hello and welcome to the program. we begin in lebanon, where there have been more israeli air strikes in the lebanese capital of beirut — the latest reportedly close to the airport. we're looking at pictures of massive explosions lighting up the sky in the dahieh area which is hezbollah�*s stronghold in the city. the idf says they were targeting a senior hezbollah official. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega has the latest. another night in beirut and more israeli air strikes. war returns to this city. and this attack came with no warning. we went to inspect the damage — a residential building near the lebanese parliament. beirut appears increasingly under threat. this is where an emergency

response group linked to hezbollah operated, now gone. "there were just emergency service workers. "this is the truth. "we only saw them helping people out," says mustafa, who lives on the tenth floor of the building hit. the damage in this building gives you a sense of the power of this attack. and they've been cleaning up the rubble here, but we can still see some surgical masks and gloves and bandages as well. and you can probably hear the sound of drones flying overhead. this is a densely populated district here in central beirut. hasan, who's a teacher, has lived in this neighbourhood for 2h years.

"there was no hezbollah presence here, military "or civilian," he tells me. "hezbollah wasn't present here." these are some of the victims of the attack. they include one rescue officer and two paramedics. the recent israeli air strikes have killed 97 medical workers across lebanon, according to the health minister. the israeli military hasn't commented about this attack, but this hezbollah mp remains defiant. translation: things i are clear and our position has remained unchanged. we've not deviated an inch from it and we should continue down this path. the cemetery across the street wasn't spared the damage. these days in beirut, there's no peace for the living, or the dead. hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. meanwhile, there's a developing story in the occupied west bank. an israeli air strike on a refugee camp on thursday is reported to have killed at least 18 people. the idf confirmed in

a statement that it had carried out a strike in the tulkarm region, without providing further details. video shows a chaotic scene with people gathered outside a hospital, and bodies being carried into the facility. violence has surged in the west bank since the start of the war in gaza. much of the violence has involved gun battles between israeli security forces and palestinian fighters. this was an air strike on what palestinian officials said was a refugee camp. this is not the first time israel and hezbollah has come into conflict. back in 2006, a full—blown war broke out between hezbollah and israel, triggered by a deadly cross—border raid by hezbollah. daniel byman, a senior fellow at the center for strategic and international studies told me more about the lessons israel learnt from their invasion into lebanon back then. when israel went into lebanon in 2006, it was completely unprepared for the fight that

hezbollah was giving it. its military hadn't scouted the terrain properly, its intelligence were poor and it assumed, frankly, that hezbollah would be easily defeated. this time it appears to be the opposite. israel has developed superb intelligence, as we have seen over the past few weeks. it has taken the threat very, very seriously. it's military has been framed. this does not mean that israel will not triumph over hezbollah but it will be much harder this time. , �* time. unintelligible. if we talk about — time. unintelligible. if we talk about hezbollah's - talk about hezbollah's capabilities, how do you assess where they are at the moment, given the strikes that israel has been able to land on them? hezbollah has a massive rocket and missile arsenal but it is unclear how effectively it can use it. israel has killed many of its leaders. the walkie—talkie and pager explosions that israel did several weeks ago have hurt a

lot of rank and file. it's unclear how much hezbollah leaders can communicate with their members, do they even trust their own communications? however is really forces have encountered fairly stiff resistance from hezbollah fighters after they crossed the border and went into lebanon. at least 80 israelis have died and for israel but is a fairly high number so hezbollah is fighting but less effectively thanit fighting but less effectively than it would have been three orfour than it would have been three or four weeks ago.— than it would have been three or four weeks ago. how do you think israel— or four weeks ago. how do you think israel is _ or four weeks ago. how do you think israel is going _ or four weeks ago. how do you think israel is going to - or four weeks ago. how do you think israel is going to be - think israel is going to be able to successfully carry out its campaign in lebanon without a huge civilian casualty?- a huge civilian casualty? we're already seeing _ a huge civilian casualty? we're already seeing very _ a huge civilian casualty? we're already seeing very large - already seeing very large civilian casualties. there are different estimates, of course, whatever number you end up using, it will be a high number. a lot of what israel is doing is trying to kill hezbollah leaders that are hiding in civilian areas and otherwise israel is doing a told two targets that are

correlated acapulco located. whether it is targets or short—range rocket systems are unfortunately tragically as the incursion continues we will see significant numbers of civilians die.— significant numbers of civilians die. ~ ., ., , civilians die. what do you see is the endgame _ civilians die. what do you see is the endgame for _ civilians die. what do you see is the endgame for israel- civilians die. what do you see | is the endgame for israel with regards its activities in lebanon?— regards its activities in lebanon? �*, , ., lebanon? israel's goal is to have its citizens, _ lebanon? israel's goal is to have its citizens, around i have its citizens, around 60,000 who fled, north of the country, be able to return to their homes. to do that it wants to push hezbollah fighters back from the israel lebanon border which they are supposed to be back from in any event, according to the un resolutions. but more importantly it wants his beloved deterred and to stop shooting at israel and to make credible promises to do so again —— wants hezbollah deterred. it was it not be able to fight relatively soon.- to fight relatively soon. what do these endgame _ to fight relatively soon. what do these endgame with - to fight relatively soon. what do these endgame with regards to gaza and the west bank? this

is an open _ to gaza and the west bank? this is an open question. _ to gaza and the west bank? ti 3 is an open question. in the west bank, israel has become more and more aggressive, as we've seen by recent strikes and in the past, or working with the palestinian authority to believe much of the area and now its operations have disintegrated, the palestinian authority, in gaza and, of course, it is notionally trying to destroy hamas and an automatic organisation but it is unclear how much more israel can do that will make a difference —— unintelligible organisation. they need to think about what comes next in gaza and doesn't appear to have done so. in spite of all the developments we've just reported, us presidentjoe biden says he does not believe an israeli attack on iran is imminent. he told reporters at the white house that quote "nothing" is going to happen today. but in an off—the—cuff remark, mr biden also said the us was quote "discussing" possible israeli strikes on iranian oil facilities. the cost of brent crude oil jumped 5% after he made that comment. following biden�*s comments, us state department spokesperson matthew miller said that the us is committed to israel's defence.

we do think it's appropriate that israel, at this point, is bringing terrorists to justice and trying to porn wants these limited incursions of at least on this point are limited occasions to try to push hezbollah back from the border and we will see how that unfolds over the coming days but ultimately our goal is a diplomatic resolution and where we want to see this go is un security council 1701 which was adopted some years ago has never been fully implemented implemented so have security on both sides of the border and the ability for lebanese and israeli civilians to return to their home. monday marks one year since hamas and other palestinian armed groups attacked israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage. the attack sparked israel's ongoing military campaign in gaza, which has killed more than 40,000 palestinians. one of the most senior leaders of hamas — which is classified a terrorist organisation by the uk, us and other governments — sat down with the bbc in a rare interview. us and other governments — sat down with the bbc in a rare interview.

he said the october 7 attack was justified, on the grounds that it brought the palestinian struggle back on to the international agenda. khalil al—hayya, the deputy chairman of the hamas political bureau, also blamed israeli prime minister netanyahu for the failure to reach a peace deal in gaza. khalil al—hayya spoke with the bbc�*s international editor, jeremy bowen. let us go back to the 7th of october last year. why did hamas attack israel? translation: we had to sound an alarm to the world to tell- them that we are a people with a cause and demands. it was a blow to israel, the zionist enemy, and a wake—up call to the international community. we had to do something that would tell the world that there is a people who have been under occupation for decades. why did your men kill so many civilians — children as well? we ordered our resistance fighters on the 7th of october not to target civilians, women and children. the objective was the occupation soldiers who were always killing,

bombing and destroying in gaza. we don't endorse harming civilians. 0n the ground, there were certainly personal mistakes and actions. the fighters may have felt that their lives were in danger. your men, who weren't in danger — they were standing with terrified civilians who were sitting on the ground and they were standing over them with weapons. that is not a battle. we've all seen how the fighters went into the houses. they spoke to the families. they ate and drank. sorry, they were shooting them. there are videos. when they went into some of the houses, none of the women and children they dealt with were terrified. those videos were published by the israeli occupation. they weren't published by us. almost a year later, gaza is in ruins. there are more than 40,000 dead. many, many of them are civilians. your capacity to fight israel has been massively diminished. was it worth all of that? who's responsible for this?

it was the occupation and its army. who destroys gaza ? who killed its people? who is now killing civilians in shelters, schools and hospitals? ask the world and those who created international law. we are defending ourselves. if 1,200 people from the occupation are killed, how does thatjustify israel killing 50,000 people and destroying all of gaza? isn't that enough for them? but they are motivated by the lust to kill, to occupy, and the lust to destroy. the israelis say very clearly that they respect the laws of war and they also say that the reason why so many civilians have died is because you and hamas fight from within the civilian population and you use them as human shields. that is not true. they destroyed mosques on top of the heads of their owners when there were no fighters. they destroyed houses and high—rise buildings when no—one was in them. they bombed houses when there was not a single fighter in them.

it is all israeli propaganda. why was it necessary to take more than 250 people hostage in gaza, very many of them civilians, including women and children? one of the goals of october 7 was to kidnap a small group of israeli soldiers to exchange them for palestinian prisoners. but when the gaza division completely collapsed in the face of the resistance fighters, we took a lot of prisoners. it was not our plan to capture civilians, including women and children. some of those women who came out said that they were safely assaulted. the orders and ethics of all palestinians and resistance fighters were humanitarian. we are put up according to the islamic religion, culture and national civilisation — we protect them as we protect ourselves. sexual or non—sexual assault has never been proved. there are numbers of testimonies from women who say they were sexually assaulted.

some of the young woman who were taken out of the nova music festival, women saying they were sexually assaulted on the 7th and later on. the evidence is piling up. i told you, the instructions were clear. there may have been abnormal acts by irresponsible people, but these were just allegations. israel says that under the right circumstances, they would have a ceasefire. what about a ceasefire, for example, where you simply give back the hostages and the war ends? would you accept something like that? that's been talked about, i know. the question is when will netanyahu decide to stop the war? when will the world compel him to stop the war? it is the decision of netanyahu and the israeli occupation to continue the war. you could do it. you could surrender. how can we surrender? people who resist the occupation do not give up.

if we surrender, which is impossible, our children, our people won't give up. why should we surrender? the occupation should stop killing. reaching a ceasefire deal was within reach on the 2nd ofjuly. who came up with new conditions? netanyahu. that's why there was no agreement. gaza's in ruins, tens of thousands of people are dead, israel is now hitting into lebanon and they're feeling strong. you're not winning this, are you? my family, my children, my family, my relatives and my neighbours are in gaza. we see with their eyes. we feel their pain. we cry for their wounds. what hurts them hurts us. if the world gave us our legitimate rights, this cycle of violence would stop. but israel does not want that — the return of refugees and self—determination. the region would not calm down, no matter how much death and killing take place. for you, is the israeli state part of the future? the hamas charter said

that the zionist state had to be destroyed. we say that israel wants to eliminate hamas and the palestinian people. israel is crying and claiming that hamas and the palestinian people want to destroy it. let's ask what israel thinks of the palestinian people. give us our rights. give us a fully sovereign palestinian state. the israelis say that the reason why they don't accept a two—state solution is because they fear that people like you want to destroy their state and kill their people. so far, israel does not recognise a one—state solution or a two—state solution. israel rejects it all — international resolutions, international law and our rights. do you think of yourself as a terrorist? that's what israel calls you. i'm seeking freedom and defending my people. to the occupation, we are all terrorists — the leaders, the women and the children. you heard what israeli leaders called us — they said we were animals.

that was the deputy chairman of the hamas political bureau. he was speaking tojeremy bowen. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are live with bbc news. presidentjoe biden has been visiting states in the southeastern us, where hurricane helene killed at least 200 people and caused historic damage. during his first stop in florida on thursday morning, the president received briefings from local and state officials on the response efforts. since the category 4 storm hit florida one week ago, to the region to help find those still missing and relocate displaced people. the federal emergency management agency says it's given more than $20 million in immediate assistance directly to civilians.

the president was surveying the aftermath of the storm. officials are expecting a long road to recovery. in some areas, first responders are still waiting for floodwaters to drain before they can proceed with recovery efforts. president biden gave an update from georgia on what the government is doing to help affected communities. yesterday, i approved governor kemp's request for the federal government to cover 100% —100% of the cost for debris removal, emergency protective measures for three months. 100%. i must tell you, your senator had a little bit to do with that, when he called me beforehand. all kidding aside, we are doing the same for florida as well, as well as we're doing for north carolina. adam keehn is the director of complex emergencies at the relief and development charity americares. he told me what he and his team are seeing on the ground across the southeast us.

it's really a devastating situation. we have extreme amounts of rainfall that fell, especially in mountainous areas of north carolina and eastern tennessee. i'm here in south carolina, which was also hit. you mentioned florida, georgia have also been affected. the communities, some of them are quite isolated in mountains in the best of times, and when roads, bridges have been washed out — i saw cars piled up against bridges, bridges washed away — people are just devastated and the needs stretch across the spectrum of anything you could imagine. we saw president biden visiting affected areas. you talked about people's needs, so what do they need most at the moment? well, we're a health—focused organisation and americares is working with health clinics serving underserved populations — people who don't have health insurance or other access to healthcare — and so, we are seeing first and foremost is water.

you know, asheville, north carolina, which is sort of the epicentre of the crisis, is a city of almost 100,000 people. there's no running water there — there hasn't been for a week. electricity is spotty. there's no internet. telecommunications are very problematic. so, medicines, medical supplies, all kinds — food, clothing, people ask for anything but, as i say, we're a health—focused organisation and so, the clinics that we're talking to emphasise first and foremost water and then the medicine supplies, including mental health medications and services to people who've been displaced and just have lost everything. fema and other government organisations, have they been able to provide the resources needed to help people? well, fema and all kinds of agencies are definitely mobilising resources and the american public has poured out a great deal of generosity as well. and locally as well, the counties, city governments,

the state of north carolina, south carolina, all of the states impacted and, the states impacted and, of course, the federal of course, the federal government, have been government, have been pouring resources in. pouring resources in. in a crisis like this, in a crisis like this, you know, those affected feel you know, those affected feel like the resources mobilised like the resources mobilised are never enough but we know are never enough but we know that it's coming. that it's coming. in the meantime, yesterday, in the meantime, yesterday, for example, i saw a helicopter for example, i saw a helicopter that had to be lowering that had to be lowering equipment so that workers equipment so that workers could free up electric could free up electric powerlines that had been powerlines that had been islands to mauritius. crashed down by the storm crashed down by the storm in mountainous areas, in mountainous areas, just where a health clinic just where a health clinic that we had just visited that we had just visited was providing medicines and health services to people was providing medicines and health services to people who had made their way, who had made their way, some of them on foot some of them on foot and on bicycle, to get and on bicycle, to get the health that they need. the health that they need. adam keehn from americares. adam keehn from americares. the us says it welcomes an agreement for the uk to hand

over sovereignty of the chagos

base. today, britain agreed to hand the whole archipelago over to mauritius but, crucially, the americans will remain in place. this is a very, very important agreement between our countries. crucially protects the national security interests of the united kingdom and our allies, and this has been reached in full agreement with the united states, retaining the crucial base on diego garcia. also closes down a potential route for migrants. but some have warned that china could exploit the deal to extend its influence. it is over half a century since the inhabitants of the island were deported forcibly by the colonial power, britain. this deal will now give them the right to return home at last, perhaps even to resettle there. it's about a sense

of belonging. it's something that was robbed from me, a place that we can call home. we will be free and we will be able to participate and get back what really belongs to us. that's happiness. mauritius has been campaigning for this dealfor years, recently planting their flag on one of the atolls and winning growing international support... ..11 of the charter... ..not least at the united nations and its top court, which called on the uk to end its illegal occupation. finally, negotiations began and today, reluctantly but peacefully, the government agreed to hand over one of the very last scraps of britain's old empire. andrew harding, bbc news. keep it here on bbc news. business today is next and we will discuss a project in india

that provides internship opportunities to 10 million youths over the next five years. stay tuned for that. hello there. it's a dry, chilly, bright start to the day on friday for much of the country. however, we have been seeing some changes taking place overnight with a weather front pushing into northern ireland and western scotland. that's brought more cloud, breeze with outbreaks of rain. but elsewhere, it stays dry all day, thanks to this area of high pressure. this is the weather front that's been working its way in off the atlantic — the first of a series of fronts tied in with low pressure there. so, a cloudy start, breezy. outbreaks of rain for northern ireland, western and northern scotland but southern and eastern scotland, england and wales, it's a chilly start, bright, some early mist and fog, and it stays dry with sunshine into the afternoon. light winds, as you can see, but breezier further north and west. temperature—wise, well, after that chilly start, we could be up to 17 or 18 degrees in the warmest spots

in the south. closer to the mid—teens further north. and where we have the breeze, the cloud and the rain, it will actually feel quite cool. as we head through friday night, it stays cloudy, breezy across northern and western areas. but large parts of england and wales will see lighter winds, clearskies so, again, it will turn quite cool. perhaps a bit of mist and fog here and there. temperatures in low single digits out of town but a recovery in temperatures for scotland, northern ireland — we're into double digits there throughout the night. into saturday, our area of high pressure holds on for at least one more day for central and eastern areas but these weather fronts are really ganging up on us out west, so it looks like england, wales, parts of eastern scotland should see another fine day with some sunshine around after that cool start. the breeze picking up. the rain out west turns heavier later on — certainly for northern ireland. again, those temperatures mid—teens in the north, 17 or 18 in the south. but it is all change for part two of the weekend. that area of high pressure eventually breaks down, low pressure takes over and sends weather fronts across the country.

there are more isobars on the chart. so, it's a cloudy day on sunday, more of a breeze coming up from the south, outbreaks of rain — most of the rain towards southern and western hills, the odd heavier downpour there. brightness will be limited. could see a little bit for north east scotland at times. temperatures could be up to 18 or 19 degrees in any brightness, the mid—teens further north. but nights will start to get milder as we import this milder air off the atlantic on a southwesterly wind. the upcoming week stays unsettled with low pressure always nearby. there's a chance around the middle part of the week we could see the remnants of hurricane kirk bring some rain and gales, so stay tuned.

us port workers reach a tentative deal with employers, ending a strike that could cost the american economy billions of dollars. plus, oil prices surge on fears of a possible israeli strike on iran's facilities. i'm steve lai. welcome to business today. let's begin in the us where tens of thousands of striking port workers will return to theirjobs after a tentative agreement on wages was reached with port owners along american�*s eastern seaboard. the union representing workers will now give itself until the 15th of january next year to negotiate other terms of the labor contract. the strike has lasted for three days, affecting dozens of ports from texas to maine. the bbc�*s michelle fleury gave

us a sense of what lies ahead. if you look back two days ago when the strike began, there was a lot of talk about wages. now, on that issue, there seems to have been some progress. reading the statement from the union that represents those dock workers, they said a tentative agreement had been reached on wages. it appears that the employer is represented by the united states maritime alliance increased and boosted their pay offer. the specific details we're not yet fully aware of but they have given themselves, as you said, they've suspended the strikes so in other words, tens of thousands of dockworkers along the eastern coast are going to return to the job, at least untiljanuary 15. and the idea here is to try and give both sides time to return to the negotiating table and work on some of those lingering issues. we know that there was a question about whether or not there would be any improvement on retirement benefits that

were offered in healthcare but perhaps, biggest issue