ordered the al awda hospital to evacuate by 6am local time. hamas has urged residents to stay put. more thani million people are believed to live in the north of gaza. there are warnings that the humanitarian crisis in the territory is deepening, with shortages of food, clean water and electricity. there have already been several days of air strikes on gaza. the palestinian health ministry says israeli strikes have killed at least 1900 people in gaza, including 614 children. the palestinian authority's representative at the un compared the current situation to the mass palestinian migration after the creation of the state of israel, which palestinians call the �*nakbah�*, or catastrophe. we should not allow as humans and of defenders of international humanitarian law and as the un and the security council to allow, after 75 years of nakbah, another nakbah on our people by d populating the gaza strip of its 2.3 million and through them outside and make it an egyptian problem. the israeli defence forces have been massing along the boundary ahead of an expected ground offensive into gaza. and on friday, israel carried out local raids in the gaza strip to try to locate the up to 150 people being held hostage. as many as 1300 people were killed in last weekend's attacks by members of hamas — a group designated as a terror organisation by many western governments. the israeli ambassador to the un has called on the un to support israel's order to evacuate gaza. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said israelis are "fighting for the homeland." translation: we are stroking our enemies with an unprecedented power. i emphasise it is just the beginning. 0ur enemies have just begun to pay the price. i can't labelled what comes next but i can tell you it is just the beginning. meanwhile, un secretary general antonio guterres has called for the release of all hostages, and said it's "impossible" for palestinians to fully comply with evacuation orders. the situation in gaza has reached a dangerous new low. the horrific terror attacks by hamas on israel that killed more than 1200 people and injured thousands walk last saturday work followed by intense bombardment of gaza that has already killed 1800 people and injured thousands more. moving more than1 million people across a densely populated war zone to a place with no food, water or accommodation when the entire territory is under siege is extremely dangerous and in some cases are simply not possible. live now to new york with our un correspondent nada tawfik. great to with us. firstly, we've been hearing that russia has circulated a draft resolution to members of the security council, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. what more can you tell us? that's right. this was the second time since saturday that the security council has met in close consultations and we had heard from the secretary general, from the palestinian ambassador to the un, calls for the security council to take up not only a call for a ceasefire but also to set up a humanitarian corridor. just as the meeting was getting under way russia circulated to the 15 members of the security council a draft resolution which is pretty brief in nature. it is one page long. it calls for a humanitarian corridor. it also calls for the release of all hostages, and it calls for safe evacuation for civilians and the distribution of humanitarian assistance. the russian ambassador came out and spoke to the press afterwards and he said that moscow believes it is critical at this moment for the security council to act. he believes that this is an issue that the root causes of this conflict should have been addressed by the council a long time ago. but what we are hearing from several members when they left the council, china, for example, says they are open to any efforts to try to de—escalate the tensions. the uk ambassador to the un, dame barbara woodward, saying that the un needs time to go over consultations, kind of the serious discussions before it can comment on russia's draft but we have heard from one western diplomat who really doubted the seriousness of russia's proposal because they say they did not consult with others and it does not mention hamas in the draft, which they say will make it unacceptable to certain vested members and others on the council. i to certain vested members and others on the council.- others on the council. i “ust want to ask in i others on the council. i “ust want to ask in this is h others on the council. ijust want to ask in this is there l want to ask in this is there anything that the un can do in this particular situation? well, the security council itself at the moment, you know, the united states is israel's key ally and it has already shielded it from any type of pressure through dozens and dozens of vetoes so the united states is working separately with egypt, with israel, to try to create some safe zones in gaza, it says, but it will see pressure in the security council from the united states. separately, though, the secretary general says he is having non—stop calls with people in the region, notjust diplomats in new york but those in the region, palestinians, israelis, to try to figure out a way to get humanitarian supplies in. as you know, the crossings remain closed. bombings near egypt's crossing makes it extremely difficult and impossible at the moment to get in any fuel, medicine or supplies and that is why the secretary general is saying it is a dangerous new low in gaza at the moment.— at the moment. also today speaking — at the moment. also today speaking at _ at the moment. also today speaking at the _ at the moment. also today speaking at the un, - at the moment. also today i speaking at the un, families at the moment. also today - speaking at the un, families of israeli hostages i understand. what did they have to say? that's right. that was an event that was hosted by the israeli mission and they did that specifically before the security council meeting, saying that the security council needed to put its focus on getting hostages released, and so we heard from families. a woman, for example, had six family members including their gazans and young children who were kidnapped by hamas at a kibbutz. she says that she has had herfamily is kibbutz. she says that she has had her family is alive kibbutz. she says that she has had herfamily is alive but kibbutz. she says that she has had her family is alive but she really went with a strong plea again for the international community to exert any pressure they can, and we heard from other family they can, and we heard from otherfamily members a they can, and we heard from other family members a very similar message. 0ur un correspondent nada tawfik, thanks a lot. strikes from israel are continuing in gaza tonight. these are pictures from the half an hour. hamas officials say hat on friday 70 people, mostly women and children, were killed by israeli air strikes on convoys fleeing gaza city. these were pictures from a few minutes ago. let's show you the situation in gaza right now. it's 3:00 in the morning. near total darkness there. as we've been reporting, fuel and electricity are in short supply. residents in the north continue to flee under israeli evacuation orders. the biden administration has underscored its support for israel this week with visits by us secretary of state antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin. on friday, austin assured israel that "we have your back," echoing a message delivered by blinken a day prior. blinken has expanded his trip from israel and jordan to include all of the gulf arab countries and egypt, in an effort to "help prevent the conflict from spreading, and use their leverage with hamas" to release hostages. more than a dozen americans remain unaccounted for after hamas' attack on israel. president biden has met virtually with the families of those who are missing and possibly held by hamas. he says the us will do everything possible to get the american hostages home. i assured them my personal commitment to do everything possible, everything possible to return every missing american to their families. we are working around the clock to secure their release. applause of americans held by hamas in close cooperation with israel and our neighbours around the region. for more, let's bring in former us state department senior advisor to the bureau of near eastern affairs, asha castleberry—hernandez, and president of the middle east policy council, gina abercrombie—winstanley. great to have you both with us. thank you for being with us and taking the time. i want to touch on the situation and get your take. touch on the situation and get yourtake. palestinians touch on the situation and get your take. palestinians we know at this present moment have been want to get out of southern gaza. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu warning that there is more to come. what do you think that we should be preparing for toussi in the hours and days ahead? i want to ask you both, but starting with you first, asha. thank you so much. i think we need to provide for definitely providing humanitarian assistance as soon as possible, being able to definitely reach out to the local gazans and make sure that they are provided enough safety and security moving forward as israel is continuing their ground offensive moving forward. i also believe that we definitely need to do more outreach to the palestinians or to local populations within gaza. there is a state of confusion going on right now with hamas saying to stay but the idf is telling them to leave. so, there is a lot of confusion, misinformation involved in this effort and we definitely need to make sure that there is a safe evacuation happening, but with that being said it is most likely not going to flow well, before the most part those people need to be provided humanitarian assistance.— be provided humanitarian assistance. �* , ., ., assistance. and, gina, do you auree assistance. and, gina, do you agree with — assistance. and, gina, do you agree with that? _ assistance. and, gina, do you agree with that? your- assistance. and, gina, do you i agree with that? your thoughts. because what asher was just pointing out that was the fact that as we know we have got the united nations calling for that order to evacuate to be withdrawn. we have got that message they're coming from hamas, telling gazans to stay where they are. the palestinians, it must be really difficult to know what to do. what do you think we could be seeing light of that? i certainly concur with that. i will say that the israelis and our own government habit to very difficult needles to thread. the emphasis, of course, being on the humanitarian assistance for palestinians as they try in these next few days to avoid these next few days to avoid these strikes and also of course getting the hostages were released. we also have to keepin were released. we also have to keep in mind that there are probably around 500 american citizens who are dual nationals or visiting family in the gaza strip. we have americans there as well who are not hostages but, of course, our responsibility. certainly, the secretary's travels in the region i am certainly focused on these two things — working with others to put pressure on hamas, to make some headway with releasing the hostages as well as figuring out how to get humanitarian assistance into the gaza strip, but, of course, any safe corridor is going to depend on the government of israel's ability and willingness to cease and desist so that people can move and/or allow that pathway if they are going to go down to wada. so, those are the two things that will be focuses in the coming days. will be focuses in the coming da s. ., . ~' will be focuses in the coming da s. ., .,~ ., will be focuses in the coming da s. ., ., ., days. you make a point on the auestion days. you make a point on the question of— days. you make a point on the question of hostages - days. you make a point on the question of hostages right - days. you make a point on the| question of hostages right now it is one of the critical questions and, gina, coming to you on that — we know that we have some us hostage negotiators, experts on the ground. i mean, how difficult do you anticipate that situation being? what realistically do you think can be achieved there?- realistically do you think can be achieved there? well, there is very little — be achieved there? well, there is very little that _ be achieved there? well, there is very little that can _ be achieved there? well, there is very little that can be - is very little that can be achieved and until hamas is ready to negotiate over the hostages, and, of course, the sorts of things that hamas would be looking for, release of their own fighters, other palestinians, safe passage, if it comes to that, if they are ready to put down arms, has to be done from the israelis. it is not something the united states or any other country or international community can guarantee. it has got to be the government of israel there. so, certainly, at this early stage when the government of israel is still very much focused on eradicating hamas out of gaza, in having something in place there after all of this is over but does not pretend to have something move forward in this short period. but we do need to be thinking longer term as well — what does the day after look like? and, of course, people are looking at that, hopefully preparing for that now because we can't wait until this is over. �* , ., we can't wait until this is over. �* , . we can't wait until this is over. ~ , ., ., , we can't wait until this is over. a ., ., , ., over. asha, your thoughts on what gina _ over. asha, your thoughts on what gina has _ over. asha, your thoughts on what gina has to _ over. asha, your thoughts on what gina has to say? - over. asha, your thoughts on what gina has to say? i - over. asha, your thoughts on what gina has to say? i think| what gina has to say? i think it is extremely _ what gina has to say? i think it is extremely imperative i what gina has to say? i think. it is extremely imperative that we conduct effective hostage affairs admissions. it will be complicated because as it moving forward the environment is more complicated whereas becoming entirely complex as far as interacting with the local population, trying to get them to safety, to security, and also trying to ensure that our international alliances are working really well together, effectively co—ordinating and ensuring that the hostage affairs is effective, the humanitarian support is effective. we had the political backing also very working closely with the idf so a lot of moving parts but, again, looking at it it is very complex and i don't think that is going to be easy to run through or iron out quickly, but for the most part we had to make sure that — i feel it is highly important — humanitarian support and ensuring that the hostage affairs is effective. asha, you mentioned the international backing. i want to ask you a little bit about that, specifically with regards to the hostage situation because we know that antony blinken has been in qatar. do you think it could play a role in that in terms of being able to speak to her hamas and potentially being able to help with the hostage situation and the situation more broadly as well? ido, in i do, in fact they have linkage or connect with that network and i believe with regards to the international political pressure where you are going to see people mobilising against us, they are trying to, you know, not normalise a terrorist group, it is imperative that as we continue applying the pressure that we will see that that will most likely be cutter, will be able to effectively engage with them in terms of ensuring the hostage affairs is pretty much executed effectively —— affairs is pretty much executed effectively -- qatar. 50 affairs is pretty much executed effectively -- qatar.— effectively -- qatar. so you have, effectively -- qatar. so you have. then. _ effectively -- qatar. so you have, then, that _ effectively -- qatar. so you have, then, that potential l effectively -- qatar. so you i have, then, that potential role of qatar, i wonder, studying the region more broadly and coming to you then, gina, while we've see the flurry of diplomacy from antony blinken, there are concerns about contagion in the region as well. is it something you're worried about?— well. is it something you're worried about? ~ , , worried about? absolutely. yes. as i said. _ worried about? absolutely. yes. as i said, there _ worried about? absolutely. yes. as i said, there are _ worried about? absolutely. yes. as i said, there are a _ worried about? absolutely. yes. as i said, there are a number. as i said, there are a number ofihings, _ as i said, there are a number of things, initially the hostages, the safe passage for palestinians but as this goes forward, it becomes increasingly difficult for the israeiis _ increasingly difficult for the israelis insofar as the opportunities for things to go badly— opportunities for things to go badly wrong, as many of us anticipated already with regard to palestinian civilians, but there — to palestinian civilians, but there is— to palestinian civilians, but there is the issue of increasing questions about their— increasing questions about their tactics, increasing questions about theirtactics, questions increasing questions about their tactics, questions from around — their tactics, questions from around the world about the treatment of palestinian civilians, the use of white phosphorus, whether there are efforts— phosphorus, whether there are efforts to — phosphorus, whether there are efforts to eradicate us to actually end in the hostages being — actually end in the hostages being killed, one way or the other— being killed, one way or the other and expanding the front in regard _ other and expanding the front in regard to hezbollah and lebanon and possibly syria as well _ lebanon and possibly syria as well -- — lebanon and possibly syria as well —— eradicate hamas. all of these _ well —— eradicate hamas. all of these things are danger points that have to be managed extraordinarily carefully and it's impossible to say where we will be — it's impossible to say where we will be in — it's impossible to say where we will be in the coming days. the assessment — will be in the coming days. the assessment there _ will be in the coming days. iie: assessment there of will be in the coming days. tie: assessment there of asher calgary highlanders, former senior adviser to the assistant secretary of the bureau of near eastern affairs at the us state department and gina abercrombie—winstanley former special assistant to the secretary of state, our thanks to you both, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. we wa nt we want to take you now to take a look of course of the skyline of gaza city, just to let you know it is 3:18 am and there you have it on your screen amid the darkness, you see the flare of orange. we've been seeing that today as we continue to monitor the situation there amid warnings for people to get out of the north ahead of a potential ground invasion there but just some activity there in the skies tonight in the early hours of the morning. we can now go over to laura blummenfelt. —— live now to laura blumenfeld, middle east analyst and seniorfellow at johns hopkins school for advanced international studies. she previously served as a senior policy advisor on the state department's israeli—palestinian negotiating team. great to have you with us, laura. that report we've been hearing, multiple reports, today laying their house saturday's attack by hamas came around and because how it was so unexpected as well. are we any clearer to understand what went wrong in terms of intelligence failures here? well, there will be plenty of time for an autopsy on israel's intelligence services. i think there are three broad trends we can point to. first i would say is about mindset. there is seeing but also perceiving, there is dots and connecting there is dots and connecting the dots. the day after saturday's attack, i called the israeli defence official and i asked him what happened and he used the hebrew word for a light anaesthesia. he said it was and would like a twilight sleep. in the first thing was mindset. the second thing is internal divisions, we've been reading all about the internal political trouble in israel over the judicial review and the division and demoralisation degraded their intelligence capabilities. in the united states, have the same thing or politics are local —— the saying. the first —— third is bandwidth. israel has been fighting five fires with one hose for years now. what do i mean? from gaza but we have rockets coming in from egypt occasionally, from the sinai desert. there is threats from the east from tehran, threats along inaudible border so i think all of this together, israeli defence officials would say to me they'd stay up all night worrying about their rpg is that are aimed at them from the north and they were caught asleep in the south. fascinating insights there and you mentioned a cocktail of different risks here and with all those in mind and also questions about iran's backing as well, you see the conflict spreading? i as well, you see the conflict spreading?— as well, you see the conflict sreadin. ? .,, ,, ., spreading? i was thinking about secretary blinken's _ spreading? i was thinking about secretary blinken's diplomatic l secretary blinken's diplomatic offensive. if president trump brokered the abraham accords, this is a big piece tanti is offering to the other partners, the us partners in the world, and is saying this is a moment of clarity. you are either with us or not. come into the tent of peace be on the outside with the forces of chaos. 0ne of peace be on the outside with the forces of chaos. one thing i think is fascinating is it is a moment of clarity. the united states is calling it moral clarity. israel is saying this is not business as usual and we are not degrading hamas and we are not degrading hamas and we are eliminating hamas but it's about how it is presented and how it's prosecuted. that was another thing that the secretary made clear yesterday when he stood beside benjamin netanyahu. he said, "i come to you as secretary of state in automatic message. " this was his ich bin ein berliner moment and i apologise for my pronunciation but he is saying i am a jew, you pronunciation but he is saying i am ajew, you arejews, i come to you as brother in arms, how you fight this war matters. how successful do you think the secretary of state antony blinken will be then in his diplomatic efforts? we have seen him touring those arab nations in recent days. do you think his message will be received in qatar, for example? that's a great example. his itinerary includesjordan, itinerary includes jordan, egypt, itinerary includesjordan, egypt, qatar, uae, saudi arabia. some are already signed onto the accords and some other feature partners. i was impressed actually by public remarks anyway with the foreign minister of qatar when he talked about we are here to support israel and to inaudible qatar inaudible hostages and prevent the conflict from going wide and qatar can help, they can help in supporting israel i don't know but they can absolutely help negotiate the release of the hostages which, for the united states, is really priority number one as there are american citizens who are trapped and being held hostage. are trapped and being held hostaue. , ., hostage. something else i want to net hostage. something else i want to get your _ hostage. something else i want to get your assessment - hostage. something else i want to get your assessment on - hostage. something else i want to get your assessment on is i to get your assessment on is the draft resolution circulated ljy the draft resolution circulated by russia, the closed—door meeting at the security council today, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. what did you make of that action? i can tell you that when i tried to google it that my computer auto failed ukraine other than gaza —— auto filled. i think the computer knows better than all of us that this is motivating printing is to create a diversion from the atrocities that are being acted on in ukraine —— putin. i'm waiting for zelensky to say outside, although i'm sure he is thinking it internally,, "i told you so."— is thinking it internally,, "i told you so." is thinking it internally,, "i told ou so." i, , ., told you so." you served at the state department's _ state department's israeli—palestinian negotiating team and i know this is a huge question i am asking but when we saw saturday's attacks, what did that make you think of how far we are from ever kind of achieving some resolution to this? ~ , i, this? well, the first reaction of courses — this? well, the first reaction of courses horror _ this? well, the first reaction of courses horror and - this? well, the first reaction of courses horror and it's - of courses horror and it's traumatising not only for the people who are actually directly suffering but i think from a psychological point of view, the whole world is at war, right? you mentioned a few minutes ago about live streaming the refugees, streaming the refugees, streaming or trying to escape from gaza and we had live—streamed homicide on saturday. that said on the crazy upside down world that the middle east is, the greater the middle east is, the greater the war, the better the opportunity, the greater the opportunity, the greater the opportunity for peace. laura blumenfeld, middle east analyst and senior fellow atjohns hopkins school for advanced international studies, thanks so much. and you can get all the latest from the situation in israel on our website, bbc.com/news, or the bbc news app. we have a live page that is constantly being updated with news and analysis from our teams on the ground in israel, gaza and around the world. you are watching bbc news. i'm helena humphrey. thanks for your company and stay with us if you can. goodbye for now. hello. a big change in the feel of the weather this weekend. it's been unseasonably mild and that mild weather has brought quite a bit of rain during the day. on friday, it brought half a month of rain to places like santon downham but already, the changes were with us further north, and that's all courtesy of the wind direction. now, that rain, having cleared away, has allowed this blast of north—westerly winds to sweep southwards. now, really tightly packed isobars mean we've got severe gales in some northern parts of scotland but it's the wind direction coming down from the arctic that will affect all parts this weekend and make it feel much colder — even colder because of the wind chill, which is bringing through wintry showers across the hills, notjust for scotland, perhaps the sperrin and antrim mountains and into cumbria eryri as well, snowdonia, so a much colder night. some frost to hit across north east england and the glens of scotland. enough wind to prevent a widespread frost or, indeed, any mist and fog problems, really, but this weekend starts colder and windy. the wind should ease down a bit by sunday but it's certainly a feature of the weather as we go through the first part of saturday. those showers coming through thick and fast, adding to the chill feel, and they're around the irish sea coast first thing but they will migrate inland so nowhere exempt from getting a shower but always more prevalent in the north and west. but there will be heavy rumbles of thunder and some hail, as well as the wintriness over the hills and only ten to 13 or 1a in the south — that's six to eight degrees below where they have been, particularly in the south this week. now, the showers and the winds ease a little bit during sunday but they keep pestering northern and western areas but there will be a more widespread ground frost — probably our coldest night of the autumn so far. in fact, this is the coldest blast of the autumn so far. but it does mean, again, a good deal of sunshine first thing. mind you, at this time of year, there will be a few pockets of fog around which can take till mid—morning to clear to watch out for if you're travelling. showers or perhaps more cloud in the north and the west of scotland. temperatures, though, a little lower than saturday's but with lighter winds and a bit more sunshine, fewer showers, ishould imagine not feeling quite as chilly. and then later into next week or at the early part of next and then later into next week or at the early part of next week again, we've got the chilly nights, the frosty and foggy mornings but temperatures do pick up later in the week as the unsettled weather returns. there's more online. this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. this week, we're at the biggest tech show in europe for phones, and as we save the world one broken item at a time, the award for the most profound question of the week goes to...