live from london. this is bbc news. hezbollah's leader accuses israel of "crossing all red lines" by detonating thousands of devices across lebanon, calling the attacks in which 37 were killed a "declaration of war". as expected there were strong words against israel and to the promise of a harsh punishment but again, indications has below is not interested in an escalation in this conflict. israel's military announces fresh strikes against hezbollah targets in southern lebanon, saying it's bringing "security to northern israel". for reaction to all the latest developments, we'll get analysis from our chief international correspondent lyse doucet. in other news, the bbc reveals the former harrods boss — the late mohamed al—fayed — has been accused of rape by five female ex—employees.

metropolitan police say they are aware of the allegations. and the bank of england governor says interest rates are "now gradually on the path down", after borrowing costs were held at 5%. hello and welcome. in the last hour we've been monitoring a speech from the hezbollah leader, hassan nazrallah — giving his first public response to two days of attacks in lebanon using sabotaged communication devices. he described the attacks as an unprecedented blood to the iranian fact militant group but promised to fight against israel. the number of people killed has risen to thirty—seven, with nearly three thousand wounded. the hezbollah leader accused israel of being behind the operation — which he said crossed all red lines.

translation: thousands of -a . ers translation: thousands of pagers were _ translation: thousands of pagers were targeted - translation: thousands of pagers were targeted by - translation: thousands of pagers were targeted by the | pagers were targeted by the israeli enemy and detonated at the same time. with this operation the enemy crossed all rules, laws and redlines. it did not care about anything at all, not morally, humanely or legally. live to our correspondent hugo bachega in beirut. you listen to the entirety of that. give me your analysis. i that. give me youranalysis. i think it was interesting that he acknowledged that this was a massive security below, unprecedented in the history of hezbollah. as expected, he promised a harsh punishment, but did not give any indication of how this response is going to be. i think it was also interesting that there was no change in hezbollah�*s position. the indication is hezbollah is

not interested in an escalation in this conflict with israel saying that for almost a year, hezbollah has been attacking positions in northern israel saying this is solidarity with palestinians in gaza. hassan nasrallah saying this campaign and these attacks are going to continue unless there is a cease—fire in gaza. it has been the main hope here to de—escalate the tensions between israel and hezbollah and those negotiations for a cease—fire in gaza have been unable to reach a conclusion. hassan nasrallah also reflected on those decisions that have been taking by the israeli authorities to end the return of the residents who have been displaced in communities in northern israel as one of the war goals. he said these attempts by israel will not succeed to and that these attacks by hezbollah are going to continue. so no clear indication of what hezbollah is going to do. as expected, some

harsh words against israel saying these attacks that happened here in lebanon amounted to a declaration of war. you said it was a massacre and again, reflecting on the suffering of the population here over the last two days. figs here over the last two days. as ou here over the last two days. as you were talking there we were showing pictures of those is reallyjets that screams really low over beirut over the start of that speech, you have been in that city over the last couple of days. i was talking to someone from beirut in the last hour who said how different the last 48 hours have felt there. what has been like? .,. , have felt there. what has been like? , , like? exactly. it has been different. _ like? exactly. it has been different. we _ like? exactly. it has been different. we have - like? exactly. it has been different. we have seen i like? exactly. it has been i different. we have seen this conflict has been by and large contained two areas along the border between lebanon and israel. now, what is happened in the last two days is that this conflict has been felt by the population here of the routes and other parts of lebanon. obviously people here

are scared. they are very angry as well because of the extent of these attacks, these are explosions that happened as people were shopping, with families at home, children are among the dead. again, these are explosions that happened across the country and including in several parts of bay creating panic in the population. one of our producers received a message from a friend saying, she was replacing her lebanese a sim card with an international one because she was concerned her phone could explode. it gives you a sense of the feeling here of how scared population is after those two days of attacks. after those two days of attacke— after those two days of attacks. , ., , attacks. live before us in beirut, — attacks. live before us in beirut, let's _ attacks. live before us in| beirut, let's continue with this with. .. with me is our chief international correspondent lease lyse doucet. fascinating listening to the different stages of hassan nasrallah talking there, how

weakened is hezbollah, do you think? he weakened is hezbollah, do you think? , ., ., , ., think? he put on a brave face today saying _ think? he put on a brave face today saying their _ today saying their communication network had not been shattered but from everything we had seen and just the numbers alone, across the country also pagers and walkie—talkies exploding also in syria and iran, it is clear that they communications network has been crippled, their confidence has been struck and heard from hassan nasrallah that this was the most devastating and humility —— humiliating and unprecedented blow for them. so in many ways they are weekends by it. the question will now be, they will now feel honour bound what we are hearing for has nasrallah, talking about a reckoning, they have to show they are ready and willing to strike back. some of the colleagues who follow his statements closely are saying, what is different in the speech this time will stop we had many

speeches from hassan nasrallah since the events of october the 7th and throughout this rising tension throughout that lebanese israeli border, he always says when they are struck in the aftermath, we reserve the right to respond in an appropriate time and place. this time, he warned israelis, you will notjust here at the response, you will see it's at this time. response, you will see it's at this time-— response, you will see it's at this time. , ., , ., this time. interesting that you ick out this time. interesting that you pick out those _ this time. interesting that you pick out those words. - this time. interesting that you pick out those words. what i this time. interesting that you j pick out those words. what do you make of the israeli strategy, the source of decisions that have been made over the last three days, adding a new war again, on sunday, then talking about a new phase of the war and moving troops to the north of israel? there has been a steady drumbeat on the eve of what has to be called a mass casualty attack even though israel has said it has been pointed, as it has been reported, that it was indiscriminate, they went off indiscriminate, they went off in markets, children were close

by. before that, prime minister netanyahu and the security cabinet added to the war aims of the return of 60,000 israelis from the communities along the lebanon border returning to their homes. they have been living as its displaced people since tensions started to rise in october. then you had the pager, whether that was coincident or not, there is a growing view and i'm sure you have reflected it, it was a use it or lose that moment, that's a hezbollah operatives understood something was wrong with the system, israel had to use this weapon. or else they would lose this tool. yet again today, even with the buzzing of the aircraft even lower than before, there is a constant message from israel, we know where you are and we can get you, even in your hands. only in the last— you, even in your hands. only in the last 10-15 _ you, even in your hands. only in the last 10-15 minutes - you, even in your hands. only in the last 10-15 minutes we l in the last 10—15 minutes we have seen antony blinken in paris shuffling around the region and other western

capitals again and again asking, pleading for a de—escalation, but every step is the opposite of that. there is the opposite of that. there is diplomacy within all of what we are seeing. the is diplomacy within all of what we are seeing.— we are seeing. the envoy for president — we are seeing. the envoy for president biden _ we are seeing. the envoy for president biden to _ we are seeing. the envoy for president biden to work - we are seeing. the envoy for president biden to work on l we are seeing. the envoy for. president biden to work on the lebanon front, but has been called since the beginning, the second front, was in tel aviv when tensions were ratcheted up when tensions were ratcheted up when they added the new lebanon war aim to when they added the new lebanon waraim to their list when they added the new lebanon war aim to their list already, the gaza list including, of course bringing hostages home. hassan nasrallah made it clear today that the border would not be safe and calm. the residents would not return home in the north of israel until there was a cease—fire in gaza. that is the view of hezbollah, that is the view of hezbollah, that is the view of iran, the only way to end the violence is two and the gaza war. antony blinken is continuing to shovel, he went to cairo to talk to the egyptians who play a leading

role and there is a new proposal on the table, it does not seem one acceptable to send wire, from everything we know about this most militant, even hamas people describe sinwar, described him in a violent organisation describing him as not wanting to leave the gaza strip, that is not been put on the table, in exchange for leasing hostages that there would be safe passages for sinwar and other leaders to leave gaza but there are many saying that that is not the ilk of sinwar, they are not going to leave. i of sinwar, they are not going to leave. . , of sinwar, they are not going to leave-— to leave. i was talking about antony blinken _ to leave. i was talking about antony blinken and - to leave. i was talking about antony blinken and the - to leave. i was talking about - antony blinken and the message around lebanon and de—escalation, it's worth playing that clip in the next two seconds.— playing that clip in the next two seconds. ., . ., two seconds. france and united states are _ two seconds. france and united states are united _ two seconds. france and united states are united in _ two seconds. france and united states are united in calling - states are united in calling for you _ states are united in calling for you -- _ states are united in calling for you —— restraint states are united in calling foryou —— restraint and states are united in calling for you —— restraint and urging de—escalation when it comes to the middle east in general and when — the middle east in general and when it— the middle east in general and when it comes to lebanon in

particular _ when it comes to lebanon in particular. we continue to work to get— particular. we continue to work to get a — particular. we continue to work to get a cease—fire for gaza over— to get a cease—fire for gaza over the _ to get a cease—fire for gaza over the finish line and as we have — over the finish line and as we have discussed with some of you 'ust have discussed with some of you just one — have discussed with some of you just one day ago, and egypt, we believe — just one day ago, and egypt, we believe that remains both possible and necessary. meanwhile, we do not want to see any— meanwhile, we do not want to see any escalatory actions by any party— see any escalatory actions by any party that make that even more — any party that make that even more difficult. it any party that make that even more difficult.— more difficult. it is an extremely _ more difficult. it is an extremely difficult - more difficult. it is an - extremely difficult situation at the moment for diplomacy. a final word, at the moment for diplomacy. a finalword, because at the moment for diplomacy. a final word, because you have the iranians also watching. and the iranians also watching. and bowini the iranians also watching. fific bowing retaliation. the iranians also watching. and bowing retaliation. they - the iranians also watching. and bowing retaliation. they have l bowing retaliation. they have unfinished — bowing retaliation. they have unfinished business, - bowing retaliation. they have l unfinished business, according to them. how dangerous is this moment? , , moment? this is the most dangerous _ moment? this is the most dangerous moment - moment? this is the most dangerous moment we - moment? this is the most i dangerous moment we have moment? this is the most - dangerous moment we have seen for decades in the middle east in a region all too often plunged into this kind of violence. there have been, sadly for people of the region, many wars, but there has never been this kind of a war that draws in so many players at the same time and so many players are willing to use whatever it

takes to get to what they want. thank you very much. we were listening that to antony blinken talking about his latest diplomatic efforts. i was talking to a senior associate fellow at the war united services institute, critical of the us approach over the last few weeks and months and he said that israel continues to cross a number of redlines. , ., , ., redlines. the israelis are convinced _ redlines. the israelis are convinced and _ redlines. the israelis are convinced and i - redlines. the israelis are convinced and i think - redlines. the israelis are | convinced and i think they should be convinced that irrespective of what lines they cross, they will continue to act without accountability from washington, dc, that they will cross those lines and will cross those lines and will cross more lines. the americans made it clear they did not want to escalation in an oven lebanon making it clear they sought as incredibly risky and a really bad idea. israelis have gone and done in any way. they did it in terms of this

attack on using these pagers and walkie—talkies, which was widely condemned by many western countries, i think it was the belgian foreign minister, the belgian minister saying it was an incredible terrorist attack. there has been widespread condemnation in that regard. of course the israelis will continue to me at the sorts of moves for as long as they feel they have impunity to do so. the reality is they do have impunity to do so and it creates this environment... and you think that is not going to change? i and you think that is not going to change?— to change? i do not. unfortunately, - to change? i do not. unfortunately, the l to change? i do not. - unfortunately, the escalation paradigm which is so dangerous that risks plummeting the region into an even more massive and destructive war and conflict is made more possible ijy conflict is made more possible by a lack of accountability. what we really need to arm moves designed to de—escalate, not simply in south lebanon, more generally.— more generally. interesting,

all the talk _ more generally. interesting, all the talk of _ more generally. interesting, all the talk of de-escalation | all the talk of de—escalation the israeli defence minister saying, hezbollah feels hounded and will pay increasingly a price. those latest statements this time coming from the israeli defence minister. let's take stock in terms of what we have seen over the course of an extraordinary week, those explosions in lebanon on tuesday, also repeated yesterday, chris hunter is a former british army officer and bomb disposal expert and hejoins officer and bomb disposal expert and he joins us officer and bomb disposal expert and hejoins us on officer and bomb disposal expert and he joins us on the programme. you will have watch those scenes across lebanon, not just those scenes across lebanon, notjust beirut, so many different locations, what was your overriding thought in terms of how this was done? like most of the viewers around the world that witnessed this very unusual unprecedented incident, i've seen this done on an individual basis before. i have been working and bomb disposal and counterterrorism for the last 30 years. we have seen terrorist use pagers and

mobile devices and we have also seen certain state actors use them as well. but usually at an individual level against individual level against individual targets. to see something at this level of magnitude is unprecedented and is interesting. i know your speakers have said over the last few minutes, the escalation, the fact that the idf senior command talks about the fact we are going to see a new phase, the centre of gravity moving to the north into lebanon, this is the exact sort of thing i would expect. hitting senior leadership, pinpoint targeting with pagers and knowing muslims always have funerals within three days ideally so that hezbollah will be the priority for those funerals in that tactical commanders will be on the grounds that they will be using walkie—talkies and then hit them. so it looks like they are hitting the leadership, middle ranking commanders at next: patrol nodes and this looks like a prelude to me.- patrol nodes and this looks like a prelude to me. that is interesting _ like a prelude to me. that is

interesting where _ like a prelude to me. that is interesting where you - like a prelude to me. that isj interesting where you ended like a prelude to me. that is i interesting where you ended in that assessment because of course that is what all of the diplomacy is actually trying to avoid. in terms of the practicalities, this is your area of expertise, how difficult in terms of actually technically being able to actually do this, because it is unprecedented? it actually do this, because it is unprecedented?— actually do this, because it is unprecedented? it is. we have seen terror _ unprecedented? it is. we have seen terror groups, _ unprecedented? it is. we have seen terror groups, you - seen terror groups, you need someone with knowledge of explosive chemistry, knowledge of electronics, you need someone, several different, the tactical design, house of this will be employed and if you find a master bomb maker quite often have all of the skill sets but these are unique individuals. to be able to manufacture one and to give it to the actual target that you were looking to assassinate is a very, very difficult and complex and involves all sorts of subterfuge, but to do it on this level you really have to get to a lab tech facility or the protection —— production facility before it enters the

supply chain. aha, facility before it enters the supply chain-— supply chain. a final word because _ supply chain. a final word because all— supply chain. a final word because all of— supply chain. a final word because all of this - supply chain. a final word - because all of this underlines what hezbollah knows which is that they were infiltrated at an extreme level, probably not seen anything like this before, but in terms of the various theories, i know you looked at this and initially one of the theories was that they somehow were able to get these devices to overheat and explode, but it is more likely that actual explosives were put into these devices at some stage?- devices at some stage? yes, i have been _ devices at some stage? yes, i have been dealing _ devices at some stage? yes, i have been dealing with - have been dealing with explosions and still work as an operator in a rock and i am on leave at the moment, i have done this for a long time. there's a huge difference between a lithium battery explosion and a high explosive detonation. these were consistent with the detonation of high explosive so, very different.— of high explosive so, very different. ~ , ., different. we must leave it there, different. we must leave it there. but _ different. we must leave it there, but thank _ different. we must leave it there, but thank you - different. we must leave it there, but thank you very l different. we must leave it - there, but thank you very much forjoining us here on the

programme. more of the date's mean stories in a moment. around the world and across the uk, you are watching bbc news.

the bbc has revealed the late mohammed affiant former owner the bbc has revealed that the late mohamed al fayed — former owner of harrods, the uk's largest luxury department store — has been accused of rape by five female ex—employees. the egyptian—born businessman rose from a poor family in alexandria to buying the world—famous department store in 1985. a bbc documentary has uncovered evidence that under mohamed al—fayed's ownership, harrods not only failed to intervene but helped to cover up abuse allegations. this report from shaima khalil contains descriptions of sexual violence.

i went back a year ago and i knew if i could walk through and come out the other side i could talk to you. i and come out the other side i could talk to you.— could talk to you. i “oined her it's could talk to you. i “oined her in because _ could talk to you. i “oined her it's because i _ could talk to you. i “oined her it's because i want _ could talk to you. ijoined her it's because i want to - could talk to you. ijoined her it's because i want to be - could talk to you. ijoined her it's because i want to be a - it's because i want to be a buyer— it's because i want to be a buyer and i ended up working under— buyer and i ended up working underan— buyer and i ended up working under an absolute monster. when mohamed al fayed took over harrods, he quickly embraced his high—profile role and the status that came with it. to his customers and the celebrity guests, he was all charm, but to many of his female employees, he was a different man — a predator. we've heard testimony from more than 20 of al—fayed's female ex—employees. he tried to rape me more than once. and he pushed me in and onto the bed, so that i couldn't move. you know, he was 79, i nearly 80, and i was 15. mohamed al fayed was rich and powerful. that power allowed him to carry out assault at scale over decades. i wasn't at home. i was in france. he would come upstairs into my room. i was absolutely terrified.

he got into bed with me and was trying to kiss me and was pushing himself on me. i don't know how i did it. i kicked him off, i kicked and kicked and screamed and i got him off. i was terrified. i think mohamed al fayed is a rapist. i think he's a serial rapist. gemma worked as al fayed's personal assistant for two years. my first trip was actually to abu dhabi, and he was trying to get in my room in quite an aggressive manner. it was absolutely terrifying. i just didn't know which way to turn, so i bought a small dictaphone that i had in my pocket and these are the transcripts from those recordings. one of them was in paris, in his residence there, villa windsor. i said, "i just want to go to sleep on my own, mr fayed. i don't want to, mr fayed." and he kept saying, "relax, please, relax." how can you relax when you're in that situation? he walked out and he was angry. not long after this incident, gemma says al fayed raped her.

the bbc has heard testimony from four other women who say he raped them at his properties. in 2009, gemma contacted a lawyer who told harrods she was leaving herjob on the grounds of sexual harassment. she didn't feel able to disclose the more serious allegations at the time. they agreed to pay a settlement if she signed a non—disclosure agreement. there was also one other condition. the lawyers organised for a shredding truck to come to my lawyer's office. it was shredded in front of us, including tapes i had of him, my phone, that had messages and voicemails, really quite nasty voicemails on them. someone from hr was present for the shredding of all of the evidence i had. i thought i'd lost the transcripts, but actually what i did have was the transcriptions sent to my lawyer in my sent items of my email account at the time. in a statement, the current owners of harrods say they were utterly appalled by the allegations

and that employees who were his victims had been failed, for which they sincerely apologised. they also said that the harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by al fayed between 1985 and 2010. there were several attempts to expose al fayed before his death, but it is only now that many of the survivors feel able to speak publicly about the abuse. for those who have, the silence and the taboo are finally broken. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. extreme flooding has wrecked havoc across central and eastern europe, as torrential downpours continue to threaten the region. at least 23 people have died. flood waters have swept across the continent, devastating poland, austria, slovakia and the czech republic. the european commission president, ursula von der leyen, is due to discuss eu support with those country leaders. these are the latest pictures coming from italy, the latest country to close schools in the north and move its residents to safety.

some roads have also been blocked due to landslides. more thunderstorms are expected in the coming days. meanwhile, poland is bracing itself for the peak of the recent flooding today — with warnings that the country's third—largest city is at risk. it has already gone past the level at which flood warnings are issued. around 10,000 members of the military have been deployed to help with the emergency operations. and these are pictures of where the noosa river burst its banks. local reports suggest the floods surged to two metres above the height of the river banks. poland's prime minister, donald tusk, says the authorities have not yet been able to establish how many buildings have been destroyed in some remote areas. that the latest round—up and assessment of the severe flooding we have seen rates through the weekend storm boris cross in europe.

let's bring you the latest in terms of interest rates because here in the uk the bank of england has held interest rates at 5%. homeowners, landlords and renters had been hoping for a cut, to bring their payments down. the news is more positive for savers. the bank's governor had previously said that any reduction in rates would happen gradually. last night the us federal reserve cut rates by 0.5%. that nearly brings us to the end of this particular half—hour. worth going back to our main stories. throughout the course of the afternoon, these are pictures from beirut. we have heard from the hezbollah leader talking for the first time, his response to those explosions of the page or devices over the last two days that have killed 37 people and injured thousands more. he has again promised to retaliate against israel saying, all red lines had been crossed. the diplomacy continues in the hope of de—escalating the situation,

but a very dangerous situation in the middle east. more here in the middle east. more here injust a moment in the middle east. more here in just a moment or two. hello there. good afternoon. well, it's still warm and dry today, with plenty more blue sky and sunshine to come, despite that rather murky start. now, yesterday, temperatures reached 26 celsius in the far north of scotland. here today, it's slightly cooler, but still the sunshine continues, particularly out towards the west. and for the rest of the week, well, temperatures remain above the seasonal average. it's going to be cooler and cloudier, always for eastern facing coasts. expect some wet weather across the southern half of the uk on friday and through the weekend. but, high pressure dominates today so it is again largely dry. small chance of an isolated shower across the south of england. we're seeing all of that low cloud still burning back towards these eastern facing coasts, where it could linger for some time, and with the onshore breeze here, it's always going to be feeling cooler.

we'll keep that cloud across parts of aberdeenshire, perhaps down to east anglia. highest temperatures for the far south—east of england, but still warm for western scotland and for northern ireland in particular. as we head through this evening and overnight then, it's the same thing all over again. so the clearest of the skies out towards the north and the west. expect some mist and fog patches to develop here. it's going to be a chilly start to the day tomorrow. the cloud again is going to work its way westwards. very mild in the south—east — 11—15 or 16 c here into friday morning. now again, that mist and fog will lift and clear readily through the morning. there will be some sunshine for the north and the west. again, it's quite a murky start for many. showers will start to pop up across east anglia, the south—east of england, track their way further westwards, maybe a rumble or two of thunder and some heavy downpours of rain. it is still warm, though, 20 to 23 celsius in the far south and the east, and still 23 degrees in the best of the sunshine

for western scotland. expect to see more wet weather, too, on saturday. again, some heavy, possibly thundery showers pushing in from the south with this unstable air across wales and the southern half of england, but again further north with high pressure hanging on, then it's still going to be dry. and once again, the best of the sunshine will be for western scotland, north—west england and for northern ireland. and then there'll be more widespread thundery showers potentially on sunday. that all clears away as we head into monday. and then on tuesday we're back to south—westerly winds. it's going to be quite unsettled as we head turn a lot colder, too. through next week, and it could possibly turn a lot colder, too. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: hezbollah's leader accuses israel of "crossing all red lines" by detonating thousands of devices across lebanon, calling the attacks in which 37 were killed a "declaration of war". israel's military announces fresh strikes against hezbollah targets in southern lebanon, saying it's bringing "security to northern israel". in other news, the bbc reveals the former harrods boss — the late mohamed al fayed — has been accused of rape by five female ex—employees. the metropolitan police says it's aware of the allegations. and the bank of england governor says interest rates are "now gradually on the path down", after borrowing costs were held at 5%.

we will have more on all of those stories coming