main obstacles for - parliament to vote on it. and what are the main obstacles for the - parliament to vote on it. and what l are the main obstacles for the prime minister in the way? first are the main obstacles for the prime minister in the way?— minister in the way? first of all, caettin a minister in the way? first of all, getting a parliamentary - minister in the way? first of all, getting a parliamentary majority minister in the way? first of all, i getting a parliamentary majority on changes of that kind of magnitude, thatis changes of that kind of magnitude, that is really important because the implications internationally also at home are pulling out of those kind of conventions. it might make it easier to win another case in the supreme court because at that point the supreme court has to follow a law which says rwanda is safe but then the losing claimants could still go to truss book and the european court of human rights there but perhaps more importantly is the political battle over this as in many respects the prime list is against the clock, running out of time and if you cannot get a majority in the lords to back this plan, he will really struggle to get the legislation through before we have to have a general election. dominic, thank you. five metropolitan police officers and three former officers are being investigated for gross misconduct over the mishandling of the investigation into the murders of four young men by the serial killer stephen port in east london nearly a decade ago, as daniel desimone reports.

four lives taken by a serial killer and one of the worst policing failures of modern times. anthony wall kate, gabriel kovari, daniel whitworth and jack taylor were murdered by stephen port in his east london flat with fatal overdoses of the date rape drug ghb —— anthony walgate. their bodies were dumped nearby, three in the same churchyard point of the deaths were not treated as suspicious until weeks after the final one despite the urging of the men's families who linked the cases and spotted key clues ignored by detectives. today, after a long campaign by the families of the victims, police watchdog the iopc announced eight serving and former met officers were under investigation for gross misconduct. anthony walgate's mother told me she is relieved. it anthony walgate's mother told me she is relieved. . ,

anthony walgate's mother told me she is relieved. ., , , ., ., is relieved. it has been a long eiuht is relieved. it has been a long eight years. _ is relieved. it has been a long eight years. it _ is relieved. it has been a long eight years, it is _ is relieved. it has been a long eight years, it is really - is relieved. it has been a long eight years, it is really tiring l is relieved. it has been a long i eight years, it is really tiring but we will not give up until these officers are held accountable. what officers are held accountable. what do they have _ officers are held accountable. what do they have to _ officers are held accountable. what do they have to do to _ officers are held accountable. what do they have to do to kind of convince you this is serious? it needs to be a line in the sand. we have messed up but we will never do this again. we will not lie, not be lazy in what we were doing, we will listen to the families and things have to change.— have to change. after port was 'ailed in have to change. after port was jailed in 2016. _ have to change. after port was jailed in 2016, the _ have to change. after port was jailed in 2016, the police - have to change. after port was - jailed in 2016, the police watchdog took years to decide know officers should be disciplined. that conclusion was upended by inquests into the young men's deaths in two years ago which found met failures contributed to three of them. the watchdog was forced to reopen its inquiry by the bereaved families and they have now announced a new stage of the investigation. if there are to be no more stephen ports, the family say it must be full and fearless. the new foreign secretary, david cameron, has been in the ukrainian capital,

kyiv, today holding talks with president zelensky. his visit came as ukraine continues their counteroffensive against russia. there's ongoing fighting in the east around such cities as avdiivka in the donbas region. for the first time since the start of the war in ukraine, russia has admitted that some ukrainian forces have crossed onto the russian—occupied eastern bank of the dnipro river. they've managed to gain a foothold in a village around 30 km from kherson. here's our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse. the state of this war is best reflected in avdiivka. 0nce occupied, but the russians are trying to take it back. shooting. thousands of soldiers, mostly russian, have been killed here in recent weeks. it is this lack of movement which has fuelled a political fatigue in some corners of the west.

yes, sir, welcome. an enormous honour to meet you. not, though, for the uk's new foreign secretary. lord cameron arrived with a simple message. we will continue to give you the moral support, the diplomatic support, the economic support but above all, the military support that you need, not just this year and next year but for however long it takes. the uk is a staunch supporter of ukraine. it has given billions of pounds in military aid, including tanks and long—range missiles. there is disagreement here over whether this war is in a stalemate. the head of ukraine's armed forces thinks several innovations are needed to seize the initiative and those mostly rely on western allies who, at the same time, want to see battlefield progress. it is a tricky cycle which kyiv wants to break. and it is trying.

this russian social media channel appears to show a village on the occupied east bank of the dnipro river. it is hard to verify but soldiers are in close combat with ukrainian troops. but it is far from a push. against all odds, ukraine's defence forces have gained a foothold on the left bank of the dnieper. david cameron also visited the southern port city of odesa, including its opera house. ukraine knows it must share the spotlight with another war in the middle east. it is just trying to not lose it completely. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. a russian artist has been jailed for seven years for an anti—war protest which involved swapping supermarket price tags for statements about casualties in ukraine. sasha skochilenko was arrested in st petersburg in april last year.

today her supporters could be heard chanting "freedom" in protest against her sentencing. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. chanting as she was led towards the courtroom, there were so many police officers around sasha skochilenko you could barely see her. but you could hear her supporters. "freedom," they chanted. sasha is a st petersburg artist and musician. she was arrested last year after she had replaced supermarket price tags with anti—war messages. for that, today, thejudge sent her to prison for seven years. officially she was convicted of spreading false information about the russian armed forces. the reaction in the gallery... "disgrace, disgrace." sasha skochilenko's supermarket tags had criticised russia's war in ukraine and accused president putin of lying.

sasha's partner had expected a heavy sentence. translation: what this shows is there is terrifying repression | in russia and that there is nothing left of freedom of speech here. if you want to understand the direction in which russia is heading right now, there are two things you need to look at. the first is who is being sent to prison and what for. and the second is who is being released from prison now and why. vladislav kanyus was in prison — jailed last year for 17 years for murdering his former girlfriend. but a few months ago he was released to fight in ukraine. a he has now received a presidential pardon, as have other russian convicts who have been fighting in the war...

steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. —— ..while public critics of the war are ending up behind bars. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. two boys aged 12 have been charged with murdering a 19—year—old in wolverhampton. shawn seesahai died when he was fatally stabbed on monday evening. the pair, who cannot be named due to their age, are set to appear before birmingham magistrates' court tomorrow. scotland's health secretary has apologised after revealing that his sons had used his government ipad on holiday in morocco and run up a bill of almost £11,000 in roaming charges. michael matheson, who's under pressure to resign, has initially claimed that he had been using the ipad for parliamentary work. asa as a parent i wanted to protect my family from being part of the political and media scrutiny associated with this, something i believe any parent would want to do. i am a father first and foremost.

the simplest truth is they were watching football matches. england's maternity units have the poorest safety ratings of any hospital service insepcted by the health regulator. nearly 70% of maternity units in england fell short of the safety standards expected — according to the analysis in carried out by bbc verify. that's a big rise from a year ago when the figure was 55%. more than 15% of units are now classed as inadequate — meaning there's a high risk of avoidable harm to mother or baby in the unit. our health correspondent catherine burns has been to a hospital that's trying to make giving birth safer. it's going to be any second now that a new life is going to come into the world in that room. we were filming on a corridor in the labour ward at northwick park hospital in north—west london when it became clear there was a serious problem.

i think something is going wrong — that's why i'm getting out. there is something wrong with the baby, i think. a young woman was in the end stages of labour and they couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat properly. every member of staff had one focus — delivering the baby safely. it was incredibly tense, but then the sound everyone wanted to hear. baby cries absolutely beautiful. yeah, and she's come out in really good condition. it's a rare gift, seeing a new life less than ten minutes after coming into the world. seeing the joy as a family meets its youngest member. she's adorable! is this your first grandchild? and seeing the instant love as new father himanshu locks eyes with his daughter kiana for the very first time. awesome. it took ten minutes to go from potential disaster to a healthy

baby, but regulators are more worried about safety in maternity units than any other part of hospital care in england. donna ockenden is a senior midwife who has authored reviews into maternity safety scandals. i'm so disappointed to hear of this news today. but i'm not overly surprised. 18 months ago, we published a report setting out a blueprint for maternity services in terms of safe staffing, funding and workforce, and i would say we are less than half of the way there. and so i think government has got an awful lot more to do. my daughter's life was effectively ended before it got started. - rachel gave birth to her daughter eve in a different hospital. she was injured in a forceps delivery that went badly wrong. that force actually -

fractured part of her skull, which also severed an artery. eve lived with huge challenges until last year. she was just five. i think sometimes it just l catches you unexpectedly. the life she had was not the life she should have had, _ but also that it was cut short at the end _ ministers here at the department of health know, and they have known for some time, about problems with maternity safety. they also know they're not looking likely to meet targets to halve the numbers of mothers and babies dying by 2025. we wanted to speak to ministers here about all of this, and several times we asked for an interview. that request was eventually refused. instead, they gave us this statement. they said, "we are working incredibly hard to improve maternity services, "focusing on recruitment, training and the retention of midwives. "but we know there is more to do." back at home and smiling already, baby kiana and herfamily. despite all the drama, her mum kavisha says it was worth it. after she is in my arms,

it feels like a top of the world all the time! and it was the best experience. the hope is that every baby can have such a safe start. catherine burns, bbc news. iceland's biggest bulldozer is heading to a small fishing town threatened by a major volcanic eruption. it is being used to build defences to stop lava from the volcano destroying key buildings — if it erupts near the town of grindavik. thousands of people have been moved from their homes after hundreds of small earthquakes there in recent days. causing huge cracks like this. our correspondentjessica parker has been able to fly over the volcano in a helicopter and sent this report. there are some places you can only fly to. this land of steaming volcanoes is one of them.

dormant for 800 years, eruptions began in this area in 2021. this looked like this two years ago. the difference now is the air shattering effects on a community. —— the difference now is the earth—shattering effects on a community. we are now flying over the evacuated town of grindavik, and looking down the streets are completely empty. ripped apart by earthquakes, there are fears volcanic lava could cause even more destruction. the coastguard do a quick supply drop to their colleagues out at sea. this is all part of the icelandic authorities constantly monitoring the area around where they think the volcanic eruptions may occur. they don't know when that could happen. it could be days, it could be weeks. it's thought the 15—kilometre tunnel of magma runs right under this ridge. the possible eruptions led to defences being built up around a geothermal plant. ultimately we have to, as we've been doing for many years now,

planning for volcanic activity, planning aggressively to be able to defend areas, to increase monitoring, and this is exactly where we are. we're almost at war with mother nature yet again in iceland. the anxious wait has hit tourism too. no one's bathing in the famous blue lagoon spa. closed for now, its waters are empty. as iceland readies for another violent recreation from the earth. jessica parker, bbc news, the reykjanes peninsula. football now, and having already qualified for next summer's euros scotland kept their slim hopes of topping their group alive — with a last—gasp equaliser in a 2—2 draw in georgia. substitute lawrence shankland scored in the third minute of stoppage time, meaning if scotland win their last game and spain lose theirs scotland will win the group. it's the moment fans of the crown have been waiting for. after a year—long wait, the royal drama has returned to our screens with its latest and final instalment — the sixth series, which depicts the events of the late 1990s, including princess diana's death.

but has the drama lost its gloss? charlotte gallagher reports. don't really understand how i ended up here... one of the most famous women in the world. ..and losing sight of myself in the process. one of the most defining moments in contemporary british history, the death of princess diana, and the cataclysmic effect on the royal family. what do people want from me? for you to be mother to the nation. this series of the crown recreates events many will remember. do you know anything about it? the intense tabloid frenzy and diana's relationship with dodi al fayed are the focus

of the first episodes. he said to me, every survivor has a date, the day they stepped on the landmine. and i said, mine was the 29th ofjuly, 1981, my wedding. i couldn't have done it without khalid, who plays dodi. i think the two of us just held each other through that. some days coming to work was incredibly painful and sad, and you just have to keep in the front of your mind the responsibility you feel to tell the story. previous seasons have been critically acclaimed, but reviews the crown is obviously a drama, not a documentary, but historians say it's lacking accuracy. what happened in private, we have no accounts for because they were very private moments. so they have to take liberties in terms of how they, so they have to take liberties in terms of how did charles broke the news to william and harry. we don't know what the queen was like in those moments. we don't know what she said to prince philip. so they will take artistic license. this final series depicts the drama and emotion that consumed a country, a family, and left a legacy that's still felt today. this is going to be the biggest thing that any of us has ever seen. charlotte gallagher, bbc news.

here's elizabeth rizzini. time for a look