hello. welcome to bbc news now — 3 hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says there were "strong indications" that hamas were holding hostages at the largest hospital in gaza, but they had been removed when his troops raide al—shifa this week. speaking to cbs news, mr netanyahu said there was no gunfight at al—shifa because hamas had already fled. israel insists there was a hamas command centre at the site, but hasn't yet provided conclusive evidence. the israeli army says it's found the body of a second woman who was held hostage by hamas, as troops continue to search in and around gaza's biggest hospital. so let's get the very latest from my colleague mark lowen, who is in southern israel. hello, thanks very much indeed. we are a couple of kilometres away from gaza, where israeli troops are continuing their operation inside al—shifa hospital, gaza's largest. they are going building to building, combing the site to try to find evidence of as you said that hamas command centre they have long said is underneath the al—shifa hospital. what they have said so far is that they have presented a photograph and video evidence of what they say is a tunnel shaft in the grounds of al—shifa hospital and they say that their troops are working to expose that. and they have also provided footage of a white vehicle that they say contained explosives, ammunition, grenades and ak—lfl assault weapons. there is significant pressure on the israeli military to provide more extensive evidence to in a sense justify their radon al—shifa hospital and win back some of the credibility and legitimacy that has evaporated among the international community in days and weeks as the military onslaught continues and the civilian casualty figures continue to soar —— their raid on. the israeli military says they have launched two significant attacks on underground facilities where they say that significant hamas figures were hiding. in gaza, communication networks are down. aid trucks are unable to get in, as the un says it can't coordinate with its workers on the ground. this is expected to worsen the humanitarian situation for hundreds of thousands of people displaced in gaza, who are facing shortages of food, medicine and water. the un also says heavy airstrikes and shelling have continued in the strip. hundreds more civilians have been killed this week, according to the hamas—run health ministry. israel disputes the accuracy of the numbers, but the world health organization believes the figures are trustworthy. working with freelance journalist majdi fathi in gaza, yogita limaye reports from jerusalem. their report contains distressing images from the start, including images of children in distress and shots of body bags. monday in central gaza. tuesday. wednesday. thursday. airstrikes have continued to hit the strip this week, while israel conducts ground operations in the north. hundreds have been killed and injured. some of them from the barghouth family in deir al—balah. "we're being killed and no—one is doing anything about it," this man shouts. abid barghouth is still breathing, in critical condition. doctors scramble to treat the boy. on the floor by his bed, they check his father, subhi, for a heartbeat. they can't hear it. his family in shock, still finding out... ..who�*s been rescued, who's survived and who hasn't, from 30 members. this is their youngest — injured, but not seriously. the barghouths had fled to deir al—balah for safety from zeitoun, in the north. a bit later, subhi's brother ali is taken to identify the bodies. four of the family have been killed. little abid didn't make it. "we thought we'd come to a safe place, but no—one is safe in gaza," ali says. abid, subhi, bilal and alla barghouth — four of thousands of gazans killed. "goodbye, my dear," subhi's mother says "you're with god now. you were such a good son." grief is one form of suffering in gaza. this is another. hundreds gather outside one of the few flour mills still running. the manager tries to pacify people. "we haven't eaten for two days," some in the crowd shout. translation: we've escaped death, but now are dying slowly _ because of a severe shortage of food, flour and basic needs. we are a family of eight. i burn discarded paper cups to keep my children warm. here, too, they're under the threat of bombardment. at the moment, no aid trucks are going in for gaza's 2.2 million. all but a tiny handful can't get out. yogita limaye, bbc news, jerusalem. yogita limaye with that traumatic peace and distressing images from gaza. live now to washington dc to speak to mark cancian, retired united states marine corps reserve and senior adviser with the center for strategic and international studies security program. thank you for being here. looking at the military strategy that israel is pursuing, do you think, do you get a senseit pursuing, do you think, do you get a sense it is a classic strategy that is going according to plan and do you get any sense of how long the israelis might remain inside gaza according to the strategy? weill. israelis might remain inside gaza according to the strategy? well, the first art is according to the strategy? well, the first part is that _ according to the strategy? well, the first part is that this _ according to the strategy? well, the first part is that this is _ according to the strategy? well, the first part is that this is a _ according to the strategy? well, the first part is that this is a classic - first part is that this is a classic strategy to employ in an urban environment. they have cut off the northern third of the gaza strip. they are now squeezing that, moving forward, building by building, block by block, destroying strongholds and tunnels. inevitably, there is a lot of damage to the infrastructure and many civilians are getting hurt. but they are moving forward inexorably. and hamas is conducting a disciplined withdrawal, fighting, withdrawing, counter attacking through the tunnels. this will probably go on in the north for another two or three weeks before the israelis occupy the entire section that will maybe take them another one or two weeks to mop up. do you get a sense that the military operation would move south on the complication there of course being the hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled from the north? ~ ., , civilians who have fled from the north? ~ . , , north? well, that is the big question- _ north? well, that is the big question. will _ north? well, that is the big question. will the - north? well, that is the big question. will the israelis l north? well, that is the big - question. will the israelis move south once they have occupied the north? it is unclear, they have reportedly dropped some leaflets, which would indicate that they will. on the other hand, a month from now, the world situation pressure on israel may be such that they are reluctant to do that. another big question is whether they will occupy the north for an extended period of time. clearly, they will stay there until they have destroyed hamas infrastructure. many observers, including the united states, are saying, don't occupy the gaza strip. on the other hand, others say they will need to do that to make sure that hamas doesn't come back. that will be another major question going forward. i will be another ma'or question going forward. ., ~' will be another ma'or question going forward. ., ~ ., ., forward. i would like to turn a little bit in — forward. i would like to turn a little bit in a _ forward. i would like to turn a little bit in a couple _ forward. i would like to turn a little bit in a couple of - forward. i would like to turn a | little bit in a couple of minutes forward. i would like to turn a - little bit in a couple of minutes to the strategy moving forward. first, can i ask you, how much money is are you sensing in the us at the moment about israel's strategy on the ground? —— how much our knees are you sensing. and america's steadfast support of israel and reluctance to call for a ceasefire?— call for a ceasefire? there is clearly a _ call for a ceasefire? there is clearly a lot _ call for a ceasefire? there is clearly a lot of _ call for a ceasefire? there is clearly a lot of unease - call for a ceasefire? there is clearly a lot of unease in - call for a ceasefire? there isj clearly a lot of unease in the united states and globally about the suffering of palestinians in the gaza strip will that israel is taking a variety of steps to minimise that, but there's no getting round the fact that hundreds of people i think that there is a timeline here before the united states and the rest of the world put enough pressure on israel to call for a ceasefire. so far, the united states has not been willing to do that. they have asked for a pause for example for opportunities for humanitarian assistance. but i think eventually, this pressure will build. so there is a timeline on what the israelis can do. find build. so there is a timeline on what the israelis can do. and what would ou what the israelis can do. and what would you say _ what the israelis can do. and what would you say that _ what the israelis can do. and what would you say that timeline - what the israelis can do. and what would you say that timeline is - would you say that timeline is before the calls for a ceasefire become overwhelming? we had the israeli foreign minister spokesman saying early in the week israel but it had two to three weeks still on the ground before the clamour for a ceasefire was too overwhelming. find ceasefire was too overwhelming. and i think that ceasefire was too overwhelming. fific i think that timeline is ceasefire was too overwhelming. jifilc i think that timeline is probably about right. we're six weeks into this now. maybe one month into the actual ground operation. maybe another month before the pressure gets strong enough. also, in another month, the israelis will probably have occupied the northern part of gaza. they will have destroyed the hamas infrastructure there and killed many hamas fighters. israel could claim a success and stop there if they had to. is could claim a success and stop there if they had t0-_ could claim a success and stop there if they had te— if they had to. is that significant unease that _ if they had to. is that significant unease that you _ if they had to. is that significant unease that you allude - if they had to. is that significant unease that you allude to - if they had to. is that significant. unease that you allude to enough if they had to. is that significant - unease that you allude to enough to raise real questions over the massive military aid that continues obviously annually from the us, about $3.8 billion in military aid given from the us to israel every year. are there now strident calls for the aid to be conditional? i don't think so. i think the aid to israel has been very bipartisan. there is a $14 billion supplemental aid package that has been proposed. i don't see a lot of opposition to that. that some on the left and the right to have raised objections but, on the whole, that is very bipartisan. so no, i don't think any change to us aid or military aid to israel will be forthcoming. and i israel will be forthcoming. and i su- ose israel will be forthcoming. and i suppose in _ israel will be forthcoming. and i suppose in an — israel will be forthcoming. and i suppose in an election - israel will be forthcoming. and i suppose in an election year, - israel will be forthcoming. and i suppose in an election year, it l israel will be forthcoming. and i | suppose in an election year, it is not going to win president biden any votes to start putting conditions on that aid to israel. looking forward, when we talk about the shape of gaza after this conflict ends, do you sense that there could be a real fear of an insurgency in gaza like there was after iraq and afghanistan?— there was after iraq and afuhanistan? ., , , afghanistan? you serve yourself in iran. i afghanistan? you serve yourself in iraq- ithink— afghanistan? you serve yourself in iraq. i think there _ afghanistan? you serve yourself in iraq. i think there is _ afghanistan? you serve yourself in iraq. i think there is no _ afghanistan? you serve yourself in iraq. i think there is no question i iraq. i think there is no question that if the israelis try to occupied gaza for the long—term, they would be an insurgency. hamas will infiltrate back in. they will do everything they can to instigate the population against the israelis. there will be a lot of sniping and gorilla warfare.— there will be a lot of sniping and gorilla warfare. mark, i “ust have to stop before i gorilla warfare. mark, i “ust have to stop before one _ gorilla warfare. mark, ijust have to stop before one second, - gorilla warfare. mark, ijust have l to stop before one second, please stay with us. we have to pause to say goodbye to our viewers on bbc two. we will come back to you so don't go away. we are going to take at some of the other stories making the news. —— take a look at. official figures show people bought less fuel and food in october. retailers blame the cost of living and poor weather. the volume of products sold last month fell by 0.3% to the lowest level since february 2021, when large parts of the country were in covid lockdowns. two 12—year—old boys are due to appear before birmingham magistrates' court today charged with the murder of a 19—year—old man in wolverhampton. shawn seesahai was stabbed to death on monday evening. the boys have also been charged with possession of a bladed article. they cannot be publicly named because of their age. the government says an £8 billion fund will be made available to councils in england over the next decade to help tackle potholes. the transport secretary, mark harper, said motorists would immediately see improvements in road conditions. councils, on the other hand, say the cost of repairing local roads was closer to £14 billion. you're live with bbc news. the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan, is making a state visit to germany. he's due to meet chancellor olaf scholz in berlin, as well as the german president. some german opposition parties have called for the trip to be cancelled because of mr erdogan�*s stance on the conflict in gaza. live now to berlin to speak to our correspondent damien mcguinness. what is he going to be doing once he arrives? , , ., ., arrives? first, he is going to meet the german _ arrives? first, he is going to meet the german president _ arrives? first, he is going to meet the german president and - arrives? first, he is going to meet the german president and then i arrives? first, he is going to meet the german president and then he will meet the chancellor olaf scholz. he will speak to the press, we think which will probably be quite a brief statement, possibly with questions and possibly not or possibly, it won't happen at all. then he will have dinner with olaf scholz. the reason why there is such a big question over the meeting with the press is because the german government really wants, it really views this visit is a damage limitation exercise because there is real nervousness here that president erdogan could saiss something controversial. as you said, over the past few weeks, he has said some comments about israel and about gaza which here in germany are seen as unacceptable. for example, he has referred to hamas as liberators rather than a terrorist organisation, which is how they will describe it here in many european states, and he has called into question the legitimacy of israel. and all of that means that for germany, this visit is incredibly difficult. and that means that are no public speaking engagements, there are no cheering crowds, simply a few small protests against president erdogan�*s visit because the worry is that if the president says something which could be seen as anti—semitic or too critical of israel all supportive of hamas, how would the german chancellor react? because turkey and germany are key trade partners and key economic partners and germany needs turkey to stem the flow of asylum seekers to europe. so it puts the german government in a difficult position. but i think that's why they are keeping their state visit extremely low—key to try and reduce the risk that president erdogan might say something that makes olaf scholz�*s life difficult. just something that makes olaf scholz's life difficult. , , , , .., life difficult. just briefly, can ou life difficult. just briefly, can you explain _ life difficult. just briefly, can you explain the _ life difficult. just briefly, can you explain the economic . you explain the economic relationship between the two? you say important economic partners, but it is more than that, germany is turkey's top export destination, isn't it? ., �* , turkey's top export destination, isn't it? . �* , ., isn't it? that's right and the turkish economy _ isn't it? that's right and the turkish economy is - isn't it? that's right and the i turkish economy is struggling, isn't it? that's right and the - turkish economy is struggling, so german exports and german businesses are very important, german trade is very important for turkey. and germany has the largest turkish diaspora in the world with 3 million people of turkish origin living here, half of them can vote in turkey, so there is lots of political interest for president erdogan here. and of course, it is all about family ties and trade ties that go back decades, almost half a century really. so it is a deep relationship, but it is also a complex relationship and that's why president erdogan is described as a difficult partner, but a partner not and somebody berlin feels you have to deal with and get on with some thank you. here in the uk, the former home secretary suella braverman says the government's attempt to revive its policy of sending asylum—seekers to rwanda is a just a "tweaked version" of its previous plan. that plan, which was designed to deter people crossing the english channel in small boats, was this week ruled unlawful by the supreme court. downing street says it will introduce emergency legislation to parliament. prime minister rishi sunak declined to comment when asked whether he would call a general election if the house of lords blocked his emergency legislation. well, it doesn't have to take a long time to get legislation through, and that's a question for the labour party. we're determined to get this through as quickly as possible. so the real question is, are the labour party going to stand in the way and stop this from happening, orare they going to work with us and support this bill, so we can get it through as quickly as possible? i know that the british people want this problem gripped. i know the british people will want this new law to pass, so we can get flights off to rwanda. so really, the question is for keir starmer and the labour party, why don't they? we can speak now to our correspondent peter saull. so the row and the controversy continues. suella braverman saying this is a tweaked version of the previous plan, but tells about the bill. it previous plan, but tells about the bill. , , ., ., ~ ., bill. it is strange to think that this time last _ bill. it is strange to think that this time last week, - bill. it is strange to think that this time last week, suella i this time last week, suella braverman was sitting around the cabinet table with the current prime minister and she was responsible for enacting this policy on behalf of the government. now she has turned into rishi sunak�*s number one critic from the backbenches and she has written this article in the daily telegraph this morning making a series of suggestions and saying the way things are going, there is no way things are going, there is no way fights will take off for rwanda the side of the general election, due in the uk at some point next year. she is also saying the uk needs to send in observers to rwanda to make sure the country, the west african country is abiding by some of the things the supreme court suggested it needed to in the judgment it delivered on wednesday. the opposition parties will say, this is just a the opposition parties will say, this isjust a gimmick, so much money and time and effort has been thrown at this, it is time to let it go and look at other ways of dealing with the issue of people crossing the english channel in small boats. but you heard the prime minister determined to go ahead with it. his former home secretary saying that actually, in order to get it through, you need to effectively cancel christmas and make sure that mps are here over the festive season, voting on it, getting out legislation. most controversially really, suggesting that existing legislation should be changed so that the uk can ignore human rights laws, conventions on the rights of refugees, which are both domestic and international law. a suggestion that has led another senior conservative, damian green, who is effective deputy to theresa may when she was prime minister, to suggest these comments are the most conservative think he has ever heard and he was comparing suella braverman early on to president putin and xijinping. it braverman early on to president putin and xi jinping. it goes to show the extent of the row within the conservative party over this. aha, the conservative party over this. a difficult week for the prime minister, but how damaging do you think it has been? it minister, but how damaging do you think it has been?— think it has been? it started off with the reshuffle _ think it has been? it started off with the reshuffle bombshell i with the reshuffle bombshell decision to bring back to front line british politics the former coach david he will have got some positive headlines from that, some negative ones. it will have prompted some concerns of the right of the conservative party that he was tacking towards the moderate centre ground, which might appeal to some voters and not so much to others. perhaps particularly those voters the tories won over for the first time in traditional labour held areas in the midlands and north of england in the 2019 general election. the supreme court ruling on wednesday a major blow, there is absolute in no doubt about it. but i suppose on the one hand, it also does allow the prime minister to set himself up and say, i am still determined to grasp the nettle of this issue. he believes very strongly it is something voters really do care about. but yes, i think it has been a difficult week for the prime minister in many respects and there is not going to be any let up. next week, we have the autumn statement, another key staging post in these attempts from the rishi sunak administration to try to turn the party's fortunes around. interesting to hear that suggestion from some tories to hold a general election if the house of lords blocks the things they are trying to do on small boats. that might be described to put it mildly is a little bit crazy if you look at the state of the polls right now, because if there were a general election tomorrow, the poll suggest it would not be the conservatives, but the labour party in government. thank you. the government's policy was supposed to deter people crossing the english channel in small boats. but would the plan actually stop people from trying to reach the uk? sofia bettiza travelled to dunkirk, from where thousands of people leave for britain. in calais and dunkirk, volunteers prepare a hot meal, and bring it here — the largest camp for migrants in northern france. for many of them, this will be their only meal of the day. the hours drag here. every day, they wait, hoping for good weather so they can cross the english channel. and how will you get to the uk? by boat. nothing anything else. we don't have any other way. we all know about the danger, risk. we know about everything, but we must go there. everyone here told us there's no way that the threat of being sent to rwanda is going to stop them. the living conditions in camps like these are so grim that they just want to get away as fast as they can. and it's taken them months of travelling to get here. they are so close to reaching the uk, they'rejust not going to give up. lamin, from gambia, is a manchester united fan. it took him four years to get to france. if the uk were to send people back to rwanda, would that stop you trying to get to the uk? for me, never. for me, since i was young, i always dreamed to be in the uk, you know. this is a lucrative business. local ngos told us these camps are entirely run by people smugglers. people pay 1,000, people pay 2,000, 3,000 — it's very, very expensive. some people, even if they say 5,000, they will pay because they want to reach the uk. the french authorities are cracking down on people smugglers. they've arrested 272 people this year, but small boats continue to set off all—year round. what would it take to stop illegal crossings on small boats — safe routes? we know that it can happen because if i'm not wrong, it happened when there was the war between ukraine and russia. so many humanitarian visas were created for ukrainian refugees. so we know that there are solutions. but solutions require political will, and that's not the focus of the british government right now. the objective is to deter more people from making the journey. sofia bettiza, bbc news, dunkirk. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it looks like being a pretty good day for most of us today. the weather is going to change in time for the weekend, mind you, but for the rest of the day, a lot of dry weather to come. the showers in the west continuing to fade away and there will be some spells of sunshine, as well. but if we look at the satellite picture, you can see all this cloud here in the atlantic, that's spilling its way towards the uk and will bring very different weather overnight and into saturday. the cloud already beginning to push into the south—west of england, wales, later towards northern ireland, but ahead of that through the afternoon, plenty of sunshine around. it should be dry. temperatures making double figures in england and wales. still a bit chilly in the north—east of scotland and, here, there could be an early frost, but early because the cloud is coming in from the south—west. that's bringing rain. it will bring some stronger winds and push the temperatures up, as well. some quite heavy rain, actually, for a while over the moors of the south—west, the hills of south wales. these are the temperatures by the end of the night, so a very mild start to the weekend. but things are going to look very different from today because we've got this weather front bringing the rain. it's wrapped around that area of low pressure. that's also bringing in some stronger winds, but it's actually bringing in air all the way from the tropics and that's why it's going to be so mild to start the weekend. but a cloudy start, with some rain around. still some heavy bursts of rain here and there. you see how it slowly pushes down towards the south—east, up towards north—eastern scotland. away from these areas, we should get some sunshine after the rain. showers, though, coming into northern ireland and particularly western scotland. those could be quite heavy. it will be pretty windy out there, as well. we're likely to have gales through the irish sea and around some western coasts, but it is very mild air, so temperatures could reach 15, possibly even 16 degrees, along the south coast of england. with that weather front and the band of rain out of the way for the second half of the weekend, we've still got that area of low pressure close by and it still could have around it some thicker cloud, some showers or some longer spells of rain, mainly for the northern half of the uk, where it's not quite so windy. further south, the winds are certainly going to be strong, but at least there will be some sunshine outside of those showers and, whilst not quite as mild, temperatures still are going to be 13 degrees. the wind direction changes early next week to more of a north or north—westerly, bringing in a lot of cloud to start next week, but also dropping the temperatures for a while. this is bbc news. the headlines: inside a central gaza hospital to see the chaos and confusion as israel continues its aerial bombardment of the strip. the un says it's almost �*begging for fuel�* in gaza and should never be in that situation. it says supplies cannot be brought in, or distributed. israel's prime minister says hamas commanders were inside gaza's largest hospital — but fled just before the military raided it. in other news, the uk chancellor says there's no guarantee that flights deporting asylum seekers to rwanda will take off next year. new draft menopause guidance for women in the uk. talking therapy should be offered instead of, or as well as, hrt outrage in the lead—up to the las vegas grand prix. a loose manhole cover delays practice. returning to our top story now and aid agencies say they are unable to deliver supplies into gaza due to a lack of fuel as israel continues its military operation there.