between its arab allies and israel. at a meeting in amman today, arab foreign ministers told us secretary of state antony blinken that there must be an immediate ceasefire in gaza. but mr blinken wants "humanitarian pauses". israel, though, insists there will be no temporary truce until all hostages are released. thejordanian foreign minister ayman safadi said the killing of civilians by israel could not be justified by its claim of self—defence. he said the entire region was sinking into a "sea of hatred" that could define generations to come. secretary blinken�*s visit is exactly four weeks after the hamas attacks on israel that left 1,400 people dead, and there is no let up in the israeli military response in gaza. its offensive is focused on the north of the territory, where it's thought up to 400,000 people are still living, even though israel has urged civilians there to move south. the hamas run health ministry in gaza says more than 9,400 people have been killed there in the past four weeks. we will have more on the diplomacy shortly, but we start our coverage with a report from our correspondent, jon donnison, in jerusalem. and a warning there are distressing images from the start. four weeks into this war, the suffering is endless. and in gaza, no place is safe. the un says this school injabalia in the north was hit this morning, killing at least 15 people. thousands had been seeking shelter there. "god will take my vengeance," this young boy says. "i was standing here when the three bombings happened." israel says it's looking into what happened. and in the north of gaza, its ground offensive is pushing forward, tightening its grip on hamas, who israel says is using civilians as human shields. hamas is outgunned, but these pictures from its military wing claim to show it fighting back. more than 20 israeli soldiers have been killed since the ground offensive began as the number of palestinian casualties continues to rise. the us secretary of state met with arab leaders in jordan this afternoon. antony blinken again asserted israel's right to defend itself. but... protecting civilians will help prevent hamas from further exploiting the situation. but most important, it is simply the right and moral thing to do. when i see... ..a palestinian boy or girl pulled from the wreckage ofa building, it hits me in the gutjust as it hits everyone in the gut. and i see my own children in their faces. and america is also worried about this conflict spreading. israel's military has said it targeted a terrorist trying to cross over from lebanon on its northern border last night. less than a mile away in the town of shlomi, volunteers have been preparing food for israeli soldiers amid fears the powerful lebanese militia group hezbollah could escalate this crisis. very serious, very sad. we cry. ..at night. i didn't sleep at night. i watch tv at night. we watched all the terrible cases, everything that's happened. can we run? when there's a siren, we run. and when we can, we work. and yes, we are under danger. we're risking our lives. there has been so much fear and grief over the last four weeks. and it's farfrom over. jon donnison, bbc news, jerusalem. 0ur correspondent rushdi abualouf has this update from inside gaza. today, israel opened the road, the axis in and out of gaza for the first time since a couple of days since they started the operation, ground operation in gaza. very few people managed to get out of gaza because the main road was damaged and access for car was almost impossible. but in gaza city, people are starting to flee the heavy fighting around the city. as the israeli ground operation expanded around gaza city from three different directions. the tanks were advancing near gaza city itself, especially the western part of gaza. tonight, again, the israeli air strikes were intensified around the al-quds hospital and also around the shifa hospital, where many solar panels on the roof of the building around the hospital were targeted from the air. we feel that israel is pushing the civilian population. they are taking the hospital as shelter to flee this place. they bombed tonight, the largest the largest bakery in the place that is feeding most of the bread to the neighbourhood near the shifa hospital, also in the north of gaza strip. fighting was intensified in the northwest part near the coastal road where the hamas militants group saying that they have fired anti—tank missiles and they were engaged in gun battle with the israeli soldiers who are advancing towards the gaza city. here in khan younis, where about a million people displaced from their houses in gaza city and the north, they live in a very difficult situation with the severe shortage of electricity, food and water. that was our correspondent in gaza. let's go live now tojerusalem and speak to our diplomatic correspondent paul adams for more on those diplomatic meetings happening today between secretary of state antony blinken and leaders from lebanon, qatar and jordan. thanks forjoining us, paul. in terms of what happened in that meeting, there was a lot of talk about humanitarian pauses and a ceasefire. can you clarify for us the difference between those two? yes, it might sound like a bit of semantics, but essentially a ceasefire is a proper, defined, cessation of hostilities, usually for a significant period of time whereas a humanitarian pause is being described as a brief break, probably limited in time and location, to allow a particular objective to be met and in this case, twofold. 0ne, objective to be met and in this case, twofold. one, to secure better access for aid into the southern gaza strip which is not the focus of israel's military operation at the moment, but is still an area where there is israeli military activity, particularly air strikes. and also perhaps to see if there is any room for negotiations about the fate of hostages. so, that is why the americans are pushing this concept. it hasn't yet, as far as one can make out, been one that the israelis have decided to go with. all the impression you get from the israeli side is they want to keep up this relentless pressure on hamas. in the reportjust now, you really got a sense of the enormous pressure that the israelis are bringing to bear on gaza city. they want to force everybody out of the city and to essentially leave it as a kind of battle zone where they can confront hamas without killing large numbers of civilians in the process. find of civilians in the process. and paul of civilians in the process. and paul. we _ of civilians in the process. and paul, we heard _ of civilians in the process. and paul, we heard from _ of civilians in the process. and paul, we heard from the foreign ministers in that conference a bit earlier on in terms of what they thought about a ceasefire, antony blinken was quite clear he didn't think that was a good idea. that's ri . ht. the think that was a good idea. that's right. the united _ think that was a good idea. that's right. the united states, - think that was a good idea. that's right. the united states, i- think that was a good idea. that's right. the united states, i think. think that was a good idea. that'sj right. the united states, i think it is important to recognise, shares israel's fundamental objective here which is that hamas should be destroyed. and everything else about the american approach stems from that understanding of israel's objective that after what happened on october the 7th, hamas simply have to be removed from the picture altogether. so what the americans are trying to do is to alleviate the humanitarian situation in the south of gaza to the extent that they can and they believe that they are making progress there. they are trying to prevent the conflict from expanding beyond the confines of gaza, with the particular attention being given to lebanon and also to start talking about the future. now, only in very vague terms, you hear antony blinken saying there must be a meaningful peace process, that us policy is still the two states living side by side, israeli and palestinian, and that that is what we have to get back to. i think at the moment, all of that feels rather lofty, rather distant, because at the moment, this is a crisis which is still killing huge numbers of people every day and the thought that anyone has any kind of headspace, frankly, for thinking about the future and ingenious ways of reviving the middle east peace process, that all feels a little fanciful. ., ~ , ., , process, that all feels a little fanciful. ., ~' , . process, that all feels a little fanciful. ., ~ , . fanciful. thank you very much, car paul fanciful. thank you very much, car paul- you — fanciful. thank you very much, car paul- you can _ fanciful. thank you very much, car paul. you can hear— fanciful. thank you very much, car paul. you can hear more - fanciful. thank you very much, car paul. you can hear more from - fanciful. thank you very much, car i paul. you can hear more from paul's thoughts on our bbc live page. we cross live to tel aviv now where protests are taking place outside the idf building. the families of hostages taken by hamas and thousands of people appear to have joined those families. they are holding up pictures of the people that they are missing right now. this has been going on for a few hours and they have crowded outside military headquarters there demanding to be heard and for more action to be taken in terms of rescuing their loved ones. when hamas entered israel on october 7th, they killed 1,400 people and took hundreds hostage. the israel defense forces says 241 people are believed to be held in the gaza strip. spokesman daniel hagari says the number is not final as the military investigates new information on those missing. the number also does not include four released hostages and an israeli soldier who was rescued by the idf. earlier we heard from efrat machikawa — five members of herfamily are being held hostage. i last spoke to my aunt actually at about 7:18. i called her because i heard something very wrong is going on and she was in the safe room and she was whispering, she said, "something is really, very, very wrong," and she can hear people around and i asked her where she is, she said she is in the safe room whispering. and i said, "ok, you will be safe, maybe be better not talk butjust do remember i love you, i love you," and that is what she answered back, she said, "i love you, i love you." we hung up the phone and nothing since then. my aunt is one of five family members missing, were taken brutally from their houses on saturday morning. but they are part of a community of kibbutz near us and a community means that we know almost everybody there so imagine one of every four people in this community was abducted. so you and i speak, if we have two people next to us, one is gone. and the people there, they are such good people. there are so many humanitarian aid people, just like my uncle for example, who were working all over the world, saving other people after a disaster and helping them to study and to improve their agricultural skills. he was everywhere, in arab countries, christian countries and north american, south american, everywhere around the world. i think he helped thousands of people to maintain life and to recover catastrophes they went through, thinking that this man, along with the others, is being in such terrible conditions and being taken from home, it is really beyond the capacity to understand the scale of this attack. it is really very hard and think about it, i myself know about 80 people, 80 people, that are gone. not to talk about those we had to bury. so, it's really difficult. it is really very difficult. we really want them back home as soon as possible. a clearly very hard time for you and yourfamily. in terms of the community, you spoke briefly there about the kibbutz, tell us a little bit about the kibbutz that your family were taken from. kibbutz near us is a very quiet place, a very peaceful place full of good people. you know, many of them volunteer in a project called the road to recovery. i don't think many people know about how many good deeds are being done by those people, those exact people that were taken. the road to recovery is an initiative whether people drive their own cars to the border and take sick palestinians and take them to israeli hospitals for treatment. some of the viewers probably would ask, what is it all about? there is so many good initiatives and those people living on the border, 1.5 kilometres away from gaza, these are the people that did these things. so many people from the 80 abducted near us but the 240 people, they are all innocent, good people. they were taken brutally, they were killed, they were... it is very hard. efrat, we are just showing pictures of the footage, what happened essentially after hamas left. the condition in which houses were left. the destruction is quite clear from these pictures, cars burnt out. there is a lot of rebuilding to be done there and it must be very hard for your community to group together and think about that, particularly when you still have loved ones missing? it is really very hard. we are... we were educated on shared values of growth and goodness and hope. look at me, i mean, whatever you see in me, you should multiply in all those missing people and everybody is doing their best, first to understand the catastrophe. it is so hard, we went to so many funerals. the quiet, the emptiness, the black hole we are all into. it is really very hard. but there are some very strong people, among them my own brother who is amazing and with his friends, they are trying so hard to rack and clean whatever was burnt and destroyed in order to think of what is the next step. really, what is most important is that we know we have people under the ground in tunnels, sick people, babies, friends, parents, grandparents, they are all out there. innocent people were taken and they are out there and all we ask is, please, help us. each one of you, each one of the viewers, each person on this world, please help us bring them back. we need them back home, they are not the people to be held in the condition they are being held. they should be home with us. efrat, it has been four weeks to the day and you mentioned there "hope". sorry, i think we might have lost... oh, no, efrat, you are back. in terms of how you are feeling, hope, we have seen some hostages are released. how are you feeling about the potential of them returning? are you still clinging on to that hope? we never lose hope. this is a crisis in trust of humanity, i think in a global scale. it is really hard to find the ray that might bring some optimism into our daily life. we are really struggling but i think we were educated on those values where we see some goodness always and i really do hope we never lose hope. we know they are out there and we know that... i want to know, i want to be sure they will be back. i will never lose hope. i want to hug them, i want to breathe the same air they breathe, i want to feel them with me. i want them back home, that's all that holds us now. we want them back home. that was efrat whose relatives have been taken hostage in gaza. some breaking news now from the foreign office here in the uk. they have office here in the uk. they have said that they are pressing for the rafah crossing between gaza and egypt to be reopened after it temporarily closed on saturday. in a statement, a spokesperson for the foreign office said that we are disappointed that the rafah crossing has been temporarily closed today. this continues to be a complex and challenging situation and we are using all diplomatic channels to press for its reopening in coordination with our international partners. we remain in contact with british nationals in the region to provide them with the latest information. and they concluded by saying, it is vital that the safe passage of people, including foreign nationals and humanitarian aid, can continue. so, that is a statement from the foreign office here in the uk on reports that the rafah crossing has been temporarily closed. thousands of pro—palestinian supporters have joined demonstrations across the uk. police said there were about 30,000 people in central london — lower numbers than some recent protests. police said there were 11 arrests — one was for displaying a placard that allegedly could incite hate, contrary to terrorism legislation. there were also demonstrations across the uk. aru na iyengar reports. for the fourth weekend in a row, central london was the meeting point for palestinian protests. police said there would be a sharper focus on guarding against hate crimes, but the atmosphere was peaceful, the main message was a demand for a ceasefire. also present were members of the jewish community. they are not hate marches, they are marches for very positive things. a ceasefire, justice and equality. there are manyjewish people here, many of my jewish friends are pro—palestinian and want peace for people who have historically lived together to be able to live together once in a place as they can around the world. |just looking at everybody, there | is such a mixture of people here. i think theyjust want peace. the atmosphere here in trafalgar square is peaceful but it is noisy. police have said they will police up to the line of the law, they will be looking at facial recognition and at social media to make sure that there are no hate crimes. other parts of the uk also saw protests. waverley station in edinburgh was brought to a standstill, rail passengers unable to complete theirjourneys. they took to the streets of cardiff and this was the scene in belfast. there is more to come next weekend. there are controversial plans for a mass rally next saturday, the 11th of november, which is armistice day. the proposed marches have been criticised by the prime minister rishi sunak as "provocative and disrespectful". now let's turn to some other news. at least 157 people are believed to have been killed in an earthquake in western nepal. the shallow quake of magnitude 5.6 hit the remote hill district ofjajarkot, which is about strong tremors were felt in the capital and in indian cities including delhi. hospital officials in jajarkot said they were treating more than forty injured people rescued from the rubble of their homes. in northern ireland, water pumping has started in the flooded areas of downpatrick. several towns in counties down, armagh and antrim were hit by heavy rain this week. but for many businesses it could be a while until they are able to assess the damage on their premises. as our northern ireland environment correspondent, louise cullen, reports. unprecedented, apocalyptic, and now the aftermath. after two days of drier weather, it is time to push the water back. the pumps have been working away for hours here, pumping thousands of litres two kilometres away from here. the water level has receded, but it has been far from a simple operation. the complications we are encountering, obviously everyone has heard downpatrick is basically in a bowl, so there is a lot of floodwater draining down into this bowl. the water levels in the river are quite high, thankfully they are now subsiding. this is as close as this local person can get to her shop floor. my stock is just floating about. it is very hard for a family business. we have been here for 100 years almost and my grandfather started it up. it is hard for everybody but we are a lovely community and we are trying our very best. the fire crew are amazing. it is just heartbreaking. and across the road, the local pharmacist is starting his clean—up. we were here until the early hours of the morning while they were trying to save my premises, and it meant so much to me. and to the rest of our staff when they came in the next day. this is one of the main shopping streets in this market town, and with christmas barely seven weeks away, there is just one wish now on everyone's list. we need help. we need help now. we need somebody to come down here and say... we need that man who signs the cheques. for more updates you can head to our live page — bbc.co.uk/news. you will get all the latest updates on that conflict between israel and gaza. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. given how wet it has been, flooding will still be a concern over the days ahead. we have had some rain around today, some heavy showers here in sussex also affecting hampshire and also kent. a few thunderstorms and some gusty winds too. there are more showers coming in at the moment following that area of low pressure that has dominated the weather. that has brought some more persistent rain in northern england and north wales. still some wet weather here around now but that rain will slowly tend to ease off overnight. out to the west, some clearer skies, the odd shower. chilly start tomorrow in northern ireland and scotland, one or two mist and fog patches in the morning. those will lift. we start quite cloudy tomorrow in eastern scotland and england. still a bit of rain left from overnight, that should move away. a little cheer—up, sunshine coming through. out to the west, sunshine, showers through the day, bumping into the far west of scotland, one or two for northern ireland. bulk of the showers arriving across western parts of england and wales. if anything, those temperatures could be a shade higher than they were today. a bit like today, for northern parts of the uk, the winds should be fairly light and again like today, stronger winds will be in the far south. the far south—west of england, through the english channel and again, unfortunately, the channel islands will have some strong and gusty winds and some rather rough seas as well. those showers will continue into bonfire night, showers for many western areas, clearer skies out towards the east. that's going to be the story over the next couple of days. still got low pressure essentially dominating the weather into the start of the new week so again, it's still looking rather unsettled. close to that area of low pressure, some wetter weather in the far west of scotland. again, the odd shower for northern ireland, some showers for england and wales and maybe during the afternoon, a few more of those will get into eastern areas as well. but some sunshine around as well. temperatures — 11 to 13 degrees, those numbers not really changing very much over the week ahead. it's probably not until the middle part of the week that we see our first spell of organised rain. this weather front pushing in from the atlantic with somewhat stronger winds, but it's certainly not going to be a stormy week ahead. it is not going to be as windy, as wet as it has been and before the rain, the middle part of the week is a case of sunshine but also a few showers. this is bbc news. the headlines: egypt and jordan push for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. they want the us to back their call. but secretary of state antony blinken is urging only humanitarian pauses. the un's palestinian refugee agency says there was an explosion at a school it runs. hamas says 15 people were killed. israel says it's investigating. the us says up to 400,000 people remain in northern gaza, as israel's ground offensive continues. the un says no part of gaza is safe. protests in support of palestinians have been taking place in cities around the world. here in london, 11 arrests were made. an earthquake in western nepal has killed around 157 people. houses are destroyed and people are digging through rubble to rescue others. now on bbc news, it's sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm hugh ferris. the headlines this evening: they've been down for a while, now they're also out.