avi hyman, is really spokesman. _ them. avi hyman, is really spokesman, thank - them. really spokesman, thank you for| them. avi hyman, is really - spokesman, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. let's speak to the labour party peer alf dubs — lord dubs — who's also a prominent campaigner for refugees. cani can i ask you the same question alf dubs, do you think this is a watershed moment in terms of international opinion about what israel is doing in gaza was mark? i think it is because it does brought home to us exactly what is happening in our aid workers have become targets and have been killed. because of it workers have been killed over the last two months so this is the first time but three of them happen to be british, we are more aware of it and i think it was change the terms on which we treat israel. in change the terms on which we treat israel. , ., ., ~' change the terms on which we treat israel. , ., ., ~ ., israel. in terms of the work of relief and _ israel. in terms of the work of relief and aid _ israel. in terms of the work of relief and aid agencies

joining us now to discuss more of this developing situation, avi hyman, government spokesman for israelavi, good to have you here. good morning. >> hi, frank. thanks for having me on. >> i think we have to talk about what's going on right now. we mentioned some of the tensions between the u.s. and israel about this possible operation in rafah. how does israel balance national security and humanitarian concerns with youral lyes including u.s. and europe, very concerned about the impact of the operation? >> frank, we didn't choose this war. we didn't want this war, be we need to fight this war. this is an existential war for our very existence. on october 7th, people have forgotten, hamas ripped through, raping little girls, burning families. >> we understand the violence, of course. the violence is terrible. but there is a serious humanitarian concern. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has announced this operation will go on despite other allies advising against it. >> frank, we need to move on rafah for the simple reason, the last four hamas battalions, we've taken out close to 20 of th

and i'm joined down the line from israel by avi hyman, who's acting as a spokesman for the israeli government, thank you for government. avi, thank you for joining me this evening. so your ambassador in london, tzipi hotovely, has been called in to meet foreign office minister andrew mitchell today. what i don't quite understand is how a vehicle that was so clearly marked out was targeted, or was this just a horrible accident? >> nigel, thank you so much for having me on and thank you for highlighting the story , it was highlighting the story, it was it would appear, a terrible, terrible accident. this was an incredible organisation. you know, aid workers like these in conflicts like this are often the unsung heroes. they were going to give, food and aid to people that genuinely need it. at a time when we're fighting to get aid into gaza and not having it stolen by hamas, who were taking it into their underground compounds and hogging the food and aid. so our heart goes out to the families of the victims, and we're going to thoroughly investigate it. it's going to be a investigation and a tra

speaking a short time ago in tel aviv, israeli government spokesperson avi hyman said the reduction inop numbers was not an indication of a pause in fighting. we try not to speak too much about the movement of our soldiers, obviously for their safety. what i will say is that the movement of those soldiers doesn't indicate anything special. we are committed to our war aims to destroy hamas, to bring home the 133 hostages and to ensure that gaza does not pose a threat to us any more. we will continue on with that mission, will continue onto rafah to destroy the last four hamas military terror battalions. so i wouldn't read too much into the fact that we have moved soldiers in or out of anywhere. i will remind everyone that we are living in a tiny, tiny country. we can move soldiers in and out very easily and very quickly. say nothing special but at the six month mark of this war there is talk of a new chapter, new pressure, including significant pressure from washington and ever—growing concern about the way that israel is fighting this war. so how does the situation look now from europe

avi hyman, told reporters, the a decline in troops from southern gaza wasn't an "indication of anythinghe had to say we try not to speak too much about the movement of our soldiers, obviously for their safety. what i will say is that the movement of most soldiers doesn't indicate anything special. we are committed to our war anything special. we are committed to ourwaraims to anything special. we are committed to our war aims to destroy hamas, to bring home the now 133 hostages and to ensure that gaza doesn't pose a threat to us any more. we will continue on with that mission, will continue on with that mission, will continue on with that mission, will continue on to rafah to destroy the last four hamas terra battalions. so i wouldn't read too much into the fact that we have moved soldiers in or out of anywhere. i will remind everyone that we are living in a tiny, tiny country. we can move soldiers in and out very easily and very quickly. more now on some breaking news from the us. donald trump has said that abortion rights — expected to be a key issue in november's presidential electio

i spoke to israeli government spokesperson avi hyman a short while ago and asked him what had gone wrongc mistake, as my prime minister has said, and the people of israel grieve with the families today. there is an ongoing investigation. preliminary findings find that it was a mistake. i can't really add much more information, and i can't really confirm the details of the report that you just gave. what i will say is that these are the unsung heroes of war — the people that go out to give food to the people that need it at a time like this when hamas is actively stealing the food and making it so difficult for their own people in gaza. let's cross over to amman injordan to speak to ahmed bayram, media & communications adviser for norwegian refugee council middle east. thank you for being with us. just explain your role in gaza.- explain your role in gaza. thank you for havin: explain your role in gaza. thank you for having me. _ explain your role in gaza. thank you for having me, we _ explain your role in gaza. thank you for having me, we operate - explain your role in gaza. thank you fo

joining us now, the spokesman for the israeli government, avi hyman.nd responsible action, that they were responding. my question to you, sir, is what are the options in terms of a response, and can you confirm that there will be a response to this? >> thank you so much for having me on this morning. let me first say that this narrative of retaliation is actually absurd. i can't speak directly to that strike in damascus, what i can say definitively is that was not an embassy, not a consulate, not a diplomatic mission. it was a military target, iran's major exporter of terror around the world. they were there to do israel harm. as far as the response, israel will retain our right as a sovereign democratic country to defend ourself after what you said was an unprecedented attack. thank goodness, an unprecedented response. had some of those ballistic missiles, suicide drones, or cruise missiles, had more of them landed, that could have meant catastrophe in israel, potential carnage. we're thankful to our strategic allies for standing with us on this one.