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 there's 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. prime minister keir starmer�*s top adviser, sue gray, resigns from her position as downing street chief of staff. she says she "risked becoming a distraction" after being caught up in rows over pay. hello. i'm nicky schiller, welcome to the programme.

israel has been stepping up its offensives against hamas in gaza, and hezbollah in lebanon, on the eve of the first anniversary of the hamas attacks on israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 people taken hostage. let's bring you the latest developments from the middle east this hour. the lebanese capital, beirut, experienced one of its most intense waves of israeli strikes yet, with large explosions reported across the southern part of the city last night. the strikes continued into the morning. evacuation orders have been issued for residents of several areas in southern lebanon as israel pushes forward with its campaign against hezbollah. in northern israel rocket barrages from lebanon have been triggering sirens and interception systems. the israel defense forces said it stopped around 30 rockets which had been fired into northern israel. in northern gaza, israel's army encircled jabaliya,

the hamas—run health ministry says 26 people have been killed in israeli air strikes on a mosque and school housing displaced palestinians. and in southern israel, a 19—year—old female israeli border police officer has been killed and ten people wounded in an attack by a gunman at a bus station in the town of beersheba. we'll hear from our correspondents monitoring events across the region — and start with this report from hugo bachega in beirut. overnight in beirut and the most intense israeli air strikes in this war so far. here, believed to have hit a petrol station in the city's southern suburbs. in the morning, more attacks, 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 of the buildings farfrom here. i can count at least three underground floors all destroyed. israel accuses hezbollah of hiding weapons amongst civilians, an accusation hezbollah deny. 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 have been used by the israeli military in this attack. we could not stay long, a group of men arrived. you can go from here right now, please. ordering 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. um mohammad al attar said she lost her daughter and grandchildren. 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. back in lebanon, the missiles come not only at night. israel is not backing down in its war against hezbollah. and in beirut there is no respite.

hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. 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, ijust... i was just briefed by who in particular about egregious violation of ihl in respect of health facilities in particular that have been impacted in various locations of lebanon. i would venture to say — although, you know, these things require proper investigations and assessments — but on face value, when civilian houses are destroyed and people have to flee, that's also affecting civilian infrastructure.

so i would consider that that is not in line with the rules of war. in israel, people are also starting to commemorate the one—year anniversary of the hamas attacks on 7th october last year — where hamas gunmen attacked israel from gaza, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, has been visiting kibbutz nir oz in israel, one of the communities targeted by hamas on october 7th. this was once the pretty kibbutz of mir oz, a community of some 400 people, many of them peace activists, living just miles from the gaza border. but look at this now, a small snapshot of what happened to one family in one kibbutz on the deadliest, darkest day in israel's history. this was the home of yonatan and his wife tamar and their three children, six—year—old twins and the

youngest, two—year—old omer. they all perished on that day, along with their grandmother, carol. and in the early hours of october 7th a year ago, yonatan had texted his sister saying, "they're here." the hamas fighters had arrived. they'd broken through israel's much vaunted security barrier. they'd descended on this community. he said, "we're here, they're here, they're burning us, and we're suffocating." one year on, members of this community — there's only two people living here now — are coming to remember that day. the pain is still raw. a quarter of this community, 117 people, were either killed or kidnapped. they've been lighting candles since that day. but there's anger mixed with the grief. here you see the photograph of prime minister netanyahu saying in hebrew "betrayed." the israelis who say he should be doing much more to bring

the remaining israeli hostages home, to try to find a way to end this war. and anger, too, that it took hours for israeli security forces to come to the defence of this community. but mostly, today is a day to mourn. a day which israelis, to a person, say changed this country forever. let's speak to hela laha, chief executive of tech2peace — an organisation that provides tech and entrepreneurial training alongside conflict dialogue to young palestinians and israelis. thank you very much forjoining us. i wondered thank you very much forjoining us. iwondered if thank you very much forjoining us. i wondered if i could start by getting your thoughts on the eve of the october the 7th anniversary?— eve of the october the 7th anniversary? eve of the october the 7th anniversa ? ., ~ , ., ., anniversary? hi, thank you for havin: anniversary? hi, thank you for having me- — anniversary? hi, thank you for having me. this _ anniversary? hi, thank you for having me. this is _ anniversary? hi, thank you for having me. this is a _ having me. this is a complicated day. we were trying to think how to approach this

with our community which is intentionally diverse and intentionally diverse and intentionally made up of 50% israeli jews intentionally made up of 50% israelijews and intentionally made up of 50% israeli jews and 50% palestinians, having to deal with lots of the trauma, fear and anxiety that started on october the 7th for ourjewish community, this means existential threat, this means historical memory of the holocaust, hunting them. for our palestinian community this is reminiscent of displacement and the same feelings that have been going on for the past 76 years, so trying to address this in a way that on the one hand is very sensitive for all of the people involved, for every member of our community, and on the other hand not to seem too balanced or too

carefully worded, the colours that too can be offensive. you work with. _ that too can be offensive. you work with, as _ that too can be offensive. you work with, as you _ that too can be offensive. you work with, as you have - that too can be offensive. you work with, as you have said, both young palestinians and israelis. do they have a sense that there is a hope that there can be eventually an end to this conflict? i can be eventually an end to this conflict?— can be eventually an end to this conflict? i think that the thing that — this conflict? i think that the thing that sets _ this conflict? i think that the thing that sets us _ this conflict? i think that the thing that sets us apart - this conflict? i think that the thing that sets us apart and | thing that sets us apart and makes us unique is we actually appealed to an audience that doesn't necessarily think that coming into our programme. so through the intersection of peace tech we could draw and a community that comes for the technical and entrepreneurship training and it's not necessarily interested in dialogue with the other side or hopeful of any sort of resolution, and through very, very courageous open, of course

professionally facilitated, dialogue, we are really able to humanise the other and really listen to the other. i like to say the main focus of our work is to hear and be heard and to really understand the other, understanding that offering someone your understanding is not necessarily validation. and so once you take that out of the equation, people are far more willing and open to listen to one another, and so one person's terrorist becomes another person's freedom fighter, and we can understand where the other is coming from. i think that in the past year a lot of what we have seen is that israelis are writ large being understood as the strong in this equation and kind of fearless or nothing to fear of, and i think october the 7th

made this existential threat, this sense of existential threat, a lot more real and understood. allowing the two to really come together around these senses of... if i say that a certain community feels helpless or hopeless, feeling insecure, feeling existential threat, you could very easily confused whether i am speaking about palestinians or israelis at any given moment. i think this really heightened that understanding.— this really heightened that understanding. this really heightened that understandinu. . . . . understanding. hela laha, chief executive of _ understanding. hela laha, chief executive of tech2peace, - understanding. hela laha, chief executive of tech2peace, thank | executive of tech2peace, thank you for your insight and for joining us. iran has announced a mass cancellation of flights tonight amid warnings from israel it will retaliate for iran's missile attack earlier this week. bbc persian senior reporter parham ghobadi gave us more details. the iranian aviation organisation has just announced that all the flights from

tonight local time 90 m until tomorrow 6am, all flights have been cancelled. this is not the first time it has happened in the past few days —— from tonight, localtime the past few days —— from tonight, local time at 9pm. previously flights were also cancelled temporarily. this time israel is the one that has promised and vowed revenge so this has increased and people are wondering whether the israeli attack is that imminent that iran has cancelled all flights, that is yet to be seen. ~ ., flights, that is yet to be seen. ~ . ., , seen. we have heard reports about an _ seen. we have heard reports about an iranian _ seen. we have heard reports about an iranian commander| about an iranian commander reported to be in beirut on friday when there was that big strike? fin friday when there was that big strike? ., , ., strike? on friday morning there was a massive, _ strike? on friday morning there was a massive, huge _ strike? on friday morning there was a massive, huge explosion | was a massive, huge explosion and the israelis said the target of that air strike was the successor to the hezbollah leader. after a few days israel reported... israeli media

reported... israeli media reported that one iranian commander was also alongside with the other man. this force is the overseas branch of the's revolutionary guard, ismail haniyeh is the top commander of the time there was a ceremony that iran's revolutionary force commander was aborted by the iranian supreme leader a victory medal. in that ceremony all the commanders were present except ismail haniyeh, so iranians have been asking where is he? he has been missing for almost a week, the last time he was seen was at a funeral of nurse roller in tehran, and since then he has not been seen that the iranians say he is safe and sound, which is hard to believe. safe and sound, which is hard to believe-— safe and sound, which is hard to believe. the big question is what israel — to believe. the big question is what israel does _ to believe. the big question is what israel does next - to believe. the big question is what israel does next and's i what israel does next and's defence minister yoav gallant has been talking about iran

today? has been talking about iran toda ? ., . , today? yoav gallant recently said... today? yoav gallant recently said- -- he — today? yoav gallant recently said... he first _ today? yoav gallant recently said... he first denied - today? yoav gallant recently said... he first denied all. today? yoav gallant recently| said... he first denied all the allegations because iran has been claiming victory and they said 90% of our missiles landed in israel, he was saying our athlete and fighter jets in israel, he was saying our athlete and fighterjets took no scratch, everything is fine. he also said if iran tries to harm as they better look at what has happened in gaza and lebanon, he was kind of implying they would apply the same strategy they have applied in gaza and lebanon in iran. whether that is possible, iran is a massive huge country and they have proven capable of retaliating and that is what many are worried about, this war of words will turn into a massive full—blown, full—scale war between the countries. 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. let me show you some of the pictures we've had in. first to france and this vigil was held in paris. more than 3,000 members of thejewish community took part, with pictures of some of the hosatges held up. next to glasgow in scotland, here you can see israeli flags and small red heart balloons held by the people who took part in the vigil to remember the victims of the hamas attacks. in germany hundreds of people ralled in the capital berlin under the slogan "united against the crimes of hamas against israelis and palestinians." the protest began at the famous brandenburg gate and made its way to the site of the first nazi book burnings in 1933. in the uk thousands of people gathered in london's hyde park. one of the hostages taken on october 7th is 28—year—old emily damari. speaking at the memorial event, her mother revealed the nightmare she's faced since her only daughter was kidnapped almost a year ago. our special correspondent lucy manning reports.

emily damari is a spurs fan. when she visits the uk she loves going to the pub, shopping in primark, and going to ed sheerhan concerts. but emily, a british israeli citizen, has been held hostage by hamas for 364 days. she was kidnapped by hamas gunmen from her home. they shot her in the hand and killed her dog. speaking in london for the first time her british mother mandy believes she has been forgotten. if you imagine for a moment if emily was your daughter, try to picture what she is going through. since the 7th of october last year she has been held hostage by hamas terrorists in the gaza terror tunnel 20 metres or more underground. kept in captivity, tortured, isolated, unable to eat, speak or even move without someone else's permission. stripped of every human right. emily's mother is pleading with britain and other countries to do more to secure the release of her daughter

and other hostages. why isn't the whole world especially britain fighting every month to secure her release. she is one of their own. at this memorial event british jews, many with family and friends in israel, are faced with the twin reality is that the hostages have still not been released. and here they have faced increasing anti—semitism. the chief rabbi recited the jewish anti—semitism. the chief rabbi recited thejewish prayer for the dead as a mother praised her daughter and all the other hostages will return home. lucy manning, bbc news. now it's time for a look at today's sport with chetan. hello from the bbc sport centre. three results to bring you from the english premier league, it's now five games in a row without a win for manchester united — they weren't beaten, but drew 0—0 at fifth placed aston villa. united riding their luck at times but also creating

a couple of good chances. captain bruno fernandes rattling the crossbar with a freekick. the point does nothing for their league position, they stay in 1ath, ten points behind the leaders liverpool. the result is unlikely to quiten the specualtion around manager erik ten hag's future. with the international break starting, united won't play again for a fortnight. i think the performance of united is very good. defending but also in possession part, i think we controlled the game. it was in balance. we created some chances but not much of it and on the other side was villa. this is our clean sheet, we're in a new direction and now also we improve defending the counterattacks that shows we're in a good direction. brighton fought back from two goals down to beat tottenham 3—2. spurs made a great start with brennan johnson putting them ahead

with his sixth goal in as many games as they looked to win a sixth match in a row in all competitions. 2—0 they lead at half time. but brighton completed a famous comeback with danny wellbeck scoring the winner with around 25 minutes to go. brighton move up to sixth, two points ahead of tottenham in ninth. it was a great victory from my team, they deserve to win, they worked hard for this, their focus on the small steps and focused on the things they controlled especially in the second half, in the end i think they deserve to win. we have conceded goals before but it _ we have conceded goals before but it is — we have conceded goals before but it is how you react to them _ but it is how you react to them. fairto say but it is how you react to them. fair to say our reaction was _ them. fair to say our reaction was not — them. fair to say our reaction was not what it should be. do ou feel was not what it should be. drr you feel you learned more about your players today? hat your players today? not necessarily, _ your players today? not necessarily, maybe - your players today? not necessarily, maybe i - your players today? not necessarily, maybe i learned

something different but... it is a — something different but... it is a had _ something different but... it is a bad day for us and when it is a bad day for us and when it is a _ is a bad day for us and when it is a had — is a bad day for us and when it is a bad day, the at my feet. the points were also shared at stamford bridge, chelsea having to come from behind in an ill tempered match against nottingham forest. none madueke with the equaliser after chris wood gave the visitors the lead. forest finished the match with ten men but held on for a deserved point. scotland have lost again at the women's t20 world cup. they batted first against west indies in dubai and only made 99 off their 20 overs. the windies raced to their target with ease, winning by six wickets. meanwhile india have their first win after beating pakistan by six wickets. pakistan won the toss and batted first but struggled to get any meaningful parternship going, richa ghosh with a brilliant catch to dismiss fatima sana, pa kista n eventually reaching 105—8.

india lost their opening match and were quite cautious in their chase, and had a wobble when sana took two wickets in two balls but india eventually got themsleves over the line with an over to spare. they face sri lanka next on wednesday, pakistan have got the champions australia on friday. and that's all the sport for now. the prime minister's top adviser sue gray has resigned from her position as downing street chief of staff. our political correspondent iain watson has the details. 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 10. 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 10. herjob was to prepare labour for government, but now in government, labour looks 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 10. 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... the prime minister thanked sue gray for her supportand said... taking overfrom her is the man credited with masterminding labour's election win, labour's election win, morgan mcsweeney. morgan mcsweeney. this was welcomed by a former this was welcomed by a former adviser to the last adviser to the last labour government. labour government. it's really hard to drive party it's really hard to drive party politics from the centre politics from the centre of a government if you've not of a government if you've not come up through party politics. come up through party politics. i've worked with sue, i've worked with sue, i rate sue but i think you see for the prime minister. i rate sue but i think you see now the need for the political now the need for the political professionals to be a driving professionals to be a driving force in the columns, force in the columns, in the policy and everything in the policy and everything that's done. that's done. but the chief of staff to this but the chief of staff to this beleaguered prime minister beleaguered prime minister delivered a warning delivered a warning to the current prime minister. to the current prime minister. this is now a crucial moment this is now a crucial moment

for the prime minister. he's got to get this second iteration of his number 10 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.

politicaljudgment under renewed scrutiny least distance themselves at least 500 metres from the sites. this happened yesterday and about one and a half hours afterwards we saw those attacks on beirut. we will keep an eye on those live pictures. stay with us here on bbc news. 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—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—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. israel steps up its offensives against hezbollah in lebanon and hamas in gaza, on the eve of the october seventh anniversary. in the last few minutes the israeli military has called on civilians nearfour buildings in a surburb of beirut to evacuate immediately. 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