for such an operation. and to conduct such an operation right now with no planning and little thought in an area where there is a million people sheltering would be a disaster. israeli forces have continued their offensive against hamas in the southern gaza area and there s been reports of large explosions in rafah. people there said israeli missiles hit two houses, causing multiple casualties. aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if israel forces enter rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced palestinians have taken refuge. the us secretary of state antony blinken is returning to washington, 2a hours after the israeli prime minister said the war would continue until israel is completely victorious. benjamin netanyahu appeared to reject outright a response from hamas to a proposed cease fire plan, but secretary blinken believes there s still room for negotiation. let s hearfrom our middle east correspondent, nick beake. a senior palestinian official
£10 million of tax payer s money that should have been used to help small businesses during covid. drivers are stuck for hours overnight after snow in some parts of the uk causes disruption on the roads. # never fighting but it always wins. later in the hour on the bbc news channel, looking at the penultimate news channel for the six nations champion. can they keep the grand clean dream good evening. gary lineker has been pulled by the bbc from presenting match of the day following his tweets criticising the government s latest immigration policy. a bbc spokesman said he will step back from match of the day until there is an agreed and clear position on his use of social media . the controversy blew up after gary lineker compared the home secretary s language on people arriving here on small boats across the channel with that used in 1930s germany. bbc staff are expected to remain impartial and not express personal opinions those defending gary lineker have said that
links with borisjohnson. also on the programme. asylum policy also centre stage at a meeting in paris where the uk promises france £0.5 billion to deal with illegal channel crossings. the gang who stole £10 million of taxpayers money that should have been used to help small businesses during covid. woman shouts. we tell the story of four afghan sisters terrorised by the taliban, now living in safety in germany. and the music from small town america that s now booming in the uk. and coming up on the bbc news channel. british number one cameron norrie is through to the third round in indian wells. he beat taiwan s wu tung lin in straights sets. good evening. the bbc is in crisis tonight, after forcing gary lineker to step back from presenting match of the day over critical tweets about the government s immigration policy. its move led to ian wright and alan shearer pulling out of the programme in solidarity. and the bbc has in the last hour said the show will go ahead with
good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the government has announced its plans to reduce legal migration, promising the biggest reduction in the number of people invited to the uk either on work or student visas, as their dependants, or for humanitarian reasons. the plans include raising the minimum salary for skilled workers, except for health or social care workers, which make up the bulk of visas. and the number of family members that can be brought here will be further limited. last year, overall net migration reached a record high of around three quarters of a million the difference in the number of people arriving and leaving the uk. that s a long, long way from the tens of thousands first promised when the conservatives came to power in 2010. the government claims its new plans will reduce the numbers eligible to come here by 300,000. the government s plan for a treaty with rwanda part of their approach to dealing with illegal immigration such as people