bringing the total number now freed to more than 80. today's hostage handover included ten israeli citizens, and two thai nationals. in return, israel has released another 30 palestinian prisoners. theyjoin the 150 other palestinians — mostly women and teenage boys — who have so far been released from israeli jails — since the truce began on friday. the original four day pause in fighting was extended by two days — to allow for more hostages to be freed. about 160 are still being held in gaza, and its believed the youngest of those is just ten months old, as orla guerin reports from tel aviv. it's a nerve—racking wait for hostages to come home, among them a baby. the truce is due to last until tomorrow. these are anxious hours. will baby kfir bibas be freed? he is the youngest hostage, just ten months old. israel has taken him to its heart. kidnapped with him, his brother, ariel, who's four and loves his batman costume. their mother, shiri, held them in her arms, trying to protect them as hamas closed in. theirfather, yarden. surrounded and bleeding. all four now hostages. israel says hamas has passed them on to another militant group in gaza. their relatives are tormented by worry and by waiting. how difficult have the last few days been when each day has come and gone and each list has come and gone and they have not come home? it's dreadful. it's the worst scenario. having to wait for that list every night. seeing all those beautiful moments of reunion and hoping that ours will be the next day, and it's not. relatives and supporters are gathered here once again. they want to keep the pressure on the government. for all those released in recent days, many more remain trapped in gaza. their families are hoping against hope that the deal between israel and hamas will be extended once again. that deal has freed almost 200 palestinian prisoners from israeli jails. here the latest group to be released, arriving tojubilation in the west bank tonight. it is mostly women and teenage boys who have been let out. in gaza, while the ceasefire holds, a chance to survey the wreckage. the un says there is hunger, destruction and — especially for women and children — the risk of famine. "we see our homes getting destroyed and our dreams getting destroyed," says maryam. "they gave us a four—day truce, what good is that?" back in israel, balloons are released for kfir and ariel, in the hope that they will soon see the sky again. tonight there are hopes that the ceasefire could be extended even further. orla guerin, bbc news, tel aviv. joining me to discuss is tal heinrich, spokesperson for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. it is good to have you back on bbc news. we know negotiators are working hard behind—the—scenes and it could that we may see a further extension of the current truce. should there be another extension? we certainly hope so and thank you for having me on tonight. i can confirm at this hour that israel has received another list of potential hostages who may be released tomorrow. we are notifying the families of the people who appear on the list and all otherfamilies of appear on the list and all other families of hostages who are still being held in the gaza strip. we talk about 173 hostages who are still there and we certainly hope that this materialises tomorrow and that we will see, hopefully, on sixth group of hostages leaving the gaza strip and returning home to israel. so we said that we are willing to extend the mechanism, as we saw today, as what took place today and for every ten extra israeli hostages released by hamas we agree to another extra day of humanitarian pores in the fighting. i can tell you that it is an interesting development that today we saw the palestinian islamichhad, the palestinian islamichhad, the second—largest terrorist organisation in gaza, funded by iran, they put out a statement that among the hostages released today, somewhere held by them. this is what they are saying. your reporter mentioned a ten—month—old baby and his family and according to the idf spokesperson the family is being held by the palestinians. on that list of people who will be released as we sit here in the us, first of all, is that ten—month—old being released and are americans on this list? i cannot say, i cannot provide any details of this kind. because, you know, human life hangs in the balance here and it is all very delicate and sensitive. we have a procedure in place they we do these things. i in place they we do these thins. , ., things. i understand. 50 looking _ things. i understand. so looking ahead _ things. i understand. so looking ahead union - things. i understand. so looking ahead union we| things. i understand. so - looking ahead union we know there is interest on both sides for the ceasefire to be extended and have more hostages released. at the same time your government and your prime minister have said that the fighting will resume. are you worried that those words could derail any further efforts to extend a ceasefire and get more hostages released? ha. extend a ceasefire and get more hostages released?— hostages released? no. we do not see these _ hostages released? no. we do not see these two _ hostages released? no. we do not see these two roles - hostages released? no. we do not see these two roles is - not see these two roles is contradictory. they go hand—in—hand. we said that we will eliminate the terrorist regime in gaza and that we want to see all hostages back and we are determined to bring each and every one of them home and we will do that. you have to remember that as president biden stated correctly a few days ago, hamas only responds to pressure. military pressure and diplomatic pressure that we exert in various ways behind—the—scenes and we saw the results of both pressures. we would not have been able to bring to the release of the hostages, the five that we saw so far if it were not for the military pressure that we exerted on hamas. we military pressure that we exerted on hamas. we also saw the national _ exerted on hamas. we also saw the national security _ exerted on hamas. we also saw the national security council- the national security council spokespersonjohn kirby the national security council spokesperson john kirby saying today that it we talk about military pressure he said that now there are more gazans in the south there is an added burden on israel to account for extra innocent life in the southin extra innocent life in the south in any operations. from our own journalists on the ground we know there have been strikes in southern gaza as well. what does this mean for an eventual continuation of his really operations? we an eventual continuation of his really operations?— really operations? we do not want to see _ really operations? we do not want to see any _ really operations? we do not want to see any palestinian l want to see any palestinian civilians being caught in the crossfire. not in the north, not in the south, not anywhere. there are reports of more than 14,000 there are reports of more than 111,000 people killed and more than 5000 children. how does that add i was not wanting to see civilians caught in the crossfire?— see civilians caught in the crossfire? , . , , crossfire? these are numbers rovided crossfire? these are numbers provided by — crossfire? these are numbers provided by hamas _ crossfire? these are numbers provided by hamas and - crossfire? these are numbers provided by hamas and we i crossfire? these are numbers - provided by hamas and we should remember that and take them with a grain of salt because according to hamas no terrorists were eliminated whatsoever and i can tell you that thousands have including several hamas top commanders as well. we have designated a special safe zone in the south—west and also in different neighbourhoods in the palestinian civilians, they know because we notify them in various ways and we repeated multiple times and once the military activity will resume they will know and evacuate and these are safe zones where we also see humanitarian aid come in. . r' also see humanitarian aid come in. ., , ., also see humanitarian aid come in. ., i. ., also see humanitarian aid come in. let me ask you one more question _ in. let me ask you one more question about _ in. let me ask you one more question about the - in. let me ask you one more question about the hostagesj question about the hostages because that is what we will be watching closely over the next few days. once women and children are released that is perhaps the easier part of these negotiations. then it comes to the remaining hostages. what happens then? how do you get past that? well, i cannot really reveal the tactics and the strategy behind the israeli efforts to bring back all hostages home. everyone knows it is a complicated situation and we did not want to be in this situation yet here we are. we are very committed as a nation to this principle of leaving nobody behind and this is exactly what we are intent on doing. thank you so much for joining us tonight on bbc news. the gulf state of qatar has played a critical role — in brokering the hostage deal between israel and hamas. on tuesday, us and israeli intelligence met in qatar to discuss the possible next phase of the ceasefire. qatar's foreign ministry spokesman says the hope is to reach a sustainable truce that will eventually lead to an end to the war. the israeli government suggested it would be open to an additionalfive days of truce under the current agreement. but israel's army chief general herzi halevi says joining me now to discuss the truce is amr hamzawy, director, middle east programme, carnegie endowment for international peace. good to have you with us and thank you forjoining us tonight. in that interview we just had we heard that not all hostages who are being held are being held by hamas and i imagine that does complicate negotiations quite a bit. how do you deal with the other groups such as palestinian jihad, for example?- groups such as palestinian jihad, for example? thank you for having _ jihad, for example? thank you for having me, _ jihad, for example? thank you for having me, it _ jihad, for example? thank you for having me, it is _ jihad, for example? thank you for having me, it is a - jihad, for example? thank you for having me, it is a pleasure| for having me, it is a pleasure tojoin. i believe on the one hand hamas is the most powerful movement on the ground in gaza and i believe movements such as the popular front and the islamichhad movement are looked at as allies of hamas, junior allies in a way and does a complete complicate on the ground the hostages held by groups which no—one foreshore is aware of all their identities? yes. is it impossible without political will on both sides? i believe it can be figured out if it is the will of the palestinian side and the israeli side is to extend the current truth to allow for further release of hostages on one hand and further release of palestinian hostages, prisoners on the other hand as well as more humanitarian aid, it can be sorted out. humanitarian aid, it can be sorted out-— humanitarian aid, it can be sorted out. let's talk about the negotiations _ sorted out. let's talk about | the negotiations themselves sorted out. let's talk about - the negotiations themselves and the negotiations themselves and the role that qatar has played here. why have the qatari's been so instrumental in brokering this truce? it been so instrumental in brokering this truce? it is for two reasons. _ brokering this truce? it is for two reasons. number- brokering this truce? it is for two reasons. number one, l brokering this truce? it is for - two reasons. number one, qatar has hosted political leadership of hamas for many years and, secondly, qatar has been instrumental in agreement with the israeli government's or different israeli governments in funding different israeli governments infunding hamas different israeli governments in funding hamas government and administration of gaza. but it is not only qatari deceit it does well which due to its location, of course, and its close ties in the sense of security ties with hamas and other groups, has been playing a role. so it is a true egyptian qatari mediation backed by the us and, in fact, came at a moment when the two parties, israeland came at a moment when the two parties, israel and one hand and hamas on the other have come to a conclusion that a truce is welcome. we must look at the events on the ground for the last 50 days that led to the last 50 days that led to the truce with different factors continuing. the mass destruction, huge number of civilian casualties. let destruction, huge number of civilian casualties.— destruction, huge number of civilian casualties. let me ask about that — civilian casualties. let me ask about that as _ civilian casualties. let me ask about that as well. _ civilian casualties. let me ask about that as well. in - civilian casualties. let me ask about that as well. in the - about that as well. in the region we have seen countries like jordan region we have seen countries likejordan and egypt calling for an end to fighting and pointing to the mass loss of life in gaza and we spoke last week to a palestinian leader and asked about the next phase and asked about the next phase and what that would be for gaza and what that would be for gaza and he spoke about a temporary international force being and he spoke about a temporary internationalforce being in place in gaza, perhaps from the united nations. what do you think of that? would that be accepted in the region? what are your thoughts? mr; accepted in the region? what are your thoughts? my concern is that we _ are your thoughts? my concern is that we do — are your thoughts? my concern is that we do not _ are your thoughts? my concern is that we do not hear - are your thoughts? my concern is that we do not hear much . is that we do not hear much from the palestinian side so far. it is very difficult, actually impossible to decide for palestinians without factoring in different palestinian voices. i'm not referring to critics of the pa but also referring to different movements in gaza for different leaders on the ground. it is difficult to decide what the future should be without factoring in the palestinian voice. ., factoring in the palestinian voice, ., , factoring in the palestinian voice. ., , ,, .,~ ., voice. so who is speaking for them at the _ voice. so who is speaking for them at the moment? - voice. so who is speaking for them at the moment? this l voice. so who is speaking for| them at the moment? this is what needs to be done. if we want to develop a situation from this truce which i hope will hold for humanitarian aid and hostages, prisoners and so forth, if we develop this situation from a truce into a workable thing where each party can figure out what comes next in the interim i believe it will be on the palestinian groups, the different groups may be under the umbrella of the palestinian liberation organisation to negotiate a position which will have to be decided in a consensus lead manner, a vision which will include not only how to govern include not only how to govern in gaza but how to restore the two state solution which is what i think is the only solution we have dissolved this conflict between israelis and palestinians. lovely to get your perspective on this conversation and thank you for joining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a lawyer for hunter biden says the president's son is willing to testify before congress, but that the questioning must take place publicly. the proposal follows a flurry of legal summons issued this month by republicans on the house oversight committee. committee chairmanjames comer rejected the offer, accusing mr biden of, quote, "trying to play by his own rules". a moscow court extended the detention of wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich untiljanuary 30th, according to russian news agencies. it is the third extension since gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges and detained in march of this year. gershkovich and the wall street journal deny the allegations, and the us government has declared him to be wrongfully detained. pope francis has cancelled his planned trip to the cop—28 climate meeting because of the effects of influenza and lung inflammation, according to the vatican. earlier on tuesday, the vatican said was going ahead with the trip due to improvements with regards to the flu. but after advice from doctors, he agreed not to travel "with great regret". you're live with bbc news. more now on our top story, and the israel—gaza war. the current truce is intended to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians in deperate need, inside gaza. the white house said the us airlifted over 511,000 pounds of medical supplies and food to egypt which will then be delivered to civilians in gaza. this shipment marks the first of three planned deliveries to gaza in the coming days. my colleague caitriona perry spoke to francesca albanese, the united nations special rapporteur on the palestinian territories about the progress being made. francesca albanese, thank you indeed forjoining us. we are on day five on the ceasefire temporary pause. as far as you are aware, what are conditions like inside gaza at the moment? conditions are dramatic. this comes from the un operators on the ground you have warned of the ground you have warned of the serious risk of various forms of disease spreading across gaza, due to the lack of humanitarian aid to a population put on its knees, frankly. there is lack of nutrients, there is lack of medicines, and the al schiffer hospital has put many at risk and there is disease amongst children —— al—shifa hospital and adults alike, so the situation is very serious. in terms of the eight trucks coming, how difficult is it to get medical supplies to the people you are describing? i understand the situation is very difficult because festival, the situation in northern gaza is more challenging because of the closure of the, northern gaza being fully occupied by the israeli army so that trucks have to go through checkpoints to get in, so everything is slowed down. but also in southern gaza, there are 1.7 million displaced people. there is a reality of, for example, the lack of hygiene and toilets and showers for hundreds of people. there is also limited space to shelter the displaced at the moment on top of all of the damage to the infrastructure and the wounded. again, the situation is really catastrophic.— again, the situation is really catastrophic. the israeli prime minister, benjamin _ catastrophic. the israeli prime| minister, benjamin netanyahu, has said after the ceasefire the war will continue, given what your colleagues have seen in the last three days, have they been able to get into gaza, the situation will get much worse very quickly if that happens, is that what you are saying? happens, is that what you are sa in: ? .. ., saying? indeed, we cannot imaaine saying? indeed, we cannot imagine how _ saying? indeed, we cannot imagine how people - saying? indeed, we cannot imagine how people in - saying? indeed, we cannot| imagine how people in gaza saying? indeed, we cannot - imagine how people in gaza will be able to bear further hostilities because again, much of the city infrastructure has been destroyed. it is really cruel to continue a resumption of bombing over a distressed and destroyed populations. i5 and destroyed populations. is the international community, is the international community, is the un failing the people of gaza at this point? i the un failing the people of gaza at this point?- the un failing the people of gaza at this point? i think the international— gaza at this point? i think the international community - international community somewhat feels the population in gaza. there are 15,000 people killed, 15,000 people killed and the un secretary general has said rightly so in my view, that the gaza has become a graveyard for children. 6000 children have been killed. there are 3000 people still missing. the fears are shocking, even in terms of comparatively with other conflicts. this indicates that something has failed. and it has failed in my view both the palestinians and because it is difficulty to imagine what the day after is for these people, to resume some form of normalcy and coexistence in that land. the atrocities and the humanitarian crisis, the loss of life has been much discussed. talking about it is one thing. what does the international community have to do or can do at this point? the international— do or can do at this point? iie: international community, do or can do at this point? "iie: international community, both political and humanitarian components, should play a more permanent role. it is necessary to have a protective presence. i have stressed this over and over and keep on asserting it is needed to have a protective presence in the palestinian territory and this is necessary ready to end the hostilities in gaza and to ensure they can security needs and also to allow the palestinians to carry on with their lives with a sense of normalcy. this is not possible under the control of the israeli army because what is happening in the west bank, where over a0 days, 220 palestinians were killed including 60 children at the end of —— at the hands of israeli soldiers and settlers, settlers who have been armed by israeli officials. how it is possible to envisage that the palestinians can continue life as if it were normal under these conditions and with the israeli army committing crimes against humanity. brute israeli army committing crimes against humanity.— israeli army committing crimes against humanity. we will leave it there. thank— against humanity. we will leave it there. thank you, _ against humanity. we will leave it there. thank you, francesca i it there. thank you, francesca albanese, forjoining us. turning to some positive news now out of india, where, in the state of uttarakhand, rescuers pulled out all a1 workers who were trapped for 17 days inside a collapsed tunnel. miners drilled through the debris of rock and concrete to reach them. this triggered celebration across india once the rescue was complete. the evacuation of the men — who were low—wage workers from some of india's poorest states — began after rescuers broke through the debris in the tunnel on november 12th. the trapped men were pulled out on wheeled stretchers through a 3—foot—wide steel pipe. the bbc�*s anant zanane is at the tunnel in uttarakhand with more on what comes next. fireworks, slogans of joy fireworks, slogans ofjoy and a nation breathing a sigh of relief, some of the things that marked the very moment as those trapped construction workers, a1 of them walked out, safe and sound outside of the tunnel after 17 days of being trapped inside. it is a huge moment for a country that has been holding its breath for the longest time, waiting for that very good news on these people emerges safely from this tunnel. there are however some unanswered questions. why did the incident happen in the first place? will there be an honest investigation to look into the causes of this collapse, the caving in of the tunnel? that is something the government will be questioned on in the days ahead but, for now,, everyone here, in the village, that has been the ground zero for the rescue operation that has been on day and night, is heaving a sigh of relief, feeling this long and arduous and painful weight for these workers who have safely emerge from here have now been taken to their homes is finally over. they will be taken to medical facilities where they will be examined from thereon, theirjourney will be examined from thereon, their journey will will be examined from thereon, theirjourney will begin will be examined from thereon, their journey will begin for their journey will begin for their homes, their homes in the states of uttar pradesh, baja, and other parts of the country and other parts of the country and their families wait for them to come home. please head to our website for all details on the day's news and we can confirm after speaking to a spokesperson for benjamin netanyahu that israel has received another list of potential hostages who may be released tomorrow. they are not releasing any information yet on who the hostages are but that information will be on the live page so check that out. we will be back at the top of the next hour with more news. stay with us. hello there. well, temperatures will be plunging even further, still, as we head through the rest of the week. there's more snowfall always possible, particularly across the north of scotland, such as here in aviemore, but even potentially to some lower levels as well, with wintry showers feeding into north sea facing coast. there'll be some icy stretches here. but for most of us, it is expected to stay dry. but just temperatures really struggling by day to get out of mid single figures, widespread air frost by night. and that's how we're starting off wednesday morning, with temperatures widely below freezing, maybe as low as —7 to —9 degrees celsius across parts of scotland, a little milderfor the south and the west underneath some areas of cloud, and with a few rain showers around. there'll also be some patches of freezing fog. and where we see those, they'll be slow to lift and clear. there'll be some more wintry showers just feeding into northern scotland for these north sea facing coasts as well. possibly a few accumulations a little further inland. those showers as far south as lincolnshire, but for most, sunny spells, temperatures not getting much past three to five degrees, but of course, milder in the far south and the west underneath all of that cloud. and that's where we look to find this low pressure system that's been really quite troublesome through the week. but now, it does look much more likely that this is going to be falling as rain towards the channel coast as we head through thursday, could possibly lap onshore at times given more clouds and outbreaks of rain towards the south coast, and maybe a bit of wintryness over the tops of the moors in the south or west with the elevation. further north, though, some sunny spells again, wintry showers for north sea facing coast. temperatures once more unlikely to make it much past three to five degrees celsius. let's take a look at friday because not a lot is set to change. we've got more of an easterly wind possibly feeding some showers through parts of the thames estuary, over the downs, perhaps the higher ground here. but for the most part, i think it should stay dry. again, there'll be some sunny spells and quite a bit of added wind chill as well. as you can see from the temperature anomaly map, temperatures are well below the seasonal average marked in the blue here. all of that cold air just sweeping down from scandinavia. and there's no real improvement in the temperatures, either, as we head through the weekend and into the start of next week. still feeling bitterly cold. here's the temperature outlook for our capital cities, possibly a bit of wintryness on saturday night, again, into sunday further south. bye for now. american tech giant amazon unveils a range of new ai products to challenge its rivals in the market. and un climate talks begin this week but can they achieve much with the oil producing giant uae as its host? hello and welcome to asia business report with me, arunoday mukharji. our top story this hour is amazon because the american tech giant has unveiled its own ai assistant called q to help its business customers.