it is good to have you with us. we start in israel, where a temporary truce with hamas is set to expire in the coming hours, unless a deal is reached to extend the agreement. six more israeli hostages held in gaza have now been handed over to the red cross. mia schem, the 21 year old woman kidnapped from a music festival on october 7th was among those just released by hamas. she s been reunited with her mother. but as one family celebrates the return of a loved one, another is facing fresh anguish. this is shira bibas and her two young sons. hamas claims they died in an israeli missile attack on gaza. the organisation, designated a terrorist group by the us and uk, released a hostage video of her husband, yarden. the israeli government said again that it hasn t yet verified what has happened to the family. meanwhile, the white house has condemned what it called a terrorist attack by hamas gunmen at a bus stop injerusalem earlier on thursday. three people were killed in the
welcome to the programme. let s start by getting you the latest on the israel and gaza conflict. the israeli prime minister s office says six more israeli hostages held in gaza are now back in israel. two others were released by hamas earlier on thursday. within the last hour israel says it has released 30 more palestinians in return. earlier the us secretary of state antony blinken warned that israel must take effective steps to ensure the protection of civilians in gaza, before it restarts its military operations there. mr blinken who s on a visit to the region told reporters that the damage to hospitals, power stations and water supplies seen in the north of gaza should not be repeated in the south. he s been pushing for the continuation of a temporary ceasefire between israel and hamas that s lasted seven days. our senior international correspondent orla guerin has the latest from jerusalem. a long awaited reunion. a hostage back in her mother s arms. mia schem, who i
coming up, liverpool have to avoid defeat against an austrian side to guarantee getting out of the group stages of the europa league. they are top of their group ahead of the match at anfield. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the former health secretary matt hancock has told the covid inquiry that with the benefit of hindsight the uk should have locked down much sooner at the start of the pandemic. he said many, many lives could have been saved if the first lockdown had began three weeks earlier on the 2nd of march 2020. mr hancock also dismissed allegations from other colleagues that he had lied to them, and described what he called a toxic culture in government. 0ur political editor chris mason reports. one of the biggest names of the pandemic. the health secretary for england, matt hancock. the man in the middle on the television many nights, and the man who resigned for breaking the very rules he d helped draw up. today, his moment of accountabilit
at edinburgh zoo the tale of two pandas picked for love, who just didn t get on. on bbc london the burning building, the black smoke, and on newsnight at 10:30pm. we ll go deeper behind the headlines and speak live to key players on today s big stories. plus a first look at tomorrow s front pages. good evening. a 21 year old woman who was kidnapped from the supernova music festival in israel on seventh october has tonight been reunited with her mother, as a temporary truce between israel and hamas continued for a seventh day. mia schem was one of eight hostages freed by hamas today, in return for the expected release of more palestinian detainees from israeli prisons. but as one family celebrates the return of a loved one, another is facing fresh anguish. this is shira bibas and her two young sons hamas claims they died in an israeli missile attack on gaza. tonight, the organisation, designated a terrorist group by the uk government, released a hostage video of her husb
is clear and it is unwavering. hello, i am is clear and it is unwavering. hello, iam lucy is clear and it is unwavering. hello, i am lucy gray. is clear and it is unwavering. hello, iam lucy gray. lockim hello, i am lucy gray. lockim to verify live welcome to verify live. the armed wing of the palestinian group hamas says the youngest israeli hostage in gaza, ten month old baby, kfir bibas, as well as his four year old brother, ariel, and their mother, shiri, were killed in an israeli air strike on the gaza strip. israel said it is checking the claim, which the bbc has not yet been able to verify. the family are among the highest profile civilian hostages yet to be freed. relatives had issued a special appeal for the family s freedom after the children and their parents were not included in the group freed on tuesday. a statement from the missing family form say the family have been informed of the claims and are waiting for the information to be confirmed and hopefully re