at least 70 people have been killed by an air strike in the al—maghazi refugee camp in gaza, according to the hamas—run health ministry. body bags have been piled outside the al—aqsa hospital, where many of the victims were taken. israel says it is investigating the incident. it comes amid scaled—back christmas celebrations in bethlehem and across the west bank. let's take a look at some live pictures this morning. it pictures this morning. is a little calmer than in the past it is a little calmer than in the past hour but we have seen thick, black plumes of smoke on the horizon this morning so no letup in the bombardment. this is from the

northern lebanon border. also these pictures from khan younis, ambulances are turning up at the hospital in central gaza. lots of people are taking shelter around the suburb. there bodies lined up around the streets in white bags, the victims of the attack on the al—maghazi refugee camp. our correspondentjoe inwood has been monitoring the latest developments. for the people of gaza, there is no respite. this was once a residential block — reduced to rubble.

multiple generations of families are said to have been killed, seemingly caught unawares. translation: we were having dinner, when suddenly the bombing started - without any warning. in an instant, our house collapsed. the victims were taken to the nearby al—aqsa hospital. in a population as young as this, children are so often the victims. this incident already has one of the highest single death tolls since this war began — and it is expected to rise. the hamas run medical industry say 20,000 people have died. the idf released new footage showing what it says are tunnels under the strip —

used for military purposes. translation: hamas operates from civilian areas. _ it uses them to cover its terrorist activity. it is a very complex challenge that we face, and we do it well so our forces in the field achieve good results — like the brigade that found the tunnel network. while the vast majority of destruction has been in gaza, the west bank has not been spared. in the place where christianity was born, they marked the birth of christ by remembering the deaths this conflict has brought. we used here to have the lighting of the tree — christmas tree in the middle here. and we used to have a big christmas market in the playground down in the school. and we used to celebrate every night, at least for a week before. but this year we are just praying by night the holy mass, and we will pray for peace. but those prayers are

yet to be answered. this has been the most devastating conflict between israelis and palestinians in modern times — and it shows no signs of ending. joe inwood, bbc news. no sign of the second humanitarian pause or cease fire at the moment but there are talks ongoing in cairo in egypt, a peace plan is on the table. said shehata is from bbc arabic. he told me more about a possible peace plan being discussed in cairo. it is under the study of hamas. they are close to egypt and they are discussing these proposals. the israeli and united states are doing that. the egyptian proposal has three stages. the first stage between one week in ten days to release all the civilian hostages, women, men, children in return for

releasing some prisoners from the israeli prisons and to be stopping the fighting and allowing more aid. second, there will be no fighting in casa and no bombing in gaza. releasing more aid to people in the north where it is more effective. the third stage will be for a month and this would be releasing the rest of the hostages in return for some prisoners in the israeli prison. in addition to that there will be the redeployment of israeli forces outside of gaza and stopping the aerial bombardment from israel, and hamas will be committed not to do any attacks against israel. if this

works, the egypt, qatar and united states will help to coordinate a technocrat government will be managing gaza and this will help israel to feel some ease that hamas will not be a threat. one will be like a palestinian authority in this area, hamas will not do any attacks, there is no excuse. when they have a state and a government in the medium and long—term, they can talk about a two—state solution. when you have a one state solution, hamas will be almost vanished because it is resistant against israeli occupation but once the state is established, the legitimacy of hamas will be over.

an extremely subdued atmosphere in bethlehem in the west bank. our correspondent in bethlehem, shaimaa khalil, is in bethlehem. normally the eyes of the world would be on this very place, the birthplace ofjesus, but there are no celebrations here. there are messages of solidarity, there is sadness, the pain is felt very deeply here and those images you are talking about coming from gaza, whether it is what has happened in the al—maghazi refugee camp in the footage of children being wounded and rushed in, some having to be treated in hospital floors, children with their faces covered in blood, these images hit very, very close to home here. pope francis has said that the message of peace from jesus has been subdued or drowned out by the futile logic of war in this war is felt very deeply and hits very, very close to home in bethlehem. i spoke to a young man

whose family, his parents, his brother, dozens of his relatives, are taking shelter in a church in the east of gaza city and he says, we just hold onto these calls, this bad connection to get a glimpse of their voice. bad connection to get a glimpse of theirvoice. his bad connection to get a glimpse of their voice. his dad managed to call and you could see him being very tearful. i asked and you could see him being very tearful. iasked him and you could see him being very tearful. i asked him what it was like and he said, just to venture out to get some food, its destruction all around. they lost two of their family members destruction all around. they lost two of theirfamily members in destruction all around. they lost two of their family members in the church where they are buried right now. he said there is nowhere to go, the route into any sort of safety is very dangerous but he said many people have moved and many have died in these places that were deemed safe and we've heard that from people who were speaking after the air strike in refugee camp.

studio: and still rockets being fired, hostages are still being held under bloody day for the israeli defense forces on saturday. what is prime minister netanyahu saying about that? this prime minister netanyahu saying about that?— prime minister netanyahu saying about that? , ~ , about that? this weekend, the past 48 hours have _ about that? this weekend, the past 48 hours have actually _ about that? this weekend, the past 48 hours have actually been - about that? this weekend, the past 48 hours have actually been the - 48 hours have actually been the deadliest, among the deadliest four israeli soldiers killed on the ground since the ground incursion on october the 7th —— for israeli soldiers. you hearfrom benjamin netanyahu and acknowledgement of the price of war but a defiance that this is not... how it is going to go on but he was also very clear that it was going to be a telling message because we are also hearing that this potential negotiations, the whole of last week we were waiting

for the final draft from the un resolution, possibly to get a humanitarian pause, possibly to get some desperately needed humanitarian aid into gaza in that final draft didn't really satisfy anyone and throughout this week, there have been talks with the hamas leader and rockets were being fired into central israel, sirens sounding in tel aviv. we are hearing there is an egyptian proposal of three phases of negotiations, we understand from local media reporting that israel's war cabinet is going to meet later today to discuss this proposal. everyone is saying this is a first draft. there are going to be many, many drafts. we've heard that before but one israeli official has spoken to local media and says it could maybe lead to some serious negotiation. all the while, there a human price paid. there is an

immense amount of pressure on the netanyahu government to do all they can to release the hostages. hamas has been very clear this is not going to happen without a ceasefire and that's the fix that both sides find themselves in. the danish shipping giant, maersk, says it's preparing to resume shipping operations through the red sea and gulf of aden. the announcement came after an international military operation, led by the united states, was deployed to prevent the targeting of commercial ships by drones from areas of yemen controlled by houthi rebels. maersk and other shipping companies stopped sending ships through the red sea and the suez canal earlier this month as a result of drone attacks. us central command said two days ago that a us navy destroyer had shot down four drones in the red sea launched from yemeni territory. pope francis has used his christmas eve sermon to appeal for an end to the conflict

between israel and hamas. speaking to a congregation of more than 6,000 people at st peter's basilica in the vatican, he said jesus' message of peace was being drowned out by the "futile logic of war". the pope also suggested people had lost touch with christian values. translation: tonight, our hearts are in bethlehem, where the prince of peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. we an appealfor peace in the middle east has been echoed

by the head of the catholic church in england and wales, cardinal vincent nichols, says he is extremely worried for catholic parishioners in gaza, after two women were killed by israeli snipers inside a church on december 16th. the idf has denied this. i think their biggest fear and my biggest fear is that somehow they will be given orders to vacate or just move, there is nowhere safe. they want to stay, they have always stayed there. they have always looked after the needy, the 54 seriously handicapped children who are there. sometimes, times of darkness help us to focus on what is of lasting importance and there is no doubt in my mind that the person of christ and therefore the birth that we celebrate is an indomitable light that shines. you're live with bbc news. for the first time in more than 100 years,

ukraine will mark christmas today instead of injanuary. it's a way of cutting ties with russia, who celebrate according to the orthodox calendar. these pictures are coming to us live from st michael's cathedral in kyiv. it's celebrations are under way in kyiv. as ukrainians mark a second christmas at war, president zelensky has said he's praying for victory and for evil to be defeated. his holiday address came after us politicians were unable to agree on military aid worth almost £50 billion for kyiv. our ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse reports from the city of kupiansk near the eastern border which was occupied for six months after russia's full—scale invasion and comes under almost daily attack. christmas in kupyansk is a celebration in name only. children were evacuated from this front line city,

and only 5,000 people remain. it used to be five times that. siren sounds days are punctuated with artillery shells and sirens. life continues for those who've stayed. but it's a tense existence. translation: we all live in fear of death. i when we go to work, we don't know what can happen, whether russia will strike with rockets. we all live on the edge. we don't know whether we'll come back home alive. 17—year—old sophia has lived through both occupation and liberation. her dad is fighting, and she's not impressed with her country's fate being determined by skeptical western politicians. translation: perhaps they should | come here and see for themselves| what the situation is like, and how much the aid is needed.

if there's no help for ukraine now, russia will take its aggression further. the russians are eight kilometers to the east of the city. but what ukraine's military is worried about is them pushing once more up to the oskil river, before making another push. and that is the point kyiv is trying to make. if western support was to further slow down, then russia won't stop there. it still wants the whole of ukraine. the briefest of pauses for a christmas prayer. large gatherings are dangerous here when russian drones loiter above. instead of these troops forcing out their invaders, it is them repelling constant attacks. translation: it's day and night. there are no breaks. it's 24/7. we have more targets, so we need more shells. they throw lots of men and machinery into battle.

they don't pity anything. it's hard to sell a victory, which seems distant. ukraine's struggle to contain western doubt has left it with a new year looking far from certain. james waterhouse, bbc news. drones still loitering above. ukraine said it down to 28 of 31 drones fired at all sorts of places overnight, odesa and into eastern regions. 28 of 31 shot down. despite the risk, there are celebrations, if you can call them that, on going in churches and cathedrals around ukraine. these are the pictures from saint michael's being sent to is right now from inside the cathedral. normally this is a celebration that would be held on the 7th of january

but brought forward to match the gregorian calendar which ukraine follows for the rest of the year. part of the shift away from russia towards the west and president zelensky talking last night about that move, all ukrainians standing together today at christmas time, thinking of those who are on the front line. i spoke to james a little earlier and asked him if there had been any signs of pauses in the fighting over christmas. we've seen some pauses in some areas, according to the military. but kupiansk is somewhere where those attacks are only becoming more frequent. i think this time last year there was talk, there was hope of liberation after swathes of territory had been taken last autumn. that is not the case now.

i think when you move along the east, when we speak to people in the military and those in political circles in kiev, the talk now is a bit more pragmatic, shall we say. it's more about hanging on, where the political fatigue that is undeniably creeping in among western allies isn'tjust putting future support for ukraine into jeopardy, it is actually affecting fighting on the front line, where we've seen a downscaling in some military operations. you've seen what is going on in kupiansk. you know, this isn't a country maneuvering to continue pursuing its goal of the complete repelling of russian forces. that is still what it wants to do but i think right now it is ukraine looking ahead at an incredibly uncertain 12 months. but we always have to caveat these kind of forecasts, as we look at the state of play, with the fact that things can change very quickly. but i've got to be honest, over the past 12 months,

when ukraine has launched its much—anticipated counter offensive, where we've seen only a few kilometers retaken in some areas, i think those developments have been increasingly hard to come by. president zelensky, he's adopted a tone of optimism in his christmas address. i think he almost had to, but i think he'll be looking to try and keep morale high among his people as we head into the new year. we're bringing these pictures from kyiv, james, while we talk of the celebrations in st michael, if they are celebrations. obviously, they're observing christmas mass at the moment. 31 drones, two missiles shot down. i think most of them were shot down. 28 drones shot down overnight. so they still have that capability. but as they wait for this aid from the united states, how thin are they now being stretched in order to repel some of these drones and missiles that are being sent? well, it's difficult to say,

because i think for obvious reasons, ukraine doesn't want to go public in terms of where it is being stretched. but i think at the sharp end, if you look at the front line, they are having to ration artillery shells. that's what we're hearing from ukrainian soldiers. you hear outgoing fire and then you hear incoming fire. and it's a typical method in the military to try and suppress the enemy, to try and carry out maneuvers and to try and take out enemy positions. it's what's needed. it's part of a combination approach, along with drones, along with missile strikes, along with tanks punching through to try and change momentum. but at the moment, ukraine is having to sit tight. it doesn't have air superiority in some areas. russia does, where it's able to launch air strikes. it is russia that has far greater ammunition stores, which we're seeing reflected in suppressing fire, notjust on ukrainian military targets but on civilian areas as well. something we've seen throughout. and you talk about those drones which are shot down overnight. we see that most nights. the air defenses which have been provided by the west have really

improved significantly ukraine's ability to defend its cities. but when russia launches £50,000 iranian—made drones as opposed to a ballistic missile costing a couple of million pounds, what that does is exhaust ukrainian ammunition further on its air defenses. and so while ukraine can keep those threats out for now, you don't know what will happen in the long term should that western support wane. and, look, we've seen western governments say, "ukraine, we're with you for as long as it takes," but there is a political reality creeping in, whether it's sceptical opposition mps, whether it's a new administration that doesn't want to increase support for ukraine, and the argument here is that that is what russia is waiting for. king charles is spending his second christmas as monarch with other members of the royal family at sandringham. he will attend morning service at the church on the estate — before his christmas message

is broadcast this afternoon. our correspondent daniela ralph is at sandringham. what are we expecting? early arrival is where he wrote 4am —— where here at 4am. we will see the royal family attending on christmas day, we expect to see the king and queen, the prince of wales's family, and they will take their time to talk to people who have been waiting outside before returning to sandringham for christmas lunch. the mood for the family will be different, last year

was just three months after the death of queen elizabeth and this was still a family in mourning. this year, there is much to celebrate, the coronation went smoothly and the king has three state visits under his belt in recent months so much to celebrate and i think there will be a different mood around the christmas dinner table for the royals this year. tell us about the tree. where has it come from? do we know who decorated it? what do we know? the come from? do we know who decorated it? what do we know?— it? what do we know? the christmas messaue, it? what do we know? the christmas message. that _ it? what do we know? the christmas message, that tree _ it? what do we know? the christmas message, that tree is _ it? what do we know? the christmas message, that tree is going - it? what do we know? the christmas message, that tree is going to - it? what do we know? the christmas message, that tree is going to stand | message, that tree is going to stand behind the king during his christmas message, it is shrouded in secrecy about a few clues because the way the set has been dressed, the tree still has its roots so it has come from the wintry —— winter estate and will be replanted. all of the

decorations are sustainable, they are paper snowflakes, dried bits of orange, so it's a sustainable message to look at and it may well be a message of sustainability in the christmas message too. daniela, thank ou the christmas message too. daniela, thank you very _ the christmas message too. daniela, thank you very much _ the christmas message too. daniela, thank you very much indeed. - the christmas message too. daniela, thank you very much indeed. lots - the christmas message too. daniela, thank you very much indeed. lots of| thank you very much indeed. lots of people in norfolk expecting the royals very shortly. lots of people around the world still expecting father christmas. this is where he is. he is heading over the united states at the moment. plenty of excited children still waiting. we'll be right back. hello, it is going to be a white christmas but only over the hills of northern scotland, it is too mild elsewhere. on sunday it was the warmest christmas eve since 1997, temperatures in the south reached 15.3 celsius. these are the temperatures first thing on

christmas morning, ranging from close to freezing in northeast scotland to 12 celsius across southern england. where we will see some cloud, we will see some rain developing, across england and wales. northern parts of england and northern ireland seeing sunshine and showers, it gets wet through the day in scotland. most see rain but there will be some fresh snowfall over the hills and that's where we've got some cold air. otherwise it will be a mild today, particularly across the southeast, 14 celsius here but gusty winds as well. cloud and rain across many parts of the country on christmas day. boxing day will feel different. the weather systems bringing in the cloud and wetter weather are going to slide away and things will calm down a bit as we head into tuesday. there will still be wintry showers blown in on those brisk winds across the far north of scotland on boxing day and there may be a few icy patches but for large parts of the country, it will be dry with sunshine. there is more cloud

and rain in the channel which will edge back into england in the afternoon and parts of that will push into england and wales, turning the sunshine hazy. temperatures are going to be lower by the winds are going to be lower by the winds are going to be lighter. things change for wednesday because the rain in the southwest is going to come northwards again on that weather front, wrapped around the area of low pressure in the winds will be strengthening. the strongest on the winds on wednesday could be through the english channel and the south coast, gusts of 50 to 60 mph. briefly some snow over the pennines but has a wet weather continues northwards into scotland, we could see the snow lasting longer. for many, it may well be rain but over the hills, about 200 metres, there could be ten to 15 centimetres of fresh snow. elsewhere, a mild day, despite a wet and windy weather. temperatures widely into double figures in england and wales but it will turn cooler later in the week.

now on bbc news, the royal year in review.

a moment in history — the coronation of king charles iii. god save the king! congregation: god save the king! cheering. across three days in may, the nation celebrated the newly crowned king and queen. at a star—studded concert, a poignant tribute from prince william. as my grandmother said when she was crowned, coronations are a declaration of our hopes for the future. and i know she's up there fondly keeping an eye on us. and she'll be a very proud mother. cheering. also this year, prince harry reveals family secrets in his bestselling memoir and in evidence as he takes on the british press.