Suspended, if a deal emerges to free the hostages still held by hamas. Israel katz said their freedom was a top priority. Hostage release also forms a key part of International Mediation efforts to bring about a ceasefire in the gaza war. Hamas has posted a new video, which shows two of the hostages captured during its october attack. Keith siegel, and omri miran both identify themselves. While the video is not dated, there is a reference to the recent passover holiday. Its the second such video that hamas, considered a terror group by the uk and us governments, has published in the past few days. Our correspondent, anna foster, sent this update from tel aviv. Omri miran s father was actually already on the list of confirmed speakers for this event tonight. When he got up on the stage, he talked about the moment, he said he was sitting having coffee with someone and talking about his grandchildren when the man he was talking to held his phone and said, look, they have released a video
Paddy oconnell and henry zeffman. Newscast. Newscast from the bbc. Hello, its laura in the studio. Its paddy in the studio. And its henry in the studio. Hooray its so nice to have you here with us. Now, you tantalised us on the saturday episode that there was a scoop in the making. The scoop in the making ended up being a defection. Yes, defection, and defections are important because they are rare and defections are important because they really spook political parties. And in this case, a Conservative Mp until yesterday was dan poulter, a part time nhs doctor, who has decided that it is time for him to go from the Conservative Party. And he didntjust sort of say, because i think ive had enough and theyve gone in the wrong direction. He accused them of not caring about public services, about not caring about the nhs and of losing their compassion. So, defections are big news stories, even if, newscasters, i will say, the person in question is not someone who necessarily is a massive p
Saying that the president reaffirmed his ironclad commitment to israels security. It referenced what it said was a successful defence against irans unprecedented missile and drone attack earlier this month. The two leaders reviewed ongoing talks to secure the release of hostages. Together with an immediate ceasefire in gaza. And they also discussed increases in the delivery of humanitarian assistance into gaza through preparations to open new northern crossings, starting this week. The statement concludes that the leaders discussed rafah and the president reiterated his clear position, although it didnt give details of what that is. Hours earlier, the palestinian president said only the us could prevent an Israeli Attack on rafah, where more than a million have fled. Mahmoud abbas is at the World Economic forum summit in riyadh. He will be joined there on monday by the us secretary of state, Antony Blinken. Other Key International figures are expected in the saudi city and Sideline Mee
Lets go back to that defection from the Conservative Party to the labour party by a conservative mp. Dr dan poulter, who works part time in the nhs, has been welcomed by his new leader, sir keir starmer, who said the former minister would help his party get the Health Service back on its feet. Well, mr poulter has been speaking about why hes done this on the Laura Kuennsberg programme. Lets listen to the interview. Well, id been thinking about it for a little while and it was alongside my work as an mp. I work still work as an nhs doctor and have done. The Health Service that i saw under huge strain is very different to the Health Service of maybe a decade ago, and the struggles and the challenges that patients have been experiencing in accessing timely good care were something that really resonated with me and stayed with me, and ifound it increasingly difficult to look my nhs colleagues in the eye, my patients in the eye, and my constituents in the eye with good conscience. And i fee