live from washington, this is bbc news. vladimir putin apologises for a plane crash that killed 38 people but stops short of saying russia was responsible. gaza's health ministry says medical staff are among hundreds of people held by israeli forces who raided the last major hospital in the north of the territory. and here in the us, homelessness reaches record highs, jumping 18% in 202a. hello, i'm carl nasman. reports are coming in of

a plane crashing as it we continue with our top story. in moscow russia's president, vladimir putin, apologised to the leader of azerbaijan over what he called the tragic incident involving a passenger plane which crashed killing 38 people on wednesday. he acknowledged that russia's air defences were active at the time but stopped short of saying his country was responsible. there is speculation that the azerbaijan airlines plane came underfire from russian air defence systems as it tried to land in the southern russian city of grozny. it later diverted to aktau airport in kazakhstan, where it crashed.

our russia editor steve rosenberg has more on the apology from moscow. it was an azerbaijan airlines flight. it had crashed in kazakhstan. but was russia responsible? a brief glimpse today of vladimir putin meeting his powerful security council, and then a kremlin announcement. president putin had telephoned azerbaijan's president to apologise for the fact that what he called the "tragic incident" had happened in russian airspace. according to putin, flight 8243 had made several attempts to land at grozny airport, in russia's north caucasus region. he claimed that grozny and other places nearby had been under attack from ukrainian drones and admitted russian air defence systems had been in operation. azerbaijan said that president aliyev had told

president putin that the plane had been subjected to external physical and technical interference in russian airspace. so words you very rarely hear from vladimir putin, "i apologise", but no public admission that it was a russian missile that caused this disaster, and also no explanation why this plane was allowed anywhere near grozny airport during a ukrainian drone attack. aviation experts suggest the aircraft may have been hit by shrapnel from russian air defence missiles. officials in russia had initially claimed the plane had hit a flock of birds. remarkably, 29 people survived this. translation: the plane turned round, and at that moment, there was a blast outside the aircraft. my arm was hurt in that blast. a deep wound, as if someone had hit me in the arm with an axe. meanwhile, anotherfuneral of another victim of this disaster.

mahammadali yeganov was just 13. in azerbaijan, they continue to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the last major functioning hospital in northern gaza is now out of service after it was forcibly evacuated by the israeli military. the kamal adwan hospital has been under siege by the israel defense forces for weeks and it now stands empty. the world health organization said it is deeply concerned for the safety of patients who were forced to leave. the head of the hospital's nursing department told the bbc that the israeli military gave them only a is—minute warning to clear patients and staff before troops entered the hospital and removed anyone that remained. palestinian health officials say about 100 medical staff were taken in for interrogation. the director of the hospital was also detained. israel said the raid on the hospital is now over, and claims it was being used by hamas fighters as a command centre, without providing evidence. our correspondent emir nader is injerusalem and sent this report.

sirens blare throughout gaza, patients forced out of the kamal adwan hospital by the israeli military are arriving to seek treatment. some brought in with assistance, others arriving by foot, bringing with them stories of how they were interrogated. translation: they took us one or two at a time - to the school's bathroom, ordering us to remove our pants and lift up our shirts. when we refused, they beat us. this happened three times, and each time, we were beaten for refusing. eventually, we were forced to comply because they aimed their guns at us and threatened to shoot. for weeks, kamal adwan staff issued desperate pleas for the israeli military to stop targeting the facility, situated in an area of northern gaza the united nations says israel has placed under a near—total siege. then, on friday morning, the military gave staff and patients 15 minutes to leave.

some were marched, nearly naked, to be interrogated. this evening the israeli military said 240 "terrorists" have been arrested from what they've called a hamas stronghold. weapons, they say, were found at the hospital. dr hossam abu safiya, the well—known director of the hospital, israel is calling a suspected terrorist, though without offering evidence. reports we can't verify say he has been beaten. fatima and her daughter were also being treated at the hospital, and forced out and told to walk south. translation: this is my injury. they hit our house with three rockets. after we went out of the house, they destroyed it, and its four floors collapsed on top of each other. for those who remain in besieged northern gaza, the closure of kamal adwan heralds an even darker chapter, where an injury can now become a death sentence. emir nader,

bbc news, jerusalem. lebanon has expelled dozens of people, including military personnel, believed to have entered illegally from syria. many senior syrian officials close to the former ruling family of bashar al—assad fled the country to neighbouring lebanon after assad's regime was toppled earlier this month. the expulsions come after syria's new ruling authorities vowed to find former regime members who committed human rights abuses. meanwhile, syria's embassy in lebanon has suspended consular services until further notice at the order of the syrian foreign ministry. no reason was given for the suspension. as syria's new regime takes shape, i discussed the latest with firas maksad, senior director for strategic outreach at the middle east institute. let's start with those 70 syrian military personnel. they were kind of kicked out of lebanon, won't they? sent back to syria, these were believed to syria, these were believed to be part of the former assad regime. really one of the unanswered question is, isn't

it, is how is syria going to be dealing with these sorts of people? dealing with these sorts of eo - le? , dealing with these sorts of --eole? , . ., people? yes, carl, well, what happened _ people? yes, carl, well, what happened today _ people? yes, carl, well, what happened today is _ people? yes, carl, well, what happened today is very - happened today is very emblematic of the changing nature of the relationship between these two countries. lebanon for many years was under syrian occupation and the intelligence services in lebanon were heavily infiltrated by both hezbollah and its ally in the syrian regime, so to see them hand over these offices in the way that they did is very encouraging and indicative of how the balance of power is changing between the two. for the new emerging syrian regime this is a very delicate balance to strike between, on one hand, justice for, dare i say, millions of victims of the assad regime, and it's extremely important at this moment in time that this doesn't come across as revenge and retribution. we all remember those horrific photos of, for example, the lynching of, for example, the lynching of saddam hussein in iraq. that looked like revenge, and that unleashes a cycle then. the

current syrian regime should not, does not, could not have to deal with.— not, does not, could not have to deal with. how do you think, then, to deal with. how do you think, then. syria _ to deal with. how do you think, then, syria will _ to deal with. how do you think, then, syria will go _ to deal with. how do you think, then, syria will go a _ to deal with. how do you think, then, syria will go a about - then, syria will go a about this? because, as you mentioned, there are so many victims, you see them going through the former prisons looking for loved ones. they will want some form of justice, but at the same time the country does want to move on. that's such a difficult thing to do, isn't it?— to do, isn't it? absolutely, and also — to do, isn't it? absolutely, and also making _ to do, isn't it? absolutely, and also making news- to do, isn't it? absolutely, l and also making news today to do, isn't it? absolutely, - and also making news today is the fact that the new head of intelligence is syria made the announcement he is dissolving all the former intelligence services. and there is an effort to bring justice, very clear. those who have blood on their hands, those who were in charge of that notorious prison where many were tortured at an industrial level, an industrial scale, those will be brought to justice. but there is a need to deal with the minorities in syria, the other whites of western syria on the coast, the christians, who were in many ways some of them the back pillar of the assad regime. you can't have retribution is targeting entire communities. so again, a very important

balance to strike there. we also saw — balance to strike there. we also saw syria's _ balance to strike there. we also saw syria's new administration connecting crackdowns against remnants of the administration in syria. there were about a dozen people killed in one of these raids. how tough is it going to be, do you think, for this new regime to try to keep the peace? it doesn't still control the entire area of syria, does it? no, it doesn't, and syria is a tapestry of various communities in various regions, so the fact that you control the massacres doesn't necessarily mean that you control the coast or you control southern syria where, for example, you have a very large jewish for example, you have a very largejewish community, an large jewish community, an offshoot largejewish community, an offshoot of shia islam, and then you have an overlay of regional influences. iran wanted to make a comeback, being accused of wanting to undermine the regime, support counterrevolutionary forces, turkey cou nterrevolutiona ry forces, turkey wa nted counterrevolutionary forces, turkey wanted to assert its dominance now, israel entering syria, southern syria, in a major way, syria, southern syria, in a majorway, pushing syria, southern syria, in a major way, pushing further in an incursion into southern syria, occupying land which it says will be a temporary occupation. so all these things

make for a very difficult situation for the de facto leader of syria.— situation for the de facto leader of syria. it's going to be interesting _ leader of syria. it's going to be interesting to _ leader of syria. it's going to be interesting to see - leader of syria. it's going to be interesting to see how. leader of syria. it's going to | be interesting to see how all these different factors play out as we move forward here. i do want to switch gears, though, because i know you were recently in lebanon. we know that the ceasefire deal between israel and has fuller was signed. i want to ask you based on what you saw on the ground how well is that ceasefire holding up? how well is that ceasefire holding up?— how well is that ceasefire holding up? well, carl, is hanging _ holding up? well, carl, is hanging by _ holding up? well, carl, is hanging by a _ holding up? well, carl, is hanging by a thread - holding up? well, carl, is hanging by a thread is - holding up? well, carl, is hanging by a thread is a l holding up? well, carl, is i hanging by a thread is a way holding up? well, carl, is - hanging by a thread is a way to put it. because of that shifting balance of power, let's not kid ourselves, netanyahu and israel have one. they have one in lebanon. hezbollah is very much defeated. as a result, the only reason that that ceasefire has not completely falling apart is because has fuller and also its sponsors in iran, after the fall of the assad regime, so weak. israel in factors pushing further in southern lebanon today than the time the ceasefire was announced 20 days ago. it is also pushing further

into syria, taking strategic locations. so should there be a new war, and the 60 day ceasefire ends, israel is at a great advantage. the only reason this hasn't fallen apart is because hezbollah understands that it is in a very precarious position. find very precarious position. and then briefly, _ very precarious position. and then briefly, before - very precarious position. and then briefly, before i- very precarious position. and then briefly, before i let you 90, then briefly, before i let you go, we are hearing obviously the idf still very active in northern gaza. this raid on the last functioning hospital there. what will palestinians, do you think, do? there are still tens of thousands in northern gaza. presumably now there is nowhere left to receive medical care. it’s there is nowhere left to receive medical care. it's an absolutely _ receive medical care. it's an absolutely horrific _ receive medical care. it's an absolutely horrific human i absolutely horrific human situation. ijust also came back from jordan, where i met the king and the head of general intelligence there, and they are not mincing their words, calling this a genocide, obviously a very controversial and legalistic term, but the toll of the human pain that is happening in northern gaza is horrific and very difficult to overstate. the israelis there, also hamas on its back foot, determined to stay in gaza in

one shape or another, and the ceasefire talks that are ongoing in qatar and ceasefire talks that are ongoing in qatarand in ceasefire talks that are ongoing in qatar and in egypt ebb and flow but at the end of the day haven't made much progress. the head of the world health organization has told the bbc it was public knowledge he was in yemen on thursday when israel launched air raids against houthi targets. this footage from the international airport in the capital, sanaa, shows the moment where it came under israeli fire. dr tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, who is now injordan, said the airport is a civilian facility and should not have been targeted. at least six people were killed in the raids. israel says it was targeting military infrastructure, but dr tedros says he only survived through good fortune. it was very chaotic. you know, people were in disarray and running everywhere, and no shelter. we were completely exposed. it's a matter of luck. otherwise, if the missile deviated just slightly, it could have been on our head.

and so my colleague actually said, after all that, "we escaped death narrowly." and it's a civilian airport. i think that there are rules to engagement, as you know. 2024 has been one of the most devastating recent years for children caught in armed conflict. a new report published by unicef reveals that more children than ever are living in war zones or are being forcibly displaced. at least 473 million children, more than one in six worldwide, now live in areas affected by conflict. many are missing out on education, facing extreme hunger and enduring lifelong trauma. the percentage of the world's children living in conflict zones has doubled from around 10% in the 1990s to nearly i9% today. by the end of 2023, more than 47 million children had been displaced due to conflict and violence in countries including haiti, lebanon, myanmar, the palestinian territories and sudan.

earlier i spoke tojoe english, an emergency communications specialist for unicef. we heard the numbers there in 2024, just a incredibly difficult year for children in conflict. what has that meant on the ground? what has unicef been seeing in some of the conflict zones there that we just heard from?— conflict zones there that we just heard from? yes, good to be with you. _ just heard from? yes, good to be with you, carl. _ just heard from? yes, good to be with you, carl. these - be with you, carl. these numbers often can be a little bit overwhelming, and they can almost even distract from the actual reality of the situation. you know, what we're talking about here is we're talking about here is we're talking about here is we're talking about millions and millions of children, millions of parents, who can't do that one thing that they want to do, which is keep their kids safe — you know, put them to bed at night, read them a story, knowing that they are going to wake up safely in the morning, make sure they have access to education, to the medicine and life—saving vaccines. and what we found when we were doing this analysis is it's notjust the crises that we see on the news every day. this is happening all around the world,

in places like myanmar and places like the democratic republic of the congo, which all too often don't get noticed because of the sheer scale of suffering elsewhere. you know, we're saying enough needs to be enough. in 2024 it has been such a bad year. we cannot, i cannot, stand here in year's time and say it has done worse again. we have to see a change in the world. we again. we have to see a change in the world.— in the world. we heard there the percentage _ in the world. we heard there the percentage of _ in the world. we heard there the percentage of the - in the world. we heard there | the percentage of the world's children living in conflict zones doubling from 10% turnout i9% zones doubling from 10% turnout i9% today. what does that mean for aid organisations like unicef? are there enough resources? are there enough aid workers to help all the children that are in need? their needs are absolutely huge. you know, this year i think 80% of humanitarian work is focused on crises that are created by conflict. you know, so that really shows — we may think of earthquakes or tsunamis or typhoons. 80% is due to conflict. but that also means that the world has a choice. you know, there are more wars, there are more conflicts going on now, that of

any other time since world war ii, so we have to see the international community come together and find ways to bring about peace. because, as you say, the resources to continue 1530 00:17:10,802 -->