we can say that we are as close as possible compared to any time point before to reaching a ceasefire. we'll get the latest from our teams in jerusalem and washington. donald trump's pick for defence secretary faces senate confirmation a hearing. live pictures from the proceedings when he answers some of those questions, whether he is fit to lead the military. we will carry that live. here, the prisons watchdog warns that drones used to fly weapons into high—security jails, are a threat to national security. and the princess of wales meets patients at the royal marsden hospital — as she thanks staff, who cared for her, during cancer treatment.

hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. after more than a year of bloodshed, there are growing hopes that the war in gaza could finally be coming to an end. negotiatons in qatar, between israel and hamas, are said to be, in theirfinal stages. a qatari spokesman says an agreement is now "closer than it's been for months". the conflict began a65 days ago. the possible deal is thought to include the initial release of 3a israeli hostages. in return, it's expected that some palestinian prisoners would be freed. and an agreement would need to be reached on the future of gaza, including whether israeli troops can remain there. we'll be getting the latest from our gaza correspondent — and our teams injerusalem and washington after this report from our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley. with hopes rising of a breakthrough at last, all eyes were on what the qatari mediators had to say.

we have reached a point where the major issues that were preventing a deal from happening were addressed and we have language pertaining to this issue that has been distributed between both parties. we especially appreciate both the biden administration and the incoming trump administration in the talks in the past couple of weeks. october the 7th 2023 was israel's worst day, an unprecedented attack from gaza by land, air and sea led by hamas. 1,200 people were killed, many of them attending a music festival. and hostages were taken, 250 of them. around 100 are still in gaza, their families desperate to have them back. israel responded with fury, vowing to crush hamas. in the war that has followed, swathes of gaza have been turned into rubble and more than 16,000 palestinians have been killed, many of them civilians.

most of the population of gaza has been displaced. the suffering on a scale that aid workers say is hard to comprehend. that the international community says it must end. pressing hard to close this. the deal we have structured would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to israel and allow us to significantly serve humanitarian assistance to the palestinians. there has beenjust one pause in the fighting back in november 2023 when some hostages were freed, in return for palestinian prisoners going home. since then, mediators have tried so many times and failed to end the war. the renewed urgency comes from soon to be president trump who sent his middle east envoy to israel at the weekend to twist arms. he now says the deal is close, that it has to be done or, in his words, there is going to be a lot

of trouble out there. a deal would halt the bombardment and bring israeli hostages back to their families. it would allow palestinians to return to what is left of their homes. the humanitarian situation in gaza described by the un as catastrophic could finally be addressed. a deal now seems to be tantalisingly close, but it is not there yet. caroline hawley, bbc news. plenty more on that throughout the course of our programme. i'm going to take your life to washington, that is pete hegseth, present from's pick. my hegseth, present from's pick. my incredible wife. she has changed my life and been with me throughout this entire process. i love you, sweetheart, and i thank god for you. and asjenny and i pray together every morning, all glory, regardless of the

outcome, belongs to our lord and saviourjesus christ. his grace and mercy abounds each day. may his will be done. thank you to my father, brian, my mother, penny, including our entire family including our seven incredible kids. sorry, it is a lot of them! their future safety and security is in all of our hands. and to all the troops and veterans watching and here in the room, navy seals, green berets, soldiers, pilots, marines, gold stars and more, too many friends to know. 0fficers enlisted black and white, young and old, men and women, all americans, all warriors. this hearing is for you. thank you for figuratively and literally having my back.

well pete hegseth's opening statement there, there is a heckler that in the room and you can see the cameras swing round. it was difficult to make out what they were actually saying but interrupting proceedings. there of course has been so much criticism of pete hegseth in terms of the nominee questioning whether he would allow women to serve. he is of course facing that allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in california backin assaulted a woman in california back in 2017. he of course denies the claim. he has resumed. denies the claim. he has resumed-— denies the claim. he has resumed. ., ., , ., ., resumed. two months ago 77 million americans _ resumed. two months ago 77 million americans gave - million americans gave president trump a powerful mandate for change. to put america first, at home and abroad. i want to thank president trump for his faith

in me and his selfless leadership for our republic. the troops have no better commander—in—chief than donald trump. as i have said to many of you in private meetings, when president trump chose me for this position, the primary charge she gave me was to bring the warrior culture back to the department of defence. he, like me, once a pentagon laser focused on meritocracy, lethality, warfighting focused on meritocracy, lethality, war fighting and readiness. protestor interrupts. well, another interruption, as you can see. of course security just moving in. let's return. that's it, that's myjob. i

suspend your remarks. let me 'ust suspend your remarks. let me just say— suspend your remarks. let me just say this. the capital police _ just say this. the capital police are going to immediately remove — police are going to immediately remove individuals that are disrupting proceedings. i see a disrupting proceedings. ! see a pattern— disrupting proceedings. i see a pattern attempted to be inflicted on the committee and we are — inflicted on the committee and we are simply not going to tolerate _ we are simply not going to tolerate that. you may proceed. to bring — tolerate that. you may proceed. to bring back war fighting. if to bring back warfighting. if confirmed, i'm going to work with president trump and this committee, one, restore the warrior ethos. to the pentagon and throughout our fighting force. in doing so we will rear store confidence in our military. in our ranks...

protestor interrupts. you may. the strength _ protestor interrupts. you may. the strength of— protestor interrupts. you may. the strength of our _ protestor interrupts. you may. the strength of our military - protestor interrupts. you may. the strength of our military is - the strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose, not our differences. number two, we purpose, not our differences. numbertwo, we are purpose, not our differences. number two, we are going to rebuild our military. always matching threats to capabilities. this includes reviving our defence industrial base, reforming the acquisitions process. as you mention, mr chairman, no more valley of death the new defence companies. modernising our nuclear triad. companies. modernising our nucleartriad. ensuring companies. modernising our nuclear triad. ensuring the pentagon can pass an audit and rapidly fielding emergency technology —— emerging technologies. first and foremost we will defend our homeland, our borders and our skies. second, we will work with our partners and allies to deter aggression in the

indo—pacific from the commonest chinese. and finally we will responsibly end was to ensure that we prioritise our resources to reorientate to larger threats. we can no longer count on reputational deterrence. we need real deterrence. we need real deterrence. the department of defence under donald trump will achieve peace through strength. and in pursuing these america first national security goals, will remain patriotically apolitical and stridently constitutional. unlike the current administration, politics should play no part in military matters. we are not republicans, we are not democrats, we are american warriors. 0urstandards democrats, we are american warriors. 0ur standards will be high and they will be equal. not equitable. that is a very different word. we need to make sure every warrior is fully

qualified and every pilot is fully qualified and current on the aircraft they are flying. and every general or flag 0fficer and every general or flag officer is selected for leadership or promotion purely based on performance, readiness and merit. leaders at all levels will be held accountable and war fighting levels will be held accountable and warfighting and levels will be held accountable and war fighting and lethality in the readiness of the troops and their families will be our only focus. this has been my focus ever since i first put on the uniform as a young army cadet at princeton university in 2001. ijoined the military because i love my country. i felt an obligation to defend it. i served with incredible americans in guantanamo bay, in iraq, in afghanistan and on the streets of washington, dc. many of which are up with me here today. this includes enlisted

soldiers help to become american citizens. and muslim allies i helped immigrate from iraq and afghanistan. because when i took of the uniform, my mission never stopped. now it is true and has been acknowledged i don't have a similar graffiti to defence secretaries of the last 30 years. but as president trump also told me, we have repeatedly placed people atop the pentagon with supposedly the pentagon with supposedly the right credentials. whether they are retired generals, academics or defence contractor executives. and where has it gotten us? he believes and i humbly agree that it is time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. a change agent, someone with no vested interest in certain companies or specific programmes or approved narratives. my only special interest is the war fighter. deterring wars and if called upon winning wars by ensuring

our warriors never enter a fair fight. we let them win and we bring them home. like many of my generation, i have been there. i have led troops in combat, i have been on patrol for days. i have pulled the trigger down range, herd bullets whizzed by, flex curved insurgents, called in close air support, dodged ieds, pulled out dead bodies. and not before a battlefield cross. this is not academic for me. this is my life. i led then and i will lead now. ask anyone who has ever worked for me or with me, i know what i don't know. my success as a leader and i very much look forward to discussing my organisations successes. i am incredibly proud of the work that we have done. but my success as a leader has always

been setting a clear vision, hiring people smarter and more capable than me, empowering them to succeed, holding everyone accountable and driving toward clear metrics. build the plan, work the plan and then work harder than everyone else around you. i have sworn an oath to the constitution before and, if confirmed, i will proudly do it again. this time for the most important deployment of my life. i pledge to be a faithful partner to this committee, taking input and respecting oversight. we share the same goals, are ready, lethal military, the health and well—being of our troops and a strong and secure america. thank you for the time and i look forward to your questions for science thank very much, third. before we begin with questions i would like to remind my colleagues that consistent with the bipartisan

staff agreement from december and in concert with exactly how this committee dealt with the last secretary of defence nominee, each member will be recognised for one round of seven minutes to question the nominee. ., , , . ., nominee. out of respect for the time of all _ nominee. out of respect for the time of all members _ nominee. out of respect for the time of all members of - nominee. out of respect for the time of all members of this - time of all members of this committee, the time limits will be tightly enforced. we have now — be tightly enforced. we have now been here 45 minutes and i think_ now been here 45 minutes and i think we — now been here 45 minutes and i think we have done very well with— think we have done very well with the _ think we have done very well with the time. but at this point _ with the time. but at this point i _ with the time. but at this point i will begin my questioning of the nominee. mr hegseth. — questioning of the nominee. mr hegseth, you and your family have — hegseth, you and your family have endured criticism of your nomination since it was announced in november. let's -et announced in november. let's get into— announced in november. let's get into this allegation about sexual— get into this allegation about sexual assault, inappropriate workplace behaviour, alcohol abuse — workplace behaviour, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement during your time as a nonprofit executive. i should _ as a nonprofit executive. i should note that, the majority of these — should note that, the majority of these have come from anonymous sources in liberal

media — anonymous sources in liberal media publications. but i'm going — media publications. but i'm going to _ media publications. but i'm going to give you an opportunity to respond to these allegations. as opportunity to respond to these allegations-_ allegations. as to chairman, thank you — allegations. as to chairman, thank you for _ allegations. as to chairman, thank you for that _ allegations. as to chairman, i thank you for that opportunity. you are correct. we undertook you are cor