The Early Morning assault began with a barrage of rocket fire from gaza just after dawn with explosions heard on the streets of ashkelon. Sderot, which is near gaza, is thought to have been infiltrated by militants. Heres the latest on what we know at this hour. Israels public broadcaster is reporting that after 18 hours, hostages being held in a dining room in kibbutz be eri have been released. Israel has also confirmed that the commander of the nahal brigade, coloneljonathan steinberg, was killed in fighting on saturday. Meanwhile, Major Airlines have cancelled dozens of flights to tel aviv. They include american airlines, air france, lufthansa, emirates, and ryanair, among others. Lets show you live pictures from gaza now. Were hearing that the israeli army has asked residents of seven different areas across the gaza strip which you can see there on your screens to leave their homes and move to the city centres or take refuge in shelters in preparation for Launching Attacks against
With the north of england and the East Midlands. But costs spiralled and it was scaled back. The eastern leg of h52 was cancelled two years ago. Now birmingham to manchester has also been scrapped, as well as the line to East Midlands parkway. Well be getting reaction from all along the network tonight. Our transport correspondent katy austin is in birmingham, our north of england correspondent danny savage is in leeds, but first lets go to our Political Editor chris mason in manchester. Sophie, for at least three weeks the plug has been poised to be pulled on a big chunk of hs2. Today, it was yanked out. The Prime Minister acknowledged it was a controversial decision, but he insisted it was the right call, even though there are plenty, including in his own party, who think it is a huge mistake. And all of this on a day of big announcements from rishi sunak. Manchester this lunchtime, and the Prime Ministers warm up. Rishi and i are each other s best friends, and i couldnt being anywhe