regime who were involved in torturing political prisoners will be held accountable. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu testifies for the first time in his long—running corruption trial. and real—life �*succession�* — rupert murdoch loses his bid to change a family trust and give control of his media empire to his eldest son. hello, i'm lucy hockings. good to have you with us on bbc news. more now on developments in syria, and the search for the tens of thousands of citizens who disappeared after being detained by the assad regime during the civil war. we mentioned earlier how rescue workers have ended their search for detainees in secret cells at saydnaya military prison, without finding anyone. specialised teams — assisted by dog units — had been combing the prison as crowds gathered in the hope of finding their missing relatives. most of those who disappeared into assad's prisons remain missing. they are lawyers, human rights defenders, key witnesses

and others who dared to challenge assad's rule. the syrian network for human rights estimates that the regime has detained approximately one hundred and thirty six thousand people. of those, an estimated 96,000 are believed to have been forcibly disappeared. that leaves around 40,000 individuals who were officially detained. most of them have since been released. but the fate of the 96,000 forcibly disappeared remains largely unknown, and they constitute most unresolved cases. let's speak to the director of the syrian network for human rights, fadel abdul ghany. his team produced those statistics, and he's been monitoring the fate of detained people in syria since the start of the civil war.

we are so pleased to have you with us here on bbc news, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. when i read the words of forcibly detained, it is such an emotional phrase but can you explain to us exactly what that means? . ~ explain to us exactly what that means? ., ~ , ., ., ., means? thank you for having me. we have been _ means? thank you for having me. we have been working _ means? thank you for having me. we have been working on - means? thank you for having me. we have been working on this - we have been working on this file for 14 years in syria on a daily basis which means the party, the side, the authority arrested or kidnapped, the person denies they have it which transfers from arbitrary arrest to being enforced disappearance which means we do not know anything about him or his family or any lawyer, so no one knows anything about his fate, if he is alive or dead. what is that like for families and people when they know their

loved one has been taken away and forcibly disappeared? it is equivalent _ and forcibly disappeared? it is equivalent of _ and forcibly disappeared? it is equivalent of war, _ and forcibly disappeared? it 3 equivalent of war, they feel horrific for days and years and comparing with killing, killing is more mercy than enforced disappearance. it is a weapon of force being used by the assad regime and our database has discovered that approximately 96,000 has disappeared and the actual estimation is more than that but the details of where he disappeared and when, other details, name, family... this is the minimum and may be the figure is double. but all of the families lives like this for years and it diminishes any glimpse of hope that they are

standing with other branches like 2015, several branches and prisoners asking where they are and this is the question i try to answer. and this is the question i try to answer-— and this is the question i try to answer. ~ . , to answer. we have seen, as you know, to answer. we have seen, as you know. these — to answer. we have seen, as you know, these incredible _ to answer. we have seen, as you know, these incredible pictures l know, these incredible pictures from the prison that have just been shown everywhere around the world, people really cannot believe some of what they are seeing. what have those people who have now managed to get out of the prison been through? actually they've been through the horrific tragic method of torture, lack of medical support or any type of self—care or care which leads to the photos we noticed and of course in addition to that, the method of torture, like hitting

and all the others we used to describe and that leads to death through torture which explains the high figures of those who have died through torture. the circumstances of the environment leading to those people becoming ill and suffering and dying because of that and this is a horrific method of torture. it’s method of torture. it's incredibly _ method of torture. it's incredibly difficult - method of torture. it's incredibly difficult work you've been doing since the start of the civil war. so hard for you as well i can imagine and we have seen an interview you did yesterday on the syrian television which was very moving where you described what you think may have happened to those who have been forcibly disappeared. tell me about that interview on what you told people, and how difficult it must have been for you. it is my responsibility as the head of this network for human

rights which is the main organisation who documented the forced disappearance in syria forced disappearance in syria for use to announce this very sad announcement, very sad news for thousands of families. but i don't have — for thousands of families. but i don't have any _ for thousands of families. but i don't have any other for thousands of families. bit i don't have any other choice except to do that and this is a very heavy burden so i cried and because of how we came to this conclusion and i did not used to cry. i am not... 0r methodology that make mythology indicated this from when the deaths were announced, meaning the death certificates were published in 2018, some of them fully disappearance gives us an

indication that assad is killing those. then in 2022, we also reach the person in the industry, any government and took the death certificate for forced disappearance as well and published another report with making it clear that all of them are the majority of them, as we mentioned that, they killed but we declared only what we obtained in the death certificates and extract them out of syria with identification, identification is very strict and high so we announce about 3000 out of 96,000 but while we announce that may be 85 persons, 80,000, a huge figure, because of those stages i mentioned, 2018 and 2022, we got a tremendous amount of death certificates of

the disappearance from verity of time and they registered as dead and now in the security branches and prisons have been opened, where are those? that death, all of that, that leaves us with proof of what we had before and we need to announce that because the people is asking our operation where they are and it is a considerable amount as i mentioned. it's about 100,000.— about 100,000. really tragically. _ about 100,000. really tragically, just - about 100,000. really tragically, just so - about 100,000. really tragically, just so our l about 100,000. really - tragically, just so our viewers are very clear what you have said if you believe many of those who have been forcibly disappeared have most likely died which is heartbreaking, obviously, forfamilies. how obviously, for families. how important obviously, forfamilies. how important is it now to be able to do things like issue a death certificate so families can have some sense of closure and really begin grieving in a

different kind of way? i think this is the — different kind of way? i think this is the time _ different kind of way? i think this is the time because - different kind of way? i think| this is the time because what we want is in front of those branches and the numbers you notice they are published everywhere on social media. the family suffers more and they are sleeping on the ground in this chilly weather without any shelter and they are waiting and imagining there is a secret centre of detention or a floor underground or a heavy door or whatever and that is actually incorrect, the fact that the truth that i want to declare and this is something that is hard for me to announce but i have to do it, now the family need to know about that and start to grieve and start healing. it is better than

being more anxious. this is the philosophy of forced disappearances to keep people anxious and make people suffer, and all the community, their loved ones in the community, i want this to be ended after all the centre of detention is opened, this is the time in the moment, and i reposted this interview and thanks to the bbc as well, to allow me to reach to the maximum level of the people to announce unfortunately that the vast majority i'm talking about between 85—90% from the enforced disappearance in the centre of detention have been killed and we are very much sorry to announce that to the syrian people. a, sorry to announce that to the syrian maple-— syrian people. a very sad moment _ syrian people. a very sad moment for _ syrian people. a very sad moment for you - syrian people. a very sad moment for you and - syrian people. a very sad moment for you and yourj syrian people. a very sad - moment for you and your team but very important that this some clarity and closure for those people. thank you very much forjoining us.

and another loud night but we don't think any military infrastructure was hit. let's bring in the bbc verified team. we have been analysing footage of air strikes posted on social media. here is the report. since the fall of the syrian president bashar al—assad, there has been out strikes on syria and we've been analysing footage of air strikes like this one. this is posted overnight on social media and several other videos like this one be verified from december. —— the one be verified from december. -- the 8th one be verified from december. —— the 8th of december. this is next to damascus and it includes a strike to be verified on the outskirts of damascus which is a crucial site because at that lead the

chemical weapons programme and traces of those weapons have been found at the centre by that same watchdog long after syria declared it had destroyed its stockpile. the un found chemical weapons were used in syria by assad including in the capital damascus on 2014 was reportedly killed hundreds of people. experts said this... but he also said there was a chance of collateral damage and casualties on the ground but probably a small chance of contamination and it is not just from the air. israeli troops are also on the ground and be verified footage of what appeared to be israeli forces moving into an area called the buffer zone, a demilitarised area of the heights and this is an image of an israeli soldier which we verified and he appears to be about 700 metres outside the buffer zone into syria. let me show you what that looks like on the map. these heights are in area c in the six—day war in 1967 and

unilaterally annexed in 1981. israel said it is carrying out these operations to stop weapons falling into the hands of extremists following the overthrow of the assad regime and what impact it will have on the wider region remains to be seen. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

to south korea and the turmoil following president yoon's failed attempt to impose martial law last week. he's been banned from leaving the country whilst a military intellegence chief has been suspended from duty. tens of thousands of people came out calling for president yoon to resign or be impeached. 0ur seoul correspondent jean mackenzie gave us an update on the impeachment issue. it looks like we're going to have another vote to impeach the president this coming weekend. now, the vote that happened on saturday, it actually couldn't go ahead in the end because the members, the parliament members of the ruling party,

decided to boycott that vote. now, they did so, we think, because it was an anonymous vote and they were worried that some of the members might cross the floor, they might defect and they might vote in favour of this impeachment. now, the opposition party only needs eight votes from the ruling side in order to be able to impeach the president. but i know that some of the ruling party mps, they were frustrated that they were actually blocked from voting and they want to be able this time ahead to vote either for or against, they want to be given a free vote. and we've already had today three mps come out and say that whatever the party decides they have to do, they are going to at least take part in this vote. now, it doesn't mean they're going to vote to impeach the president necessarily, but they are going to take part in the vote. now, we have to bear in mind that why the ruling party up to this point haven't wanted to impeach the president. they are worried about

elections that would follow, because if the president is impeached there will be snap elections and they are worried they might lose these. they intensely dislike the opposition leader here, lee jae—myung. now, this man is actually under a number of criminal investigations here in south korea at the moment. so what they are essentially trying to do, we think, is to run down the clock. they are hoping that lee jae—myung is convicted of one of these crimes and that would bar him from office. now, they need, though, about six months in order for some of these criminal investigations to play out. but we think that some of these mps are starting to think twice about this strategy and starting to question whether they really are going to be able to hold out for this long given the public anger here. and some other news from 1524 00:16:43,351 --> 0