hello. i m sally bundock. we start with breaking news, and within the past few minutes, israel s military has said that a truce israel has agreed to extend its temporary truce with hamas. they said it will continue in light of the mediators efforts to continue the process of releasing hostages, and subject to the terms of the agreement . as you can see, this is a live shot of gozo this morning, as they wake up to the news that they wake up to the news that the truce is still in place. it was due to end just a few moments ago at 7am, local time. on wednesday, the sixth day of the deal, 16 hostages were freed from captivity in gaza. they included two russians, ten israeli citizens and four thai hostages, who were all handed over to the red cross. their release was delayed by what hamas called logistical issues. on wednesday, 30 palestinian women and teenage boys were freed from israeli prisons, in exchange for the hostages. this, as the us secretary of state antony blinken
yes, because he briefed the newspapers at the time. or somebody briefed the newspapers, i now have a better idea of who it was. beyond the clash of personalities that has given us two very different version of events, there were bigger questions today about the government handling of the coronavirus pandemic early on and how well equipped the uk was to deal with such a scenario. accused of mps by locking down too late, mr hancock said ministers were advised the public would not comply for long, despite being aware of the potential loss of life. i was given the planning assumption based on spanish flu, and it was signed off at cobra on the 31st of january. that was a planning assumption for 820,000 deaths and i was determined that that would not happen on my watch. and the health secretary gave an insight into the stark choices he and others faced.
the health secretary matt hancock has rejected accusations made by dominic cummings that he lied to the prime minister during the coronavirus pandemic. under questioning by mps, mr hancock said he was aware at the start of the pandemic that 820,000 people could die from covid 19 but that ordering an earlier lockdown would have meant going against scientific advice. 0ur political correspondentjonathan blake was listening to the session. he has been at the forefront of the response of the pandemic throughout but matt hancock has been accused of incompetence and lies. the health secretary would today have his say on the decisions he and others talk that shaped the uk s handling of coronavirus. claim by claim, accusations by the prime minister s former adviser dominic cummings were put