earlier this month. winds of up to 70 miles an hour are forecast in the los angeles area, raising concern that wildfires could spread again. negotiators in qatar have raised hopes that israel and hamas are on the verge of a ceasefire and hostage release deal. qatar's foreign ministry said key issues have now been addressed, but israel has cautioned that the deal is not there yet. us presidentjoe biden and egyptian president abdel fattah el—sisi are calling on both sides to show flexibility to achieve a truce. a palestinian official told the bbc that the first stage of the deal will likely include the release of 3a israeli hostages, including women, children, the wounded, and the sick.

in return, it's expected that israel will release 1,000 palestinian prisoners, including about 190 prisoners who have been serving sentences of 15 years or more. the final stage involves an agreement about the the reconstruction of gaza — a process that could take yea rs. for more on the situation, here's an update from our state department correspondent, tom bateman. the sense remains that these two sides are extremely close to a deal and that an announcement could come either within hours or within days. it is hoped for at some point this week and certainly before the inauguration of president trump next monday. we also had in washington a pretty significant intervention by the secretary of state antony blinken. both reiterating that the administration believes they are on the brink of a deal here, but he also went into some details about the postwar plan that the administration wants

to hand over to the trump team for what would happen in gaza in terms of both reconstruction, but also future governance. and this is where things get important because it gives you a sense of what the biden administration thinks it has achieved and its diplomacy and the wider region that it can try and get backing for this. what they are talking about is an interim governance proposal that would not involve the full control of the palestinian authority. that is the entity that was set up after the oslo accords that now has some form of self—governance in the occupied west bank. but instead there would be a mix of local politicians, some palestinian authority, but also international partners as mr blinken put it, the united nations. critically on the issue of security, that it felt this would largely be an internationally—led operation probably involving arab countries although he did not name them.

but what you have a sense of fear is the way in which the administration is trying to placate both the israelis who don't want full palestinian control, but also air countries who want to see some sort of progress towards palestinian self—governance for gaza. the administration trying to work a compromise, something that if they could get to, they would have been the guarantors for. that now all gets handed over to the trump administration. for more, let's speak to the negotiator for palestinian negotiations frank lowenstein. thank you for being here with us on bbc news. you have a particular perspective on the negotiations and how they might be going. so, from the signals that you're seeing, is this the moment that the hostage families, the palestinian people and so many others have been waiting on? it people and so many others have been waiting on?— been waiting on? it certainly seems that _ been waiting on? it certainly seems that way. _

been waiting on? it certainly i seems that way. developments have been incredibly encouraging over the course of the last few days and it sounds like they've really ironed out a lot of the points of disagreement. but i don't think that we're quite there yet. as i understand it, yaya sinwar�*s brother, mohammed si in, war, who is winning things has not given the go—ahead. i know from the negotiations in 2014 that there can be a disconnect with there can be a disconnect with the people negotiating on the ground and those calling the shots. so i think if he says we'll go ahead with it, we'll be there. on the other hand, ben givr and smotrich have been clear that they oppose the deal. i think if they threaten the leave the government and cause new elections, that will be difficult. so there are still significant moving parts on both sides but we're heading in the right direction. we heard earlier _ in the right direction. we heard earlier a _ in the right direction. we heard earlier a view that the co—operation between the trump and biden teams on this is quite significant, and in fact,

unprecedented level of co—operation. do you think has that been an important pillar in moving things along? yeah, absolutely- — in moving things along? yeah, absolutely. been _ in moving things along? yeah, absolutely. been really - absolutely. been really encouraging to see them working together on this. we used to have a policy in the united states that politics ended on the shore and we all came together. that wasn't really the case here. but i think that they've worked together with this. i think that the trump team have taken a lead on this because they're the ones who really have to enforce it. but the thing is that trump put pressures on the israelis in a way that biden was not willing or able to. and that has caused the netanyahu government to make some concessions that it wouldn't otherwise have made. so it is only fair to give the trump administration significant credit if we do actually get a ceasefire here. and if there isn't a ceasefire deal at this point, what is going to happen next? i think we'll continue _ going to happen next? i think we'll continue to _ going to happen next? i think we'll continue to see - going to happen next? i think we'll continue to see what - we'll continue to see what we've been seeing so far, which is you know, unspeakably horrific conditions for the 2.2

million palestinians living in gaza without food, water and medicine or anywhere to live. so i think that the one of the main things is that the attention is going to have to shift to a sustainable system for providing humanitarian assistance for those folks, ceasefire or no ceasefire. and it's especially challenging now because the israelis have effectively cut off unrwa, which was effectively providing a lot of the boots on the ground for humanitarian assistance, and if they're no longer able to operate there and the israelis are talking about cutting off a whole bunch of other ngos, it is unclear how the food will be delivered to the people who most need it on the ground. find to the people who most need it on the ground.— on the ground. and if that happens. _ on the ground. and if that happens. how _ on the ground. and if that happens, how does - on the ground. and if that happens, how does the i happens, how does the international community and the us government stand over a situation like that?— situation like that? well, we've seen _ situation like that? well, we've seen the _ situation like that? well, i we've seen the international community's response. there have been war crimes allegations from the israelis coming out of the icc and icj and i think you'll see more and more of that. i think the really interesting piece of this is how trump chooses to handle the israelis. because the assumption on the israeli side on any event is that trump would do what he did during the

first team, which is basically give them cart blanch to do whatever they want like annexing the west bank and the people of gaza. but really, trump has a different agenda here. i think that he wants it see the war end. he would like to see a saudi normalisation deal. i think he holds out some hope that he might win a nobel peace prize. but if his own personal agenda is different to netanyahu's agenda, you might see a trump administration able to put more pressure on the israelis to change their tactics and strategy on the ground than we've been seeing for the last 15 months or so. and those remarks from president—elect trump that you know, if there wasn't a deal done, "all hell would be unleashed" or words to that effect, which the biden administration has kind of dismissed as an empty threat. but do you think that there is something to that? hat but do you think that there is something to that? not really. i think that _ something to that? not really. | think that the _ something to that? not really. i think that the answer - something to that? not really. i think that the answer from i i think that the answer from the folks on the ground in gaza is — we've been living in hell for the last 15 months, i don't really know what you're talking about. i think he has done, though, is changed netanyahu's

political calculus. all along bb israeli was there and that was where the most important political considerations were and he didn't really care about biden. he benefited politically from defying biden. he not want to get sideways with trump especially at the beginning of the administration. so it was more political pressure on netanyahu rather than hamas on the ground. netanyahu rather than hamas on the ground-— the ground. thank you. in south _ the ground. thank you. in south korea, - the ground. thank you. in south korea, there l the ground. thank you. - in south korea, there were talks about the arrest of yoon suk yeol but police have denied this. let's have a look now at some live pictures coming to us from outside the presidential residence. you can see there, large crowd gathered at the gates. there have been angry scenes and clashes. police have

been able to push through blockades made from buses but are likely to meet more resistance as they make their way further into the com pound where the president is holed up. our correspondent is outside the presidential residence in seoul and she sent us this update much it is daybreak now and as the sun rises the police and investigators are continuing to make their way outside the presidential compound. we now know that they have gone through two barricades that were set up by the security and have now reached the third one. that third one is essentially just outside the gate. the crowd are southing, arrest limb and the crowd on the other side are saying, end the impeachment. this is a picture

of the division that south korea finds itself in. it is notjust korea finds itself in. it is not just for the protesters korea finds itself in. it is notjust for the protesters but also between law enforcement, police and investigators who say that they have a legal arrest warrant that they're trying to execute but they're being blocked by the security staff who are standing their ground and saying that they're also exercising their duty of protecting the president. the yoon suk yeol is yet to make an appearance. today as the stand—off is there or within the impeachment trial. we have to keep moving because the police are telling us to move. but itjust police are telling us to move. but it just shows police are telling us to move. but itjust shows you that the atmosphere here changes between tense and charged and then festive, and really cheerful as the news comes in. but as it stands, this stand—off continues. it's unclear how long it's going to continue for, but it's also unclear how far the law enforcement officers will be able to get into the presidential compound.

firefighters in los angeles are bracing for the return of strong winds of up to 70 miles an hour today as they continue to battle fires that are still out of control. exactly a week after the first fire, at least 12,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed, 24 people have died and more than 60 square miles have gone up in flames. you can see here the two largest fires — the palisades and eaton fires which continue to burn. firefighters in los angeles are warning that the strengthening winds may spread the flames further.0ur los angeles correspondent emma vardy has this report. gary 0'donoghue is on the ground there. we're here in the pacific palisades where one of the biggest of the two fires is still burning. there has been some good news today because the winds haven't been quite as bad as they were expecting. that could change in the coming hours, but it has allowed them to start to contain a tiny bit

more of the fire here and also the one up in pasedena. they are looking tomorrow, though, at potential higher winds, and thatis at potential higher winds, and that is a risk for further flare—ups and for further spread. also, fema, the emergency management authority, they are setting up two disaster relief centres. not just to distribute state and local aid where there's money available for people, for rehousing forks the belongings they've lost, really to sort of try to rebuild their lives, but also to co—ordinate something like 70 other organisations. everything from the salvation army to habitat to humanity, to the american red cross, to give people the kind of help they're going to be needing over the next days and weeks. this disaster here is a long way from over, and the rebuilding will take a long, long time. but in terms of the weather and

the fires themselves, people are starting, starting to see a life potentially beyond those. the battle to contain the fires has sprawled into that in addition to the us spending emergency responder, firefighters from mexico and canada have been sent there to give assistance. canada's give assistance. ca nada's emergency give assistance. canada's emergency preparedness give assi