jon donnison _ -- very gaunt in the face. jon donnison there _ —— very gaunt in the face.iddle east regional editor sebastian usher. it seems like the deal is going to plan. it seems like the deal is going to ian. , , , .., to plan. this is the second staue to plan. this is the second stage of— to plan. this is the second stage of the _ to plan. this is the second stage of the first - to plan. this is the second stage of the first phase i to plan. this is the second stage of the first phase so j stage of the first phase so yes, so far. there have been moments where it has looked like there have been issues. they have been surmounted. today was quick, the way it happened, essentially. much more so than last week. the passing and prisoners were not being released by now this time last sunday —— palestinian prisoners. so that has happened much more smoothly. and more difficult as well because they are being sent to different places, some to the west bank, some to gaza, and a 70 who essentially are being sent into exile, not being allowed back because exile, not

our corresondent, jon donnison, is in jerusalem.peak to yossi mekelberg, senior associate fellow of the middle east and north africa programme at chatham house. thank you forjoining us. we have this israeli cabinet meeting expected later, do you expect them to approve the deal despite their splits with some on the far right? good morning. yes, i do. ithink the agreement is going to pass, i think there is also even a bigger majority in the parliament because the opposition parties support this agreement, there is a general wide agreement, there is a general wide agreement within the israeli public for a very long time, the public says for a long time that they support a deal that will see the hostages also returning even if it means an end of war. at the same time, some of the far right oppose it idea logically. they want to see this war continue almost indefinitely. some of them tried to position themselves best in case of action but it's worth mentioning, one or two of them might resign from the cabinet, it doesn't mean that they l

in the holy land. jon donnison in jerusalem, _ in the holy land. jon donnison in jerusalem, thank _ jerusalem, thank you. - let's speak to our gaza correspondent rushdi abualouf. he was reporting live from gaza where he lived and he is currently in cairo. i wanted to start on a personal note from you as to how you feel seeing these pictures that we have been showing live of those hundreds of thousands of palestinians making their way back into the north.— back into the north. well, mixed feelings. _ back into the north. well, mixed feelings. a - back into the north. well, mixed feelings. a very - mixed feelings. a very emotional day for me and my family, very relieved that my father and the rest of the family will be starting their journey back to gaza city. where most of their homes were destroyed. but it is a big day for all palestinians. we are talking about more than i million people on the move. i'm not sure if all of them will manage to cross today because it is a long walk and it is going to take a very long time to walk this road. it is a dusty road, partly destroyed road. t

jon donnison is injerusalem and hejoins me now. ng, jon. is in jerusalem and he “oins me now. good morning, 10m— is in jerusalem and he “oins me now. good morning, jon. morning. we are exectin: good morning, jon. morning. we are expecting a — good morning, jon. morning. we are expecting a meeting _ good morning, jon. morning. we are expecting a meeting later _ good morning, jon. morning. we are expecting a meeting later today, - expecting a meeting later today, just remind me what we are expecting to hear following that meeting in israel. basically there are going to be two meetings, we think, starting this morning. 0ne meetings, we think, starting this morning. one will be the israeli security cabinet, and then the full israeli government. both of those bodies need to vote to approve this deal, which we are expecting them to do so, given that prime minister netanyahu's office now say that the negotiation team say the deal has been finalised. you will be aware that there are two hardline right—wing ministers within the government wh

that was jon donnison that wasjon donnison the in ramallah.negotiator and former adviser to the un, and the author of order 0ut of chaos: a kidnap negotiator�*s guide to influence and persuasion. thank you for being with us. we saw the soldiers released earlier on, these four israeli women. they were wearing full length uniforms, making it difficult to ascertain the actual physical health. we understand they are going to medical checks now. what are we able to know about the conditions they would have been keptin conditions they would have been kept in and the physical condition they will be now? the -h sical condition they will be now? tue: physical conditions condition they will be now? tte: physical conditions would vary, depending on where they would have been kept and they will get medically treated now but usually my spirit of having debriefed many hostages over the years is usually the mental and emotional scars that take a lot longer to heal, as you can imagine. yet for some of them, actually, they survived pretty and go on to live nor

jon donnison, live injerusalem.tures from jerusalem, a member of the press is taking a picture there, because you can see there are images of israeli flags there, and people holding up pictures of those who were taken hostage during the original attack back in october seventh. you can see that those flags are draped over an image of what would be a coffin, there, just a reminder of the number of hostages who have died in gaza. this all comes ahead of the israeli cabinet, due to meet to approve the ceasefire and hostage release deal in gaza, raising hopes to bring an end to 15 months of war. you can see pictures of those people who were taken hostage in gaza. and these are the pictures from khan younis, in gaza, which is waking up this morning, you can see people out and about in khan younis. we arejust hearing from the un development head that they are dealing in gaza with what he described as decades of lost development. a0 million tonnes of rubble alone have to be removed according to the un development programme,

jon donnison reports from jerusalem. new dawn gaza and for the homeless and the hungry, finally some hope. we homeless and the hungry, finally some hope. we hope, by the name _ finally some hope. we hope, by the name of _ finally some hope. we hope, by the name of god, _ finally some hope. we hope, by the name of god, that - finally some hope. we hope, by the name of god, that today - finally some hope. we hope, by the name of god, that today is. the name of god, that today is the name of god, that today is the last day of war. we hope there will not be any violations of the ceasefire. the people are tired, we are tired, from displacement, from illnesses, from starving, from fatigue. we call upon god that this is the last day. but fatigue. we call upon god that this is the last day.— this is the last day. but 'ust hours before i this is the last day. but 'ust hours before the i this is the last day. butjust hours before the ceasefire, | hours before the ceasefire, palestinians are still being killed in israeli strikes. r

let's speak to our correspondent, jon donnison, who joins me from jerusalem.e looking at this morning, where at 7am at local time, finally, these hordes of palestinians could cross into the north for the first time since the start of the war. yes, we are talking about a very large number of people, well over 500,000 people have been waiting in southern gaza to return to see what is left of their homes in the north, and they are now on the move. they are streaming up that coastal road in their tens of thousands, quite a long walk from central gaza, a lot of them carrying whatever they can on their backs, and in about 50 minutes�* time, the central road that runs up the middle of gaza will allow cars to pass. they will allow cars to pass. they will have to be screened by the israeli military in the corridor before they are allowed to pass north for israel to check that people are not taking weapons, that sort of thing. i would imagine that is going to be an incredibly long wait for people to the day. but, they are happy, they are at least going north, but many w

my colleague jon donnison reports now on the latest developments — and a warning his report does containages. celebration and relief in gaza last night as news of the deal came through. survival. a victory in itself. translation: we are very happy about the agreement. it gives us hope for gaza's future. the agreement guarantees that no more lives will be lost — after experiencing genocide, this agreement means saving lives. the end of the war brings us an indescribable joy. but this morning, the reality that the killing hasn't stopped yet. at the baptist hospital in gaza city, they were bringing in the dead and the injured. at least 80 people, including 19 children, have been killed in israeli strikes since the agreement was announced, according to officials in gaza. still, amid the destruction, hope that the worst might be over. "enough is enough," says 14—year—old ahmed. "it's better for us to go back to our homes and sit on the rubble than deal with death every day." but not everyone is happy with the agreement. injerusalem today, outside the prime minister's office, there were protes

jon donnison was in ramallah for the release of those prisoners. ramallah, we saw pretty chaotic scenes to be honest as those prisoners were busted out of oferjail in beitunia. they arrived at this reception centre which had been put on in ramallah and there were, as i say, chaotic scenes as the buses on which they arrived was swarmed with their supporters, theirfamily members. we swarmed with their supporters, their family members. we then saw the prisoners file off the bus, all in their grey prison tracksuits, many with shaven heads, some with quite long beards and all, it has to be said, looking pretty gaunt, like they lost quite a lot of weight while in prison. overall weight while in prison. overall we had 200 prisoners freed today. just over 100 came back here to the west bank and then they'll be allowed to travel home to the west bank or east jerusalem. 70 more — those who had been convicted of more serious offences — they have now been transferred to egypt. they're going to be deported to neighbouring countries such as qatar and turkey. and

jon donnison has sent this report.ostages being taken that you may find upsetting. dawn on october the 7th, 2023, and the nahal oz israeli military base was being swarmed by hamas gunmen. thenjust i9, naama levy was one of several female soldiers to be taken hostage. these pictures were released with permission from theirfamilies. now, 475 days after she was abducted, naama's nightmare could finally be over. naama's nightmare could finally be over. she's one of four israeli soldiers named by hamas to be freed tomorrow. the others are 20—year—old karina ariev, daniella gilboa, also 20, and 19—year—old liri albag. ijust started, you know, putting things that three. months ago i met with naama levy's mother, ayelet. her message to her daughter. then stay strong. you just need to survive. just take it day by day, hour by hour. i'm doing the same. i'm thinking of you all the time, and you will get through this. you will come back to our hug and to our love and to heal. and you will have so many, many years and moments of ha

i spoke earlier to our correspondant jon donnison injerusalem, as displaced palestinians were returningrn gaza. we're talking about a lot of people, well over half a million gazans are thought to be displaced in the south and will now try to return to their homes if they've still got one left. the united nations at the end of last year estimated that more than 60% of all buildings in gaza had been destroyed or damaged. but you're right, they're on the move in large numbers up that coastal road. and then just in the last few minutes, the central road heading up through gaza will allow cars and vehicles to pass. they will have to be screened by the idf and i could imagine people are going to be waiting a very, very long time, but at least they are able to return home if they've still got a home. and tell us about those remarks from president trump and the reaction that there's been to them. well, there's been absolute outrage from palestinians in gaza. they say gaza is their home and they have absolutely no intention of leaving, even though it is in a state of ruins at the moment. egypt h

our corresondent, jon donnison, is injerusalem and has details on what we can expect from today.e expect there are going to be two meetings here in israel possibly this morning. the first will be the security cabinet who will need to approve this deal and then the full government needs to approve it. we do expect the deal to be approved but you will know that there are two hardline right—wing ministers who will say they will quit the government if this deal goes ahead, they said this deal is letting hamas off the hook and accuse the government of doing a deal with the devil, in other words with hamas in their view. they have fudged things a bit, those ministers, and really backed down. they have said although they will resign their position as ministers within the government, they will not vote with the opposition to bring the government down yet. they say, as long as the war continues, when the first phase of the ceasefire deal is over in six weeks' time, they will not vote with the opposition forcing elections here in israel. so it buys prime minister netanyahu another six week

jon donnison was in ramallah for the release of those prisoners. we saw a pretty chaotic scenes to be honest. as those prisoners were busted out off the jail down the road for remind at this reception center put on in ramallah. there were chaotic scenes as the buses on which they arrived were swarmed with their supporters, the family members we then saw the prisoners file off the bus all in their great prison track suits for the many with shaven heads, some quite long beards. it has to be said in all looking pretty gaunt, like they've lost quite a bit of weight while in prison. 0verall weight while in prison. overall weight while in prison. overall we had 200 prisoners a free two dayjust we had 200 prisoners a free two day just over we had 200 prisoners a free two dayjust over 100 came back here to the west bank. they will then be allowed to travel home to the west bank or east jerusalem. 70 more, those who had been convicted of more serious offensive, they have now been transferred to egypt the going to be deported to neighboring countries such as

thank you very much, jon donnison in jerusalem.irst official visit since becoming british prime minister. he's planning to sign what downing street is calling a landmark, hundred—year partnership which formalises and builds on economic and military support for kyiv. sir keir previously visited ukraine when he was leader of the opposition in 2023, and has hosted president zelensky twice at downing street since entering office. president biden has warned americans about the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few rich people as he delivered his farewell address, four days before leaving office. he said institutions that govern a free society are being threatened. today an oligarchy is taking shape in america of extreme wealth, power and influence, that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. we see the consequences all across america, and we've seen it before, more than a century ago. but the american people stood up to the robber barons back t

jon donnison was there for the release of those prisoners. pretty chaotic scenes, to be honest.x in ramallah, a few miles from the prison where many of those detainees were being held. and when the buses arrived, carrying, well, about 100, 110 prisoners who are going to be returning to their homes in the west bank, there was chaos, really. just the buses mobbed by those prisoners�* families, their supporters. the prisoners emerged not looking in great shape, a lot of them, to be honest — pretty gaunt, a lot of them with shaven heads, long beards in their grey prison tracksuits, and they were hoisted onto the shoulders of their supporters to huge cheers, really. and you really get a sense of the division of opinion here. i mean, in israel, these men mostly are regarded as terrorists. here, they are really regarded as heroes for many people. jon, can you tell us a bit more about where these prisoners are going and why? yeah, so 200 in total were freed today. as i say, roughly 110, 120 are coming back to the west bank or east jerusalem. they're the ones i saw here arriving today. a

jon donnison sent this report.cenes of hostages being taken that you may find upsetting. dawn on october 7th 2023, and the nahal oz israeli military base was being swarmed by hamas gunmen. then just 19, naama levy was one of several female soldiers to be taken hostage. these pictures were released with permission from their families. now, 475 days after she was abducted, naama's nightmare could finally be over. she's one of four israeli soldiers named by hamas to be freed tomorrow. the others are 20—year—old karina ariev, daniella gilboa, also 20, and 19—year—old liri albag. three months ago i met with naama levy's mother, ayelet. her message to her daughter then: stay strong. you just need to survive. just take it day by day, hour by hour. i'm doing the same, i'm thinking of you all the time, and you will get through this, you will come back to our hug and to our love and to heal. and you will have so many, many years and moments of happiness in your life, and you will be an inspiration to others. so you just have

let's speak to our correspondent in jerusalem, jon donnison. welcome. how we expect events to unfold there tomorrow if the ceasefire does go ahead at 8:30am local time. it is going to start at 8:30am local time, it is going to start at 8:30am localtime, 6:30am it is going to start at 8:30am local time, 6:30am gmt tomorrow. then we will see the ceasefire in place and we will see it soon after that the first three israeli hostages should be freed by hamas. they will be handed over to the red cross and transported back to israel where they will go to hospital initially. in exchange, a number of palestinian prisoners will be passed over. and israeli forces will then begin pulling back from built up areas in gaza and we should see more aid suddenly surged into gaza. they are talking about 600 trucks of aid going on on the first day. that is much, much needed.- is much, much needed. what about hostages? _ is much, much needed. what about hostages? we - is much, much needed. what about hostages? we expect i is much, much needed. what about hostages? we expect

jon donnison is injerusalem.markable here is that both sides appear to be certain that a deal can be done. do you sense any doubt at all?- certain that a deal can be done. do you sense any doubt at all? there is alwa s you sense any doubt at all? there is always doubt _ you sense any doubt at all? there is always doubt because _ you sense any doubt at all? there is always doubt because we _ you sense any doubt at all? there is always doubt because we have - you sense any doubt at all? there is always doubt because we have beeni always doubt because we have been pushing for this deal for months and in effect, the same deal has been on the table since may. but it does seem that the deal is almost done, but not quite. so what mediators is saying is that they are still negotiating over what they are calling the technical detail. so minor details, the broad principles, it seems, have been agreed. but while negotiations are still ongoing, things could go wrong. so the first phase of this deal as you say it will last fo

jon donnison reports. in the holy land, not an exodus, but a homecoming.nd see my mum and dad," he smiles. if they've still got a home to go to. hundreds of thousands of gazans — many with a walk of more than ten just survival some kind of victory. "god is great," she cries. "hamas, the resistance, we salute you." he may only have a blanket, but he's happy. "i want to go back and see my mum and dad," he smiles. "i've not seen them for 15 months." gunfire can still be heard in parts of the city of goma in the east of the democratic republic of congo, which m23 rebels are in the process of capturing. that comes alongside reports that the border with neighbouring rwanda has been closed. it follows claims made at a un security council meeting by the us, france and the uk that forces from rwanda had been supporting the m23 rebel group as it advanced into the centre of goma, with the rebels now claiming they control the city. 0ur africa correspondent barbara plett usher has been following the movements of the m23 rebel forces over the past 24 hours. the m23 has

the israeli military says it intercepted a missile launched from yemen. 0ur correspondent, jon donnisonerusalem. we will talk about those sirens and just a moment, but bring us up—to—date on the hostage ceasefire deal and the details that we do have about how it will come into effect tomorrow. well, the struggle to get this deal done went late into the night, the israeli government broke with protocol and worked into the jewish broke with protocol and worked into thejewish sabbath to get this deal finally approved, it was not without controversy. two ministers have said they are going to resign, one in protest against the deal because he says it lets hamas off the folk, —— off the hook, and another says he will resign those initial three, will first be handed over to the red cross and then brought out of gaza and then brought out of gaza and taken to hospital for medical checkups. we have had the list of palestinian it names, the prisoners who are going to be freed in exchange, some of them are pretty high—profile. there is one chap who is a former leader of the military brigade group i

jon donnison _ this war. jon, for now, thank you. jon donnison in _ this war. jon, for now, thank youem. - a report of £20,000 is being offered to find the parents of a newborn baby that was found alive in a shopping bag in east london a year ago. the infant, who has since named named alsu, was discovered in freezing conditions last january. named alsu, was discovered in freezing conditions lastjanuary. —— elsa. dna tests show she is the sibling of two other abandoned babies but police have not yet identified the parents. the health secretary has praised bereaved parents who call for an urgent review into maternity safety in leeds. it comes after a bbc investigation found the deaths of 56 babies and two mothers may have been prevented over the last five years. wes streeting did not commit to a review but said he was determined to fix the country's maternity services. hospital trust that the vast majority of babies at leeds were safe and deaths were rare. a senior mp has backed calls to automatically pay out nearly £1 billion held in child trust funds that were set up by the government

studio: jon donnison injerusalem, studio: jon donnison in jerusalem, thank studio: jon donnison injerusalemncellor rachel reeves has reiterated her promise to go "further and faster" to improve economic growth, as figures show the uk's economy grew for the first time in three months in november. officialfigures show a growth of 0.1% — lower than analysts had been expecting. our business correspondent marc ashdown explains. bruderer in telford uses high precision presses to make for a range of industries. they're about to open the doors at this brand new factory, but are feeling under pressure as staffing costs ratchet up and orders from customers are drying up. the minimum wage rise went up. energy costs are through the roof. and then you had this knock on effect with national insurance. now, whilst a small company like this is probably not that significant, but with the big companies, you know, some of my customers had a quarter of £1 million hit on the bottom line. consequently reduced their their interest in placing orders with companies like ourselves. after two negative months, the eco

jon donnison who's in ramallah, our gaza correspondent rushdi abualouf who's in cairo, and our middleor sebastian usher. let's start with yolande, our middle east correspondence in tel aviv. yolande, just explain what the reaction was like in hostage square at that moment that the four soldiers were released. that the four soldiers were released-— that the four soldiers were released. ~ , ., , , that the four soldiers were released. ~ , ., , ., , released. well, you may be able to see behind _ released. well, you may be able to see behind me _ released. well, you may be able to see behind me that _ released. well, you may be able to see behind me that there - released. well, you may be able to see behind me that there are | to see behind me that there are hundreds of people gathered here, some of the holding the israeli flag, many have luminous t—shirts that say in hebrew, you are not alone. a message to those young women who have just been freed from captivity to the families of hostages that remain in gaza and others who may get to see them still in captivity. and really people here

arman mahmoudian, thank you forjoining us- _ our corresondent, jon donnison, is in jerusalem. till to hear officially from mr netanyahu himself but the cabinet is due to meet later to sign of the deal. , ~ ., , ., is due to meet later to sign of the deal. , ~ ., deal. yes, mr netanyahu says he will not make any — deal. yes, mr netanyahu says he will not make any statements _ deal. yes, mr netanyahu says he will not make any statements until- deal. yes, mr netanyahu says he will not make any statements until the i not make any statements until the deal is completely confirmed. and as you say, it has got to be approved by the cabinet here in israel this morning. and then the full government. there are some hardline right—wing ministers within the cabinet who come up to now, have been saying that they would quit the government possibly bringing the coalition down and forcing elections if this deal went ahead. they have been rowing back somewhat, and saying, well, looks, they might be prepared to stay in the government if the war resumed after the initial six week period. so we do

jon donnison, bbc news, jerusalem.ndent rushdi abualouf, who's in cairo. rushdi, we're watching live pictures as people stream north along the coast road. you're talking to people making thatjourney, including your own family — what are they all finding when they get home? it is long, difficult, and a very long journey for the people, but it is a long—awaited journey — 15 months of people counting day after day, second after second, until they are reaching this moment. they are overshadowed with some sadness, because many people who returned back to gaza, taking this journey, found their homes are destroyed, schools, hospitals, roads, infrastructure, no electricity in gaza, no water, no sewage system, so they are filled with emotions, you know. they are happy to be back after waiting for a very long time, but they are sad to see the really big destruction of gaza, over 60% of buildings in gaza have been destroyed, and all the facilities are not there, but they are happy to be back, despite all of the sadness. rushdie,

jon donnison injerusalem, thank you. served 14 years injailfor the murder of schoolboyjimmy mizen — who was killed in 2008 in south london — has been recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions. the probation service has said that jimmy's family "deserve better than to see their son's murderer shamelessly boasting about his violent crime", following claims thatjake fahri has been producing drill music referencing his victim. 0ur correspondent aruna iyengar reports. in 2009, jake fahri was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years for the murder ofjimmy mizen. he was released on licence injune 2023. today he is back in prison for breaching the terms of his conditions. earlier this week, the sun revealed thatjake fahri has been releasing rap music under the stage name ten. in music videos, he's been concealing his identity and some tracks appear to reference jimmy mizen�*s death with disturbing lyrics about violence and bloodshed. the probation service says, "our thoughts are withjimmy mizen�*s family, wh