months of death and destruction. this is the scene in khan younis. senior hamas official says the group �*committed' to the agreement, which has raised hopes of an end to fifteen months of war. south korean president yoon suk—yeol has refused to take part in questioning after imposing marshall law. the uk's economy grew by 0.1% in november, the first time in three months. by by minister keir starmer says it is a step in the right direction. the uk's second busiest port of holyhead in north wales reopened this morning six weeks after storm damage shut it down. let's return to our top story. israel and hamas have finally reached an agreement on a ceasefire deal and the release of hostages in gaza after months of tense negotiations. the deal has three phases and comes into effect on sunday —

raising hopes of a permanent end to 15 months of war. our special correspondent fergal keane has this report from gaza. they're used to false rumours. hope has been a lost language in this war. but tonight, perhaps an end. to fear. exhaustion. degradation. they have suffered while the talk has gone on and on. mahmoud aldebe and his family have evacuated nine times. his children scavenge for anything that could be sold to buy food. and they suffer for it.

skin diseases. hepatitis. "the smell is suffocating," he says. "and the dogs are everywhere. there's nowhere to go to the bathroom. so at night, my family and i went together to relieve ourselves, only to be attacked by dogs that tried to bite us." they lived here before the war, jabalia. bombed now into an age of stone. the consequences of the war stretch the length of gaza and into every life in one way or another. noara al—najjar and her children, just after the israeli strike that took her husband. their father abdel rahman, one of more than 70 people killed in an operation to rescue two hostages. his daughter malak lost

an eye in the attack. "pain," she says. "i lost my father. "i lost my father. enough." noara was pregnant at enough." noara was pregnant at the time and now has the time and now has the couple's baby, rahma. the couple's baby, rahma. the ceasefire is welcome, but the ceasefire is welcome, but it's not the end of suffering. it's not the end of suffering. translation: after the i translation: after the i ceasefire, i want to give my ceasefire, i want to give my children the best life. children the best life. i want them to get over i want them to get over the fear we lived. the fear we lived. my children are really scared. my children are really scared. the terror has settled the terror has settled in their hearts. in their hearts. the scale of rebuilding the scale of rebuilding ahead is immense. has been speaking tojohn kirby ahead is immense. of a lost world of broken lives. fergal keane, bbc news, amman. fergal keane, bbc news, amman. we have more coverage on the we have more coverage on the ongoing development surround ongoing development surround the ceasefire on the bbc news the ceasefire on the bbc news website and we are running a website and we are running a live stream and live page. live stream and live page. in washington, in washington, the outgoing biden the outgoing biden administration has been hailing administration has been hailing

the gaza ceasefire deal. my colleague caitriona perry the gaza ceasefire deal.

them that they will from them that they will oversee the implementation such as it has been agreed so far? absolutely, 100%. mr witkoff was in daily communication multiple times a day with our coordinator who is doing the negotiating. he is aware of every detail of the implementation and he and the incoming team arejust implementation and he and the incoming team are just as dedicated to the success of this deal as we have been. as the president said today in his remarks, we are confident that that leadership, that effort and energy will be applied by the incoming team to implement all these details. do the incoming team to implement all these details.— all these details. do you think, was _ all these details. do you think, was there - all these details. do you think, was there an - all these details. do you | think, was there an extra influence from president—elect donald trump and getting this deal over the line at this point when it is so close to that which had been outlined by president biden in may questioning and i think without question, some of his comments in the public question, some of his comments in the publi— in the public made clear he wanted this _ in the public made clear he wanted this deal. - in the public made clear he wanted this deal. that - wanted this deal. that certainly sent a strong signal to everyone in the region that

the efforts had to continue, the efforts had to continue, the efforts had to continue, the efforts we were already engaged in were important, certainly important to the incoming team, he made that a priority. so i think undoubtedly that helped, there is no question about that. but as you rightly noted, this is a deal that president biden originally put on the table backin originally put on the table back in may and we have been involved in months and months of intense diplomacy to get to where we are. the other huge factor here was the further weakening and isolation of hamas since may. they have been decimated militarily. they have been further isolated, iran is weaker. hezbollah isn't coming to their rescue because we brokered a ceasefire between israel and hezbollah so there was a lot of changes on the hamas smack as well. talked was a little bit about _ hamas smack as well. talked was a little bit about what _ hamas smack as well. talked was a little bit about what will - a little bit about what will happen on sunday when this deal comes into effect. is there a role for the us at that point? in terms of an active role physically there to handle the

first releases of hostages, i'm not seeing any need for that. there wasn't a need to the last time either. but this first tranche of hostages will start to come out. these are the elderly, women, civilians, the sick and injured, the most at risk hostages will be the first to be released. i can't tell you here on wednesday evening exactly who is coming out and at what hour but that first tranche will start to be released as early as this weekend. the other thing happening this weekend is a complete ceasefire. just happening this weekend is a complete ceasefire.- complete ceasefire. just on that, complete ceasefire. just on that. when _ complete ceasefire. just on that, when you _ complete ceasefire. just on that, when you mentionedl complete ceasefire. just on i that, when you mentioned the hostages, president biden said today in his address that there would be americans among that tranche. do you have any details on which americans? i would rather not going to that level of detail here tonight but we do know that americans, more than one, are qualified in that trench of again, civilian

women, the elderly, sick and injured. we know there are americans in that trench and we fully expect they will be part of this initial release. the other big _ of this initial release. the other big thing _ of this initial release. the other big thing that - of this initial release. the other big thing that will happen on sunday as the beginning of the flooding of such much badly needed humanitarian aid into gaza. will the usb involved in that in terms of facilitating it as it has done at different points over the last year and a bit? we are still working out the modalities of that. largely, though, this will be through truck movements on ground. that's if i were you, how i would look at this. the united states has not been driving trucks into gaza but we will be closely monitoring the surge of humanitarian aid which is so desperately needed and that's going to require again implementation and leadership certainly by the israeli side, but also hamas, meeting their commitments to allow those

trucks in and to allow them to get to the people who desperately need them in gaza. as you have noted, this is the first phase before those bigger negotiations have to take place in terms of a more permanent solution. who will be in charge, what the reconstruction of gaza will look like. what's your vision for that?- your vision for that? well, in -hase your vision for that? well, in phase one. _ your vision for that? well, in phase one. you _ your vision for that? well, in phase one, you have - your vision for that? well, in phase one, you have a - your vision for that? well, in i phase one, you have a ceasefire and some humanitarian aid coming in, hostages coming home and being reunited with families. all the while that is happening the sides will be negotiating for phase two. phase one should last about six weeks so there should be a lot of work to get to phase two, negotiating what phase two looks like and what phase do need to look like, as the president laid out today is their withdrawal of idf forces from gaza but a permanent end to the war. that's what you get out of phase two, in addition to hostages coming home, of course. and phase three, it's the return of the remains of those sausages sadly no longer

living. phase two is a critical phase because it allows you, if you get there, to end this war permanently. you get there, to end this war permanently-— permanently. and can we get there? yes. _ permanently. and can we get there? yes, ma'am, - permanently. and can we get there? yes, ma'am, we - permanently. and can we get i there? yes, ma'am, we believe we can get _ there? yes, ma'am, we believe we can get there. _ there? yes, ma'am, we believe we can get there. this - there? yes, ma'am, we believe we can get there. this is - there? yes, ma'am, we believe we can get there. this is a - we can get there. this is a good deal, it is a deal we have painstakingly worked on for months now, and backed by the international community, including the un. this deal will work, itjust requires leadership in the implementation. there is no doubt in our mind that the incoming administration is committed to that implementation and to getting it done. that's a good first start. but as you work through these phases it will require leadership on all sides and certainly inside the region, but yes ma'am, we are confident this deal can be fully implemented. some breaking economic news from here in the uk. the latest monthly growth figures have been released. britain's economic output inched up by a lower—than—expected 0.1% in november compared with october. chancellor rachel reeves said she will "fight every day to deliver" economic growth.

here's our business correspondent, ben bouolos. what we have learned this morning is that the uk economy grew by the very thinnest of margins, just 0.1% growth in november, and that is below what had been expected. gdp, gross domestic product, is a measure of how much economic activity is going on and how much we are making, building, buying and selling. and more of thatis buying and selling. and more of that is seen usually as a good thing. it means with growth there tends to be more in the way of hiring by businesses, it is easier to get a pay rise. thatin is easier to get a pay rise. that in turn leads to more people paying more tax, which means more for the government to spend on services. and that's why this figure is being watched so closely. when you look at the detail, different parts of the economy performed to varying degrees.

construction, things like house—building, performed most strongly. services, which make up strongly. services, which make up the biggest part of the economy, they grew only very, very slightly. bright spots among the services were restaurants, pubs and it services. meanwhile the amount of manufacturing actually declined in november. this growth figure overall of 0.1% in november is an estimate so it's worth remembering it could later be revised either up or down. it follows a couple of months where the economy shrank. it shrank by 0.1% in september and october, and that followed a period of no growth in the late summer and early autumn. this figure today comes just a day after we found out that inflation, the rate of average annual price rises, slowed slightly in december but remains above the bank of england's target. overall the government has said its priority is to get the economy

growing, and the chancellor said this week she wants to go further and faster with that. rachel reeves meeting regulators this week to press them on what they can do to ease restrictions that might be hampering businesses from growing. hampering businesses from curowin. , ,, , growing. this gdp figure comes at a time of _ growing. this gdp figure comes at a time of great _ growing. this gdp figure comes at a time of great sensitivity - at a time of great sensitivity because at a time of great sensitivity becaus - ., . ~ at a time of great sensitivity becaus ., . ~ ., ., because the lack of growth in the economy _ because the lack of growth in the economy we _ because the lack of growth in the economy we saw - because the lack of growth in the economy we saw in - because the lack of growth in the economy we saw in the i because the lack of growth in i the economy we saw in the later part of last year is partly why investors have lacked confidence in lending to the uk government. that has pushed up borrowing costs, those higher interest payments leaving the government with less money to spend on services. and a big factor that economic growth relies on is confidence among businesses. if they are confident they are businesses. if they