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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello. you're watching "the context" on "bbc news." >> i want all to express their views and all sides of the house. as it was, in particular, the s.m.p. were ultimately unable to vote on the proposition. >> very, very serious matter has extended into a huge row, a shenanigans, really, about parliamentary procedure and leaves the house speaker under a lot of pressure. >> the house has voted

unilaterally to impose a palestinian state on israel. >> it is, i think, a reflection of an israeli political system digging in its heels and resisting any notion that israel is going to be dictated to by anyone. ♪ >> a vote on gaza in the u.k. house of commons descends into chaos. the speaker of the house apologies. we'll bring you the very latest from westminster. also on the program, at least 60 russian troops have been killed in an apparently ukrainian strike on a russian army site in an offed part in the eastern region of da that can. -- dnask. and the latest test firing of the u.s. trident missile fails for the second time in a row.

the government says it has absolute confidence in the system. it's an embarrassment but where does it leave britain's nuclear deterrent? we begin this hour in westminster where british politicians have gathered in the house of commons to vote on whether to call for a cease-fire in gaza but the proceedings ended up in chaos in the cha chamber. they were in protest at the way the vote was handled. after the speaker of the house, sir lindy hoyle was accused of hijacking the detective. he'd been selected only to select the government amendment, which was seeking an immediate humanitarian pause to the conflict. labor called for an immediate humanitarianease-fire with slightly stronger wording was

approved by the house of commons in the end. sir lindy hoyle abolted. here's what he had to say. >> i regret having sent it out. it was not my intention. i wanted it all. all to express their views and all sides of the house to vote. as it was, in particular, the s.m.p. were ultimately unable to vote on the proposition. i am, and i regret with the deep like that in this position, that was never my intention. i was absolutely -- absolutely convinced that the decision was done with the right suspensions. >> speaker of the house sir lindsay hoyle. to get more on what's been happening. we can cross live to central

lobby and join my colleague, political correspondent peter. i want to start with trying to work out what exactly has happened in the last hour or so and what was voted through in the end. >> i shall do my best. we've been struggling of keep on top of what has been going on here. earlier on today, we had a debate about whether or not the u.k. parliament should call for an immediate cease-fire in gaza. that was a didn't put forward by the scottish national party threaten the labor party put forward their own version. sir lindsay hoyle said there could be a vote first and foremost on the vote. and the labor party came up with an edition fairly different in tone. we had a lengthy debate this

afternoon. the thinking was that there'd be a series of three different votes because the government has the numbers. it would have been their amendment that won out. but no, what happened just before they were about to get to the vote was utter chaos. lots and lots of m.p.'s standing up. the leader of the commons saying that the conservatives didn't awayability to take part anymore. they were really angry with the speaker for allowing labor amendments to be put forward so some of them started walking out. eventually they did all come back in. the speaker came back, apologized, said that he'd made a mistake and promised to meet with the various party leaders in the coming days. but the labor amendment did ultimately pass because none of the conservative m.p.'s took party so in theory there should be an immediate cease-fire but

that's massive oversimplification. let's get more reaction from the labor of defense secretary john healey. what on earth has gone on in the past few hours? >> we had the chance to show the british parliament at its best coming together to call for an end to the fighting in gaza. now t hostages to be released now, much more aid going into gaza, now, and a cease-fire now that can last and become a pathway towards a two-state peaceful solution in the middle east. instead we showed westminster at its worst. descending into a war about procedure with, a boycott from conservatives, a walkout from the s.m.p. and this has done nothing to helphe palestinians and advance the cause of peace. >> opposition of your opponents here in parliament are saying that labor put undue speaker on the speaker to submit that and

allow the vote on it first. did you do that? >> no, that is rubbish. the speaker was rightly playing his role. he's there to protect the right of all m.f.'s. he was wanting to ensure the widest possible debate and wanted to make sure that the main plans or propositions from the labor, questions, and the s.m.p., the three marion parties, awful had a chance to be put to the vote and he's quite right. the rules in which he has to work are outdated. they require a rem review. he's asked that to be done. in -- and we should have done that. >> you'll be aware what happened there was an s.m.p. motion on an immediate cease-fire. dozens declining the little and some of your colleagues

declining too so it was in your best transfers for the labor plan to be put forward first? >> this was a debate that mattered in parliament, matters to countries around the world and not just the middle east. it matters. the view of the british government and the approach and we could have come together to demand that the israeli offensive against rafah does not happen. that hamas rereleases its hostages and that we should get among allis for a cease-fire and one that can last. that would have helped palestinians and advanced the cause of peace is we failed to do that today. >> john healey, on and off. outside today hundreds of people protesting, calling for a cease-fire in gaza. this is an issue that an awful lot of folks care deeply about

and today hasn't painted the british parliament in entirely the best of light. the way we move on i suppose is the meetings that the house of speaker lindsay hoyle has arranged with the various leaders. >> on and off. peter joining us live from central lobby. meanwhile insrael, the parliament there has voted to back prime minister benjamin netanyahu declaration opposing the unilateral creation of a palestinian state. in a statement his party says 99 out of 120 members voted to support the declaration passed earlier this week by the israeli cabinet. it comes amid growing international pressure to reach a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict. let's listen to what mr. netanyahu said after tt result. >> the people of israel and their elected representatives are united today as never

before. we voted overwhelming to oppose any attempt to impose a palestinian state on israel. such would only endanger israel and prevent the genuine peace we all seek. pales can only be achieved after we ail achieve total victory over hamas and direct negotiations without preconditionses. >>e go live to paul, our correspondent in jerusalem for us. thank you for joining us on "the context." perhaps what we saw in parliament was not a surprise but what's been the reaction to it? >> no surprise at all. parliament essentially was following the lead of the prime minister and his cabinet when they made their views on this very clear last week. rejecting the idea of what the prime minister like to call

international dictates. the idea of a lymph state for mr. netanyahu represents a kind of existential threat to israel and now with this dreadful war going on and the memories of october 7 still very raw, it's clear that the politicians in the knesset agree with hem. people who would like to see mrm office were among those supporting this measure. i think it's an indication of the nervousness that is around in regards to what they see with britain and america about the possibility of unilaterally recognizing a palestinian state not at the end of a peace process but during a peace process and that does cause alarm and it is a sign of international pressure mounting on israel and as at the moment what you see is a country digging its he's in.

>> and domestically for prime minister netanyahu still pressure on him to do more to get those hos stages home. as -- hostages home. any movement on any talks or any other breakthrough on that issue? >> this the thing that could unlock all of this -- this isth reason why the americans once again vetoed a cease-fire resolution at the united nations security council yesterday. there is this effort underway to try and orchestrate a deal that would see a newfire in place. not one that would last just a week but for several weeks and the release of the remaining 130 israeli hostages and lymph hostages also being held in israeli jails to be released. it could mark the end of the story of the last few months.

the initial indication is that the talks on a new deal are going nowhere but the spokesperson for the war cabinet said there are initial signs that independence indicate an intention to move forward. that is a little bit cryptic but it is the first vaguely opt nick noise we've heard in a long time. in washington, the state department spokesman matthew miller said we want to see an agreement reached as soon as possible. before ram daniel and maybe even earlier than that. ramadan starts in about two and a half weeks' time so there are concerted efforts to try and get a deal in place before the start of ramadan even though the

israeli government has indicated that even if there is a deal, the assault on rafa could begin and it could begin during ramadan. >> thank you very much. around the world and across the u.k., this is "bbc news." let's look at some of the other stories making the news here. a 2-year-old boy reported to have fallen into a river inless chester has been named. he fall into the river at elston on sunday. his family described him as a cheeky funny boy boy who is a bundle of joy. they thanked everyone involved in the ongoing search and said they were heartbroken at what had happened. the government is going to make it an illegal requirement for many people who work in england and wales to report evidence of abuse. those who fail to come play with

the -- dom ply with the mandory reporting duty could be prosecuted. " the office star." ewen macintosh has died. ricky gervais has paid tribute to him, writing he was an absolute original. on the 12th of february, israeli special forces rescued two of the hostages kidnapped by hamas in a raid in rafah but it was an operation which also left dozens of palestinians dead. there was relief of families for the who men had been held for months. it was seen as a boost to israel's national morrall but it's led to anger in ga. more than 70 people reported killed and dozens wounded during that railed in rafah. the bbc special correspondent has been hearing the testimony

of civilians and medics caught up in the affair. >> they were rescued from here. >> the two israeli hostages that were kidnapped by hamas on the massacre of october 7 are now home. >> this is the story of the price paid by the civilians of rafah on the night of february 12. [gungunfire] >> the rescue began around 1:45 a.m. by the time the hostages were safe, more than 70 people were reported kill. a high number of civilians. in this house, a doctor from san frontiere lay across her children to protect them. she's asked to remain thomas. voice messages from colleagues afrwards conveyed her horror. >> on our home, i found pieces of human flesh.

we found a whole lower limb belonging to a human that we don't know who he is. when i saw the pieces of the flesh on the floor, i cried. >> some of the wounded were brought to an international field clinic. dr. ali from pack has worked -- pakistan has worked here for the last two months. >> it was very difficult to work in the hospital. the windows and doors were rattling. extremely scary. all in all we saw more than 20 patients. a lot of women and children were trying to come in and seek reached in the hospital >> it is the story of the individual families that the impact of the railed is most paintfully expressed. ferrara al-najjar is a mother of six and pregnant with another child.

she woke after the explosion. >> nawara remembers happy dayed with abed-alrahman, 32 years old when he was killed. >> here, some of the couple's children in hospital on night their dad died. 1-year-old samaya, treated for

minor physical wounds but traumatized and 13-year-old malak, who lost her eye in the raid. >> israel accuses hamas of using civilians as human shields. in a statement to the bbc, the i.d.f. said it was committedded to mitigating civilian harm. military lawyer advised the strikes comply with international law. taken into account expected military advantage and the li likely collateral harm to civilians.

the war goes on. civilians like abed-alrahman keep being killed and the voice message of the m.s.f. doctor, a sense of the despair felt here. >> this message means nothing to nothing and, to be ernest, the one who died is the one who's lucky. the one who lives to suffer again and again is the one who has been cursed and abandoned by all people. >> but the memory of their father will endure for all of their lives. "bbc news," jerusalem. >> a difficult watch there. joining me is alistair burke, the former minister of state for the middle east at the foreign commoner and wealth office. welcome to the studio. first we've been talking on the program about what's been going on in the house of commons. the s.m.p. describing it as a

pant mime. i -- minute mime. i did want to ask you this. the labor amendment passed, which called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. does that change anything in terms of what the governor does or doesn't do? >> no, not at all. it's an expression of opinion by parliament and does not bind the government in this i way. some years ago parliament passed a motion to recognize the state of palestinian. that was a parliamentary motion but it didn't bind the government. had the government's amendment been passed, that was a statement of government inion and that would have been different but tonight, a situation where people have seen the scenes and will be left about making their own judgment about what this means. it doesn't affect foreign policy at all. >> you've been middle east

minister. what do you think the government should be doing now? >> i think they should continue the course to support the work going on in negotiations. the release of two hostages at enormous cost in gaza. the majority of hostages what have been released have been through negotiation, not force. it seems very unlikely that any attempt to release the rest of the hostages through force is not going to work. i think the government should continue to make it clear to israel and hamas that returning the hostages is absolutely essential and if they were returned there would seem to be a likelihood that the conflict would end immediately and then negotiations about the longer term both for gaza and the occupied bank and jeers lem will continue. the current conflict is not going to resolve that.

it's simply going to create more generations of distrust and fair and violence and the british government should be making that very clear to all sides involved. >> why not then, call for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire? >> i think the british government has called for a humanitarian pause. i do think that people are potentially just playing around with words. >> semantics. what's the substantive difference? >> i think if you asked the majority of parliament, there was going to be you nap aniy. the response of israel has been catastrophic. the fighting should stop, the hostages should beeturned. there rashad be negotiations about the future. not only of gaza but of the west bank and east jeers lem. israel is entitled not to have

an enemy on its doorstep but palestinians are entitled to make their own determination on whether they want a state. it is up to palestinians and that is the basis for discussion. i think the good news we've heard tonht is that negotiations are still continuing. that's important because i say, again, everything points to the fact that it will be negotiations that will resolve this. recent apology said that even though the majority of israelis do not believe that force is going to work. should the conflict stop now? absolutely in my view and the british government should be making that clear. >> i want to ask you about your firsthand experiences in gaza. you visited on a number of occasions the last time you were there. it was 2020, is that right? >> that's right and where i stayed and the mosque across the road has been destroyed.

i can't see any connection they would have had with the conflict but like large parts of north gaza it's just been destroyed. you wonder how people recover from that, no matter the atrocities of october 7. yes, i visited. i visited the british commonwealth war grave which is tended by a palestinian family and has been for generations in order to pay respects to those who had fallen there and i saw at gaza city and spoke with people in business who were looking forward to a brighter future and only six, nine months ago there were signs that relations were improving. between called rain and israel. october 7 has destroyed that and it will take patient rebuilding but there can be no rebuilding unless the conflict ends as soon as possible. what are 17,000 orpha going to

do and who are they going to turn to if they don't have their families? >> alistair burt, thank you so much for joining us narrator: funding for this presentation of this program provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo.