this is bbc news hungry palestinians loot aid trucks entering gaza through the rafah crossing, as israel opens another crossing for aid. the world health organization describes the emergency department of gaza's al shifa hospital as a "bloodbath" — after delivering crucial medical supplies. we saw children with open wounds on theirfaces. we saw a baby with jaundice. we saw many adults with injuries from what appeared to be blast injuries. the uk and germany issue a joint call for a "sustainable ceasefire" in gaza, but prime minister netanyahu insists israel will "fight to the end" to eliminate hamas. former conservative peer baroness mone admits she stands to benefit from £60 million of profit from personal protective equipment sold to the government during the pandemic.

i wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone�*s eyes, and i regret, and i am sorry, for not saying straight out, yes i am involved. i will be representing the uk at the eurovision song contest! pop star and actor olly alexander is announced as the united kingdom's entry for next year's eurovision song contest. hello, i'm tanya beckett israel has opened one of its crossings into gaza to aid for the first time since it began its war and stepped up its siege of the strip. it's hoped the opening of the kerem shalom crossing will double the amount of food and medicine reaching gazans. until now, aid has only been able to reach the territory through the rafah crossing from egypt. aid trucks entering through rafah

were mobbed by crowds of people earlier — highlighting the growing hunger and desperation in gaza. vehicles were boarded and stripped of their supplies. the un says hungry people helping themselves to food is making it almost impossible for them to distribute aid. israel kept up its bombardment of gaza overnight and into sunday, reportedly killing at least a0 people. gaza's health ministry says almost 19,000 palestinians have now been killed since israel started bombing gaza in october. the french foreign minister has called for an immediate and durable ceasefire during a visit to israel. britain and germany have also issued a joint call for a "sustainable ceasefire" in a change of tone, days after abstaining from a un resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian truce. but israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has reiterated his strong opposition to a ceasefire. he insists they will fight till

the end to eliminate hamas — which many countries consider a terror group. meanwhile the funeral for one of the three hostages killed by israeli troops has been held in israel. the idf say alon shamriz — along with the two other hostages — was "mistakenly identified as a threat" in the shejaiya district of gaza city — despite all three being shirtless and waving white flags. in a statement the idf expressed its deep remorse over the incident — which is now under investigation — and sent the families of those killed its condolences. a team from the world health organization which has visited al shifa hospital in north gaza have described the emergency department there as a "bloodbath". the who was able to deliver much needed medicines and surgical supplies to the hospital during a visit on saturday. it says only a handful of doctors and a few nurses are still working in what it's described as a "hospital in need

of resuscitation". sean casey was part of that who team. he posted this video update from his visit. it's completely overwhelmed with patients. very few staff remaining. as we've been here for the last 30 minutes, there's been a nonstop stream of injured people coming in on trolleys, on donkey carts, on stretchers being pushed down the road. there are almost no medical staff here. this largest referral hospital here in gaza has become a trauma stabilisation point. they can only provide the most basic care for people with very serious injuries and very serious illnesses. pope francis has also been speaking about the war in gaza. at his weekly blessing, the pontiff suggested that israel was using �*terrorism' tactics in gaza. he was referring to the reported killing by the israeli military of two christian women who were sheltering inside a church in gaza.

the statement was the second time in less than a month that the pope used the word �*terrorism' when discussing the events in gaza. translation: let us not forget our brothers and — translation: let us not forget our brothers and sisters _ translation: let us not forget our brothers and sisters suffering - translation: let us not forget our brothers and sisters suffering from | brothers and sisters suffering from war in ukraine, palestine, israel and other conflict zones. made the approach of christmas strengthen our commitments to open parts of peas, i continue to raise c from gaza painful news. unarmed civilians are being bombed and shut that, and this is even happening inside the holy family compound, where there are no terrorists, only family children and people with disabilities and nuns. a mother and daughter were killed and others wounded by snipers as they went to the room stopped the house of mother teresa's nuns were damaged. some say it's terrorism, it's war but yes, it's terrorism,

that's why scriptures say that god stops war, ben's bios and breaks spears. let us call for peace. live now to our security correspondent frank gardner, who's injerusalem. growing concerns and suggestions that the way that this military operation is being prosecuted in gazais operation is being prosecuted in gaza is not to the satisfaction of many parties, including the international community. i think those concerns _ international community. i think those concerns started - international community. i think those concerns started on - international community. i think those concerns started on day l international community. i think l those concerns started on day one because of the ferocity of israel's in retaliation for those horrific attacks into southern israel on october seven. the big change we are seeing is that israel's staunchest international backers, the united states, britain, germany, and to a lesser extent france, are all now mentioning the word cease—fire in some form or calling for a pause.

today, there is a joint op—ed in sunday newspapers by david cameron want the foreign secretary, and his german counterpart, calling for a sustainable cease—fire leading to sustainable cease—fire leading to sustainable peace. and the french foreign minister who has been here today, went further, calling for an end immediate cease—fire, and israel rejected this saying they need more time, their military people are saying they need months, which i don't think the international community will have. they said they need months to suppress hamas military capability. why? they say if they suck tomorrow hamas with a check again. but the death toll, the deprivation, he saw some of it there, the starvation and desperation of palestinians, who have all been touched by this war and loved —— lost love ones, goes way beyond what israel allies considered to be acceptable, with

the death toll running into the thousands. so considerable and pressure to put constraints on israel's military actions. to that end we are _ israel's military actions. to that end we are seeing _ israel's military actions. to that end we are seeing reports - israel's military actions. to that end we are seeing reports thatl end we are seeing reports that israel's security forces are saying that israel and hamas are now both open to a cease—fire might the question is there disagreement on the details on that cease—fire, and thatis the details on that cease—fire, and that is a problem, isn't it? yes. the details on that cease-fire, and that is a problem, isn't it?- that is a problem, isn't it? yes, in the last few _ that is a problem, isn't it? yes, in the last few minutes _ that is a problem, isn't it? yes, in the last few minutes hamas - that is a problem, isn't it? yes, in the last few minutes hamas has i the last few minutes hamas has issued a statement, or a representative, has issued a statement, saying which is not surprising, what they want is an immediate stop to the assault on their positions and their gaza, they wanted withdrawal of israeli forces and only then will they discuss the return of hostages. that's not how it is rather wanted. the israel view is that military force on it hamas is that military force on it hamas is only way to get the hostages out. that is not a view shared by the

relatives of those hostages, who say" you keep telling us this while hostages keep dying. so we want a change of approach, will you negotiate with hamas? " change of approach, will you negotiate with hamas? and derek tentative signs that those negotiations mission —— negotiations may be under way, but there's a big gap between the hamas position and thatis gap between the hamas position and that is really position, which i'm not sure is breakable.— that is really position, which i'm not sure is breakable. thank you, frank gardner. _ qatar has reaffirmed its ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause between israel and hamas. israel's spy chief is reported to have spoken to the prime minister of qatar, which mediated the truce that saw hostages exchanged for palestinian detainees last month. joining me now is mahjoob zweiri. he is the director of the gulf studies centre and professor of contemporary middle east politics at qatar university in doha. welcome to the programme. what do you think is possible at this point

in terms of a cease—fire or indeed a longer sustained solution to this problem? i longer sustained solution to this roblem? ~ , longer sustained solution to this roblem? ~' , ,., , problem? i think the first point is the fact that _ problem? i think the first point is the fact that the _ problem? i think the first point is the fact that the two _ problem? i think the first point is the fact that the two parties are l the fact that the two parties are talking about cease—fire. after the previous cease—fire, the talk stopped completely, what happened in the last 78 hours, the debate has come back, and a meeting took place in a capital between the and there's a discussion happening now in israel about the outcome of that meeting and what should come after that. so —— coming back to the debate about cease—fire, that is in itself an achievement. cease-fire, that is in itself an achievement.— cease-fire, that is in itself an achievement. ~ . , ~ achievement. what elements you think are in lace achievement. what elements you think are in place to — achievement. what elements you think are in place to achieve _ achievement. what elements you think are in place to achieve any _ achievement. what elements you think are in place to achieve any success - are in place to achieve any success for the negotiation? are there any successful elements in place? i

believe it's a very difficult and complicated negotiation. the two parties, as your colleague mentioned, have their very strong positions of what is happening on the ground. hamas has put its condition, complete cease—fire, the withdrawal of israeli forces to the border and israelis want the release of captives immediately. that is a very difficult position for both. however, considering the fact that israelis are not enjoying the same international support, and considering the fact that hamas also has finished its own goals, is achievement according to them, victory has been done, and they have no interest in seeing more palestinian suffering. if you consider the fact there is a serious division will between israeli

politics which is weak in the position of benjamin netanyahu, if you put all those together, it forces both parties to step back and see how they can handle the debate and negotiation about a cease—fire will stop that brings them to the. that brings them to the table but it does not deliver a cease—fire in the short term. but the question is a longer—term one, isn't it? this short term. but the question is a longer-term one, isn't it? this is a conflict when _ longer-term one, isn't it? this is a conflict when it _ longer-term one, isn't it? this is a conflict when it comes _ longer-term one, isn't it? this is a conflict when it comes it _ longer-term one, isn't it? this is a conflict when it comes it gaza, - conflict when it comes it gaza, 56 years, when it comes to the policy munition, 70 years, so it's is a long time conflict and will not happen forever. the issue now is how to and the disaster in gaza and stop the killing of civilians. that is the killing of civilians. that is the main, i think, that is the debate in all capitals, even for those supporting, they have the

interest in stopping the war and bring some humanitarian aid to people in gaza, trying to bring back some elements of life. the other issues come in gradually but i think now all parties, they want to have this moment of stopping bombarded, stopping destruction of what is remaining in gaza. so stopping destruction of what is remaining in gaza. so negotiation is a rocess remaining in gaza. so negotiation is a process rather— remaining in gaza. so negotiation is a process rather than _ remaining in gaza. so negotiation is a process rather than in _ remaining in gaza. so negotiation is a process rather than in advance, i a process rather than in advance, thank you very much. here in the uk, after years of denials, the former conservative peer, baroness mone has admitted that she stands to benefit from tens of millions of pounds of profit made from personal protective equipment, that was sold to the government during the coronavirus pandemic. the company was led by her husband, doug barrowman. she says she did help broker the deal, but claims she was made a scapegoat for the government's failings. our political correspondent laura kuenssberg has more.

questions about the pandemic, profit and politics have followed baroness mone and her husband to southern europe. for years, they denied links to a firm that received £200 million in taxpayers' money for desperately needed masks and gowns. only now the truth — that she does stand to gain. if one day, if, god forbid, my husband passes away before me, then i am a beneficiary as well as his children and my children. so, yes, of course. my family will benefit in due course. our family will benefit. that's what you do when you're in the privileged position of making money. a successful businesswoman and member of the lords, she didn't tell parliament she was helping broker a ppe contract. she now admits she didn't tell the truth when her links to the deal first emerged. you both denied it — why? we were simply listening to our advisers.

hindsight�*s a wonderful thing. i wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. and i regret and i'm sorry for not saying straight out, "yes, i am involved". my family have gone through hell with the media over my career and i didn't want another big hoo—ha in the press and my family to be involved in it. i don't honestly see there's a case to answer. i can't see what we've done wrong. doug and the consortium have simply delivered a contract — a delivery contract of goods. but after everything, you can't see what you've done wrong when you've admitted today that you lied to the press? that's not a crime. essentially, you lied to the public. laura, saying to the press that i'm not involved to protect my family, can ijust make this clear? it's not a crime. the company's being taken to court by the department of health. the pairare under

criminal investigation. but the government wouldn't comment on the couple who only now want to have their say. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. we've been getting some political reaction to that interview. our political correspondent tony bonsignore has more. we have had comments from the deputy prime minister, oliver dowden. he appeared on the programme with laura kuenssberg. he wouldn't comment on that specific case. as laura said, there is a criminal investigation under way with the national crime agency, but also a civil claim from the department of health. he made some broader points. they included, he said, that he completely, and the government completely rejected any accusations of cronyism, said they had done their best in what was a very difficult and unique situation. he said that the government had been working very, very hard to try to claw back some of that money lost. the government's intention in respect of that,

was to make sure that, if legitimate claims came forward, we would process them quickly. there were no favours or special treatment. everyone had ultimately the same tests applied to them, and indeed, if it is the case where allegations of fraud and misconduct have occurred, there is either the civil or criminal, which you can see going on in respect of the interview you have just broadcast. in addition to that we set up the public sector fraud authority, already in its first year, has recovered double its initial target. labour have a very different take on this. they accuse the government of wasting billions of pounds of taxpayers' money. first, they say, through awarding these contracts in the first place, to companies who they say were only interested in making a quick profit. also, they say, through what they call a very casual approach to getting that money back. here is the shadow

secretary, wes streeting. i think the government's response has been appalling. and the extent to which they've been able to claw money back has been pathetic. and i think rishi sunak should take this personally and grip it. after all, it's his name on all of those cheques. he was the chancellor who was splashing the cash. labour say that if they do win the next general election next year, they will appoint a covid corruption commissioner to try to claw back as much money as possible, as quickly as possible. british teenager alex batty, who was found in france after being missing for six years, has returned to the uk. alex vanished with his mother and grandfather in 2017 while they were on holiday in spain. his mother was not his legal guardian and police are yet to decide whether there will be a criminal investigation. alex was found on wednesday by a motorist, who spotted him on a road in the foothills

of the french pyrenees. serbs havejust under an hour left to vote in snap parliamentary elections seen as a test of president aleksandar vucic and his progressive party. they have been in power since 2012, but this time, they are up against a largely—united opposition of 15 parties, which formed a coalition after protests over two mass shootings earlier this year. my colleague guy delauney has been following the story. we get elections a lot in serbia. we had onejust last year, in april, and we had one in 2020. that is three election since 2020. this one was demanded by the opposition after these horrendous shootings that we had here in belgrade in may, two on consecutive days, mass shootings, one of them in a school, in which nine schoolchildren and a member of staff were killed. that initially caused a huge outpouring of anguish, which then coalesced into a political movement.

a lot of opposition parties of varying stripes, gathered under this umbrella, serbia against violence. polls opened at 7am here. we have a fairly coherent opposition movement and they are taking on the governing progressive party, as you mentioned, who have been a very slick electoral machine over the past 11 years, since they took power. very much a reaction to it. the opposition parties, who got together under the serbia against violence umbrella, they say that the progressive party, president alexander vucic, and their allies in the media, were responsible for creating a culture of violence in serbia, both rhetorical and physical. they initially demanded that certain tv stations lost their licences, that certain ministers would resign. when that didn't happen, they demanded elections and the progressive party, president vucic, agreed to this. they have every reason to be confident and they proved a very slick electoral outfit. it will be interesting to see

whether having the opposition coalesce under this big umbrella is going to present a coherent alternative for voters, how attractive that is going to be, and we're already seeing that, here in belgrade, the turnout is higher than it was in april last year, despite the fact that it is a cold winter day. chileans are also voting — for the second time injust over a year — on whether to adopt a new constitution. efforts to reform the current document — which dates back to the pinochet dicatorship — began four years ago after large sometimes violent protests against social inequality. an initial draught, written by a left—wing dominated assembly, was rejected as too radical in a referendum last year. the new text has been overseen by chile's right—wing opposition. it's one of the world's biggest tv contests. we're talking the eurovision song contest. the united kingdom has revealed that the pop star and award winning

actor olly alexander will represent the country at next year's contest in sweden. the surprise announcement was made during the final of the show strictly come dancing. i can exclusively reveal i will be representing the uk for the eurovision song contest. cheering. well our music correspondent mark savage sat down with olly alexander to get his reaction to the news being made public. ifeel like it is a bit like a spiritual homecoming for me, because i love eurovision so much. ifeel like, i don't know. i feel excited to be part of it now. it's such a celebration ofjoy and fun. i love how the theatrics, the drama — there is such amazing chaos of a mixture of musical styles, all these different performers.

you get so much on one night, it's so fun. and camp. the whole thing — what you can get on the stage in that short amount of time. that quick turnaround. how you can wow everybody. you only have a certain amount of time, a certain amount of people. what is he going to look like, what are you going to do? so, yeah, i'm thinking more about it now. you haven't announced the song yet. is there anything you can tell us? the song... i wrote the song with danny l harle and it will be coming soon, next year. and it's really good. the uk could soon have its first operating space port — after a site on the shetland islands was granted a licence by the civil aviation authority. the spaceport on unst — the uk's most northerly inhabited island — is the first vertical launch site in western europe to be given the go ahead. saxavord's operators say several rockets from around the world are being prepared to blast off from the site.

laura goodwin has the story. unst in the shetland isles, home to around 700 people, and now the uk's first licensed spaceport for vertical launches. construction has been under way for some time. one of three huge launch pads is already built, but getting the green light from regulators is a big moment. disbelief in a way that it's finally come through because we've been waiting for it for so long and then just waiting for it to sink in because it has been such a journey and so yet to finally have it, it is a huge sense of relief. the licence allows up to 30 launches a year, with rockets taking small satellites into space. from a business perspective, that's huge. that's probably twice as many as any other prospective spaceport in europe, and it's certainly over three times as many as some of the spaceports in the us. so it gives us a real fighting chance at building a sustainable business.

the caa say rigorous safety and environmental conditions were a key part of their approval. it's an important milestone for the uk space industry that exist, it's a verse in western europe and paves the way from rocket launchers from uk soil and uk soil. suborbital launches will begin next year with full launches planned for 2025. laura goodwin, bbc news. our top story and that kaiser israeli conflict, here in khan younis, news of talks having been resumed between israel and

palestinians. this is bbc news. hello there. good evening. it's been cloudy, windy and mild this weekend. some sunshine spotted today, particularly across the southeast of england and generally to the lea of high ground. but across western scotland, a very wet weekend with rain sinking south west this afternoon into dumfries and galloway, northern ireland and into northwest england as we head into this evening, particularly that mild air still streaming in on a very brisk south—westerly winds. still windy conditions across northeast england, south east scotland and towards irish sea coast. and that rain is just kept on feeding in on that brisk south—westerly wind, slowly sinking southwards and will continue to do so as we head through the rest of this evening and overnight. so it will turn a lot drier for much of scotland, some clear spells, too, emerging towards the north. and here it will feel colder. some rain across the hills of wales as we head into tomorrow morning. and it's a frost—free start to the day on monday, turning a little colder towards the north of scotland. some of our temperatures still in double figures.

so as we start off monday morning, still some weather fronts towards the south across parts of wales and stretching across the midlands into east anglia. also a bit of rain towards the far south west of england. it's a dry start to the day across scotland, but there will be another weather front approach in the northwest of scotland by the end of the afternoon. some sunshine across northern ireland, eastern scotland, and it's still mild for most, some colder airjust digging in behind that weather front towards the far north. and this is the situation on tuesday. we look out towards the west where there'll be some rain pushing eastwards. so a very soggy start to the day on tuesday across much of the south of england and wales. we start to drawing more of a northwesterly wind across scotland. so here there could be some wintry showers just pushing southwards and eastwards. for much of northern england, though, some sunshine. further south, that rain will eventually clear as we head through the afternoon. the air is still mild towards the south and the east, but of course it has turned colder further north, highs of seven or eight degrees celsius and there'll be plenty of added wind chill around as well.

as we head through wednesday, though, that cold air is displaced further eastwards and we start to bring in those mild conditions again from the west. so everything that falls out of the sky on wednesday should be falling as rain. here's the temperature outlook for our capital cities as we head through the week and we approach the christmas period, watch out for some colder weather as we head into christmas day, perhaps. bye bye.

now on bbc news, laura kuenssberg's exclusive interview with michelle mone. that evening, the coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades. you must stay—at—home. we are just about to speak to michelle mont and her husband. we speak to michelle mont and her husband. ~ ., ., , husband. we are doing everything in our ower husband. we are doing everything in our power to — husband. we are doing everything in our power to get _ husband. we are doing everything in our power to get that _ husband. we are doing everything in our power to get that ppe _ husband. we are doing everything in our power to get that ppe to - husband. we are doing everything in our power to get that ppe to the - our power to get that ppe to the front line. a, ., , our power to get that ppe to the front line. n, . , ., .. , ., front line. may have been accused of l in: about front line. may have been accused of lying about tens _ front line. may have been accused of lying about tens of _

front line. may have been accused of lying about tens of millions - front line. may have been accused of lying about tens of millions of- lying about tens of millions of pounds of profit saved me from supplying ppe during the pandemic. in whenever anyone approached us, they were _ in whenever anyone approached us, they were always referred to an appropriate channel. let's go back in time, you said you could provide ppe for the government.— could provide ppe for the government. could provide ppe for the rovernment. ~ ., . could provide ppe for the rovernment. ~ . . ,. , government. we watched the scenes unfurl, we looked _ government. we watched the scenes unfurl, we looked at _ government. we watched the scenes unfurl, we looked at each _ government. we watched the scenes unfurl, we looked at each other- government. we watched the scenes unfurl, we looked at each other and| unfurl, we looked at each other and we thought— unfurl, we looked at each other and we thought we could make a difference, we had strong contacts. a big _ difference, we had strong contacts. a big business opportunity as well. that wasn't the primary motivation, and we _ that wasn't the primary motivation, and we wanted to do our best, like any supplier in any contract, yes, there _ any supplier in any contract, yes, there will— any supplier in any contract, yes, there will be an of

any supplier in any contract, yes, there will be an— there will be an of profit, our rima there will be an of profit, our primary motivation _ there will be an of profit, our primary motivation was - there will be an of profit, our primary motivation was to i