free from the grip of hezbollah. in syria, a future free from the tyranny of assad. and for the palestinian people, a credible, credible pathway to a state of their own. and for the region, a future of normalization, integration of israel and all its arab neighbors, including saudi arabia. the g-20 in deli -- delhi in september of 2023 i rallied countries from an economic carter from india across the middle east to europe. that vision can now become a reality. there are risks as well including isis in iran. even in badly weakened state, but, but we are handing off to the next team a real opportunity for a bert future for the immediate -- better fuamatu-ma'afala taour for the -- future for the middle east. let me close with this my friend for years in the united states senate, former senator george mitchell, who did so much to forge peace in northern ireland, once said about diplomacy, 700 days of failure and one day of success. 700 days of failure and one day of success. we have had many difficult days since hamas began its terrible war. we have encountered road bloc

iran lost its supply to hezbollah. many of assad supply regime and weapons including illegal chemical weapons have been destroyed by israel. it's not just what we achieved but also what we prevented. when i traveled across the region in the days after october 7, i heard from partners a palpable sense of alarm that regional war was coming, the combination of american diplomatic and military action and assistance to preserve and strengthen israel's deterrent helped prevent that from happening in the weeks after october 7 and multiple charged moments since. america's allies and partners, particularly in the middle east, have taken note of who they can rely on to stand by their friends and who they cannot. which powers work to defuse crisis and which powers stand back and do nothing and make problems worse. the balance of power is shifting dramatically and not in the way hamas and its backers hoped or planned. and yet the region remains rife with risk from syria's transition to iran's declaration to restore deterrence and

it's not in a complete defeat for hezbollah either. but once you have the security pressure on, the country lessened and lightened, you can actually have the beginning of a stepping stone, which is the basic functioning of lebanese politics the way it shouldn't be. and that said, president is a quote or stop the highest symbolic post in the country haven't get, haven't get vacant for over 2 years. there's also quite telling them that these are the 2 most challenging years. where has a bottle of effectively paralyzed, not just security, and not just foreign policy. but for that matter, local politics as well. you're seeing that group taking a step back in their influence and you're seeing the lebanese, they take a step forward. let me bring you in here, right now you've got a situation where finally up to 2 years, that is a president. is it time for all of living on to come together and quickly show the well that it can get a problem is they can get it cabinet and then it can begin to tackle the problem is, or is the level the, the natu

now it's a big organization, lebanese hezbollah. and the objective for the israelis, i believe is to prevent lebanese hezbollah from continuing to conduct missile rocket attacks and to push them back probably north of the litani river. again, very difficult task, not yet complete and we'll see where that goes. but again, the bigger issue will be iran at the end of the day. it's my belief and i may be wrong but i think that iran's hidden hand is behind a lot of this and these are surrogates of iran, lebanese hezbollah and the houthis and hamas. so i don't think they're doing things without some sort of iranian approval. the iranians may not have exact command and control in the true sense of that word, but they have a degree of influence that is much beyond, you know, just talking. so they've got advisers, they've trained, they man equip they give them weapons and so on and so forth. so there's a lot of influence there. and i do think that iran is playing a very, very heavy hand here. so israel's fighting in four or 56 different dire

every time do so we should say thank you, because hamas and, hezbollah and let's be clear, the head of the serpent is iran. they want to murder us. there is a reason that the ayatollah refers to israel the little satan and america's great satan and look october, seventh of last year we'll go down in history as one of the most horrific days, the history of humanity. it is the day of the single worst mass murder of -- in a day since, the holocaust, 12 israelis murdered women, girls raped systematically because they were jewish. you had deaths, squads going door to door, murdering elderly people, murdering women and little girls because they were jewish was literally nazi tactics for nazi ends. but i will say, you know, the old testament it describes when joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers and then years later, he encounters brothers and his brothers are terrified that he's going to put them to death because. he's risen to leadership in egypt. and what joseph says to them is what you meant for evil god intended good. and i believe that is very much true that what man can inten

by the defeat of hezbollah, so the defeat of hezbollah, so significant and all the leadership of hezbollah, sol mainy and all to have the defeat of hamas, which i hope is complete soon. it's a real encouragement to stabilize forces and then another country i think is so important that we work with is turkey. there's been such confusion over who's good, who's bad. who's a threat. legitimately to the people. our nato ally. gosh, we should be working together. >> that's exactly how i read that. i was going to ease into the turkia question because i get a lot of heat when i suggest that we should be working with turki -- occur coach against the russian counter balance. there may be some friction between them but it's our job to be the shock absorber and keep the tension between them. is that how you see it? >> it is and apparently we need you back in the administration. if weaved been here friday, the thought of aleppo, the only thing you knew about aleppo was the horrible mass murder conducted by putin which then he tried to replicate in mariapol in ukraine. but now in putting perspective aga

no, i think there it has to do much more with iran's weakness and above all, hezbollah's weakness. >> when hezbollah a few months ago signaled that it would sign a ceasefire with israel and no longer link it to this, i think that left hamas much more, much more exposed. >> the fall of bashar al assad in syria, the entire region has moved against iran, against hamas. i think that had a lot to do with it. and then thirdly, yes, this is significant, and i don't want to in any way belittle it. but coming back to a phrase i use in terms of diplomacy, this might be the end of the beginning in the sense that there's a lot to come. a significant as this is as difficult as it is, as much time as it took from bill burns and tony blinken. and again, without diminishing all the effort, we still have other phases of this cease fire to come. we've got the larger question of governance and security in gaza. and then you've got the incomparably larger question of israel's relationship with the with the palestinians in the west bank, where you've got roughly 3 million palestinians there. but this is a

there's an opportunity for a future free from the grip of hezbollah in syria. a future free from the tyranny of assad and for the palestinian people, a credible, a credible pathway to a state of their own. and for the region, a future of normalization and integration of israel and all its arab neighbors, including saudi arabia. at the g20 in delhi in september 23rd, i rallied key countries behind a vision of an economic corridor from india across the middle east to europe. that vision can now become a reality. there are risks as well, including isis and iran. even in a badly weakened state. but but we're handing off to the next team a real opportunity for a better future for the middle east. i hope they will take it. let m close with this. my friend, for years in the united states senate, former senator george mitchell, who did so much to forge peace in northern ireland, once said about diplomacy. he said it is a 700 days of failure and one day of success. 700 days of failure and one day of success. well, we've had many difficult days since hamas began its terr

when it comes to lebanon and hezbollah, there is an opportunity not only to have dealt with pushing hezbollah back, allowing israelis who have been chased from their homes in the north, 70, 80,000 to go back home, as well as lebanese to go back to their homes in southern lebanon are only to have that on a more effective, sustainable basis, because remember, 2000 six after the war, the basis for ending the war was resolution 1701 and the notion that hezbollah would pull back and would not be a threat to border communities in israel, and of course, it was never implement it. now, as a result of the cease-fire agreement renegotiated along with france, we are in a position where that problem can be solved. the larger problem of lebanon standing on its own feet, asserting its own sovereignty, that is now a much greater possibility so we want to see obviously the election of a president to fill that vacuum and the institutions of the state standing up and taking responsibility for the lives of lebanese. that offers a much different and better prospect going forward and it also means israel doesn't

a message to lebanon's iran backed hezbollah movement to lay down its weapons. elected president pledged to repair the destruction caused by israel's war with hezbollah. he also promised to push through economic and political reforms. our middle east correspondent has more now. >> election of the lebanese president today is a breakthrough for lebanon's politics after two years of no president. he has the backing of the united states, which also means there would be support for the lebanese army. this comes at a time where there has been regional changes with iran and its influence in the region has been weakened. hezbollah has been crippled inside lebanon after the war with israel, where its leadership have been assassinated. they have been blocking and controlling the politics in lebanon, and that is not the case anymore. also in neighboring syria. the toppling of bashar al-assad's regime and now another regime that is backed by the -- by iran and his meddling in lebanese politics is out of the picture. that supports the filling in the vacuum in these elections

, and they do seem ready— hezbollah, and they do seem ready to _ hezbollah, and they do seem ready too _ ready to do a deal. thank you. we will wait to see _ ready to do a deal. thank you. we will wait to see whether i we will wait to see whether that deal is finally reached. the last details being hammered out. we understand there will be a press briefing eminently in the qatari capital doha. we will wait to see whether there is the announcement of a deal and if there is any significant movement will bring it to you live here in bbc news, but for now back to you in london. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. british inflation unexpectedly slowed in december, providing some welcome relief to the under pressure chancellor rachel reeves. the headline figure fell to 2.5% from 2.6% in november. but the number is still above the bank of england's target of 2%. the uk's chief secretary to the treasury darrenjones told the bbc the economy is on the right track, but that more needs to be done. i think the plan for change is working and the fact that inflation is coming down

lebanon in the future free from the grip of hezbollah. syria, a future free from the tyranny of a side and the palestinian people. credible, credible state of their own and for the region a picture of normalization and immigration of israel and all of the entire neighbors including saudi arabia. the g20 and new delhi and september 2023 rallied behind a patient at the economic carter across the middle east to europe. that vision can i'll a reality. and a risk as well including isis and iran even badly we can state but, but they are handing off to the next team of real opportunity for a better future for the middle east. i hope they will take it. let me close with this here to my friend for years the united states senate, george mitchell did so much to forge peace said about diplomacy, he said 700 days of failure and one day at success. 700 days of failure and one day of success. well, we've had many difficult days since hamas began this terrible war. we have encountered roadblocks and setbacks. we have not given up. now after 400 days of s

iran left several supplies to hezbollah many including legal counsel happens after destroyed by israel not just what we achieve but also what we presented. when i traveled across the region the days after the seventh i heard from partners the palpable sense of loss that the regional war was coming. the combination of american diplomatic and military action and the citizens to preserve and strengthen Ãhelp prevent it from happening. i multiple charge particularly taking note of who they can rely on to stand by their friends. and who they cannot. which powers work to diffuse crises in which power stand back and do nothing. or make problems worse the balance of the power in the middle east are lyshifting dramatically. if the region remains right with risk from serious transition to ron's desperation to deterrence to a dearth of opportunity to refresh dissent in several ocountries. what's more, while the strategic gains of the mass late last 18 months or really, tremendous and excruciating costs. the families concertgoers children unfathomable grief persists. for those with loved ones stil

on israel with hezbollah and israel.za, do you think that we will get a ceasefire? a few weeks ago there was talk of maybe being a ceasefire around christmas but that didn't happen, just as we have heard previously there were hopes of a ceasefire. do you think there is any chance of it in the new year? i you think there is any chance of it in the new year?- of it in the new year? i think it's difficult _ of it in the new year? i think it's difficult to _ of it in the new year? i think it's difficult to predict, - of it in the new year? i think it's difficult to predict, to - it's difficult to predict, to be honest, however, we can see that post—assad it will open the door for israel to expand its military operations in the region. this might basically be moment to bring other players in, for example turkey. turkey signalled to the uae recently that it signalled to the uae recently thatitis signalled to the uae recently that it is willing to make an overture and discuss a ceasefire with israel. we could see egypt coming o

the war extended beyond gaza with hezbollah, which is iran.an backed militia no longer in effective control in lebanon. so a potential new page, a new beginning for lebanon, the government in syria, the dictatorship of bashar al assad, which was also backed by iran, has been toppled. there are profound geographical and political changes that are still playing out as a result of that terrible morning on october 7th. and they and they will, i believe, continue to have an impact on this region for years, if not decades to come. >> richard e much for that. just moments ago, my colleague lester holt spoke with the father of american hostage edan alexander. he is a 21 year old american who served in the idf. he was stationed near gaza on october 7th. and lester asked how he feels, knowing that his son is likely not going to be in the first group of hostages released as part of this deal. >> mixed feelings. i'm on the other hand, i'm really happy about everybody. >> but on the other hand, we have four american hostages that were murdered on october 7

the lebanese military who are supposed to be destroying caches of hezbollah weapons and infrastructureen doing so. effectively, what he said is that if this agreement is not honoured, is run may have to act to try and make it possible for israeli residents who fled the northern part of that border to return it safely to their homes. just to give you an example of how things are going. 0n to give you an example of how things are going. on thursday of last week, said it struck rocket launchers in southern lebanon after it had identified them as a military installation. it had notified the lebanese army and israel says that the lebanese army did not act to take as that rocket launcher so israel took matters into their own hands and struck and hit that target. indications from the israeli side that there frustrated that the deal that stopped hostilities as the end of november is not being honoured. thanks very much for now. jonah fisher live injerusalem. thousands of supporters and opponents of south korea's suspended president have been on the streets of seoul for a second day. some staye

she all parties, hezbollah and i'm a who have a another account that it but that candidates withdrew late yesterday and through his support that for, for, for our many believe that they're still political maneuvering political message exist. as you know, there is no internal consensus in this country, but there is international pressure to get the election done right. i was going to ask you, what's changed because lebanese and peace have been trying to choose a president now for a number of years since 2022 cents, which allowance durham ended. what it, what does change? what makes this election more likely today? well yes, the last i like to have a session was 19 months ago, but in recent weeks and months, the balance of power has changed in this country and across the region as well as devastating war on hezbollah weekend the group militarily. and its opponents are trying to translate this on the political front, also in neighboring syria, the fall of the said regime, an ally of hezbollah. so the pro iran camp really has been weakened in this country . they have been blamed for bloc

we have to find out about hezbollah. >> stephen: hezbo-wha? i'm sorry.he now saying that january 6th was done by hezbollah? "january 6th was a day of love. it was a day of peace. that i have nothing to do with. it was hezbollah, who is also the fbi. the b, of course, stands for 'bollah.'" [applause] it's been a while. it's been a while. i haven't done the impression a couple months and i think i pulled my soul. trump went on. >> we have to find out about who exactly was in that whole thing because people that did some bad things were not prosecuted. >> stephen: yeah, i'm looking at one right now! [cheers and applause] so the people who did january 6th are both misunderstood proud boys that you're pardoning and hezbollah? that would explain the j6 choir's new anthem: "god bless and/or death to america." but the part everybody's talking about today involves trump's strange obsession with annexing greenland. >> we need greenland for national security purposes. i've been told that for a long time, long before i even ran. >> stephen: yeah, before he even ran.

hamas and hezbollah disseminated. was the organization that they created to protect iran from israel and that organization also has got major problems. they have lost their strategic platform in syria. they are defenseless at home because israel stripped away their air defense system. they can't even protect their leaders in tehran, to be frank about it, much less their nuclear systems in rockets and missiles. what's their choice? what they want to do more than anything else is preserve their regime. they have always thought a nuclear weapon would do that. they believe saddam hussein would still be in power today and so would qaddafi if they had pursued a nuclear weapon successfully. are they now going to pursue that and get there in a mart of months? that remains to be seen. i think our intelligence agencies are watching it like a hawk. i know where prime minister netanyahu is. he wants to eliminate this threat. he sees this as a strategic opportunity, they are defenseless. they are not going to be able to retaliate

just a reminder, the terms of the ceasefire that were agreed uh between 11 on an israel uh well hezbollah, and his route was, they had 60 days to withdraw its troops from southern lebanon. we are now approaching the end of that deadline and it looks like, well, the signal is coming from israel. is that it plans to extend this day? yes. well, i think the main valuable that entered into the equation from the 28th of us november is the rapid and southern collapse of the asset. the government. this what's happening on the 8th of the some of, of december has meant that the hezbollah supplies definitely cut as far as to be as concerned the edge, the as, which is traditionally. and they may have, has the light is now on the boulder. so i wouldn't be surprised that has been a lot, in fact it's starting to make moves to try and re supply and connect as much as, as possible. if it's infrastructure as quick as possible. at the same time. is there a, although it has weekend, has the light hasn't really wiped it out? and it has now opened other ambitions of a dropping more land, both within lebanon an

hezbollah fighters dismembered and demoralized.h khamenei put on a brave face, telling supporters with the divine power of god, our resistance will now expand. but the regime has been humiliated. even a barrage of cruise missiles iran fired at israel was intercepted and did little damage. iran lost out in syria too when its ally, the dictator bashar al assad was toppled by islamist fighters who swept into the main cities and declared victory. the political shifts in the middle east over 2024 have been seismic, and it's safe to say the region will never be the same again. add to the mix in 2025 donald trump, whose foreign policy will be at the very least disruptive. so anything's possible, from a fragile peace to disaster. >>> this is robert costa in washington, which is bracing for the return of president-elect donald trump, who seems ready to rumble. >> woke is [ bleep ]. >> reporter: but change isn't easy as carl hulce knows. we met the him on capitol hill. where the butchers have an easier time than the legislators down the stre

but absent was iran, which had considerable influence to hezbollah own, who received $99.00 as a $128.00 votes, is considered to be the preferred choice of the us and the international community . well unfortunately i, i believe that there has been a role by international community and the agent to play us the push for at the conclusion of this milestone. and faces the difficult tasks of overseeing a ceasefire on the is really border and naming a prime minister to lead reforms demanded by international creditors to save the country from a severe economic crisis. this was not merely a vote. it's a sign that after much delay 11 on it has entered a new phase and its history center for their elders either bailed house on name day is a political analyst at a research a at the middle east institute. he says, joseph allen's biggest challenge will undoubtedly be the efforts to dissolve has the law. and it cannot be a compromise in the form back because the light is to 6 to have a compromise that ok, we tried through the loopholes to maintain our on. so we try to move the loopholes to maintain ou

really, hezbollah did it. he also said at that same press conference that he's going to pardon the people who did the january 6th attack. well, i'm sure hezbollah will be delighted. this is the transition where he made unprovoked threats to seize territory from three other nations, three other nations with whom we are allied. and that is, of course, inexplicable to those countries. it's inexplicable to most americans, but it's also equally very exciting to the dictators of russia and china who actually have been either seizing territory from other countries or planning to. and now, whether or not trump actually follows through on these weird threats, those two dictators will have trump's words during the transition to throw back at the united states of america. if the us ever again bothers to object to big countries like theirs, stomping on small countries and seizing their land. right? welcome back to the 19th century. sorry. no, there's no penicillin. this is the presidential transition where the president e

to be a direct target with attacks continuing by hezbollah against israel.art: trump has not ruled out using military force to gain control of greenland. denmark, which has authority over greenland at the moment says, may become independent but not a us state. is greenland vital to us security? >> i think what donald trump is doing is highlighting that there are resource issues and security issues that are involved when we talk about greenland, when we talk about canada, when we talk about the panama canal. these things matter to the us so he's taking an extreme position saying we will take these territories, might even use military force. i don't believe he has any intend to do that. he often brags about one of the presidents in recent memory who hasn't started a war but he wants to put out an extreme position to get people talking about security and resources. is it a vital interest? i would say as long as it is not used by an adversary, it is fine but at the moment an adversary like china, exploiting greenland or exploiting panama against the united state

hezbollah played a role in how do you respond that?> this is not new for donald trump, he's trying to rewrite history and suppress the truth the white he does not want a special report and why is continue to spread lies let's talk about the weapons on january 6. as we heard testimony elections lockdowns of things secret service would not allow the area around. and he is entitled do that. whether it's donald trump or mike johnson, we are not going to allow anyone to rewrite history will have their own facts. donald trump is all the time. what you are seeing did not happen. he's doing this time and time again. our perspective and the truth we lived it and as we see. >> they are now coming back up what are democrats reaction? has of said have a brought up of those. >> not too much of a process here but the committees do not have their numbers yet. some of them last congress this is there effort to extract something might johnson. it is not a rules committee are not aware so they do not have the ability to bring a bill to the floor to have

reporter: israel carried out strikes in lebanon yesterday, say saying they raised concerns of hezbollah violating the ceasefire agreement but those were in the addressed. does the u.s. believe that -- first was the -- were you aware of issues that israel had raised with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism? and second, is it fully operational? do you believe there are issues with the ceasefire monitoring? general ryder: what i would say is that, from our interect -- perspective, the ceasefire continues. i don't have anything nor will i speak for israel in terms of their operations. i do know that major general jefers and the team that implementing the mechanism along with the state department and other countries are working hard to ensure that that ceasefire holds. they're working hard to ensure that we understand what the lebanese armed forces' needs are as they take over security and implement that ceasefire. and so i'm confident that they are staying in close communication with the israelis as well as others in the region to do that work. i'll just leave it there. reporter: it will con

and the elimination of hezbollah leader, her son, us rolla, were carried out despite the opposition of senior officials in the defense establishment. and those responsible for them in the political echelon hey, was considered by many as an act of war against 11 men each other's the legality. of the operation, including then in foreign policy, joseph burrell, while others condemned it as an active tara, i should have been pretty sure i should bring you another story here. the smith is as a means of achieving political rules, is the inhumane level of by threatening civilian technology into a deadly with this crime must be investigated immediately. but even though we cannot ignore the numerous publications in the media, including in europe and here in the united states, which testified in some form of involvement and at least awareness of washington in the preparation of this terrorist attack form and say i, i changed from the on to green, feel like you to be able to place an explosive and technology that is very prevalent. the stage and turn it into a war of chair. really war? i'm sure t

years, as long as no serrano was alive, he would have quickly rebuilt the capabilities we took from hezbollah and therefore i gave the directive and na serrano is no longer with us. his illumination advances, the return of our residents to their homes in the north. it also advances the return of our hostages in the south. the more that's in war sees that no, sir, all a will not be coming to his rescue. the greater are the chances for returning our hostages. we face tremendous challenges, along with the chance to break the raining and ring of fire and achieve our war objectives. foremost among them, the safe return of our hostages and residents to their homes. for this, we must continue the offensive against our enemies and pursue diplomatic efforts with our allies. this impressive military achievement in the north must now be translated into advancing and achieving the objectives of the war. both in the north and the south. we must act from a position of strength to secure a deal for the return of the hostages and safely bring residents back to their communities. while fortifying israel secur

and the elimination of hezbollah leader, her son, us rolla, were carried out despite the opposition of senior officials in the defense establishment and those responsible for them in the political echelon. it was considered by many as an act of war against 11 and many challenges the legality of the operation, including then a foreign policy, joseph burrell, while others condemned it as an active tara should have been pretty sure i should pretty dealer striking example of terrorist methods as a means of achieving political goals is the in the humane attack on 11 on and by turning civilian technology into a deadly weapon. this crime must be investigated immediately. but even now we cannot ignore numerous publications in the media, including in europe and here in the united states and part of which testified this was on the form of involvement, this end and least awareness of the washington. in the preparation of this terrorist attack uniform, a say i change leon panetta agreed. feel like you to be able to place an explosive and technology that is very prevalent. the stage and turn it int

and then after targeting and eliminating membership and leadership of hezbollah, i absolutely support that. and in fact, if anything, i love it, it was a problem, you know, making with you as an intelligent soul. since i knew being planned for some 15 years, with the question of how it happened, remains a mystery with a child leading from taiwan to h in europe. so i'm fine. the lebanon involving a number of shell companies, and that should be fronted by most of the 1st time. but each company go to product, was identified as a manufacturer of the pages, but an issue just with denial, claiming it sold a license to be a see consulting and hungry. and then let's most that show company. but it's website disappeared. so, you know, after the explosions went, all these own investigations, drew a blank, as you can see the from behind me, this is a very much a residential neighborhood. so that could be, office space is here, but it's essentially a residential or a family's living here. there is no way a tool that anything could be manufactured here. big questions us about this company. now one