hello i'm carl nasman. after 50 days in captivity, a second group of hostages have been released from gaza. the israeli government says six adult women and seven children were freed and are now making their way home. among them is 9—year—old irish—israeli emily hand. of course, emily was initially thought to have been among those killed in the attack on kibbutz be�*eri on october 7. she was at a sleepover at a friend's house on the kibbutz when she was abducted without any family. 12—year—old hila rotem, also freed — she was taken captive with her mother, raya rotem, who remains a hostage in gaza. also, an accountant shiri weiss, aged 53,

along with her daughter, 18—year—old noga weiss, along with 21—year—old maya regev. adi shoham aged 38, who was kidnapped from kibbutz be�*eri during a visit with five other members of the family. this is her son — 8—year—old nave. and her 3—year—old daughter gani yahel. the hostages were released in exchange for a group of palestinian prisoners. you consider celebrations in the west bank in the last hour orso the west bank in the last hour or so as some of those prisoners are reunited with their loved ones. officials there is a six women and 33 children were among the prisoners released. four thai hostages were also released from gaza in a separate deal. there had been fears the deal was off after hamas accused israel of reneging on the temporary ceasefire agreement, by not allowing enough aid trucks into gaza. that led to a delay of several hours. all of this after friday's release of 13 israeli captives, in return for 39 palestinian prisoners. for the latest on what's happening with the hostage

exchange, i spoke to our middle east correspondent tom bateman a short while ago. what's the latest we know and what's been the reaction and the latest in terms of the exchange of hostages and prisoners? the transfers under way with 13 israelis back on israeli soil and due to be taken to hospitals where they will be reunited with the loved ones. —— transfer is. —— their ones. this was later in the day due to the significant delay. but 13, and you mention some of the i3, and you mention some of the names and faces that we saw there. eight of them children, five women. among the 13, you have more than one person from four different families. so these will be moments of course where those — the rest of the families and members of them

will be able to be reunited, finally, with their loved ones, after close to 50 days of not knowing. and i mentioned the delay. you know, that has been quite significant today, because here we are at day two of this truce agreement between israel and hamas, mediated by qatar. the egyptians involved as well. what we saw was at 4pm local time, the agreed time for hamas to hand the hostages to the red cross in the gaza strip, the hour came and went with no news. it became clear within a couple of hours that there was a hitch. we had the armed wing of hamas accusing the israelis of reneging on part of the deal. they claim the israelis had not allowed the israelis had not allowed the agreed amount of aid deliveries, aid supplies that

were now getting into the south of the gaza strip, a certain amount into the north that under the arrangement they were supposed to do. they said that was therefore preventing them from releasing the hostages. the israelis categorically denied this, saying that they co—ordinated the aid going into the north, but everything else to do with it was the responsibility of the united nations, and aid groups, so they could be blamed, they were suggesting, for the numbers of trucks involved. but whatever the problem, it seemed to be smoothed over, because within several hours, seven hours after it was supposed to happen, we then got the news that hamas had released the hostages into the hands of the red cross, and they were taken to the rafah crossing and into egypt. the other part of the agreement, three times the number of palestinian prisoners held by israel, would be

released. was all that happened with israelis releasing 39 palestinians. qatar says that was 33 children, six women, and they were then released and many of those have now been taken in coaches to the occupied west bank, where there have been celebrations around their release.— their release. tom, 'ust talkin: their release. tom, 'ust talking about i their release. tom, 'ust talking about those h their release. tom, just talking about those who their release. tom, just - talking about those who have been released here, it is women and children, isn't it? because those are the terms of the exchange between hostages and prisoners. although we saw some family members actually being released together, there also could be some instances, of course, with families actually have to be split up, when released?— have to be split up, when released? , ., �* , released? yes, that's right. the entire _ released? yes, that's right. the entire scope _ released? yes, that's right. the entire scope of - released? yes, that's right. the entire scope of the - the entire scope of the agreement is around women and children. that was what was mediated by qatar and it is

thought there is a round 100 women and children among the 240 or so hostages being held by hamas in gaza. we're talking about civilian women and children, because there may be women soldiers, for example, being held, and they wouldn't come the scope of this arrangement between israel and hamas. the 100 number is why we have seen the possibility that this agreement could be extended over the course of around nine days. there releasing them at the rate of — so far we have had 13 per day. taking up to nine days if you would get 100 women and children release. the agreements as would be an agreed dress forfour agreements as would be an agreed dress for four days. that is to potentially allow for 50 israeli hostages, women and children, to be released. 150 palestinians to be released by the israelis. it contains what is been described to me as

an option to extend. so you would have each day the possibility that a further ten, 11, 12 hostages could be released by hamas in return for 30 or so palestinian prisoners to be released, and another 24 hours of ceasefire. what we had earlier today was the egyptians in the middle of all this, where we had this delay, the egyptians saying that things seemed on track to extend after the four days for a day or two, of thejurors. the four days for a day or two, of the jurors. the the four days for a day or two, of thejurors. the israelis seem pretty quick to jump on that, according to israeli media, and say that hadn't been agreed at all. and if there is to be an extension of the four days, that is something that would only be confirmed on the final day, on the fourth day, itself, and in the hours running up to the next part of this agreement. we running up to the next part of this agreement.— running up to the next part of this agreement. we saw them two da s now this agreement. we saw them two days now of. _ this agreement. we saw them two days now of, despite, _ this agreement. we saw them two days now of, despite, of _ days now of, despite, of course, the delay, rather successful exchanges here. do you think that could lay the

groundwork for, as you mention, potential future days of future exchanges, as these two sides try to get closer to the numbers of 50 and 150? try to get closer to the numbers of 50 and 15071 try to get closer to the numbers of 50 and 150? i think that becomes _ numbers of 50 and 150? i think that becomes an _ numbers of 50 and 150? i think that becomes an increasingly i that becomes an increasingly important question because we are now getting towards halfway through the agreed four—day truce and so far, despite the hitches, it has gone pretty much to plan. that is going to be important to qatar which mediated this. my sense is what the mediators are trying to do is to build the ground work under this to sorta solidify it and to deepen it into a longer lasting truce, a longer lasting ceasefire. at the same time you have increasing noises from the us, from western countries, about their concerns, about the

civilian death toll, and in all of this, for example, we had foreign secretary david cameron, in a visit to the region, overthe cameron, in a visit to the region, over the last 48 hours, raising the issue guy saying too many civilians were dying. that is creating a form of pressure. israel has made it clear that it sees this truce purely in terms of getting hostages released. and at the end of that period, it will return to a full state of war with hamas and its stated goal of the elimination of hamas. but i think you are beginning to see attention that is being played out more and more in public with arab countries saying that this should be extended, this should become a more durable ceasefire. the israelis, it was interesting, quickly, i think theyjumped on the report, today, to say no way have we agreed beyond the four days at this stage. that is an employee at the moment, that will be done later, later

on. don't forget hamas have also said during the course of this, randy truce, that in their words, theirfinger remains on the trigger. so you have the two sides in this very much prepared return to the fighting, once they get this objective for both of them out of the way, potentially up to 100 hostages release, as far as israel is concerned, potentially up to 300 palestinian prisoners release as far as hamas is concerned. our middle east correspondent tom bateman injuries and for us. thank you for your reporting. we continue now to israel, and he live scenes there. this is the hospital, sheba hospital in tel aviv, where we are expecting some of the free hostages to arrive again, 13 israeli hostages, a children and five women, for thai nationals, release, in a separate deal. but we believe

many of them will arrive at the hospital eminently. they have already received an initial medical check but this is where they will be reunited with their family members after some 50 days in captivity after being taken hostage by hamas. again, live scenes as we wait outside the sheba hospital in tel aviv foresaw the hospital to arrive to be reunited with their families. to arrive to be reunited with theirfamilies. —— foresaw to arrive to be reunited with their families. —— foresaw ——to see the hostages. last night 39 women enjoyed and were released, among them 17—year—old jamal barahmeh. he spoke was his release. —— he spoke to us as he celebrated his release.

translation: ican'ti even describe my joy. every day, we were assaulted and beaten. i spent eight months there. the prison i was in for was like a graveyard for the living. there was no food there and we were beaten every day. were you assaulted? translation: were you assaulted? tuna/mom- were you assaulted? translation: , ., , were you assaulted? translation: , ., translation: yes. i was in on administrative _ translation: yes. i was in on administrative charges - translation: yes. i was in on administrative charges has - translation: yes. l was in on | administrative charges has been eight months there. it was like a graveyard for the living. there was no food and will beaten every day.- beaten every day. several countries _ beaten every day. several countries have _ beaten every day. several countries have played - a big role in mediating the freedom of the hostages and the prisoners. qatar is one of those countries. the white house says president biden spoke with officials from qatar on the deal and humanitarian pauses and fighting. —— pauses in fighting. a readout of the call says the leaders — quote — "discussed hurdles to implementation of the deal and mechanisms for resolving those hurdles as soon as possible." they agreed to remain in close contact to ensure the deal is fully implemented according to its terms. that refers at least in part to the delay that we saw in the release of those hostages earlier today. for more on qatar and the us' role, here's our north america correspondent shingai nyoka.

the two leaders have spoken many, many times in the last month or so. it is called by president biden no doubt was prompted by concerns that the delay in releasing the second group of hostages could derail the process of negotiation and coaxing that has been weeks in the making. in the call with the making. in the call with the qatari leader and prime minister, prime —— president biden expressed his gratitude for the role that qatar had played in getting the hostages released but he also talked about the hurdles and how to overcome the hurdles as soon as possible. the us has stressed its central role in being able to secure this humanitarian deal as well as the release of the hostages, but americans are still not among the group that have so far been released and president biden is hoping that

three—year—old abigail, and israeli as american citizen, will be among those of the 50 that will be released. but they still remain positive that the truce will extend beyond the four days. —— israeli—american. well, amid this pause in fighting in gaza, the war in ukraine continues. its capital kyiv has come underfire again. authorities say the city has been hit by the largest russian drone attack since the full—scale invasion began. officials said more than 75 iranian—made drones were fired at the capital and all but one were shot down. kyiv�*s mayor says at least five people were injured. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky called the strikes an act of "wilful terror". it comes as winter is closing in on ukraine and the war is ticking closer to its 2—year anniversary. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports from kyiv, and just a warning — his report contains flashing images. the illumination of kyiv�*s air defences, trying to keep out wave after wave of

russian drone attacks. it's a desperate six—hour game of search and destroy. an assault designed to exhaust and overwhelm. even when they're intercepted, the debris can still be a threat. ukraine has resisted russian attempts to target infrastructure before, but they still take a toll. translation: the blast was very powerful. - it even blew out the entrance metallic door. we would have been buried by the doors because the strength of the blast was immense. in the north—east luhansk region, there are still hard—fought gains and losses. it's the story of the 700—mile front line.

bell tolls. today, president zelensky was at a remembrance service in kyiv to commemorate where millions of ukrainians were starved to death under the soviet union in the 1930s. "evil was not stopped," he said, "was not atoned for, "and now, we are stopping it". his country still faces a threat from moscow today and he's still urging the world to unite against it. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. let's get more and we can bring in retired with him at colonel alexander vindman and a former us national security council member. we saw in that report the largest drone attack on kyiv since the full—scale invasion of ukraine began. how concerning should an attack of this magnitude be? this attack is probably _ this magnitude be? this attack is probably more _ this magnitude be? this attack is probably more of— this magnitude be? this attack is probably more of a - this magnitude be? this attack is probably more of a probing l is probably more of a probing attack for the next phase of

russia's winter campaign. their intent is to destroy critical infrastructure in ukraine, hitting plants, electricity generation and right now, i think they've launched these very cost—effective, low—cost drawings to identify how ukraine will respond and i think we will see combinations of drawings and lou for cruise missiles and service to air missiles and service to air missiles that russia has been using in these ground attack roles —— low—cost drones. that will roll out in the weeks and months to try to destroy ukraine's critical infrastructure but the question is does ukraine have enough defensive capacity to defend against these rights? the west is providing animal —— enormous amount of capability. a lot of input into kyiv to saturate the air defences there but it's unclear if they have sufficient air defence capabilities to weather what's about to come from russia to punish the population. fin from russia to punish the pepuiation-_ from russia to punish the --oulation. ., ., population. on the one hand, potentially — population. on the one hand, potentially ukraine's - population. on the one hand, potentially ukraine's air - potentially ukraine's air defences may be on the verge of

running low. about on russian side? where do their military capabilities stand now after so many months of fighting but what has almost evolved into a lull now with neither side able to make many games? it’s to make many games? it's different. _ to make many games? it's different, what's _ to make many games? it�*s different, what's going on on the frontline between the troops that are on the frontline and the strategic and operational capabilities. russia still does have the capability to release drones and continues to buy drones and manufacturer drones domestically, base of the iranian blueprints. and ukraine has in getting a large amount of air defence capabilities, patriot missiles, iris tea, all kind of missiles and all those together, whether they have stocks of air defence missiles than about the drones is unclear, i think the russians are calculating have stockpiled sufficient drones and cruise missiles to penetrate, ultimately, ukraine's air

defences —— iris—t. it's probably maybe some wishful thinking on their part. i think it will be close as it has been throughout the war on what ukraine has been able to accumulate in terms of defensive capabilities. this is where i become critical of western and us policies, providing ukraine with just enough resources to maintain the status quo, defend itself but really not change the calculus sufficiently or change the dynamics in ukraine's favour but crosstalk. let's talk about — favour but crosstalk. let's talk about the _ favour but crosstalk. let's talk about the level - favour but crosstalk. let's talk about the level of - favour but crosstalk. let's | talk about the level of support than for ukraine because recently saw a bill passed in the us congress they did not include extra funding for ukraine, andjusta include extra funding for ukraine, and just a couple of days ago geert wilders, the far right leader in the netherlands, winning the most seats in the government there and potentially has run on a platform of pausing the amount of funding for ukraine as well. what do you make of the level of support right now for ukraine among western allies? the support has been wholly

insufficient thus far and it's shocking, european powers still have not met the nato spending threshold of 2% in the midst of a major european war. that's truly disturbing. the us is likely to have a serious debate about funding for ukraine, for israel, for taiwan this week, this coming week and the subsequent weeks before the end of the year and looks like there's probably a deal in the background but again, the margins are too thin. the fact is we shouldn't be in a situation where ukraine is kind of hanging on by a thread, based on the trickle of support. i think the fact is there is a bigger confrontation between authoritarianism and democracy. we see it playing out in the middle east with the same players, frankly. iran in russia and we should be doing more to support our democratic allies, so i think we should not be in the situation but, of course, we are and we have to contend with the reality, which is things are going to be

hanging on by a thread for the next several months until we get through this winter, with regards to enough power to heat their homes and then, nothing fundamentally will change through 2024. i think there will be seesaw battles along the frontline but nothing will change because there is not sufficient support coming to ukraine. ., ., ~ ., ukraine. colonel alexander vindman. _ ukraine. colonel alexander vindman, former _ ukraine. colonel alexander vindman, former director l ukraine. colonel alexander. vindman, former director for european affairs at the us national security council, thank you so much for your perspective. thank you so much for your perspective-_ in india, the attempt to rescue 41 construction workers from a collapsed tunnel has hit another delay. officials say the machine used to drill through the rubble, which broke down on friday, can't be repaired. all our correspondent samira hussain is outside the tunnel. the drilling machine that they were using behind me to drill a hole to try to reach the workers that are trapped, that's now broken down completely. and in order to pull it out, it actually needs to pull it out in pieces, so

they have to summon another piece of machinery from another city in india, and that machine will actually cut the drilling machine into pieces so it can then be pulled out. once they are able to pull that out, what they are going to do then is going manually and start taking out the debris. what is making this rescue effort complicated is that because the tunnel is under construction, mixed in with all the rubble and debris is actually pieces of metal, and that's why the drill continues to get caught and, ultimately, why it broke down and resulting in officials here having to try and figure out a new plan to try to get those men out. let's turn to some other news making headlines at this hour. russia placed former prime minister mikhail kasyanov on its list of foreign agents — a label used widely to curb anti—kremlin opposition. he is an outspoken critic of president vladimir putin, currently living in exile. russia's justice minister said mr kasyanov was a member of an anti—war committee whose activities were aimed at discrediting russian foreign

and domestic policy. a stampede at a music festival at a university in southern india killed at least four students and injured 60 others, according to local media. the stampede at cochin university of science and technology in kerala state was triggered when the event was interrupted by rain causing the audience to race for shelter. authorities have confirmed that the former minneapolis police officer who was convicted in the death of george floyd was attacked in an arizona prison this weekend. derek chauvin was stabbed and now remains in stable condition. it is still unclear what prompted the altercation. chauvin was sentenced to over 22 years in prison for floyd's murder in 2020. the death toll from flooding in somalia has climbed to 96, according to the country's news agency. somalia has been battered by torrential rains that begun in october and nearly 1.6 million people are expected to be impacted by the flooding

during the rainy season, which will last until december. and before we go, a reminder of our top story. a second group of hostages are released from gaza after 50 days in captivity. the israeli government says six adult women and seven children were freed and handed over to the red cross, who delivered them across the border with egypt. and now, you can see live pictures outside the sheba hospital in israel there, where we expect to see some of the hostages arrive for medical care before being reunited with their families. they've received an initial medical assessment when they entered israel but this is where we expect those reunions to be taking place. again, 13

israeli hostages along with four thai nationals exchange for some 39 palestinian prisoners, women and children. this is of course day to of the fauteux pausing —— date two of the four day pausing fighting. hello there. well, it's been a freezing start to the weekend, hasn't it? saturday morning, we had temperatures down at minus eight in cumbria. meanwhile, also in cumbria, temperatures only reached one degree celsius during the afternoon. now at the moment, we've got clear skies with us, scotland and the bulk of england, and that's allowing a widespread frost to develop, those temperatures continuing to drop away and so, it's a very cold one. the temperatures probably in the countryside getting down to about minus six, minus seven again. this time, north—east scotland having some much colder weather. you'll notice the frost melting away, though, across northern ireland, wales and south west england as we head into the first part of sunday.

the reason for that is we've got cloud moving into the west associated with this next area of low pressure, and it's that cloud that really will lift the temperatures as it moves in off the atlantic. and so, some damp weather moves into northern ireland. eventually, we get some damp weather pushing into wales and south west england. the rain quite persistent but probably not all that heavy. however, i think it really will be very cold. okay, towards the end of the day, you might see temperatures climb to about nine or ten in the west, but that's at the end of the day — a very slow rise in temperatures — and for most of the day, we're a lot lower than that. i think scotland and a good part of central and eastern england should hang on to some bright or hazy sunny spells for most of the day. now, through sunday night, it's a bit more rain to come for northern ireland, england and wales. our area of low pressure moves into the continent. we then get some cold air coming back in to the north of the uk. showers turning increasingly to snow across modest hills in northern scotland and still a lot of cloud further south. and for most, monday will be another cold day. temperatures quite widely

again around six or seven degrees below average for the time of year. and this cold weather looks like it's going to last to me a long time — at least a week, could be two weeks. why do i say that? well, even into next weekend, the weather pattern's very blocked with high pressure dominating across the arctic and the greenland area and we continue to see these cold north to north—easterly winds. could there be some snow? well, we'll certainly see some snow in the showers affecting parts of scotland but there are scenarios where weather systems could bump in to the cold air and we see rain turn to snow elsewhere. problem is the details just aren't there at the moment, so it's a difficult week ahead for us forecasters. what i do know is it is going to stay cold throughout with some sharp frosts around and temperatures really struggling — well below average. watch out for a mix of rain and maybe a bit of snow at times, too.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines - and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. on ukraine's southern border security is being tightened. conversation over radio not to keep its enemies out, but to keep its own men in. explosion since the start of russia's invasion, it's been illegalfor men

who can fight to leave, but thousands are trying... ..some helped by corrupt officials. we've been given exclusive access to the border forces in ukraine and moldova. we meet some of the men risking it all to leave... ..and those trying to stop them. we investigate how many are escaping and why they don't want to fight.