live from london, this is bbc news. israel intensifies its aerial assault on lebanon — at least 13 people are killed in a strike next to the country's biggest hospital. the us secretary of state arrives in israel as antony blinken tries once again to revive hopes of a ceasefire. here, thejustice secretary admits the government will run out of prison places again, as more than 1,000 inmates are released early to try and ease overcrowding. president putin hosts world leaders at the brics summit of emerging economies, which the kremlin says highlights the failure of the west to isolate russia. and king charles ends his tour of australia with a visit to sydney harbour to view the country's fleet.

hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. thank you forjoining us. in southern beirut, an israeli air strike next to the country's biggest government—run hospital is now said to have killed 13 people, including a child. lebanon's health ministry says another 57 people were injured. the strike appeared to hit the car park of the rafik hariri university hospital. these are live pictures of the capital. the idf says it indends to strike the finances of hezbollah, as the terror group continues to fire rockets into northern israel. that is what israel calls that organisation. the israeli military says it has identified a bunker concealed under another beirut hospital that it says holds hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cash and gold. theirspokesman, rearadmiral daniel hagari said the money was being used to finance hezbollah�*s attacks

on israel and provided these reconstructions — saying the bunker is located directly under the hospital in the heart of beirut. no further evidence was provided and the hospital's administration has denied the claims. israel said it was monitoring the compound but would not strike the hospital itself. here are some pictures from israeli strikes overnight. this is baabda, a suburb of beirut. israel says it's hitting targets that are linked to hezbollah. we can speak now to our middle east correspondent lina sinjab, who's in beirut. hospitals are sharply in focus with these latest developments. what do we know happened with those strikes near the rafik hariri university hospital? yesterday the israelis launched a warning, calling for evacuation from seven

locations, especially in southern beirut. but that location near the rafik hariri university hospital was not among those listed on the israel defense forces warning. there was a parallel streets close to the hospital which was listed so we are not sure what was the target and why this area was hit. it is densely populated with civilians, it is a hospital, one of the. there were severe damage caused to the hospital. as you mentioned, over 50 people were injured, mostly children, and 13 dead. so this attack left lebanese and especially here in beirut in shock and total fear because there were no warnings, no reason for the attack and this is certainly not a hezbollah stronghold or hezbollah area. the israeli government saying

it is trying to degrade hezbollah militarily and financially too? how is that plan working? we financially too? how is that plan working?— financially too? how is that plan working? financially too? how is that [an workinu? ~ ., , plan working? we had seen their 0 eration plan working? we had seen their operation and — plan working? we had seen their operation and targeting - plan working? we had seen their operation and targeting several. operation and targeting several hezbollah members and also the officials of hezbollah but also yesterday they had started a new tactic which is attacking hezbollah�*s finance, economic help, attacking the hezbollah bank or credit line that helps the shia community that provides interest free loans for people. but from the lebanese perspective it is helping the ordinaries, the small businesses, but for the israelis they are claiming that this bank, financial institution, is funding hezbollah activity and military activities, that is why they

have targeted this bank in several locations, at least 16 locations, in an attempt to cripple the group further financially, not only militarily.— financially, not only militaril . ~ . ., ~ militarily. we have talked about the _ militarily. we have talked about the casualties - militarily. we have talked about the casualties of i militarily. we have talked i about the casualties of these latest strikes but there is the humanitarian impact, with so many people being displaced. what kind of support are lebanese getting in the midst of this? ., , lebanese getting in the midst of this? . , , ., of this? really there is a shortage. _ of this? really there is a shortage, lebanese - of this? really there is a shortage, lebanese civil| shortage, lebanese civil society, people to people, they are out and about, trying to help. many houses and restaurants are turned into food facilities to provide food for people, many areas were turned into shelters, the government says over 900 locations have been turned into shelters like schools and other locations but the demand is really high. the government says over 1.2 million are already displaced. the numbers

are increasing with more and more areas being hit by the israelis, more and more buildings out of living conditions so people are seeking shelter here and there and tension is rising because of scarcity of safe locations and also winter is coming so people are staying in schools, they have no heating, families are sharing the same bathroom, the same location, it is not an ideal situation to continue for long. it is an emergency response that is not strong because this is already a country crippled with its economic problems. lina sin'ab, thank ou economic problems. lina sin'ab, thank you mi economic problems. lina sin'ab, thank you forjoining * economic problems. lina sin'ab, thank you forjoining us * economic problems. lina sinjab, thank you forjoining us from - thank you forjoining us from beirut. as concern about the humanitarian crisis in northern gaza grows, the us secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in israel. he is due to be meeting by minister benjamin netanyahu.

mr blinken has released five priorities to try to end the conflict. firstly, to talk to israel and others about how to end the war in gaza — which includes bringing home all the israeli hostages. he will also discuss with israel a post—conflict "day after" plan. he wants to review humanitarian asissstance to gaza — this after the us gave israel 30 days to take steps or risk some military assistance being cut off. —— humanitarian assistance to gaza. mr blinken wants to try to discuss ways to get a resolution to the war with hezbollah. and he'll also discuss israel's expected retaliation against iran. let's go live tojerusalem, where we're joined by our correspondentjonah fisher. we have seen lots of visits by mr blinken to the region since this war began. is there a real expectation he will try to push for a ceasefire this time? this is the 11th _ for a ceasefire this time? this is the 11th time _ for a ceasefire this time? this is the 11th time antony - for a ceasefire this time? ti 3 is the 11th time antony blinken has come to the middle east since this war started just

over one year ago, and to be quite frankly expectation is pretty low about what he can achieve on this trip. this diplomatic initiative came about following the killing of hamas leader yahya sinwar last hamas leader ya hya sinwar last week hamas leader yahya sinwar last week in gaza. i think there was a feeling than amongst western countries in particular that that might provide possibly a window of opportunity to push again for negotiations to restart about a ceasefire, a possible exchange of hostages. in the days that have followed since then it has become pretty clear from the israeli side that they have military objectives that they still want to achieve both in gaza, where clashes have continued overnight, and in lebanon where, as you just heard, there has been continued strikes on beirut. what will they talk about when prime minister blinking meets benjamin netanyahu in a couple of hours? i think there will be the

situation in gaza after any agreement —— what will they talk about when antony blinken meets benjamin netanyahu in a couple of hours? israel has made it pretty clear they do not want hamas to be in charge of gaza but have not really put forward much of a vision as to what or whom might be there instead. 0ne what or whom might be there instead. one thing which could perhaps be deliverable, something which was realistic for mr blinken to aim for, is to try to improve humanitarian access into gaza as we have reported for the past few weeks, the situation in northern gaza in particular is particularly bleak and violence are still continuing in terms of strikes but also very difficult for the amount of aid needed to get in, united nations officials warning things are pretty atrocious so that might be something which antony blinken might push forward today.— antony blinken might push forward today. thank you very much, forward today. thank you very much. jonah _ forward today. thank you very much, jonah fisher— forward today. thank you very much, jonah fisher in - much, jonah fisher in

jerusalem. mr blinken�*s visit to the middle east comes after the white house said it is "deeply concerned" about the leak of a pair of highly classified intelligence documents describing israel's preparations for a retaliatory strike on iran. the documents appeared on telegram at the weekend, including satellite images and classified analysis. one of the first acts of the new labour government was to sanction the early release of hundreds of prisoners from england and wales. today at least 1,000 more inmates will be set free, in a fresh effort to free up space injails. people convicted of murder, sex crimes or terrorism will not be eligible, but others serving a sentence of more than five years will now qualify for early release. the chief inspector of probation — martinjones — told bbc radio 4 that regardless of today's releases a more fundamental reform of the system was needed to ensure that prisons didn't run out of space again. well, certainly my assessment

is that there is a significant risk that the amount of space that has been created by the sds40 changes will be reduced as a result of the high level of recalls that we've been seeing. historically, over a number of years now, i see no indication that there will be fewer recalls as a result of this. so of course there will be some benefit but it will be quickly chipped away at and it's the reason why a hard look at recall is necessary for the long term. the justice secretary, shabana mahmood warned that the government will run out of prison places again — despite the measures. even with emergency release, even with allowing for the number of records that have to take place, we are still going to run out of prison places. again, we have bought ourselves some time in order to think about some longer term solutions to this crisis, but make no mistake about it, whilst we have some more headroom in our prison system, the situation is still very difficult and that's why we have to come forward with more longer term proposals

to try and get that situation back into balance. let's take a quick look at the numbers. as it stands, for every 100 people released in the first quarter of this year, 56 were recalled. so around half of people released from prison are recalled in time. recalls account for 14% of the prison population — so it's a significant contributor to the overcrowding. let's speak to former chief inspector of prisons, nick hardwick. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. we saw those comments from the justice news. we saw those comments from thejustice secretary saying prisons could run out of spaces soon. how likely do you think that is? i spaces soon. how likely do you think that is?— think that is? i think it is definite. _ think that is? i think it is definite. if— think that is? i think it is definite. if no _ think that is? i think it is definite. if no more - think that is? i think it is| definite. if no more action think that is? i think it is - definite. if no more action is taken, the basic arithmetic is clear. we are admitting more people than we are releasing, and if we keep doing that then you run out of space and you

can't build prison places as quickly as the population is increasing. so there is no doubt about it, the system will run out of space in the summer unless something is done. the immediate _ unless something is done. the immediate solution to the government has put forward, for example early release, also pose security challenges too? yes, it is important to be clear that these are early releases, prisoners who would have been released after they had done 50% of their sentence are now being released after they have done 1t0%, so they are being released a few weeks or months early. we know that about one in three of all prisoners released reoffend within a year, so some of those will reoffend but they will reoffend a little earlier than they would have before, so that it is not a comfort to those victims but if you want to

reduce the number of victims overall than you have to create capacity in the prison system to be able to do the work necessary to try to reduce the risk that people will reoffend. so there is some short—term pain for long—term gain, if you like. pain for long-term gain, if you like. ~ ., ., .,~ ., like. what do you make of the government's _ like. what do you make of the government's plans _ like. what do you make of the government's plans to - like. what do you make of the government's plans to review| government's plans to review sentencing? how long would that take and how long before it starts to impact on the overcrowding problem? what they are aaivin overcrowding problem? what they are giving at _ overcrowding problem? what they are giving at the _ overcrowding problem? what they are giving at the moment - overcrowding problem? what they are giving at the moment as - overcrowding problem? what they are giving at the moment as the l are giving at the moment as the justice secretary said bites than some short term breathing space —— what they are doing at the moment. longer term, they have to look at sentence length and that will take some time to do. i think it will take probably a year to do it and it will be very politically controversial because you will have to deal with people who have to deal with people who have committed quite serious offences and have a discussion about why we are sending those

sorts of people to prison for much longer than in the past. i think that will be an uncomfortable discussion which raises very profound issues. it seems like even with the early releases those prison places quickly run out. do you think the government at the moment it's firefighting, trying to deal with a crisis which will unfortunately just last four months? to unfortunately 'ust last four months? ., , ., unfortunately 'ust last four months?_ unfortunately 'ust last four months? ., ., months? to be fair to them, they are _ months? to be fair to them, they are in — months? to be fair to them, they are in a _ months? to be fair to them, they are in a fire _ months? to be fair to them, they are in a fire at - months? to be fair to them, they are in a fire at the - they are in a fire at the moment and they are fighting it, but they are all so i think doing some long—term potentially quite unpopular things to fix the problem. they had to deliver so we will see what happens, but i think there is a twin track, short—term emergency action under a long term review of the system is probably the right forward —— right way forward. than? probably the right forward -- right way forward.— right way forward. any other measures — right way forward. any other measures you _ right way forward. any other measures you would - right way forward. any other measures you would like - right way forward. any otherj measures you would like the government to introduce? i think there are two measures. as your previous said, they

need to look at records, reducing the number recalled to prisons, but sometimes i think there is not a very good