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more now on our main story this hour — the efforts to agree a ceasefire between israel and hamas in gaza. we understand that negotiators from both sides have been involved in what are described as �*indirect�* talks in qatar. and there are signs from all sides that agreement might be close — but we aren't quite there yet. it's thought the deal would be complex — involving israeli troops remaining in parts of gaza, a joint egyptian and qatari security force monitoring the movements of some palestinian people, and an exchange of israeli hostages, and palestinian prisoners held in israeli jails. let's speak to political analyst and former middle east adviser at the us department of defence — jasmine el—gamal. thanks forjoining us. how close do you think this is? thanks forjoining us. it appears to be very close, much closer than we have been so far, i know we have hoped in the months pass that we were

close to a deal, but if you had seen the press conference that the qatari foreign ministry spokesperson gave this morning, he basically said there are breakthroughs that have been made in the last few days that were not made in the last few months, and that he was very optimistic a deal was going to be signed. he did say do not get ahead of yourselves and he did not want to say anything apart from that he was optimistic but he said it was more optimistic now than he has ever been, and the two parties are closer now than they have ever been in the last year, basically. ever been in the last year, basically-— ever been in the last year, basically. ever been in the last year, basicall . ~ , ., ~' basically. why do you think we have reached _ basically. why do you think we have reached this _ basically. why do you think we have reached this moment - basically. why do you think we l have reached this moment now? good question. there are several factors good question. there are severalfactors and one is good question. there are several factors and one is that the pressure has been building enormously on prime minister netanyahu within israel from neta nyahu within israel from the netanyahu within israel from the hostage families, we have seen protests, almost nonstop saying, end this war and bring

the hostages home. and there is pressure on hamas as well from the qatari and the egyptian side as well as from people inside gaza saying they have had enough of this destructive war, look at what has happened, the toll has been very high on all parties involved, especially when we look at gaza and the state it is in, completely decimated and destroyed. so that pressure has been building but i think the thing that has really tipped the scales is the victory of donald trump in the us elections in november, and the efforts that he and his incoming team, especially the special envoy for the middle east, who was a real estate person and a close personal friend of donald trump, the pressure they have been putting on netanyahu and the israelis on netanyahu and the israelis

on all sides but especially because of the relationship with netanyahu, putting the pressure on and saying publicly, you have to do this deal before i take office which is just deal before i take office which isjust and a deal before i take office which is just and a few days, and steve wheatcroft was in israel and qatar, and the israeli press is reporting stern messages he has sent to the israelis, basically saying the deal has to be signed, you are going to sign this deal, enough is enough, and donald trump saying there will be trouble like you have never seen before if this deal is not signed up immense pressure.- if this deal is not signed up immense pressure. how confident are ou immense pressure. how confident are you about _ immense pressure. how confident are you about the _ immense pressure. how confident are you about the second - immense pressure. how confident are you about the second and - are you about the second and third stages? there are details about the first stage and prisoner exchanges but much less clear about the second stage and the third.- stage and the third. that is ri . ht.

stage and the third. that is right- i'm _ stage and the third. that is right. i'm very _ stage and the third. that is right. i'm very cautious - right. i'm very cautious because there are so many details to be worked out and some of the final details are still being worked out in terms of the enforcement mechanism that will be in place to make sure that both sides adhere to this agreement. i can't predict anything because this is the middle east and i will not make any predictions but if we look at the lebanon ceasefire, that was a lot simpler and smaller in scale than this one, that has already been violated several times from both sides, and so it is farfrom over, i would say, but hopefully the deal will be signed soon. we have not deal will be signed soon. we have got to _ deal will be signed soon. we have got to leave it there but thanks forjoining us. that is the latest. we can return we saw the pictures of the princess of wales making that

visit going through the front door —— making that visit to the royal marsden. we can see the royal marsden. we can see the pictures of her going through the front door. when she had cancer treatment she had to quietly go into the hospital through the side entrance and back entrance but she has been there at the hospital today thanking staff and getting involved and talking to patients. we have a statement from the princess of wales. she said, i want to say thank you to the royal marsden for looking after me so well during the past year, my heartfelt thanks to those who have quietly walked alongside william and me as we have navigated everything. we could not have asked for more. the care and advice we have received as a patient

exceptional. the statement goes on to say, in my new role as joint patron of the royal marsden my hope is that by supporting ground—breaking research and clinical excellence and promoting family well—being, we might save more lives and transform the experience of all those impacted by cancer. it is a relief to now be in remission and i remain focused on recovery, as anyone who has experienced cancer, there's a lot to be thankful for, she says she is looking to fulfil the year ahead and adjusting to the year ahead and adjusting to the new norm. that is a statement from the princess of wales that has just been released as we continue to watch the pictures from her visit to the royal marsden hospital.

we have spoken to families buying oils on the black market as well as those who smuggle drugs into the is that funny? is everything funny? into the is everything funny? lunchtime, and this is ten—year—old annie's favourite meal. she loves food. she's quite highly motivated by food. annie has a rare form of epilepsy. we've changed their names to protect their identity. it's harrowing, it's tiring. it's exhausting, it's scary. it's the scariest thing ever — seeing your child seize. the only drug that her parents say helps is an oil made from the cannabis plant, but there's a catch. the medicine mumjane gives her daughter is illegal. i don't want to be breaking

the law, but currently i probably would say i don't actually care that i'm breaking the law. because of the change you see in your daughter? she's happier. but, most importantly, she's having a dramatically reduced amount of seizures. in london, 14—year—old jasper also takes cannabis oil to control his epilepsy. he's gone from having hundreds of seizures to almost none. but his supply is legal and privately prescribed. it costs the family £30,000 a year. i work literally seven days a week to pay for it. we are just aware that we are incredibly lucky, firstly, to have been able to secure a prescription because it's very difficult to do, and secondly, to be able to afford it. mum alice is the author of a new report by a charity that campaigns on this issue. for the first time, it has tried to quantify how many parents resort to illegal cannabis oils on the black market. we used a kind of established methodology for identifying

the number of families who are kind of based in the uk. and we identified well over 300, actually nearly 400 families. so to know that there are that many parents willing to do that is obviously very shocking. if you're, as a parent, faced with a choice between your child dying or trying something illegal, at the end of the day, there's no law that's going to stop you from trying that if you think it might work for your child. access to these particular types of oils is very difficult. we've tracked down one of those suppliers, who has agreed to talk to us anonymously. he runs a legal cbd company and offers illegal oils on the side. he says he does it for free orfor a small donation. thanks for agreeing to talk to us. no worries. thank you for giving me the time to talk. we call it a compassion programme. we have a very core belief that people shouldn't — especially children — shouldn't pay to have a decent quality of existence, quality of life. i think it comes down to a moral obligation. we see our moral obligation towards people who come to us

as something that supersedes any legislation, monetary value or anything like that. what gives you the confidence that you're not harming people with the oils that you're producing? because we have access and we have complete control of everything from seed to bottle. so we know what we're doing, we know what we're putting in, and we have the ability to test, manufacture and produce to specific specifications. medical cannabis was legalised in 2018. since then, the plant's full extract oils haven't been licensed and fewer than five patients have been given it on the nhs. it can be prescribed privately but it's costly. the bbc�*s file on 4 investigates has spoken to several families, who say they have been left with no choice but to turn to illegal suppliers. in a statement, the department of health and social care said...

is that funny? with no clear direction on when or if these medicines will become available, parents like jane say they're in an impossible situation. it makes me really, really angry that for my daughter to be this happy, healthy and well, i've got to break the law. what's your worst fear? that somebody finds out, i get arrested, my husband loses his job and annie doesn't receive the oil, and she goes back to square one. alastair fee, bbc news. we have a busy hour coming up. we will be injerusalem with our international editorjeremy bowen as we move towards a ceasefire deal. we will get the latest on the resignation from westminster, tulip siddiq going

in the last hour, and we will be back in washington as pete hegseth continues to give evidence in front of the senate committee. tough questions posed to the potential new defence secretary.

live from london. this is bbc news. hopes rise that an israel—hamas ceasefire is very close. mediators in qatar say the major obstacles have been overcome. iam in

i am in jerusalem i am injerusalem talking about the prospects for that ceasefire and also injecting caution because after so many false dawns in the past few minutes, treasury minister tulip siddiq it is good to be cautious. in the past few minutes, treasury minister tulip siddiq resigns, after growing pressure over an anti—corruption investigation in bangladesh. trump's pick for defence secretary — pete hegseth — vows to restore a "warrior ethos" to the military — but is grilled by senators over his views on woman in combat. we can no longer count on reputational deterrence, we need real deterrence. for thank as she visits patients at the staff of the hospital that treated her.

negotiations to agree a ceasefire in gaza