fergal keane, bbc news, cologne.g of senior hamas leader ismail haniyeh in iran earlier this year. it comes after months of speculation about israel's involvement. meanwhile, benjamin netanyahu says that some progress in negotiations to secure a hostage release and ceasefire deal in gaza has been made, but added that reaching a final agreement, is taking longer than expected. a major sticking point is reportedly israel's presence in the philadelphi corridor — a crucial strip of land that borders gaza and egypt. israel says it must maintain control of the area to prevent hamas from replenishing its weaponry along that route. all of this — as israel continues its military campaign in gaza, with palestinian officials saying that israeli attacks across the territory have killed more than 50 people in the past 2a hours — including in the southern "safe zone" of al—mawasi. i've been speaking to the father of an israeli—american hostage who has been held captive in gaza for over a year. jonathan dekelchen, the father of 35—

fergal keane, bbc news, cologne.e people — two of them children — in a designated humanitarian zone. this was the scene as tents were set ablaze in a humanitarian zone sheltering thousands of displaced people. the idf said they were targeting a "hamas terrorist" and had warned people there to leave. those in the camp were told they were sent to me there for their own safety. translation: ~ , , translation: we were sleeping in ourtents— translation: we were sleeping in our tents and _ translation: we were sleeping in our tents and none _ translation: we were sleeping in our tents and none of- translation: we were sleeping in our tents and none of us - translation: we were sleeping in our tents and none of us are i in our tents and none of us are wanted by the army. why are they bombing us when we are sleeping in a tense? the idf were the ones who told us to head to tense in this area, so how can they bombard us with missiles. to how can they bombard us with missiles. ., , ., ~' ., missiles. to let you know the re . ul

fergal keane, bbc news, cologne. let's get some of the day's other news now.er us president, bill clinton, who has been admitted to hospital in washington with a fever. one of his aides said the 78—year—old was in good spirits. mr clinton was previously hospitalised for five nights in 2021, due to a blood infection. he underwent a quadruple heart bypass operation in 2004, three years after leaving office. the french prime minister, francois bayrou, has played down fears of a huge loss of life in the indian ocean territory of mayotte, which was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. mr bayrou said deaths would number in the dozens, not thousands, dismissing the higher figure as "alarmist". 35 people are known to have been killed. a nasa spacecraft is set to make history today. it will get closer to the sun than any other human—made object. the parker solar probe, which first launched in 2018, will come to within 3.8 million miles of our star. scientists are hoping it'll tell us more about the sun's impact on the earth. even though we have had missio

fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem.l katz, has warned that lebanon suffer consequences if maastricht�*s ceasefire between israel and hezbollah collapses. both sides have accused each other of breaching the truce. the us, which broke the agreement with france and is monitoring its compliance said "largely speaking, the ceasefire was holding". deadly israeli strikes in southern lebanon and a mortar attack by hezbollah have raised fears the deal could fall apart. in the syriac, anti—government forces say they have captured around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. you're live with bbc news. in syria, antigovernment forces say they have captured one of the largest military bases on the edge of the city of hama, just 200km north of the capital, damascus. the syrian defence ministry said russian and syrian warplanes were bombarding rebels. last week, a lightning attack threw questions on president assad's grip on power. i'mjoined by president assad's grip on power. i'm joined by the spokesperson for the white helm

fergal keane, bbc news, cologne.n other news israel's prime minister says some progress has been made in negotiations to secure the release of hostages held in gaza. comes two days after a palestinian armed group talked of progress towards a ceasefire and hostage release deal. it is not clear when an agreement may be finalised but he said a deal had been made more likely because the israeli military actions have made hamas soften their demands. it comes as palestinian official said on monday australian tax across gaza had killed more than 50 people in the previous 24 than 50 people in the previous 2a hours including in the southern safe zone. the idf said three of its soldiers were killed on monday in this area of northern gaza. to the us now. the man accused of killing the us healthcare insurance chief executive brian thompson has pleaded not guilty to state—level murder and terrorism charges. luigi mangione appeared in court in new york to face 11 state criminal counts. he also faces federal stalking and murder cha

fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem.ng restricted yet again. the taliban are reported to have banned female students from enrolling for medical training, which was the only form of higher education still available for women, who've already been barred from secondary and university education. caroline hawley reports. tea rs of tears of disappointment as women turn up to their medical studies as usual, only to be turned away. there's not much consolation when you have been told your last chance of any formal education has been snatched from you. empty chairs where once a new generation of nurses and midwives were learning. 0nly nurses and midwives were learning. only two months ago, the bbc was allowed to film a training course run by the taliban government where women were taught how to deliver babies. as of now, this is no longer allowed. some women, whose classes were cancelled, spoke to the bbc anonymously of their anger and despair. translation: deep down - in our hearts, we know there is no hope, there is no hope for

fergal keane, bbc news, cologne. he set off from cape town in south africa lastjuly.lives in london has made it back home after an extraordinary run. deo kato ran across 9 countries in africa — excluding war torn sudan which he flew over — before continuing through 11 more countries in europe, and finally reaching west london yesterday. leigh milner went to find out why. cheering. reunited with his motherjust in time for christmas. this was the moment deo kato finally crossed the finishing line in his home city of london yesterday, after running the equivalent of more than 300 marathons in just under a year and a half. incredibly relieved to actually have finished. it was overwhelming to see my mum there and she wanted to do a kilometre to get to the finish line with me. so doing that with her was beyond my expectations. day 66 running from cape town to london. deo wanted to raise awareness about racism by highlighting the history of human migration from africa, in his words, to show that we all come from the same place. his journey took him through africa and across

fergal keane, bbc news, cologne.m oxfam has accused israel of systematically using starvation as a weapon of war in gaza. the middle east and north african director described the situation as apocalyptic with the humanitarian effort now on its knees due to a lack of support from israel on the ground. israel has denied the claims from oxfam saying it is doing everything it can to get humanitarian aid into the region. our correspondent has more. another thing that we've heard today is a report from oxfam — and again, it paints a really grim picture — that is the shortage of aid to gaza, especially in northern gaza. so, areas like jabalia, beit lahia, beit hanoun — these areas have been besieged with ongoing fighting and relentless shelling because, yet again, the israeli army is going after hamas fighters who they say have regrouped in that area. what oxfam is telling us is that,in two—and—a—half months, of the 334 trucks of food and water that have been given permission to enter gaza, and the deliberate — what they wh

fergal keane, bbc news, cologne. neta nyahu says benjamin netanyahu says that some progress in negotiations to secure a hostage release and ceasefire dealing gaza has been made, but added that reaching a final agreement is taken than expected. —— taken longer than expected. meanwhile, 0xfam, says israel has systematically been using starvation as a weapon of war in gaza and accuses world leaders of not doing enough to address the humanitarian crisis. in a statement, the aid organisation described the situation as �*apocalyptic�* and said: gaza has been widely destroyed and the entire population is suffering. palestinian officials saying that israeli attacks across the territory have killed more than 50 people in the past 2a hours including in the southern save sign of al—mawasi. i've been speaking to the father of a hostage was been held captive in gaza for over a year. the father of 35—year—old. he is calling for a ceasefire deal to be reached quickly and he says that it's time for israel and hamas along with well—m