feet of the now is the feet of the humanitarian operation, especially in gaza. i'm ben brown, reporting live from jerusalem. despite roadway pressure, members of israel's parliament has voted overwhelmingly to cut off ties with the un refugee agency. hezbollah announces that naim qassem will become its new leader — replacing hassan nasrallah — who was killed by israel last month. the leaders of ukraine and south korea discuss how to respond to the deployment of north korean troops to join russia's war effort. one week until the us presidential election — kamala harris and donald trump adress voters in key battleground states. and a mayan mystery — the ancient city hidden underground in mexico, with pyramids, sports fields, and amphitheatres.

hello, i'm lucy hockings, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. hamas emergency officials in gaza say an israeli strike on the northern town of beit lahiya has killed at least 60 palestinians. just a warning that the pictures we are about to show contain some graphic images of the aftermath of the attack. footage shows bodies wrapped in blankets alongside the rubble of the multistorey, residential building; others remain buried. rescuers say that locals and displaced people were killed, including many women and children. there's been no immediate comment from israel's military, which began a new offensive in the area this month, saying hamas had been regrouping there. it comes after a vote in the israeli parliament on monday banning the un's palestinian refugee agency unrwa from working within the country. un chief antonio guterres says the ban would have

devastating consequences for palestinians. the law comes into effect within three months and bars unrwa from operating in israel and annexed eastjerusalem, and severely curtails its ability to work in the occupied west bank and gaza. israel alleges that some unrwa employees were involved in the 7th october attacks. the bbc�*s ben brown is injerusalem. yeah, this was a really seismic decision by the yeah, this was a really seismic decision by the israeli parliament last night. members are of very angry with unrwa, the united nations refugee agency, and they were defying international pressure not to cut off ties with unrwa, not to stop unrwa working in the middle east, in gaza and the west bank especially, but they ignore that international pressure, they voted overwhelmingly for two separate bills that basically stop israel working with unrwa and making itsjob

israel working with unrwa and making its job almost impossible. making itsjob almost impossible. the un secretary—general has said this decision by the parliament will have devastating consequences, unrwa says it is a breach of international law, but members of the israeli parliament say that unrwa, this refugee agency of the united nations has been colluding with hamas and that some of the staff were even responsible for the october the 7th attacks last year. let's look at exactly. it was established in 1949 by the united nations following the arab—israeli war. it is a relief and humanitarian development agency for

palestinian refugees. it services —— its services include health care, education, social services and it supports more than 6 million refugees together, it employs some 30,000 staff. the people it supports are notjust in the west bank but injordan, lebanon and syria. so why exactly did the israeli parliament voted to cut off ties with unrwa? here is sharren haskel who is a member of israel's knesset — and proposed one of these bills. even in london, if an international organisation would have participated in a massacre of english people in london, i don't believe it would take more than 2a hours until the british government would kick them out of the country. when hamas has stolen more than 50% of the humanitarian goods

and sold it in the market, to people who couldn't afford it, that is when the humanitarian crisis really started. we need reorganisation with real capability, with the logistics capability, like the real united nations agency who are looking after the disaster areas, in syria and in sudan, and with millions of people who are affected by it. they have the logistics, they have the capabilities, they have the resources to actually provide humanitarian aid. i'v e i've been getting reaction from unrwa itself for palestinian refugees. juliette touma is the director of communications at unrwa. she says the organisation is critical for getting supplies to those who need it most in gaza and the west bank.

while we expected this would be —— while we expected this would be the case, it's quite a shock and the biggest concern right now is the fate of the humanitarian operation, especially in gaza where 2 million people rely on unrwa and its services.— and its services. might “ust exlain and its services. might “ust explain why i and its services. might “ust explain why this i and its services. mightjust explain why this legislation and its services. mightjust i explain why this legislation is going to have such a devastating impact on your work. ~ ., , ., �* ~ ., ., work. we really don't know what is the impact. — work. we really don't know what is the impact, we _ work. we really don't know what is the impact, we really - work. we really don't know what is the impact, we really don't . is the impact, we really don't know when and if this bill is going to be implemented. what we do know is that if it will be implemented, the questions that are there to ask is who is going to provide food assistance to 2 million people in gaza? who is going to provide primary health care? who's going to provide learning and schooling to hundreds and thousands of boys and girls? not only in gaza, but those kids who go to other schools in the occupied west bank and east jerusalem, who is going to do

that? �* , ., jerusalem, who is going to do that? �*, ., , that? there's also been the olio that? there's also been the polio vaccination _ that? there's also been the polio vaccination campaign | polio vaccination campaign which the world health organization has been running but i think unrwa has been helping with that. absolutely. it was a joint _ helping with that. absolutely. it was a joint united - helping with that. absolutely. it was a joint united nations | it was a joint united nations effort, unicef brought in the vaccines, and those who put those very precious drops in the kid's' mouth's were unrwa, my colleagues, the doctors and paramedics and medical workers, it was the unrwa drivers who put the vaccines in the car and took them to shelters. without unrwa, the humanitarian situation in gaza is likely to collapse. situation in gaza is likely to collapse-— situation in gaza is likely to collapse. you see you don't know if this _ collapse. you see you don't know if this is _ collapse. you see you don't know if this is going - collapse. you see you don't know if this is going to - collapse. you see you don't know if this is going to be l know if this is going to be implemented, there is a 90 day pause before it is implemented through three months, do you think the international pressure that we have seen in the last 2a hours and the international from the un secretary—general, from the uk prime minister, from various

other world leaders, could that pressure make a difference and stop this going through? let’s stop this going through? let's certainly hepe _ stop this going through? let's certainly hope so. _ stop this going through? let's certainly hope so. we - stop this going through? let's certainly hope so. we do - stop this going through? let�*s certainly hope so. we do hope we can continue to do the work that we are meant and we have signed up to do, to provide humanitarian assistance to people who need us most. we hope the international community and the state of israel and the parties in the conflict focus on instead of banning unrwa, focus on reaching a deal that would bring a ceasefire and bring respite to people in places across lebanon, where i am right now, but also of course in gaza. that deal would also immediately release the hostages, it would also bring much needed humanitarian assistance, administrated by unrwa across the gaza strip. that's really what the focus should be on.— that's really what the focus should be on. you will know what the — should be on. you will know what the israeli _ should be on. you will know| what the israeli government

have said and what members of the israeli parliament have said, that your organisation unrwa has colluded with hamas and that some of your staff actually took part in the october the 7th attacks last year. october the 7th attacks last ear. ~ ., , ., , year. with regards to these allegations, _ year. with regards to these allegations, the _ year. with regards to these allegations, the israeli - allegations, the israeli government has brought them forward to the attention of unrwa. the commissioner general has terminated the contracts of 12 of those staff in the united nations globally in new york. the secretary—general launched an investigation. the outcome of these investigations was that in the case of nine staff members, if the evidence that was provided to the investigation would be corroborated or authenticated, then there might be the possibility that these nine staff members, let's bear in mind, out of 30,000 staff members, there might be the possibility that they have participated in the 7th of

october attack. participated in the 7th of octoberattack. hand—in—hand, october attack. hand—in—hand, the agency octoberattack. hand—in—hand, the agency has launched an independent review through the former french foreign minister. according to that review, this agency, unrwa, has the most robust system in place to ensure that our staff and our programme, meaning ourwork, programme, meaning our work, ideas programme, meaning ourwork, ideas to the humanitarian principle of neutrality. —— adheres neutrality. breaking news from gaza, we were telling you at the top of the programme that 60 people had died in that israeli air strike in the town in the north of gaza, beit lahiya. the death toll has now risen to 93.

that's from the gaza health ministry. the death toll includes children. that's the latest from gaza. let's look at what is happening in lebanon. hezbollah has announced a new leader to take over from its long—time chief, hassan nasrallah, who was killed in an israeli air strike in beirut last month. he's naim qassem — the iranian—backed group's deputy secretary general. he's one of the few senior his brother leaders who remains alive after israel killed most of them in recent weeks. lebanon's health ministry says at least 60 people have been killed in israeli attacks

on the bekaa valley. the strikes hit five areas in the baalbek region, northeast of the capital beirut. the local governor called the attacks the most violent in the area since israel escalated the conflict against his brother last month. we can cross now to beirut and speak to emir nader. it there were not any idf warnings in advance of the air strikes and local search and rescue operations are ongoing. there had been a call out for heavy

equipment to search through some of the rubble. we have also heard in the south of the country, there have been air strikes that have continued as well. they have continued until today. well. they have continued until toda . ., ~ well. they have continued until toda. ., ~ ., �*, today. thank you, that's the latest situation _ today. thank you, that's the latest situation in _ today. thank you, that's the latest situation in lebanon. | today. thank you, that's the l latest situation in lebanon. to reflect on the latest death toll in gaza in the town of beit lahiya, that has gone up to 93 with 20 of those children. you are watching bbc news. stay with us.

turning to the race for the white house — and we're just a week away from election day with both candidates stepping up their campaign efforts in the key battleground states. speaking in ann arbor in michigan on tuesday kamala harris sought

to contrast her message with that of her republican rival, saying her message is about being all in this together and not about the enemy within. meanwhile in atlanta, georgia, mr trump hit back at critics who'd labelled him authoritarian, insisting he wasn't a nazi. he returned to attacking immigrants, claiming ms harris was importing criminals who rape and murder. later today, kamala harris will lay out her campaign's closing argument at the ellipse, near the white house. it's where donald trump delivered a controversial speech onjanuary 6th 2021 that helped incite a mob that stormed us capitol in a deadly riot. let's cross live now to washington and speak to our correspondent helena humphrey, and also jeff nussbaum. he served as a special assistant and senior speech writer to presidentjoe biden. we are only one week out. very

few people are undecided right now. kamala harris is talking at the ellipse, four years ago we saw donald trump speaking there, rallying his supporters before the storming of the us capital. that would be chosen to hit on that democratic theme about democracy being on the line with this us presidential election. president biden will not be addressing, he will be in baltimore where he is expected to announce a significant injection into that signature inflation reduction act at a time when the economy remains one of the top concerns on voters' minds. then we are

expecting to hear from on voters' minds. then we are expecting to hearfrom donald trump from an address from mar—a—lago in florida, it is being seen as a pre—battle to kamala harris's remarks. the question is whether he will address those controversial comments made about latinos and puerto ricans made at his closing remarks in new york, all of that coming at a time when the margins are incredibly small right now. you will then be heading to pennsylvania, a city where there is a majority latino population, and many puerto ricans who are eligible to vote in the election and the follow from those remarks continues.— follow from those remarks continues. , , ., �* continues. jev, you've written many important _ continues. jev, you've written many important speeches, i continues. jev, you've written l many important speeches, this really will be one kamala harris tonight in washington —— this really will be an important one kamala harris. its interesting, the closing

argument had long since been a term _ argument had long since been a term of— argument had long since been a term of -- — argument had long since been a term of -- a _ argument had long since been a term of —— a form of art but it takes — term of —— a form of art but it takes on _ term of —— a form of art but it takes on its _ term of —— a form of art but it takes on its original meaning, she is— takes on its original meaning, she is prosecuting a case here and she — she is prosecuting a case here and she needs to illustrate how she will— and she needs to illustrate how she will be a new path forward. you might— she will be a new path forward. you might hear something like that term _ you might hear something like that term because it allows her to push— that term because it allows her to push off from both sides, she has_ to push off from both sides, she has to push away from trump, _ she has to push away from trump, and i see with this with loyalty— trump, and i see with this with loyalty and love for my former boss _ loyalty and love for my former boss president biden, but she also _ boss president biden, but she also has — boss president biden, but she also has to push away from him and see — also has to push away from him and see what that new path forward _ and see what that new path forward looks like, in terms of democracy but also pocket book issues _ democracy but also pocket book issues like lower prices for prescription drugs issues like lower prices for prescription dru