the un says more than ninety thousand people have been displaced since monday — as a result of israeli strikes. diplomatic efforts are underway at the un to try and prevent a wider war in the middle east. hell is breaking loose in lebanon. as a tour of the assembly yesterday, we should be alarmed by the escalation. lebanon is at the brink. voting ends in the second phase of elections in indian—administered kashmir — the first election in ten years. and a zoo in finland will return two giant pandas to china eight years early — find out why later on the programme.

you're watching bbc news. the un security council is holding an emergency session on lebanon as cross—border attacks between israel and hezbollah intensify. these are live pictures from of the session in new york. it comes as the head of israel's army has told troops to prepare for a possible ground invasion of lebanon — saying air attacks are in preparation for boots on the ground. us presidentjoe biden has warned an "all out war" in the middle east is possible, but said there is still an "opportunity" to settle the conflict. lebanon's health ministry says at least 72 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in israeli strikes on wednesday. un secretary general antonio guterres said lebanon cannot become another gaza

and called for an end to hostilities between israel and hezbollah. hell is breaking loose in lebanon. as i told the general assembly yesterday, we should all be alarmed by the escalation. lebanon is at the brink. of course, the blue line is see intentions for aeons. since the 6th of october, they have expanded in scope depths and intensity. the armed groups and intensity. the armed groups and intensity. the armed groups and in lebanon and israel defense force of exchanged gunfire and they will require a cease—fire in gaza to cease hostilities. speaking in the last half an hour, the united states�* alternate representative to the un robert wood said that the us was still trying to work towards resolving the conflict through diplomacy.

as we learned in 2006, diplomacy is most effective when the international community unites with a shared goal and speaks with one voice. we are working with other countries on a proposal that we hope will lead to comb and enable discussions to a diplomatic solution. we encourage the security council to lend its support for these diplomatic efforts in the coming days. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports from northern israel. as dawn broke over tel aviv, another escalation. hezbollah, for the first time, firing a ballistic missile into the heart of israel — just one missile easily shot down, but an unmistakable signal of defiance from hezbollah. israel also has escalation in mind. the head of the army visiting

troops close to the northern border telling them to get ready to fight inside lebanon. translation: we are preparing the process of a manoeuvre - which means that your military boots will enter enemy territory, enter villages that hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts. tanks have been seen moving north, and reservists are being called up. but nothing looks imminent. for now it is mostly a threat. but its purpose is clear, to allow civilians to return to border communities evacuated a year ago. places like oiryat shemona, hit by hundreds of rockets since last october, now mostly empty. the buses are still running but there is no one on them. this is normally a town of around 2a,000 people. now only about 3000 remain. parts of it are completely deserted. lebanon isjust a couple of miles away, and after everything that's happened in the past 12 months it's

going to take an awful lot for people to come back. the army says 800 buildings have been damaged here, many of them family homes. the military ready to do whatever it takes to stop this from happening. this is going to be a process that hezbollah is going to have to give up. the only way these people are ever going to come back home is if hezbollah is nowhere even close that they can shoot at them again. as we prepare to leave qiryat shemona, another reminder of the danger hezbollah still poses. israel's air defences are formidable but the rockets keep coming. and tonight, threats from another direction. pro—iranian militias in iraq claiming a drone attack on the southern port city of eilat. without a ceasefire in gaza, this all looks destined to continue. paul adams, bbc news, northern israel. our senior international correspondent orla guerin has the latest from

southern lebanon. sirens wail. in the southern city of tyre the war is coming closer. israel hitting sites it says are linked to hezbollah. today we saw strike after strike. well, there'sjust been more incoming israeli fire and there is smoke rising now. we can't tell exactly what has been hit, but that is a residential area with residential blocks. there was some outgoing fire from hezbollah a few hours ago, and this is now a familiar routine in southern lebanon. the gathering storm here this week means british nationals have been told to leave lebanon immediately. isabella baker plans to go tomorrow, because she doesn't want family and friends back home to worry.

but the human rights student is critical of the government. i100% think the uk government should be doing a lot more and, of course, it has to worry about its citizens, i understand that, but i think there are priorities, and we wouldn't have to leave if it weren't for the fact that israel is bombing this country. and tonight, these men wonder if they might be next to be bombed. they're the government's civil defence team here in tyre, and they've just had a call telling them to leave their station. an israeli voice claimed there was a hezbollah target nearby. the station chief fears a rerun of history and tragedy. "my daughter was killed in the war in 2006 in an israeli air strike on the station," say

ali safiledine. "i had brought her there for safety. my wife was badly maimed and is still suffering. i don't want to lose any of my men the same way." they're already struggling to keep up with the air strikes. now they say they'll work from the street to save lives. orla guerin, bbc news, tyre. we know that hospitals in lebanon are overwhelmed after last week's attacks there — and there are concerns that the country's healthcare system "will completely collapse". we've also been getting a sense of how many people have been displaced since monday —

the united nations puts that number at 90,000. that number is in addition to the 111,696 people who were recorded as displaced since october 2023. earlier, i spoke tojesse marks, who is a senior advocate for the middle east at refugees international. he told me more about the situation on the ground. i think the military operations in lebanon have caused, i mean, an immense human toll. probably the largest the country has seen in decades. from folks that we've spoken to, right, as you repeated the numbers, you know, high numbers of casualties, 500 people lost, including women and children, from colleagues are telling us at least 50 syrian refugees are dead. we heard reporting of additionally of two unhcr workers. this really echoes the devastation and the indiscriminate attacks that we witnessed in gaza after the brutal october 7th attacks. and once again, we are seeing little coordination with humanitarian actors on the ground, which has raised the potential risk of threatening and killing aid responders. we're hearing large numbers of folks who are fleeing north.

increasingly concerning, we are also hearing lebanese and syrian refugees who are fleeing towards syria. lebanon may be a small country, but it hosts more refugees per capita than any other nation. that's around 1.5 million, most of whom are syrian and palestinian. so that means any form of conflict escalation, it doesn'tjust affect lebanese citizens, it impacts thousands of refugees, amplifying the potential humanitarian catastrophe to follow. we're hearing reports churches are opening up their doors, hospitals, otherforms of shelters are opening up their doors for the thousands who are fleeing south to the north. at this point, it's increasingly difficult. there's not a significant amount of funding available to continue supporting the increased demand with internal displacement in lebanon. our partners are telling us that they need resources, they need funding from donors, from private foundations to be able to sustain and support services for communities that are being displaced northward. yeah, it is a dire situation when people who escaped the war in syria are now having

to go back there. we're seeing world leaders meeting in new york for the un general assembly. the security council has also convened. do you think diplomacy can solve this problem? we hope. i mean, president biden�*s warning of a full scale middle east conflict does not go far enough to push any meaningful resolution and ending to the hostilities in lebanon, and perhaps, ithink more importantly, at this case in gaza. you know, israel has given a tacit green light or has been given a tacit green light, given that there's been no major white house pushback for its actions. meanwhile, china and other countries who have supported iran through this process have yielded little pressure to get iran to pressure hezbollah to back down. so we're not seeing any viable means of mediation or de—escalation at the current point. and if we move into a ground war, the implications of that cascade into what would be a very dangerous catastrophe, particularly on the humanitarian front. in previous conflicts, the airport, for example, is one of the main arteries that people depart the country — it's likely

to be targeted first. if that happens, we're going to have, you know, significant issues with evacuation efforts, leaving the international community, the us, the uk, other eu countries to deploy ships to be able to rescue folks off the coast. and we've heard reports of soldiers already being, uh, disembarking for the mediterranean and malta, to be prepared for such an inevitability. ideally, a diplomatic solution is reached, but it seems so far that both sides have committed to this escalation ladder. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

next month will see commemorations across israel, marking one year since the october 7th attacks. more than 1,200 people died with over 200 others taken hostage, when hamas gunmen crossed the border from gaza, killing indiscriminately.

they attacked dozens of sites, including kibbutzim communities, army bases and the nova music festival, attended by three and half thousand young people. hundreds were murdered, while others were tortured and raped. bbc storyville have been speaking to some of those who survived, piecing together what happened. some of the material we re about to show you was filmed by hamas. that footage, along with the eyewitness accounts are distressing. the festival itself was amazing. the energy of people just wanting to dance and enjoy themselves and then going at it with all that they have. it was beautiful. we were all students starting our fourth year. we all liked going to

parties and the second the nova tickets came out, they were really cheap. it seemed like a perfect thing to do right before the year started. i came to the nova party for work. i brought a dj from hungary. myjob was to take him to the party, let him play his set and then take him back home. the last video i took from my phone was at 6.28 in the morning. it was the last drop that he played. and the moment that i stopped filming, someone grabbed my hand and showed me the sky. shouting.

we yelled into the crowd. everyone scattered. it was like a screen coming up from the sky of rockets, just like... the most rockets i've ever seen in my life. i went to the dj and i told him, "listen, there's no time for goodbyes. there's no time for waiting. we're running to the car and we're leaving." we stop at the side of the road. if we see a concrete structure on the side of the road that is supposed to be as close to a bomb shelter as possible. and it seemed like the smartest move to make, to, to, go in.

explosion. gunfire. i looked in the back mirror, i could see the car behind me that had stopped. the driver and the guy

that were next to him were shot in the head. and i saw them slaughter people. a group of people jump out, screaming in arabic. allahu akbar, allahu akbar. and then i see anaeljust pick them up and toss him out. he does that once, and then they throw another one in. every time they threw in a grenade, he just grabbed it, tossed it out. thinking to myself, oh, my god, this kid is throwing live grenades. i don't think that i've ever heard of anyone ever doing that. there was a really big explosion and i flew back. someone flew on me. and when i finally got up,

i remember, um, anael wasn't standing any more. he wasn't with us. they came back in... ..and then they started shooting everyone inside. they left and i thought everyone was acting or playing dead so that they wouldn't get kidnapped. but after a minute or two, where, when people weren't lifting their heads or waking up, i realised that i was sitting in a pile of bodies.

gunfire. we both got into an army jeep and they told us to put our heads down. but i, i couldn't look away. i've kind of understood that i'm never going to be the person that i was before the 7th of october. and i'm trying to figure out

who i'm going to be now. every single person that i lost on that day would have made the hell out of this life. i close my eyes for a moment and i picture my friends that aren't with us any more and hoping that, that, wherever they are, they're partying like crazy. for our viewers in the uk, the full documentary, storyville: we will dance again, will be on iplayer from tomorrow morning, and bbc2 tomorrow night. the film forms part of a group of programmes marking one year since the 7th of october attacks and the war in gaza.

a bbc storyville, life and death in gaza, will be broadcast in october. polling stations have closed in indian—administered pain, anguish and loss. mr president, as we face the abyss, this council has a duty to speak with one voice and we must say that the rockets must stop now. the air strikes must stop now. the air strikes must stop now. the air strikes must stop now. talks must start now. with an immediate cease—fire on both sides now. it is time to pull back from the brink. mr president, full—blown war is

not in the interest of the israeli or the lebanese people. and that is why within hours of last week strikes, i called for an immediate cease—fire between lebanese, his hezbollah, and israel. we are formalising a wider demand for the cease—fire in the political plans implemented. and at the meeting in new york, the prime minister has been urging our g7 and other partners to do the same. our priority must be political solution in line with resolution 1701, it is our duty to do all we can to exert maximum diplomatic pressure so lebanese and israeli civilians can go home and lives can be saved, security can return to northern israel in southern lebanon. so the daily life can

begin to return. now, let me be clear. united kingdom condemns hezbollah�*s attacks over the last 11 months. which of driven more than 60,000 people from their homes and there was no justification for these attacks. they have brought misery to ordinary people and lebanon and israel. they have done nothing to end the conflict in gaza or secure palestinian statehood. and iran, nothingjustifies iran, nothing justifies supplying weapons iran, nothingjustifies supplying weapons to terror groups in defiance of this council. we call on tehran to use its influence and urge hezbollah to agree to a cease—fire. mr president, for the people of israel for the people of lebanon, a multicultural and tolerant nation taken captive by an armed militia that puts itself

before the lebanese people, we must come together to bring this conflict to an end. in 2006, this council acted in the interests of peace and security and all parties need to embody that same spirit. it is and all parties need to embody that same spirit.— that same spirit. it is david, uk foreign _ that same spirit. it is david, uk foreign minister- that same spirit. it is david, | uk foreign minister speaking that same spirit. it is david, - uk foreign minister speaking at an emergency session in lebanon at the un security council in new york calling for an immediate cease—fire and condemned both hezbollah attacks on israel and israel's response. that's all the time we have, do stay with bbc news. hello there. heavy rain has dominated weather headlines in recent days, and there's more wet weather to come. in fact, for some parts of southern england, we've already seen way above the average monthly rainfall totals.

and in these three towns, we've actually had three times more rain than we should have in september. and with the next couple of days, we're likely to see another 50mm at least in some spots, a couple of inches, the darker blues denoting where the heaviest of the rain is likely to be. so, slightly quieter, drier story for scotland, but low pressure dominates, and these weather fronts will move their way steadily eastwards as we go through thursday. that front will grind to a halt, almost, across northern england and into northern ireland, accompanied by a brisk easterly wind, so really feeling quite miserable on those exposed east coasts. to the north of that, it's going to be dry with a few scattered showers. to the south of that, however, some of those showers really could turn quite torrential. hail, thunder mixed in there. and, yes, it really will be quite significant. but there will be some sunny spells to go with it as well, and it could potentially still feel quite humid here — 18 or 19 degrees not out of the question. cool in the rain, 10 or 11.

and that cooler air continues to dominate in scotland. and that's because of a northerly wind, which will gradually push the rain away, but it will introduce this fresher feel for all of us on friday. so there will be some rain lingering across east anglia and south—east england for a time. that eases away during the afternoon. sunny spells and scattered showers continue for most, but because of the direction of the wind, those temperatures really quite subdued for this time of year — on the whole, generally between 9 and 1a degrees. clear skies continue through the night. that is going to allow the potential for a frost to form, and so it will be a chilly start — low single figures, perhaps below in more rural spots, worth bearing in mind. but that means as we head into the weekend, high pressure is going to build for a time and quieten things down. so not a bad weekend, particularly on the saturday. however, another area of low pressure will gradually move into the south—west as we go through sunday. so saturday, a better day. more heavy rain to come as we move through sunday and into monday.

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kamala harris delivers kamala harris delivers a widely anticipated speech on the economy. how does her vision compare with strong's plans for the economy? —— trump's plans? plus, after china announces stimulus measures, we look