lucy williamson _ deal. lucy, thank you.quest has found that a 13—year—old girl died after drinking a hot chocolate because costa coffee failed to follow its allergy process properly. hannahjacobs had lived with allergies since she was a baby, and the coroner said there had also been a failure of communication between the coffee shop staff and the teenager's mother. hannah was just entering adolescence and learning to be independent, taking ownership of her allergies when she was tragically taken from us. having heard all the evidence over the last week, it is clear to me that although the food service industry and medical professionals are required to have allergy training, the training is really not taken seriously enough. people are being urged to consider getting vaccinated against mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, if they are travelling to affected areas in africa. the advice from the european centre for disease prevention and control is in response to the outbreak of a highly infectious new strain of the virus. sweden

from jenin, our middle east correspondent lucy williamson sent this report.s a message of force, delivered quietly at first. israeli soldiers seeking their targets, street by palestinian street. at morning, hundreds of troops backed by armoured bulldozers arrived in the refugee camps of tulkarem, nablus, tubas, jenin. home to armed palestinian groups and unarmed civilians. at least ten palestinians have been killed. hamas says six of them were its fighters. masoud naaja said he was injured when he opened the door of his house to young men asking for water. translation: we felt like something came down on us from the sky - and there was an explosion. i was unaware of what was going on. when i put my hand on my chest, it was all shrapnel and blood. injenin, army vehicles surrounded the city's two main hospitals. ambulances stopped and checked by militaryjeeps. israel's foreign minister has urged his government to use gaza as a model for dealing wth armed groups, here saying that iran was backing them and that this was a war for everything that israel must win.

here is our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson. lucy: a few final moments in hiding.sraeli soldiers shielding him from the world he left 10 months ago. from a tunnel in gaza to an israeli ambulance in a couple of hours. his family racing the last few meters to britain. thin and pale, but staff said after more than 10 months in captivity, the 52-year-old was in a good and stable condition. >> it is difficult to explain how it feels. newborn.tter than having a we thank god, everyone, and hope to see him healthy. we are very happy, very happy. >> israel's army released this footage of him moments after the rescue. rumors that he had managed to escape without help from israeli forces denied by a military spokesman. >> we cannot go into many details of this special operation but i can share that is really commandos rescued him from an underground tunnel following accurate intelligence. lucy: last week, israel brought back the bodies of six other hostages. the funeral of one was held in israel today. the joy of one family and the grief of another, a trickle of hostages retu

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.uting polio vaccines to thousands of palestinians in gaza. israel and hamas agreed to pause fighting to allow the mass vaccination programme after a 10—month—old baby contracted gaza's first case of polio in 25 years. starting sunday, aid workers will begin a programme that aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 children. the head of the world health organization welcomed the humanitarian pauses — but urged the israel and hamas to reach a permanent ceasefire. here in the us, republican presidential nominee it has tactics on both sides. it has changed the sense of threat that israel feels from this conflict here and many people are saying it is changing israel's response. negotiating the damaged streets, a funeral procession for a yield, a 69—year—old with a disability, shot dead by a sniper when he opened his window. alongside it, gunfire for the local leader operation. a show of in this operation. a show of force from the armed fighters of tulkarem, less than one day after israel's army

that was lucy williamson there.d by an israeli strike on a residential building in southern lebanon. the lebanese health ministry says three others were injured when the building was hit in nabatieh city. tensions have soared in the region in recent weeks, after a deadly rocket strike in the israeli—occupied golan heights which israel blamed on hezbollah. israel responded with the killing of a top hezbollah commander in the suburbs of beirut. hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against israel, as has iran, for the killing in tehran of hamas's political chief ismail haniyeh. mohamed taha from bbc arabic is with me in the studio. let's ta ke let's take stock for a moment. the talks that started on thursday, where do you think we are on them?— are on them? this round of talks has — are on them? this round of talks has been _ are on them? this round of talks has been concluded . are on them? this round of l talks has been concluded last evening. all parties agreed they will meet in cairo next week, at some point next week.

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin . >> the u.s.esh sanctions against a group accused of supporting violence against palestinian civilians in the west bank. the sanctions will be opposed by -- an organization. they are accused of forcing palestinians to leave a village and then fencing it off so they could not return. a security coordinator was also sanction for attacking and expelling palestinians. in response israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu said israel take seriously the imposition of sanctions on israeli citizens. the issue is under intense discussions with the u.s. we can talk about that with our state department correspondent, tom bateman. tell us more about the sanctions. tom: it is important to remember the u.s. government imposing sanctions on israeli citizens and organizations is a very new thing. it only started this year. it has been an effort by this administration to try to show some sense of evenhandedness. even though they armed the state of israel very aggressively in terms of israeli policy, they are also

lucy williamson sent this report from the medical center in southern israel. farhan, a few final moments in hiding. a wall of israeli soldiers shielding him from the world he left 10 months ago. for my tunnel in gaza to an israeli ambulance in a couple of hours. his family racing the last few meters to greet him. thin and pale, but staff set after more than 10 months in captivity, the 52-year-old was in a good and stable condition. >> it is difficult to explain how it feels. it is better than having a newborn. we thank god and everyone and hope to see him healthy. we are very happy, very happy. lucy: israel's army released this footage of him moments after the rescue. rumors that he managed to escape without help from israeli forces denied by a military spokesman. >> we cannot go into many details of this special operation, but i can share that israeli commandos rescued him from an underground tunnel following accurate intelligence. lucy: last week, israel brought back the bodies of six other hostages. the funeral of one was held in israel today. the joy of one

from jenin, our middle east correspondent lucy williamson sent this report.rs seeking their targets, street by palestinian street. at morning, hundreds of troops backed by armoured bulldozers

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.ak to ghada alhaddad, a communications officerfor 0xfam in gaza. talk us through the situation on the ground right now.— talk us through the situation on the ground right now. actually there are no words to — ground right now. actually there are no words to describe _ ground right now. actually there are no words to describe how _ ground right now. actually there are no words to describe how horrific . no words to describe how horrific and horrible it is on the ground. people are pretty awaiting —— waiting everyday for news a ceasefire. they're waiting to go back to their homes in gaza city. waiting as if claimed the lives of women, children and young men. we only see other ways of evacuation orders in different areas of the gaza strip. it is beyond being described as tragic. in terms of water, there is no water in any town in the gaza strip. we have been living with the water since the onset of the work. it shows people in the gaza strip, shown by 0xfam, live on 4.7 litres for laundry

lucy williamson reports.ul rahman has played a role in pausing it — something world leaders have struggled to do. earlier this month, abdul rahman was diagnosed with polio — the first case in gaza for 25 years. the family, nine children in all, live in a camp in central gaza, displaced multiple times this from their home in the north. the constant moving disrupted his vaccinations. his mother says others in the camp are afraid and stop their children playing with them. translation: the virus stopped his progress. i he stopped sitting, stopped walking, stopped crawling and stopped moving. i want him to be treated. he wants to live and walk like other children. abdul rahman's diagnosis has raised fresh alarm over conditions in gaza's camps. the phased pause in fighting will allow medics to vaccinate more than half a million children in stages across the territory. but the conditions that caused this crisis are worsening, say aid organisations, and their solutions are not straightforward. due to the insecurity,

lucy williamson reports.month before the gaza war began, abdul rahman has played a role in pausing it — something world leaders have struggled to do. earlier this month, abdul rahman was diagnosed with polio — the first case in gaza for 25 years. the family, nine children in all, live in a camp in central gaza, displaced multiple times from their home in the north. the constant moving disrupted his vaccinations. his mother says others in the camp are afraid and stop their children playing with them. translation: the virus stopped his progress. i translation: the virus - stopped his progress.he stopped sitting, stopped walking, stopped crawling and stopped moving. i want him to be treated. he wants to live and walk like other children. abdul rahman�*s diagnosis has raised fresh alarm over conditions in gaza's camps. the phased pause in fighting will allow medics to vaccinate more than half a million children in stages across the territory. but the conditions that caused this crisis are worsening, say aid organ

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.trikes come against a backdrop of rising violence by extremistjewish settler groups against palestinians in the occupied west bank. today, the united states launched another round of sanctions targeting one of those groups. hashomer yosh is an israeli non—governmental organisation that provides support to a settlement outpost. the us accuses the organisation of forcing palestinians to leave the village of khirbet zanuta, and then fencing it off to block their return. a civilian security coordinator in the west bank was also sanctioned for attacking and expelling palestinians from a separate settlement. in response, israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu said "israel takes very seriously the imposition of sanctions on israeli citizens." "the issue is under intense discussion with the united states. " here the us, the fbi says it hasn't been able to find a motive for the attempted assassination of donald trump last month. it said the gunman thomas crooks had searched extensively online

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.emains in gaza after being abducted on october 7th. she personally knows four of the six hostages who were retrieved from gaza this morning. it's so hard to imagine that for people you know would be murdered. um, and you will have to go to ceremony following ceremony at once. things that happened on october seventh's are so unimaginable and still waking up every day i have this moment where i really hope that i will wake up to a different present and not to the nightmare we endure for 319 days already. it is very sad. i know four of them, four out of the six. they are wonderful men. they are all around 80 years old. they are all friends, very close friends of my own. very close friends of my own uncle gary moses, who is um um 80 as well. and he is still held in gaza. he was kidnapped from his home 6:30 in the morning, from his bed, with his pyjamas, with his partner and daughter and grandchildren. we have another house where another aunt was, um, was kidnapped, and then the other house

lucy williamson has the very latest.r began, abdul rahman has played a role in pausing it — something world leaders have struggled to do. earlier this month, abdul rahman was diagnosed with polio — the first case in gaza for 25 years. the family — nine children in all — live in a camp in central gaza, displaced multiple times from their home in the north. the constant moving disrupted his vaccinations. his mother says others in the camp are afraid, and stop their children playing with them. translation: the virus stopped his progress. i he stopped sitting, stopped walking, stopped crawling, and stopped moving. i want him to be treated. he wants to live and walk like other children. abdul rahman�*s diagnosis has raised fresh alarm over conditions in gaza's camps. the phased pause in fighting will allow medics to vaccinate more than half a million children in stages across the territory. but the conditions that caused this crisis are worsening, say aid organisations, and their solutions are not straightforward. due to the

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.ernational editor jeremy bowen gave us more on the reason for this new escalation. if you listen to israel say it is all about iran— is all about iran they are behind and _ is all about iran they are behind and increased . is all about iran they are behind and increased in | behind and increased in palestinian violence and armed groups. it is no secret iranian doesn't support palestinian armed groups. someone has to pay for their weaponry. but why escalate now when israel has been hitting the same places for months and months and arresting thousands of people, killing hundreds. the root of it is the long conflict over the lands. well, the root of it is, of course, the long conflict over control of the land between israelis and palestinians. there's politics as well. uh, netanyahu has said very emphatically, there will never be a palestinian state. the palestinians want this land and the west bank is a big part of theirs. so by i think by doing this, prime minister netanyahu is weakenin

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. will have more on the middle east, and concern around an iranian attack on israel, on newsnight on bbc two shortly. yes, with america toss top diplomat cancelling his trip to the middle east, we will get expert opinion from washington about what happens now. is iranian assault imminent and how will israel and the world respond? that's newsnight at 10:30pm on bbc two. a 13—year—old girl has pleaded guilty to violent disorder outside a hotel housing migrants in aldershot in hampshire. she's among dozens of people appearing in court today, following widespread violence sparked by the fatal stabbing of three girls in southport. daniel sandford has more. yes, the courts are still seeing a blizzard of cases linked to the riots and disorder of the last two weeks, with more than 350 people now charged and over 120 convicted. today's most unusual case dated to the violence in aldershot on the 31st ofjuly, at the potters international hotel, where asylum seekers were being housed. with her pare

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.the first stage of distributing polio vaccines to thousands of palestinians in gaza. israel and hamas agreed to pause fighting to allow the mass vaccination programme after a io—month—old baby contracted gaza's first case of polio in 25 years. starting sunday, aid workers will begin a programme that aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 children. the head of the world health organization welcomed the humanitarian pauses, but urged the israel and hamas to reach a permanent ceasefire. us soldiers in iraq have carried out a mission against islamic state operatives in an effort to disrupt the group. central command said the us carried out the raid in partnership with iraqi security forces in western iraq in the early hours of thursday. it says 15 islamic state operatives were killed and that there was no indication of civilian our correspondentjessica parker sent this report. applause boos and shouts aimed at chancellor olaf scholz, among them "traitor" and "warmonger". chancellor scholz has

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.r a 13—year—old boy was stabbed to death at a house in the west midlands. the boy was treated by paramedics at the address in oldbury yesterday afternoon, but he died of his injuries. here's phil mackie. it's a tragically familiar scene — police tape, flowers and tears. all day, people have been coming to leave messages, and in some cases, the grief was palpable. and there's fear, too. it's a real danger around this area. i mean, it's not a really nice area to live in any more, but for a 13—year—old, it's quite sad. i've got 13—year—old daughter, and i won't be bringing her out, i won't be letting her come out on her own. the focus of the investigation has been on the house where the boy lived and died. it's involved forensic investigations as well as door—to—door inquiries. i'm here to let the family and the wider community know that we will work with you and support you as we seek to find who is responsible for the death of this young boy. the west midlands had the highest rate of kn

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.e in the uk, the latest figures on price increases have just been released, showing an uptick. however, the silver lining is that the increase is slightly smaller than expected. the consumer price inflation rate forjuly has come in at 2.2% — up from the 2% bank of england target seen in may and june and that is below the forecasted 2.3%. let's speak to our business correspondent marc ashdown. this is not a big surprise, predicted, back in october 2020 this is not a big surprise, predicted, back in 0ctober202011%, we are not back into that territory now, the consensus was for the price rises to go up at 2.3% injuly, it has been rising at 2.2%, lower than we thought. couple of big factors, the huge energy bills, the cost of gas and electricity and food in the supermarkets, as those figures work their way through and prices come down, inflation starts to ease. the bank of england once 2% inflation, this is the first time in a couple of months above target. going up in a gentle little tren

lucy williamson, bbc news, soroka hospital, southern israel.d farhan al—kadi is the eighth hostage rescued farhan al—kadi is the eighth hostage rescued farhan al-qadi is the eighth hostage rescued by israeli forces since the start of the war in gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he was working to secure the release of all the remaining hostages. but a group campaigning for those still held said that though this rescue had been miraculous, military operations alone could not free the remaining captives and that a ceasefire deal was needed. the united nations says gaza aid operations are suspended following israeli evacuation orders monday. diseases have also spread in gaza as sewage contaminates camps and along the coast there are also concerns of a polio outbreak after a ten—month—old baby was partially paralysed after contracting the illness. aid workers warn that with the humanitarian pause the rollout of vaccines could be hindered. i've been speaking with mara kronenfeld, the executive director unrwa usa. it would appear th

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.ekelberg, associate fellow with the middle east and north africa programme at chatham house, gave us his analysis. the fact that iran is involved with part of the axis of resistance in supporting militant groups is not a secret. but the big question is how much they are actually involved in the west bank. how much outreach they can they can have in the west bank, whether they support ideologically, support financially, support with weapons. but in many ways, this is the easiest claim for israel to put forward in order to carry out such an operation. the big question is why israel is in this position. it's the occupation of more than 57 years. it's the lack of political solution. bear in mind that places like tulkarem and jenin are, according to the oslo agreement, part of area a, which is supposed to be under complete palestinian control. but there is no respect for palestinian control of any part of the west bank any more. and we know if there was any area that had been successful in

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.dle east correspondent, yolande knell, is injerusalem and described the me exactly what was concerning about this escalation... what is really causing so much concern as the scale and scope of this operation israel is conducting involving hundreds of troops and as you are saying the biggest of its kind in a couple of decades. still this morning this is ongoing in jenin and. they are saying they were a local leader in what was known as the battalion. the israeli military commentators highlighting how the bomb—making abilities are going on. weapons and funding from iran, they say, and we have heard from the israeli military that it did find a command centre in the mosque in the urban refugee camp near thejordan valley. for palestinians, this is causing so much panic and fear, particularly some of the comments that came from the israeli foreign minister as well talking about possible evacuations of people being needed from parts of the west bank in the same way as we've seen already durin

lucy williamson reporting there.troyed a strategic river bridge in the kursk region, cutting off a russian supply route as it continues its second week of a cross—border offensive. officials in moscow say destroying the bridge will disrupt evacuations, and make it harderfor the kremlin to supply its troops. the head of the ukrainian military says troops are strengthening their position, advancing between one and three kilometres further into the region. ukraine claims it has taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometres, or 444 square miles, in the region since 6 august. meanwhile in eastern ukraine, russian officials say a series of ukrainian strikes wounded at least seven people and set a shopping centre ablaze in the russian—controlled city of donesk on friday. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse sent us this report. ukraine isn'tjust targeting russian troops, but their supply lines too. a missile makes light work of a major bridge in russia's kursk region. it was a counteroffensiv

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.hing for both parties to return to the negotiating table. israel says it will attend ceasefire talks on thursday, but a representative for hamas has told our us news partners cbs they won't be sending a delegation. and on tuesday, us secretary of state, antony blinken, reportedly postponed a planned visit to the middle east ahead of those talks. our state department correspondent, tom bateman, shared his analysis a bit earlier. my sense about all this is that he still probably wants to do a visit to the middle east to put pressure on the ceasefire framework and on the talks actually going ahead once again. but this is a question all about timing because you have all these uncertainties, still the concerns about a possible iranian retaliation or strikes by hezbollah into israel. that has not gone away and also, a lot of uncertainty about the ceasefire talks themselves and that is because after the americans have finally cajoled the israelis to send a delegation, we have now had hamas sa

lucy williamson, bbc news, tel aviv.er, white house national security communications advisor john kirby reacted to the 40,000 death toll. we are never turning a blind eye to this and we have had multiple conversations with our israeli counterparts about being more discriminant, more precise, doing a better job of deconflicting to try to prevent civilian casualties. there have been way too many, and we have been very honest about that. the israelis know where we stand about the issue of civilian casualties, we're not going to shy away from that and we also have to make sure, of course, that they can continue to defend themselves against what is still a viable threat by hamas. last hour i spoke with michael 0ren, former israeli ambassador to the united states. the us is describing the first day of negotiations as �*constructive', do you think would israel share that view? good to be with you. i hope so. i think israelis, whether they think israel should make major concessions to hamas in order to get the hostages released

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.a closer look at the west bank and why it's controversial: the west bank is a chunk of land east of israel, home to nearly 3 million palestinians and it is known as the heart of any palestinian state. israel took control of west bank from jordan in 1967 and has allowed jewish settlers to move in to some areas, but palestinians consider it illegally occupied palestinian land. the international court ofjustice has ruled that israel's occupation of the west bank — and the building ofjewish settlements there are — illegal under international law. according the un human rights council about 700,000 israeli settlers are living in the west bank. 0ur middle east correspondent, yolande knell, is injerusalem and told me exactly what was concerning about the latest escalation. what is really causing so much concern is just the scale and the scope of this military operation that israel is now conducting. it involves hundreds of troops. and as we were saying, it's that the biggest of its kind in a

lucy williamson, bbc news, nahariya.non, hezbollah said it did not intend its missile attacks on israel to lead to a "full—scale war". the powerful militia group, which is backed by iran, said it had delayed its action in the hope that the peace talks would lead to a ceasefire in gaza. 0rla guerin reports from southern lebanon. explosions. mid—morning in southern lebanon. the very picture of war. here, it was israel targeting hezbollah firing positions. it says it destroyed thousands of rocket launchers overnight. but hezbollah says it still fired over 300 rockets into the night skies over israel. many were intercepted, but this could be a glimpse of the future. and here, hezbollah�*s targets, military bases and barracks, maps in detail. the israeli army says most of the rockets missed their mark. hezbollah was retaliating forthis, israel's assassination of a top commander, fuad shukr, in beirut last month. he was a huge loss to the iranian—backed militia. now, hezbollah can say that he has been avenged. he was a huge lo

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.he latest figures on price increases have just been released, showing an uptick. however, the silver lining is that the increase is slightly smaller than expected. the consumer price inflation rate forjuly has come in at 2.2%, up from the 2% bank of england target and that is below the forecasted 2.3%. here's our business correspondent, marc ashdown. first off, this is not a big surprise. this was predicted. if you cast your mind back to those days where we saw inflation rising and rising and rising, topping off at 11% back in october 2022. we're not back into that territory now. analysts, the consensus was for the price of rises to be going up at 2.3% injuly. it actually has been rising at 2.2%, so a little bit lower than we thought. there's a couple of big factors at play here. it's things like those huge energy bills. remember, the cost of gas and electricity. also the cost of food in the supermarkets, as well. as those figures start to work their way through and the prices start to

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.occupied west bank, palestinian media are reporting the number of dead has risen to 17. it's one of the biggest operations in decades, with overnight raids injenin and in tulkham, where troops say they killed five terrorists hiding in a mosque. the us has urged israel to take all feasible measures to protect civilian lives in the west bank. smoking outside in pub gardens, restaurants, playgrounds and sports grounds could be banned under plans being considered by the government. health experts have welcomed the proposals, but some businesses are worried customers might stay away. latest research shows 6.4 million people in the uk still smoke, with almost 80,000 smokers dying every year. this is despite the ban on smoking indoors in public places coming into force in 2007. danny savage has more from york. we all know smoking is bad for our health, but plenty of people still choose to do so. so what about the latest idea to restrict it, ban it in pub gardens and outdoor restaurants in eng

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.otel housing migrants, in aldershot in hampshire. she's among dozens of people appearing in court today following widespread violence, sparked by the fatal stabbing of three girls in southport. daniel sandford has more. yes, the courts are still seeing a blizzard of cases linked to the riots and disorder of the last two weeks, with more than 350 people now charged and over 120 convicted. today's most unusual case dated to the violence in aldershot on the sist ofjuly, at the potters international hotel, where asylum seekers were being housed. with her parents sitting in court, a 13—year—old girl pleaded guilty to violent disorder. she was not sentenced today and was given bail. the other notable cases included john honey, who among other things admitted looting a lush cosmetics store in hull, and 19—year—old drew jarvis, jailed for three years for throwing bricks and burning arrows at police, at a hotel housing asylum seekers near rotherham. this man, philip prescott, seen at the riot i

here's our middle east correspondent lucy williamson.of hebrew. farhan alkadi, a 52—year—old bedouin israeli, catching bedouin israeli, snatching a second chance at life. crouched on the floor of a military helicopter, after 326 days in captivity, a smile. the start of his journey back home. at israel's soroka hospital, his last few moments in hiding. a wall of israeli soldiers shielding him from the world he left ten months ago. from a tunnel in gaza to an israeli ambulance in a couple of hours. his family racing the last few metres to greet him. thin and pale but staff said in a good and stable condition. translation: it is difficult to explain how it feels. - it is better than having a newborn. we thank god and we thank everyone and hope to see him healthy. we're very happy, very happy. israel's prime minister called to welcome him home, keen to be part of his release. we cannot go into many details of this special operation but i can share that israeli commandos rescued qaid farhan alkadi from an underground tunnel following accurate

lucy williamson, bbc news, tel aviv.awarded top a—level results has risen for the first time since 2021. and because universities want to bolster their finances — 82% of students have had their first choice confirmed, that's up from last year. 400,000 vocational or technical qualifications were also awarded — including btecs and t levels. from coventry, our education editor, branwenjeffreys reports. she gasps. yay! better than expected for these two friends — one hoping to travel, the other to go on and study. it has opened so many doors for me because i didn't think i'd get into uni. i instantly logged into ucas, - and ijust saw "congratulations". like, it took so much - weight off my shoulders. anyone that didn't get what they were hoping for, life is life. - everything will work out in the end. such a weight off my shoulders... others were weighing up different options. apprenticeships, i think, offer more, like, life skills. also you get paid for it, which is always nice. i've done however many years of, like, learni

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.ecretary of state, antony blinken, is reportedly postponing his visit to the middle east. he was expected to be in the region ahead of thursday's ceasefire talks between israel and hamas. the us has been pushing for both parties to return to the negotiating table. it is unclear whether hamas has agreed to take part. america's ambassador to the un, told a security council meeting the goal was to "turn the temperature down" in the region. our state department correspondent, tom bateman, shared his analysis a bit earlier. my my sense about all this is he still probably wants to do a visit to the middle east to put pressure on the ceasefire framework and on the talks actually going ahead once again. this is a question all about timing because you have all these uncertainties, still the concerns about a possible iranian retaliation or strikes by hezbollah into israel. that has not gone away with and also a lot of uncertainty about the ceasefire talks themselves and thatis ceasefire talks th

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.an nations in the past week. but despite concerns about a new variant of the virus triggering a global alert, the world health organisation says mpox is "not the new covid." here, public health officials here say the uk is prepared for any cases that may emerge. here's dominic hughes. the mpox virus starts with flu—like symptoms but leads to a painful rash and blisters and it can prove fatal. the number of cases, mainly in the central african state of congo, has doubled in a year. in its latest update, the african centre for disease control says this outbreak is clearly growing, and health experts are calling for those countries in the most seriously affected regions of africa to be supported. mpox is not the new covid. but the risk to the general population is low. we know what to do and we need this time the political commitment to go for elimination — otherwise you will always see neglect and then panic again. so let's have a political commitment to go the last mile. vaccines and cl

lucy williamson, bbc news, nahariya. its initial phase of the attack is over and did not intend its missile attacks on israel to lead to a "full scale war". the group said it had delayed its action , hoping indirect peace talks between israel and hamas would lead to a ceasefire in gaza. orla guerin reports from southern lebanon. the situation we have now is both sides have sent a message but have stopped short of triggering all—out war. we had israel putting fighterjets in the air, saying it was targeting hezbollah firing positions. hezbollah that they managed to send 300 rockets into israel. the target list it said was military bases and barracks. that is significant. hezbollah did not target civilian infrastructure or a major city. no civilians were killed inside israel and israel for its part targeted military firing positions. the retaliation from hezbollah that was long suspected and people had been concerned about for a month was in some ways less than had been feared. that does not mean an all—out conflict could e

here's our middle east correspondent lucy williamson.ded again by sunlight, by the sound of hebrew. farhan alkadi, a 52—year—old bedouin israeli, snatching a second chance at life. crouched on the floor of a military helicopter, after 326 days in captivity, a smile. the start of his journey back home. at israel's soroka hospital, his last few moments in hiding. a wall of israeli soldiers shielding him from the world he left ten months ago. from a tunnel in gaza to an israeli ambulance in a couple of hours. his family racing the last few metres to greet him. thin and pale but staff said in a good and stable condition. translation: it is difficult to explain how it feels. - it is better than having a newborn. we thank god and we thank everyone and hope to see him healthy. we're very happy, very happy. israel's prime minister called to welcome him home, keen to be part of his release. we cannot go into many details of this special operation but i can share that israeli commandos rescued qaid farhan alkadi from an underground tunnel followin

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. joining me now is benjamin radd. senior fellow at the ucla burkle center for international relations. good to see you again. my colleague, lucy, reminding us all that every day, lives are lost, families are dealing with huge tragedy in gaza. the us says that a ceasefire deal now could prevent a conflict between iran and israel, do you agree with that?— between iran and israel, do you agree with that? well, yes, and no and it's _ agree with that? well, yes, and no and it's more _ agree with that? well, yes, and no and it's more likely - agree with that? well, yes, and no and it's more likely to - no and it's more likely to assist without an that's because iran does not want to because iran does not want to be perceived as a spoiler if a deal is reached and satisfies all part including the us and the mediating countries, each of them with hamas and israel, iran to go ahead and carry out an operation that could possibly disrupt or result in a backstabbing, it's a conflict that would put iran in the worst possible light

lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin. to worsen, israel has agreed to a series of "humanitarian pauses" in gaza to allow for the vaccination of children against polio. the idf has agreed to implement the pauses starting on september 1st, in coordination with the world health organization. however, israel says the move doesn't amount to a ceasefire. hamas has also announced its cooperation with international organisations for the vaccination effort. the director general of the world health organization expressed his support for the vaccine effort. i welcome the commitment imposed on specific areas to allow the vaccination campaign to be carried out. between security, damage to roads and movement and displacement three daysin movement and displacement three days in each area is unlikely to be enough to achieve adequate coverage. we urge all parties to assure their protection and that of facilities and children. humanitarian pauses are welcome but ultimately the only solution to safeguard the health of the children of gaza i

lucy williamson, bbc news.n, hezbollah said it did not intend its missile attacks on israel to lead to a "full—scale war". the powerful militia group, which is backed by iran, said it had delayed its action in the hope that that peace talks would lead to a ceasefire in gaza. 0rla guerin reports from southern lebanon. hezbollah�*s leader hassan nasrallah said tonight the group might strike again in the future, but for now, everyone could feel at ease and stand down. earlier, it released this map of its targets, showing the exact locations of military bases and barracks in northern israel. hezbollah claims its attack was a success. israel says most of the rockets missed their mark. hezbollah was retaliating for this, israel's assassination of a top commander, fouad shukr, in beirut last month. he was a huge loss to the iranian—backed group. now, it has sought revenge, but in the iranian—backed group. now, it has sou! showing ge, but in the iranian—backed group. now, it has sou! showing the but in the iranian—back

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem.on efforts have repeatedly stalled since a week—long ceasefire in november. it has been the only pause so far in the war. dozens of israeli hostages captured on october 7th were released in exchange for palestinian prisoners held in israeli jails. for more analysis i spoke to laura blumenfeld, former middle east policy advisor at the us state department. there is a lot of effort now particularly from the us side to make sure these talks go ahead on thursday. what is your assessment of whether they will? the big challenge all along has been canned the parties synchronise their watches to make as your report noted the big challenge all along has been can the parties synchronise their watches. as your report noted there has been more of a sense of urgency perhaps by the negotiators, the moderators, the us and others than the parties themselves. i am optimistic because i think these negotiations are different than all others. live first, the lives of the hostages. it is true they are under