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a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. brett: you know as someone coming out of college itan be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not, whether you'll make friends, whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. announcer: 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 are watching the context on bbc news. >> the israeli military says it hit 2000 targets in southern lebanon.

>> small arms fire across the border. the israeli army is pushing in to a location. this was the response. >> another day of catastrophe here, of airstrikes. it's late hours in the evening now and i can hear the drone sounds roving over the city and this is something nonstop everyday. >> people were so desperate to flee the bombings, we solve many families with children and belongings walking on foot around the damage, trying to get to syria, hoping for a safe spot. ♪ >> hello. a rare public appearance by

ayatollah, he used it to justify the missile attack on israel, claiming the barrage of missiles was legal and a minimum punishment israel deserved for what he called astonishing crimes. for the first time in five years, the ayatollah was delivering friday press at the grand mosque in iran, calling israel a vampire regime and the u.s. a rab dog. president biden said he does not think israel has yet decided how to respond to iranian attacks. he said it should look for other alternatives rather than hitting iranian oil facilities. the u.s. military have attacked 15 houthi targets in yemen. rebels there are backed by iran. in lebanon, more is really airstrikes targeting -- more

israel airstrikes targeting hezbollah. one airstrike hit a road near the border crossing by syria, where hundreds of refugees cross, a route for and other cargo. our correspondent in northern israel shortly but from lebanon first. reporter: escape route from lebanon today now possible by foot. israel bombed the road overnight claiming hezbollah was smuggling weapons beneath it. most of those struggling across this border are syrians escaping lebanon's war to go home to their own. who wouldn't want to escape this? [sound of bombing]

last night, another massive israeli strike one mile from the airport. the target, the likely next leader of hezbollah, his fate unknown. hezbollah, iran, a massive show of strength today. the supreme leader making a rare appearance in person at friday prayers. [speaking another language] he said the missile attacks on israel this week were legal and legitimate and would be repeated if necessary. in lebanon, israeli strikes are on repeat. this is in the south. was there a hezbollah target here? we don't know but locals say

israel killed five people from one family including two women and a baby. >> everyone here children, everybody here. why why? reporter: hassan was here outside his coffee shop when the airstrike killed his neighbors at the weekend. >> two missiles came. i saw the first one landing. i was thrown from there to their. the second missile sent me flying again, me and the guys. now i am terrified if i hear the sound. reporter: he insists there were no weapons stored nearby and all the dead were civilians. >> it's not right at all.

i wish i died with them. reporter: in lebanon, many are lost and weary and fear this war may be just beginning. [speaking another language] reporter: we are hearing explosions now. that's the sod of outgoing fire, rockets being fired from quite close by hezbollah targeting israeli positions, a stream of rockets being fired now. israel released footage of troops on lebanese soil apparently advancing. the invaders may face a hard fight here as happened in the past. how will the middle east look the day after? few would dare to guess. bbc news, southern lebanon. >> our correspondent lucy

williamson filming on the israeli side of the border, where there have been clashes between hezbollah fighters and israeli troops. reporter: has below rockets are no longer -- hezbollah rockets, mapping their path through the border villages. we are starting to see more signs of resistance to israeli forces on the others of the border. one year of airstrikes, intelligence operations, raids by special forces have not destroyed hezbollah's ability to fight back, just a few miles in. we have heard bursts of sma arms fire and what sounded like grenades from the israeli army. you can hear the sirens going off telling us to get out of the area. [bomb sounds]

[sirens sounds] we just heard a series of loud explosio. they all seem to be rockets landing nearby. small arms fire across the border. seems the israeli army is pushing into a location and this was the response. most of the residents along the border have been evacuated. time to go. in the arab israeli town a few miles down the road, many have stayed. the sound of israeli are terribly firing from the hill above -- the sound of israeli artillery frighting -- firing from the hill above. >> it is more than afraid. afraid is something for a few minutes. we have one year of afraid.

fear for a long time. we don't know when, how it will finish. reporter: this is israel's third ground war in lebanon. so far those wars have been easier to start than to end. bbc news, the israel-lebanon border. >> more on that report, the u.s. military have been hitting houthi targets in yemen today. u.s. central command briefing, they conducted strikes on 15 houthi targets, iranian backed military capabilities in yemen, including houthis offensive military capabilities, these actions were taken to protect the freedom of navigation and make international waters safer

and more secure for merchant vessels. hohis have been carrying out 100 attacks on ships in the red sea since november and have said they are acting in solidarity with palestinians. we've been hearing from joe biden in the last hour on what israel will do to respond to iranian missile attacks. he said he's trying to discourage israel from attacking iran's oil facilities. >> the israelis have not concluded what they are going to do in terms of strike. that's under discussion. if i were in their shoes, i would be thinking of other alternatives. the israelisave every right to respond to the vicious attacks on them, not just from the iranians but hezbollah to the

houthis. anyway, the fact is they have to be more careful about dealing with civilian casualties. reporter: you expressed concerns about attacks on oil facilities. >> let's go to our correspondent in washington. just tell us a bit more. reporter: it's worth noting how unusual it is for the president to appear spontaneously at a white house briefing like that. the reason he appeared this afternoon was not so much to deal with the middle east but because he had positive economic figures out and he knows that is a key election issue. most of the attention and questioning from the media was around the middle east, not surprisingly. he was asked about whether he

had spoken to the israeli prime minister and he said when they make a decision about how they will respond to iran, they will have a discussion then. said there wasn't likely to be any decision immediately because it is high holidays in israel at the mome. israel, he said have every right to respond but they had to more careful dealing with civilian casualties. ben: thank you very much, rowan. much more on the middle east coming up. you are watching bbc news. ♪

ben: the latest crisis in the middle east began one year ago this coming monday on october 7 when gun men out of gaza flooded

over the security barrier into israel. it was the darkest and deadliest day in the history of the state of israel, just one kilometer from the border with gaza, the israeli army base found itself on the front line of the hamas attack. in less than five hours, it was overrun. we look back on how it happened. reporter: october 7, hamas gunmen are swarming. one of israel's closest military bases gaza, right on the front line. attacking on the ground and from the air. with drones, even paraglider's. within hours, the base is overrun and 60 israeli soldiers are dea

among those taken hostage, namah levy, then 19 and only her second day on the job, bloodied and pinned against the wall. i have friends in palestine she pled. she was taken to gaza where she has been for 12 months. >> after i could take in the wounds, the blood, the horror of those moments, i knew she would say something like that, being part of a peace youth organization, you know i am t the enemy, i have friends in palestine. >> she was a soldier but her job was a spotter. unarmed, she was one of dozens of mostly young women whose role was to monitor suspicious activity in gaza. they warned hamas was planning something big for years, it's

fighters training in footage like this. the base is now destroyed. some of the women spotters who worked there are asking why it was not better procted. sharon is one of the few who didn't die. she didn't want to give her real name and her words are reenacted by a bbc producer. >> they told me get up, the terrorists are here outside the door. i thought it was not real. it did not make sense they would be here inside the military base. we tried to call for more support. i remember they said there is no backup, no one can come. reporter: she is not the only person saying if it had been better reinforced, the soldiers there could have still -- could have stopped hamas from going on to kill hundreds of israelis. >> stronger, pushback hamas in

that area, could save life. even if the base and other posts were steady, stopping in different areas, it could not prevent totally the takeover but it could save a lot of lives. reporter: hundreds of lives? >> most probably yes. reporter: the families of those killed or taken hostage, they want answers. >> there should be protection. thanks, --tanks, armed combat soldiers, etc. it is painful to understand. reporter: one year on, still so many questions. why wasn't intelligence acted on? how did one of the world's most powerful militaries suffer its biggest defeat? the israeli army says it is still investigating what happened at that pace, which should have been the first line

of defense. bbc news, jerusalem. ben: joining us from tel aviv, the award-winning is really journalist -- award-winning israeli journalist. as we approach this anniversary, benjamin netanyahu was criticized in the aftermath of that, yet now he seems to be high in the opinion polls in israel because of what he is doing against hezbollah. >> absolutely. in this point of time, you cannot say anything. the operation against hezbollah just started. israelis like military achievements and there are some but we are far from knowing how it will be concled. you will still see ups and downs

in the popularity of netanyahu. i'm not sure it will be a story of success, this penetration into lebanon. wait-and-see. last time israel went there, it took months to work out and the time before it took 16 years to get out from lebanon. that's not success. ben: going back to october 7, also strongly criticized in israel, the israe intelligence agencies, yet they seem to have scored successes in the last few days with the attacks on hezbollah, on the walkie-talkies, the pagers and so on and the killing of nas rallah. >> it is true. where does it lead? to be impressed by a james bond operation, like the pagers --

it's impressive but the question is what is the outcome? is israel more secure today, more just? what is the endgame of all this? to this question, you will not t an answer right now. we are trying to crush hamas and hezbollah and maybe soon iran. at the end of the day, there is no endgame. where are we aiming? what is the strategy? what will be after we will achieve all those amazing amazing achievements? then what? ben: as you suggest, israel finds itself fighting multiple fronts, multiple theaters of conflict. gaza, lebanon, the west bank, iran. do you think the idf has capacity to fight on so many

fronts simultaneously for a long time? >> i'm not a military expert. i would not know. they had some impressive achievements. to put everything only on the battlefield without having any horizon after ending the war -- those achievements are hollow. ok, we might win those wars. we won in the past many wars. then what? we prepare for the next war and the next war and the next next war? this is not a way the normal state can go on. ben: if netanyahu were talking to you he would say look, we have to destroy hamas. they attacked us. we have to destroy hezbollah, they have been attacking us. >> so we did say about the in

fodder -- infata and the plo in the '80s. we destroyed them and expelled them and here we are. i understand the need to destroy them but i am not sure it is possible. hezbollah is huge. i'm not sure you can destroy it. look at gaza. one year in gaza and hamas is alive and kicking after so many casualties, so many innocent people paid with their lives, the achievements are limited. it does not work like this everything will be solved by the sword. netanyahu can rightly claim he is doing everything possible to crush them but maybe it is not achievable. then you crush them and then what? who will replace them? the arab world and the palestinians and the people of

lebanon will fall in love with israel after the war? ben: good to talk to you as ever. thank you for being with us. mosha is the brother-in-law of one of the captives of october 7, kidnapped by hamas, close to that army base john donaldson the last his family saw of him was when he was driven away in his own car by hamas militants. in april he was seen in a proof of life video, under duress by hamas, saying he wanted to be home with his loved ones. thank you for being with us. what are your thoughts as we approach this one-year anniversary of the dreadful events of october 7? >> thank you for having me. it is hard to think it will be one year tomorrow, 365 days.

october 7, monday. unfathomable to imagine this torture, mental and physical torture theostages have been through for one year now. for me it is difficult to understand how we failed, both israel, the international community, humanity to prioritize saving their lives, saving countless other lives over other interests and objectives. ben: when you say that, you mean netanyahu could do a deal to get the hostages out including your brother-in-law? >> that is part of what i am saying. it would be too simplistic and unproductive to say the onus is only on netanyahu. i have been engaging with most

of the mediating countries, including ours. sadly they emphasized hamas is speaking into voices and have yet to receive any information that they will agree to any deal. our own government prioritized other interests, some of them legitimate security interests, whether in northern israel, but some of them seem to be political. politically driven. also entanglement that the prime minister has found himself in. i am not optimistic we will find resolution. i think we are farther away today than we were months ago. the international community failed to force relevant actors like iran, qatar and turkiye to push for a deal and ao failed to make sure israel

prioritizes saving the hostages over other objectives. ben: do you think your brother-in-law is alive? do you think you will see him again? >> my brother-in-law, a beautiful human being, a gardener, is alive. we have no other reason to believe he is not. until we get confirmation he isn't, we will continue fighting for his release both worldwide and in israel, speak to elected officials, point fingers, write articles and conduct interviews making sure everyone understands he needs to be at announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation,

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