live from israel, this is bbc news. israel steps up its offensives against hezbollah in lebanon and hamas in gaza, on the eve of the october 7th anniversary. this place was hit about 12 hours ago, and smoke is still coming out of the rubble. there is destruction all around including some buildings farfrom here. we're here at one of the kibbutz targeted in the 7th october attacks. i'm nicky schiller.

the other main headlines this hour — prime minister keir starmer�*s top adviser sue gray resigns from her position as downing street chief of staff. and new research on a revolutionary treatment aims to discover why immunotherapy fails to work for most cancer patients. in the mood here is very sombre, the grief still raw as they marked the one—year absence hamas fighters went on the rampage across this border area —— the one—year anniversary since. on the eve of this important day of mourning for israel,

israel has been stepping up its offensives against hamas in gaza and hezbollah in lebanon. israel is on a high state of alert as a female israeli border police officer was killed on sunday and ten people wounded in an attack by a gunman in the southern town of beersheba. all the latest hear from our special coverage today and tomorrow. hugo bachega has this report. overnight attacks followed by more attacks in the morning. this video appears to capture secondary explosions, an indication of weapons being hit. we went to see the destruction caused by one of the overnight attacks. this place was hit about 12 hours ago, and there

is still smoke coming out of the rubble. there is a heavy smell in the air, and there is destruction all around, including some buildings farfrom here. i can count at least three underground floors. it is all destroyed. israel accuses hezbollah of hiding weapons amongst civilians, an accusation hezbollah denies. this building, residents told us, included a sweet shop. we found a bag with the shop's name next to the tail fin of a mortar unlikely to be used by the israeli military in this attack. we could not stay long. a group of men arrived and ordered us to leave. in gaza, israel's war against hamas continues, a war almost forgotten because of the one being fought here. israel bombed another school housing displaced residents where it said hamas had set up

a control centre. a nearby mosque was also attacked. the two strikes killed at least 26 people according to the health ministry there. israel says hamas was operating inside the mosque. this morning, families gathered to mourn the dead. at the local hospital is grandmother um mohammad al attar. translation: please god, defeat netanyahu. - please god, defeat israel. i hope god defeats you, america. you have made us cry over our children, grandchildren, and loved ones. my heart is breaking, my heart is breaking. backin back in lebanon, the missiles, not only at night. israel is not only at night. israel is not backing down from its war against hezbollah, and in beirut there is no respite.

the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has visited troops close to the israel—lebanon border. on a visit to a site close to israel's border with lebanon, during a visit to beirut, the un refugees chief, filippo grandi, warned of violations of international humanitarian law in the ongoing war in lebanon, and said he was disheartened by what he called the "paralysis of political action" to help secure a ceasefire. here, i wasjust briefed about the egregious violation in respect of health facilities in particular that have been impacted in various locations of lebanon.

i would venture to say, although these things require proper investigations and assessments, but on face value, when civilian houses are destroyed and people have to flee, that is also affecting civilian infrastructure. so i would consider that that is not in line with the rules of war. back to israel now. as you can see, it back to israel now. as you can see. it is _ back to israel now. as you can see, it is night _ back to israel now. as you can see, it is night now— back to israel now. as you can see, it is night now and - back to israel now. as you can see, it is night now and not. see, it is night now and not many people are living here, what was once a vibrant community of 1000 people, 101 residents of this kibbutz were killed when hamas went on its rampage across southern israel.

another 31 reservists and people who came to the rescue were also killed that day and another 30 taken hostage. the return of the hostages are still said to be in gaza, they are said to be all accounted, about 100 still left inside gaza. many are feared dead. we just received a report from the reuters news agency that efforts are still ongoing between israeli and american officials to try to achieve that ceasefire, that elusive ceasefire, and also bring the hostages home. so what chance is there of israel being able to move onwards after what is being widely described as the darkest most deadly day in israeli history? joining me now is alon—lee green, co—director

of standing together, an israeli—palestinian group. what are your reflections tonight? what are your reflections toni . ht? �* , what are your reflections tonight?— what are your reflections toniaht? a ., ,, tonight? as we approach eight ears tonight? as we approach eight years since — tonight? as we approach eight years since the _ tonight? as we approach eight years since the 7th _ tonight? as we approach eight years since the 7th of- tonight? as we approach eight years since the 7th of 0ctober| years since the 7th of october attacks, i could not feel more lost, seeing the last devastating two weeks, the fact we are still 101 israeli hostages held in dazzle, the fact we are yet to reach a ceasefire, the fact that our prime minister benjamin netanyahu and as extremist government are coming to the 7th of october smiling, selling of stories about winning, about total victory, this is devastating to the entire israeli society at the moment. we know there is no such thing as total victory. we know that nothing can be complete as long as we have 101 citizens that

are held in gaza. we know that we cannot celebrate anything when there are 41,000 palestinian dead in the gaza strip. 15,000 of them are children, and as of recently, we know that we have just more and more peoplejoining this war, and it is becoming something that we can define only as the endless war. is there an endgame to this war? is there a point where our government will say, this is enough, now we need to have a ceasefire, now we need to turn in the direction of peace? so my feeling, and if feeling of so many different israelis, is of freefalling and never reaching the bottom. of freefalling and never reachin: the bottom. ., ., reaching the bottom. how do you assess the _ reaching the bottom. how do you assess the public _ reaching the bottom. how do you assess the public mood? - reaching the bottom. how do you assess the public mood? just - assess the public mood? just how strong felt out the view is that you have just expressed? as you know, at the start of the war in gaza, there was broad public support for the israeli army's offensive. we

now see, one of the latest polls we looked at said some 56% of israelis said they wanted a ceasefire to bring the hostages home. how do you see the mood?— the mood? the mood changed a lot since the _ the mood? the mood changed a lot since the 7th _ the mood? the mood changed a lot since the 7th of— the mood? the mood changed a lot since the 7th of october. - lot since the 7th of october. of lot since the 7th of october. of course the trauma and we fear that came with the 7th of october never left, and we are still in a collective set of trauma and shock. and i think we still didn't process, didn't change, or have the moment to really feel very deep and terrible feelings. but i do think more and more israelis understand that a, we cannot bring back our hostages as long as we continue the war and the destruction and killing in gaza, and b, that this is a game without an end, a game with no strategy. we understand

that the promises coming from our military, our government, that only military pressure will be able to bring back the hostages, that only destroying hamas this time, even though we have had so many wars between them, and also with hezbollah this way before as well, we understand that this is leaving us nowhere. and yes, there is a slight majority of the moment of israeli two supporting a ceasefire. not all israelis are doing so because of standing in solidarity with palestinians, but the self interest in our society is very obvious at this moment. it is not in our self interest to continue this war. it is not in our self interest to occupy millions of people that are living under the military control of israel and are not to be citizens of israel. this occupation, this constant state of war, is the root cause of us not being safe and secure in our own country, and secure in our own country, and i think enough is enough, we need to turn to the other

direction, a direction of peace and diplomatic resolutions. this war will not bring us any security. this war will not bring us any securi . ., .,, this war will not bring us any securi . ., , ., security. there are those who say that. _ security. there are those who say that. given _ security. there are those who say that, given the _ security. there are those who say that, given the anger- security. there are those who say that, given the anger and | say that, given the anger and the pain that is still so raw here, so many israelis say that the nation changed forever after the events of the 7th of october, and the pain and the loss is also devastating across the border in dazzle. your organisation is called the standing together. is that becoming more and more of a dream? i becoming more and more of a dream? ., becoming more and more of a dream? . ., , , dream? i admit the reality is tou~h. dream? i admit the reality is tough. peace _ dream? i admit the reality is tough. peace has— dream? i admit the reality is tough. peace has never- dream? i admit the reality is| tough. peace has never been further away from us, and the ability to feel safe has never felt so far away. but in moments of crisis like these, we also get the opportunity for

clarity, and i think more and more people arejoining us in standing together, which is a jewish palestinian grassroots movement, because we understand that nobody is going anywhere. there are millions of palestinians living on this land next to millions ofjewish people living on the same one. both of us call this land home, and if we understand that we are somehow bound to continue to live on this land together, that our fates at this stage of history are intertwined, only then can we move further away from this horrific moment. and it is heartbreaking, it is a really, really heartbreaking to be an israeli at this point, and it is heartbreaking to be a palestinian. as much as i understand that not all palestinians and all israelis pay the same price for this reality, palestinians are paying the ultimate price in gaza, all of us are paying a price, and we understand that, and that means that all of us can benefit from a better

reality, and this is what we are trying to sell and to convince the israeli society that we want to benefit and to gain, andjust that we want to benefit and to gain, and just breaking out of the circle of endless war and endless violence and endless bloodshed.— endless violence and endless bloodshed. ., ~' , ., , . bloodshed. thank you very much for sharing _ bloodshed. thank you very much for sharing your _ bloodshed. thank you very much for sharing your observations, i for sharing your observations, your hopes, for the future, with us here on bbc news. many hamas and towns are still reeling from the attack should many kibbutzes and towns. ——

many kibbutzes and towns. —— many kibbutzes and towns. —— many kibbutzes and towns are still reeling. ranae butler is from kibbutz nir oz, which i visited earlier. her mother, carol siman tov, was murdered in the october seventh attacks, as well as her half brotherjonathan siman and his entire family. she spoke to me about the loss of her loved ones. this was their home. this was where their bicycles would park. it was obvious that you are entering a house of children. it was a carnage in my family. i never thought to the day i die i would ever know anyone who was murdered, or someone whose family member was murdered, and we had people intentionally murdering people.

i cannot imagine what went through the codes for their parents were bleeding to death, suffocating, trying to wake their parents or whatever, i don't know what was happening with my mum that morning. there was a moment _ with my mum that morning. there was a moment of— with my mum that morning. there was a moment of hope, _ with my mum that morning. there was a moment of hope, you - was a moment of hope, you received a message from jonathan home we behind us? there are rockets in tel aviv, i was assuming there were rockets there as well, and he said yes, they were safe. that was his message. later, we received messages in the kibbutz about people asking for help, not giving up, they are burning the houses, they have burned my family's house at the moment they couldn't enter the safe room, they decided to burn them. messages from the kibbutz

were heartbreaking. i don't think anyone imagined that something like this can happen in the 21st—century, people intentionally targeting you to kill you, to murder you. we were standing in front of the house that was completely charred, herfamily died the house that was completely charred, her family died there that day as did many other members of that community. these 7th of october attacks which remain in student memory and history are being marked notjust here but around the world. gatherings and marches have been held in cities around the world on the eve of the anniversary of the hamas attacks to call for the return of the 101 hostages. a vigil was held in

paris, more than 3,000 members of thejewish community took part. also in glasgow in scotland, and in germany hundreds rallied in the capital of berlin. there were also protests in london. that is the mood now on the eve of the 7th of october, a day that to everyone's surprise, including israeli security —— that took everyone by surprise. at the end of the day, after hours of agonising hours, 1200 israeli two were killed, and

251 were ta ken israeli two were killed, and 251 were taken hostage. tonight, we understand that the talks are still continuing. there has been in a report from the reuters news agency that the reuters news agency that the americans and the israeli two are still trying to reach a ceasefire. as we have been hearing in this programme, many israelis are saying it is time to end the war in gaza, to bring the hostages home and to make that a priority. but others continue to support the war, and prime minister benjamin netanyahu's aim in his words to destroy hamas. we will continue to provide special coverage of these momentous events, but that is all from me and our team now in southern israel. the prime minister's top adviser sue gray has resigned from her position as downing street chief of staff. she said she was standing down because it had become clear that intense commentary

around her position risked becoming a distraction to the government's vital work of change. it had recently been revealed she earned more than the prime minister. in a written statement, sir keir starmer thanked her for all the support she had given him, both in opposition and in government. our political correspondent iain watson has the latest. this is how close sue gray was to the prime minister, meeting president biden alongside keir starmer just last month. the sue gray report into government lockdown parties has just been published. she is probably best known as the senior civil servant who drew up the partygate report, which hastened borisjohnson's departure from number ten. the conservatives were outraged when she traded her whitehall job for an influential role with labour. since last september, she was keir starmer�*s chief of staff in opposition and then at number ten. herjob was to prepare labour for government, but now in government, labour look somewhat unprepared.

they faced political heat for taking winter fuel payments away from most pensioners, alongside stories about keir starmer and other ministers taking donations for clothing and free tickets for big events. last month, the bbc revealed that sue gray was paid more than the prime minister. the fact that her salary was leaked was a clear indication of trouble behind the scenes at number ten. when questions about a government official drown out announcements of government policy, there's a sense that something has to change. i acknowledge that briefings to you are not helpful to the government. my focus is on what we need to do as a government to change the country for the better. clearly there are people who are very unhappy within your team and i am wondering whether you've got a grip on that and whether you're the one in control here? i'm completely in control, i'm focused and every day the message from me to the team is exactly the same. today, sue gray explained

her move to a new role, liaising with the uk's nations and regions. she said, "in recent weeks, it's become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government's vital work of change." the prime minister thanked sue gray for her support and said, "sue has played a vital role in strengthening our relations with the regions and nations and i'm delighted she will continue to support that work." taking overfrom her is the man credited with masterminding labour's label election win, morgan mcsweeney. this was welcomed by a former adviser to the last labour government. it's really hard to drive party politics from the centre of a government if you've not come up through party politics. i've worked with sue, i rate sue but i think you see now the need for the political professionals to be a driving force in the columns, in the policy and everything that's done. but the chief of staff to this beleaguered prime minister delivered a warning to the current prime minister. this is now a crucial moment for the prime minister. he's got to get this second iteration of his number ten

operation right if he's going to recover some of the political ground he's lost over the last couple of months. afterjust three months in government, the prime minister's reshuffle of his top staff has also placed his own politicaljudgment under renewed scrutiny. why does immunotherapy fail to work for the majority of cancer patients? that's what a new multi million pound research programme here in the uk aims to discover. it's seen as a revolutionary treatment — using the body's own immune system to fight disease — but more than half of patients see no benefit. our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. immunothera py saved alex's life. he was diagnosed with melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer, which then spread. alex underwent a course of immunotherapy, helping his body's own defences to stop the disease in its tracks, but it was not without complications. i'm completely clear that immunotherapy has saved my life. without it, i would have died in 2019. it can come with side effects in certain patients,

and those side effects can be a little bit difficult to manage. i wouldn't describe it as fun. i got through it, and i think one of the exciting things about the research that's going on in the field of immunotherapy is people really trying to work out how to make the treatments as effective as possible, but also as kind as possible for patients, because it's not just about treatment of the cancer, it's also about trying to maintain quality of life. immunotherapy is a cancer treatment full of potential, but so far its benefits have been limited. even in melanoma, where immunotherapy is most successful, only around half of all patients respond to the treatment. this new study will initially involve around 6,000 patients, half of whom have already completed treatment and half who are just starting immunotherapy for breast, bladder, kidney or skin cancers. the study will try to identify why so many patients relapse or suffer really challenging side effects. so what we want to achieve here, very simply, is to do better by cancer patients who can potentially benefit from immunothera py.

the purpose of this program is to take many measurements, both from tumour tissue and from blood, and over time, to better predict from the outset who should have this treatment, who should have an alternative treatment, who is at the risk of side effects? one of the key areas of research will be trying to identify vital biomarkers, signs that tell doctors whether someone is likely to benefit from a given drug. they could help in both selecting those patients for whom the therapy is most likely to work, but also possibly open up new treatments like vaccines and cell therapies. researchers say the project could speed up the delivery of truly personalised medicine. dominic hughes, bbc news. here in the uk, a radio legend is hanging up

his headphones after nearly 60 years of broadcasting. bbc radio two'sjohnnie walker has announced he is stepping down from presenting his two shows ? sounds of the 70s and the rock show — later this month. he told his listeners that after 58 years of broadcasting he was struggling with his health and was calling it a day. he'll present his last show on sunday 27th of october. hello there. good evening. a very messy and unsettled picture weather—wise as we head through the next few days. but it was a pretty start earlier on this morning. lots of red skies as captured by our weather watchers. and of course, the heaviest downpours today were out towards the west, some of the showers pushing further eastwards at times. not as much sunshine as we saw yesterday, but still the chance of some more bright and sunny spells as we go through the next few days, accompanied by some rather blustery showers. brisk southerly winds so the air is mild, warm for the time of year, even. and it's unsettled because low pressure is the dominant force. it's out towards the west of ireland. of course, all of these bands of rain showers swirling around it that sets the scene. for the rest of tonight there will be further bands of rain just gradually pushing northwards and eastwards, but some long clear spells across northern areas of england and through the southern half of the uk as we head

towards dawn tomorrow. here, temperatures could potentially drop back into high single figures. otherwise a mild start, double figures pretty much across the board. now, tomorrow, the low pressure remains out towards the west. again, there will be furthershowers, longer spells of rain at times. it's quite a cloudy picture across scotland, for example, and there will be rain on and off here throughout the day. the early rain clears away from northern ireland, moves into north—west england, and there could be some heavy, possibly thundery, downpours across south—west england into southern wales as we head through the afternoon. but you could catch a shower almost anywhere. a little less frequent out towards the east. some sunny spells and the best of the sunshine. temperatures will peak 16 to 19 celsius. that's above the seasonal average. now, the low pressure sinks a little further southwards as we head through tuesday, so some of the focus of the heaviest downpours could be across the southern half of the uk. there'll be quite frequent showers here, but again some bright and some sunny spells in between.

another band of rain just pushes northwards into scotland. again, there will be quite a lot of cloud here, but once again in the best of the sunshine, it will feel warm for the time of year. temperatures generally 14 to 18 celsius. now, wednesday's weather needs watching. this deep area of low pressure contains the remnants of hurricane kirk, and at the moment, we think that the worst of the weather will be across northern france, moving into the low countries, heavy rain and strong winds. but some of that rain could move into kent, perhaps. we're likely to see some very blustery winds down the north sea facing coasts as that low pulls away, and then it turns a lot colder. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... explosions. israel steps up its offensives against hezbollah in lebanon and hamas in gaza, on the eve of the october 7th anniversary. evacuation orders for around 25 villages in southern lebanon have been issued, as israel continues with its ground invasion. thousands of people gather across the world to call for the return of the 101 hostages still being held in gaza. events have been held in paris, london and glasgow, among others. israel is on a state of high alert with a 19—year—old female israeli border police officer killed on sunday and ten people wounded — in a shooting in southern israel. the prime minister's chief of staff quit her role — sue gray said she "risked becoming a distraction". she had been caught in rows over pay, after it was revealed her salary was higher than sir keir starmer�*s.