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announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... brett: you know as someone coming out of college it can 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" ♪ >> i am ben brown, and you're ♪ watching "the context" on bbc news, where the fate of the proposed cease-fire in gaza is far from certain. >> even though the agreement was reached in doha last night, it is not there yet.

there are some hiccups before the israelis can vote on it. >> hamas has been big on this hostage release agreement and has created a last-minute crisis in an effort to extort last-minute concessions. >> this is a terrible deal and if it will actually go through, we members will give letters of resignation to the prime minister. >> the level of suffering of palestinians is immense, basically a daily nightmare. we hope that from someday on we will be able to act in a different way as palestinians. ben: well, it's thought the israeli cabinet may meet tomorrow to discuss that cease-fire deal for gaza. we will be taking a look at the latest developments and getting

the latest on the humanitarian situation on the ground in gaza itself. the 100-year, sir keir starmer's pledge to support you can for a century. we will be getting reaction from a former ambassador to russia. on ai decoded, we will look at the u.k. government's promise to turbocharge ai in britain. will it be enough to keep pace globally? so the cease-fire agreement in gaza may have been welcomed and celebrated around the world, but it is looking fraud and fragile nonetheless-- frofraught and fragile nonetheless. israel's far-right minister itamar ben-gvir has described it as a terrible deal and at threatened to resign from benjamin netanyahu's government if it does ratify the agreement. the cabinet delayed a plan vote

on approving video. israel has accused hamas of reneging on some parts of the agreement and seeking last-minute concessions. on the ground in gaza itself, while the dream of peace maybe close, the reality now is that the fighting and killing go on. the hamas-run health ministry in gaza says dozens of palestinians have been killed by missile strikes in the hours since the truce was announced in doha. despite all of this, the united states is still confident, it says, that the cease-fire will begin as scheduled this sunday, january 19, the eve of donald trump's inauguration as the next american president. let's have a listen now to that statement from the israeli cabinet minister itamar ben-gvir just a short time ago with his reaction to the cease-fire deal. >> this deal will put an end to all the achievements we have managed to accomplish for the state of israel. more than that, it will not lead

to the release of all the hostages. it dooms the fate of the other hostages and will lead to the end of the war with hamas not being defeated yet. and so the goals of the were have not yet been achieved. ben: that is itamar ben-gvir. let's get analysis from our correspondent in a jerusalem, jonah fisher. not a huge surprise, voicing his opposition to the deal, but what does it mean for the israeli government, the but -- government of benjamin netanyahu? >> we have known for a long time that itamar ben-gvir and other far-right ultranationalist members of mr. netanyahu's government were not happy with the deal that has been reached in the negotiations in qatar. what has been not clear is what they were going to do about it. that became a little bit clearer about half an hour ago when we heard from mr. ben-gvir, effectively lambasting the contents of the deal, calling it

a terrible deal and saying that his party would resign from the government if the deal was passed by the israeli government and security cabinet. what he then went on to say, and this is really the crucial part, is that even if they did leave government, his party would not seek to try and bring down mr. netanyahu's administration, because that is the nuclear option that could be played here if mr. ben-gvir was able to persuade the other far-right nationalist party in the administration to also leave, it would turn mr. netanyahu's government into a minority administration, and it would then be vulnerable, and if everyone really wanted to, they could in theory bring down mr. netanyahu's government. that does not appear to be the plan, and so it would appear that we are going to see maybe tomorrow, maybe saturday, the israeli security cabinet and

government meet to finally take a closer look at the cease-fire agreement. ben: and that meeting delayed, pushed back because the israelis were not happy with what hamas were asking for in terms of concessions. jonah: well, that's what we were told earlier in the day. it is hard to know whether it really was about these extra concessions which we were told were the problem because we had a briefing by the israeli prime minister spokesman making a clear that the holdup was due to the fact that hamas had insisted on changing some parts of the agreement. was it that, or was it more related to the turmoil going on behind the scenes in relation to these members of mr. netanyahu's government who are clearly not happy with the agreement? the issues related to the cease-fire agreement, these details do now appear to have been ironed out. there has been confirmation from doha that that has now been

settled, there is now a document. that obstacle is no longer in the way of for further discussion. this deal is supposed to come into force on sunday, that is supposed to be day one. the pressure is on for the israeli cabinet to meet either tomorrow or saturday to, one would assume, pass their approval or disagreement. ben: thank you very much indeed. our international editor jeremy bowen reports from israel on what the cease-fire agreement means for israelis and palestinians. jeremy: just a few hours after the cease-fire agreement was announced, men in northern gaza were back and digging through the rubble for the dead and wounded after an israeli strike. the cease-fire is not due to start until sunday. then they heard a small voice. he was alive. strong enough to waive for

help. his parents, sister, aunt, and uncle, we are told, were killed in the strike. he's three years old. his mouth is full of gravel and dust. he was trying to pull it out himself. we went on the west bank on the other side of the occupied palestinian territories to try to assess the mood. israel won't let us into gaza. it is a palestinian city with a long history of resistance to the israeli occupation. it's a toy gun. down the street, the faces of men killed using real guns to fight israelis, some from a militia known as the lions den. heroic martyrs here, terrorists as far as israel is concerned. >> peace is difficult, because you need to go back to the religion.

but we would love for the bombing to stop and for them to leave gaza and for the prisoners to get freed and for everyone to go back to their homes and family because they suffered a lot in this war. may god help them. jeremy: amina is desperate for the cease-fire to work. >> it affected us a lot here both financially and militarily. we, especially women, are affected by what we are seeing, the children who are dying. we hope we can help, but we can only pray. jeremy: just outside is the jewish settlement, home to leaders of the settler movement. this woman has lived here for 50 years and now she is working through her list of right-wing connections as she tries to overturn the cease-fire deal she says is treachery. what does all this mean for israel? what does it add up to? >> in two words, get ready for another war. it's cruel, dangerous, with many

casualties. this is what it means today. donald trump there in the united states declares that he wants to see the end of wars. good for you, where you are situated, and with us giving our flesh and blood, for you to have standing in the middle east because you care for -- i'm speaking after donald trump -- you care for the united states. very noble declaration. jeremy: in jerusalem, a fake funeral outside the office of prime minister netanyahu by israelis who want to bury the cease-fire deal. they want the prime minister to keep his promise to destroy hamas and rescue all the hostages, not negotiate a swap for palestinian prisoners they regard as terrorists. police arrested a few of them.

many israelis support a cease-fire, but the coffin is intended as warning of danger ahead for israel, also a sign to the cease-fire's supporters that making it work will not be easy. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. ben: aid trucks are queuing at the southern entry into gaza waiting for the cease-fire, which is expected to get underway on sunday, if it goes ahead. aid has gone into gaza from a number of crossings since the war began. before it, around 500 lori loads of aid entered the gaza territory every day. that is according to the u.n. but that plummeted to just nine a day in the period once the war had started. in the beginning of january was averaging 51 truckloads a date. the cease-fire deal, well, that stipulates that some 600 loorry loads a day of relief supplies

should be delivered into gaza. let's talk to the palestine country director for the world food program. what are your hopes for this deal? if he does get off the ground, how quickly are you thinking that aid could surge to the gaza territory, and will it be enough, those 600 trucks a day? >> i mean, from the world food program and all the humanitarian actors, 15 month into this war, we heard them saying over and over that we have sufficient humanitarian goods that are in all core doors. for us, the most important is way beyond the cease-fire, we have the capacity, we have the goods, ready to add supplies. that is the message, our readiness is higher than ever. ben: you are ready to go. are you confident that the

cease-fire is going to happen, that you are going to get the aid in? antoine: the main challenge we have been having, and that is wh y today when i was in gaza, as i am now, the main message i was having from the population was actually the sense of relief and hope that it is going to go through. for us it's not so much the fact are we ready. we are. it is to stick to what people believe currently is a bit of light at the en of the tunneld after 15 month of suffering. ben: we saw those huge celebrations yesterday when the cease-fire deal was announced. what in particular -- obviously you are from the world food program, but just talk to us about the aid that is so desperately needed across gaza at the moment. antoine: look at where i am now currently, and in central and south gaza. the challenge we have been having is we have been providing only one third of the rations

people are supposed to have. we were forced to stop some of the key increase up and running, up to 14 in the south of the strip. for us, what we really contemplate now is to have a proper food ration that people can have and they don't depend on one hot meal, they are queuing to get water. it is the same also for the north of gaza. there is now currently five bakeries working, only half capacity. why? we still don't have enough fuel. every single assistance that we provide has always a lifeline of five days to a week. that is a bit of hope we have for the cease-fire, to be able to surge and have more goods coming into gaza. ben: can i ask you one last question? we heard in the last hour or so from the far right israeli government minister itamar ben-gvir opposing this cease-fire deal. but he also said there should be

a complete stop to all the aid going into gaza. it is your reaction to that?-- w hat is your reaction to that? antoine: the reaction is that you have 2.2 million people into gaza that rely on assistance. what they're looking for is not only assistance, it is to have commercial flow back into they deserve after 15 month in a proper matter and get back on their feet. the first message she had to me is i want to go back. she has been displaced eight times. all she's asking is to go back to her land. that is my main message to you. ben: ok, thank you very much indeed. palestine country director from the world food program. antoine: thanks to you. ben: let's get more reaction to the cease-fire agreement for gaza. we will speak to senior advisor to the former u.s. secretary of

state john kerry, and author of "window seat on the world," a book about that period. let's talk about the american perspective on this. antony blinken, secretary of state, was saying he is pretty confident this is going to start as scheduled on sunday. do you share that confidence? >> i don't really know what he is basing that on. i used to sit in the same 8:30 meeting every morning with the secretary of state and i have tremendous for him, but this is a wing and a prayer. everybody wants it to happen while the outside interlocutors, the players are so volcanic. anything can set them off. as your prior correspondent noted, is it really a hamas situation, internal israeli troubles?

there is so many conflicting forces at play that it is always difficult to get anything over the finish line, and it is always most difficult right at the very end. ben: yeah, and once it begins if it does begin, the three phases to get through. what has been puzzling so many people around the world is why this deal has happened now, and to what extent do you think it is donald trump, to what extent is it the biden administration and antony blinken and those people working in the white house and state department on this for months? glen: i think everybody can claim some credit. donald trump's election and is imminent inauguration obviously played a role in this. his threat, there will be hell to pay if there is not a deal before he takes the oath of office, is really hollow because there's not much more that can happen. there is only so much you can destroy gaza. there is only so many leaders that can be killed. they can't be killed twice -- ben: i suppose from the israeli

point of view he could cut off weapon supplies to the israelis. glen: absolutely he could. the israelis can come to the table. hamas is a much harder to get into one place. the biden administration has had engagement for years. much of this deal was presented previously and couldn't again get across the finish line. thankfully in the last few weeks you have seen brett mcgurk working hand in glove with president trump's incoming envoy. i think everybody deserves some credit for getting to this point. the israeli people are exhausted and anxious to get hostages home. the israeli government has really run the string on how much it can pound gaza. hamas has been decimated. anybody has a reason to try to

make this work now. ben: just very briefly, do you think the trump administration will give as much attention to the middle east as the biden administration has? glen: i think so, but in a different context. president trump clearly wants to move beyond a hot war in gaza, but he definitely wants to pick up his earlier activity under secretary pompeo with the abraham accords, normalization of relations between saudi arabia and israel, a much broader effort, and quite frankly he has an opportunity here with bringing aid into gaza to try and earn goodwill with the arab world and accelerate this rapprochement between israel and other members of the arab world. ben: great to talk to you, glen. glen johnson, senior advisor to former secretary of state john kerry. around the world and across the u.k., you have been watching bbc news.

ben: the u.k. prime minister sir keir starmer has made his first visit to ukraine as prime minister with a pledge to put ukraine in the strongest possible position this year. the visit and that of the italian defense minister aims to underline european solidarity with ukraine and of donald trump's second term as president -- prime min. starmer: we have committed 3 billion pounds for military aid of year and we are going further to support the frontline, providing a 2.2

billion pound loan which will be paid back not by ukraine, but from the interest of frozen russian assets. we're also galvanizing british and -- british industry. ben: sir keir starmer in kyibv. let's speak to a former british ambassador to moscow. keir starmer talking about a 100-year pact. how much comfort will the ukrainian leader president zelenskyy take from that solidarity? >> i think it is helpful. the u.k. since the beginning of the crisis has been at the forefront of helping people of ukraine. couple other things as well. with the upcoming, i'm pretty sure, peace negotiations, it should help get us a seat at the table. on the upcoming european

discussions, which are quietly already going on about what we can contribute to the long-term security of ukraine, he has obviously talked to zelenskyy about the question of whether british troops will be part of whatever peacekeeping force emerges. it has been a very useful visit. ben: we are on the eve of donald trump's return to the white house, of course -- not literally the eve, but almost there. is this visit maybe not so much a coincidence that the produce prime minister's showing support for ukraine -- british prime minister is showing support for ukraine at a time when ukrainians are worried that a trump white house will be not nearly as supportive as the biden white house was? sir tony: of course it's not a coincidence. i think -- i know the british government and other governments are worried about the possibility of trump throwing ukraine under the bus in the interest of getting peace and a decent relationship with russia.

think that is unlikely to happen, but as i said, to be there, to give an affirmation of support, to discuss a possible contribution we can make to peacekeeping arrangements, is the right way of doing this . i'm absolutely sure they are going to happen. he has yet to talk to putin. he's a tougher nut to crack, but putin would have huge interest in having good relations with trump going forward. i'm pretty sure the negotiations are going to start. it's a matter of our being in as helpful a position as possible to get the outcome which yields peace on the one hand but also yields arrangements that guarantees ukraine security going forward. ben: when those peace talks, if and when those peace talk start, what are the parameters of a possible deal? sir tony: well, what's under discussion at the moment is,

first of all, a cease-fire on the existing lines of contact, and all arguments about who owns which territory deferred for such negotiations. secondly, centrally, providing security for ukraine going forward to make sure that russia is not tempted to do again what it has done the last three years. now, that's tricky. ukraine's request for an answer to that is we will join nato. that is not going to happen, frankly. the russians are dead against it, the prospect of ukraine joining nato was central to their decision to go to war. trump has acknowledged what is obviously true. russian nervousness about this is an important factor going forward. if nato is off the table, it becomes a question of what else might work. i think what trump is interested in, he doesn't want america to be responsible for ukraine, he

think europe should be responsible for ukraine. the question is what should europe do to guarantee ukraine's security. that comes down to, call peacekeeping forces but in fact tripwire forces in ukraine, so a fresh attacks again we have troops on the ground in a much bigger war, viewed as being a disincentive for pressure to do it -- ben: tony, i'm sorry, we are out of time, but i think we got the gist of what this piece talks could look like. sir tony brenton, former british ambassador to russia. you are watching bbc news. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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