hello. israel says it is monitoring the flight of palestinian people from northern gaza. the flight of palestinian people the un relief agency, unrwa, says hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in the past 12 hours alone. and nearly a million, that's almost half the territory's population, in the past week. israel says those still in the north should leave as soon as possible, and it's specified two roads it says are safe for people heading south. people were told on friday to relocate before an expected ground offensive. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has said his country's bombardment of gaza is "just the beginning". more rockets have been fired into israel, and israeli airstrikes are continuing across gaza. military sources in israel say a senior hamas commander you is among those killed. israeli forces are continuing their build—up near the boundary with gaza. in the north, israeli troops killed several people they identified as terrorists, who were trying to cross the border from lebanon. overnight, israel's military, exchanged more cross—border fire with the iranian—backed lebanese group, hezbollah. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is in saudi arabia on the latest stop of a tour of the middle east. jordan's foreign minister has accused israel of flagrant breaches of international law, and warned the displacement of civilians in gaza was pushing the whole region towards conflict. this is the scene live from gaza. the latest information is that more than 2,200 people have been killed in gaza in the last week, with 9,000 wounded. at least 1,300 israelis were killed by hamas gunmen last weekend. from southern israel, nick beake sent this report. the reality of another night of israeli air strikes on gaza. chaos in the rubble. a scramble for survivors. more casualties ferried to overrun hospitals, and yet more civilians killed, as israel insists more than a million people in the north of gaza move out. translation: this is| a genocide, not a war. it's genocide and it's an attempt to displace the people of the gaza strip, but this will not happen. israel says this is a legitimate response to the hamas�* atrocities exactly a week ago. the israeli military said this footage shows the elimination of hamas commanders who'd masterminded the mass killing. a few miles away, just a fragment of the build—up of israeli troops, amid anticipation of a full—scale land incursion into gaza. israel continues to fire on gaza with its artillery and its fighter jets. in it insists it's targeting hamas and not civilians. today, the israelis have given a limited window for palestinians to move south. they're being told they will be safe, but as we've seen over the past 2a—hours, civilians have been killed trying to move away. this convoy of vehicles was hit in the north of gaza yesterday, attempting the journey to safety. the circumstances are still not clear. israel says a significant number of people have now followed their ultimatum to leave northern gaza. we have seen people listening to our warning, understanding that they are doing the clever thing, moving out of a dangerous area and that they are doing the right thing for their families and their own safety. america's top diplomat, who's in the middle east, stressed once again that civilian life must be protected. as israel pursues its legitimate right to defending its people, to try to ensure that this never happens again, it is vitally important that all of us look out for civilians, and we're working together to do exactly that, in particular, working on establishing safe areas. hamas continues to attack israel. this, footage of unmanned so—called kamikaze drones. they, along with rockets, are still being fired to civilian areas in many parts of israel. the united nations has called for food, fuel and aid to be sent to gaza. for now, it's only bullets and bombs heading that way. that was nick beake. let's bring you some pictures that came in just recently from the reuters news agency. the immediate moments after one of those air strikes last night. people scrambling to get away. as the rescue teams just work their way around, you can see the files from the blast. in the next few moments, you are going to see a secondary blast. this was just in the middle of those attacks overnight. we know of those attacks overnight. we know of more casualties overnight. coming up of more casualties overnight. coming up in the next few seconds, the secondary blast. distressing moment, to see images like that. the man you saw, one of those people just going towards the blast, we are told he did survive, severe injuries. you can see his colleagues running from the scene. dramatic disturbing pictures coming into us from the reuters news agency from this area. a glimpse of the sort of thing is happening on the ground. 0ur middle east correspondent tom bateman told me about the difficulties faced by those trying to evacuate the area. 1.1 million people. he reflected on the latest. ., �* ., ., , the latest. you've heard quite a bit there about _ the latest. you've heard quite a bit there about the _ the latest. you've heard quite a bit there about the desperate - there about the desperate humanitarian situation in gaza, with the bombardment continuing. and also about the desperate plight of israelis still waiting for the news of hostages being held. some of the international diplomatic activity around that. no clear details emerging. as for the situation in gaza, in the last ten minutes, unrwa, the united nations agency that provides a vast majority of the services for the civilian population in gaza, schools and medical centres, all of their facilities, many of their facilities being used as places of designated shelters, unrwa schools have had a situation where many thousands of civilians in gaza have been taking shelter there. these are not reinforced shelters but they are designated shelters that are supposed to be d conflicted, free from military attack. unrwa has said those people are not safe any more, which is in the context of the mass evacuation notice given by israel yesterday. 1.1 million people they said should move to the south of the gaza strip. you have been hearing about some of the ramifications of that. as for the ramifications of that. as for the people that remain, either because they choose to or as unrwa says, they are the elderly, the very young, pregnant women and other people who simply cannot travel, they are saying those people are no longer safe and are calling for the israelis urgently to make sure they are protected, in what we all assume at some point over the coming hours and days is going to be the start of this ground incursion. that and days is going to be the start of this ground incursion.— and days is going to be the start of this ground incursion. that was tom bateman, this ground incursion. that was tom bateman. the _ this ground incursion. that was tom bateman, the situation _ this ground incursion. that was tom bateman, the situation where - this ground incursion. that was tom bateman, the situation where he . this ground incursion. that was tom l bateman, the situation where he was injerusalem. anna foster is near the israel—lebanon border. 0vernight and early today, more shelling. give us the latest in the border regions.— border regions. that's right, this has been going _ border regions. that's right, this has been going on _ border regions. that's right, this has been going on for— border regions. that's right, this has been going on for several. border regions. that's right, this l has been going on for several days now, this exchange of fire happening fairly regularly along different parts of this border between israel and lebanon. what is happening on the israeli side where i am is that israel are really starting to build up israel are really starting to build up large numbers of troops. this is one particular location where the israel defence forces have invited people to come and see their preparations. they said journalists can come and film a little of what they are doing. a column of armoured vehicles here. a location where they are moving some reserve forces, remember they called up 300,000 reserve forces in the days after the attacks last saturday. a lot of focus now on the northern border, on a new potential front opening focus now on the northern border, on a new potentialfront opening up here. that would really escalate the war, the conflict even further. hezbollah on the northern side in lebanon on, a powerful military and political group like hamas also designated a terror organisation by the us, uk, various countries around the us, uk, various countries around the world. they have been firing across israeli positions. in return, israeli forces have been firing back at hezbollah positions or sometimes palestinian islamichhad, a smaller group with a presence as well. there is real concern that these daily events taking place... this morning for example, video released of an infiltration, some who came across the border. we saw them potentially being struck, the video released with night vision cameras, and you could actually see where they were fired on. this is continuing day by day at the moment, and that is why there is so much focus on this area, and so much diplomatic effort to try and so much diplomatic effort to try and stop things escalating in the north as well. fit, and stop things escalating in the north as well.— north as well. a lot of focus obviously — north as well. a lot of focus obviously on _ north as well. a lot of focus obviously on the _ north as well. a lot of focus obviously on the military - north as well. a lot of focus. obviously on the military side north as well. a lot of focus - obviously on the military side of things. i will come back to that in a moment. butjust give me a sense of what ordinary people are saying to you, how scared they are? the? to you, how scared they are? they are leaving. _ to you, how scared they are? they are leaving, matthew, _ to you, how scared they are? they are leaving, matthew, to - to you, how scared they are? tue: are leaving, matthew, to be to you, how scared they are? tte: are leaving, matthew, to be frank. as many of them as possibly can are choosing to go somewhere else. we were in one community a little further down the border yesterday. a population of 8000, around 6000 of them had already gone, others were still packing their bags. we saw a family packing their bags and preparing to leave. of course not everybody can go, they might not have anywhere to stay, they might not have the means to take them. they might have caring responsibilities for example, people they need to stay here for. but there is a real sense of nervousness along the border. bear in mind the scenes they saw unfolding in the south a week ago has made them extraordinarily nervous, being as close as they are to the border, and as close as they are 11 on and the hezbollah and palestinian islamic jihad groups that are operational there. —— as they are to 11 on. as in the south, they are used to being in the south, they are used to being in quite a militarised zone. —— to lebanon. drone incursions over the border, they are used to this kind of thing. they were telling me there is a new sense of fear, they are really concerned about this escalation and those who can are leaving. escalation and those who can are leavinu. ., , . �*, leaving. thanks very much. let's return to what _ leaving. thanks very much. let's return to what is _ leaving. thanks very much. let's return to what is happening - leaving. thanks very much. let's return to what is happening in i leaving. thanks very much. let's . return to what is happening in gaza. hundreds of thousands of people in gaza have been displaced. the un warning it was impossible to move more than1 million people warning it was impossible to move more than 1 million people across such a densely populated war zone with no food or water or accommodation. a little more details on the unrwa statement that tom bateman was talking about. as well as the displaced numbers they have been talking about, 1 million in the last week, they have been underlying that many people, pregnant women they say, children, older people, people with disabilities, are not able to flee the area. they have no choice and must be protected at all times. wars have rules, they say. hospitals, schools, clinics and un premises cannot be targeted. whether telling to the earlier line from the palestinian red crescent, who have received a new order from the israeli forces. —— worth returning. they have to evacuate the hospital in gaza city. they have extended the initial deadline from zero to 300 gmt to zero 600. that was extended, however the association said they cannot evacuate the hospital and they are obliged to continue services to the sick and wounded. that is the statement from the palestinian red crescent society, in terms of the further order from israeli forces. these are the live pictures and this is the scene you have seen play out on so many different days, so many different hours since last saturday, with more blasts being targeted. the gaza director for medical aid for palestine told me about the situation on the ground in gaza. thank you so much for hosting me. life is really miserable, the situation is really tense where i live. i live in the north of gaza. the israelis have asked the peoples to flee from an area yesterday, i am one of the people who did not. i refused to do so. because there is no place that is safe in gaza. even in the southern parts of gaza where many of my colleagues have went, and many of my colleagues have went, and many internally displaced people are located right now, it's really unsafe. just yesterday at around apm, a truck full of internally displaced people was targeted by the israelis and 71 people were killed in that direct hit of internally displaced people. so there is no place that is currently safe right now. i am talking to you because i have a generator that we bought years ago, and i managed to have some fuel left overfrom years ago, and i managed to have some fuel left over from the fuel station where i live. so i am one of the few who can actually connect to the few who can actually connect to the outside world and tell you about the outside world and tell you about the situation right now in gaza. bare the situation right now in gaza. are many people doing the same as you in the area where you are, they are staying? the area where you are, they are sta in: ? , . the area where you are, they are sta inc? ,~ , the area where you are, they are sta im? ,, staying? they are staying, because we believe it _ staying? they are staying, because we believe it is _ staying? they are staying, because we believe it is unsafe _ staying? they are staying, because we believe it is unsafe to _ staying? they are staying, because we believe it is unsafe to move - we believe it is unsafe to move right now to any place in the southern parts of gaza. as i told you, there have been many strikes since yesterday. and early this morning. 0ne since yesterday. and early this morning. one of the safe areas in the south of gaza strip, khan younis, a colleague of mine lives there and has hosted six families of internally displaced people. this morning at 7am, an air strike happened next to his home and they are trying to extract bodies from under the rubble. so as i told you, there is no place that is safe right now. , , . there is no place that is safe right now. , ., ., ., , now. just a snapshot of what is happening _ now. just a snapshot of what is happening there _ now. just a snapshot of what is happening there on _ now. just a snapshot of what is happening there on the - now. just a snapshot of what is happening there on the ground j now. just a snapshot of what is i happening there on the ground in gaza. it's worth underlining at this point, it really is difficult at the moment with the internet cup for many hours to actually make contact even with our bbc team, so we continue to try and do that. —— cut for many hours. to get voices on the ground and get an updated situation of what is happening currently. 0n the programme earlier... the idf international spokesperson, lt col richard hecht, told me israel would find all the hamas leaders who orchestrated last week's attack. the commander who orchestrated this attack, we are slowly taking out all his commanders and we will get to every single one of them. we will not forget what happened saturday. i know you are now focusing on gaza. this attack, this is a flag i brought today. we found it on one of the terrorist groups. it is an isilflag. they were carrying this. they brought it this morning. this is an unprecedented event, not something regular. we are talking about these gaza campaigns. this is something different. we took out last night one of their senior commanders, air defence commanders. we will slowly get to all of them. they are now hiding underground, like they do, hiding behind their people. sadly telling all the people be notified to leave south, they are sadly telling them to stay. a very cynical isil—style enemy. crossing back to the live pictures, in the last 30 seconds another live explosion. —— loud explosions. all those orders in place for people to leave the northern parts and head south. we will continue to monitor the situation there on the ground with live pictures, the latest accounts. we are going to pause from that story that is dominating all week, and of course all of our news today. we are pausing just briefly to catch up up with the sports headlines with gavin. to the cricket world cup, and the huge match between hosts india against rivals pakistan. the vast majority of the 132,000 capacity crowd in ahmedabad now willing india on, as they chase the win. so far, they're on 87—2. rohit sharma doing well. pakistan collapsed from 155—2 to 191 all out. captain babar azam the only player with a half century. both teams with two wins from two so far in the tournament. staying with the cricket world cup, new zealand captain kane williamson suffered a fractured thumb in friday's world cup win against bangladesh, but could return before the end of the group stage next month. williamson scored 78 before retiring hurt after he was hit by a throw as he ran through for a quick single. there's also plenty of attention in france for the rugby world cup. the first of the quarter—finals taking place later this afternoon — wales v argentina is the first of those knockouts, for a place in the last four. it's the first time wales have met argentina in a world cup match since 1999, and warren gatland's side will start as favourites in marseilles to reach the semi—finals, something that would have been pure fantasyjust six months ago. gatland's confident his team will be form. i know there are some people and some teams out there who won't want to face a wales team when they start playing with confidence and they start having momentum. that's when we are at our most dangerous, and we are starting to look that way at the moment. after that, attentions turn to paris, where the number one side in the world ireland try to make the semi—finals for the first time. they'll face new zealand, who have the history in this competition, and, despite an opening night defeat to france, have really looked like three—times champions again. we don't want to be second best, we want to be first best, but we realise what comes with that. people are always chasing you hard down. you have seen with the all blacks over the last 20 years, that's why there is so much respect for them, it's very hard to stay at the top. so rugby union very much the focus in france at the moment. but in the south west of the country, perpignan will be switching their attentions to rugby league for the super league grand final at old trafford this evening. catalans dragons, based in perpignan, are hoping to become the first french side to win the competition, but take on a wigan warriors side with years of pedigree, aiming to add to their record 22 titles. former england captain sam tompkins is retiring from the sport after the game. and the catalans player, formerly of wigan, will be fired up, to end his career on a high. could not have written an ending like this. getting here is amazing. it's not the dream ending, the dream ending is winning here. i have played a lot of games for wigan and have a lot of friends at the club. to be able to share my last game with those guys on the biggest stage is an amazing opportunity. and lexi thompson was aiming to become the first woman to make the cut competing alongside men at a pga tour event since 19115. but she fell just short, despite carding a two—under 69 in the second round of the shriners children's 0pen. the 28—year—old was just the seventh woman to play on the pga tour. i knew once i had made a few birdies in a row that i would be somewhat close, but i knew the cut line would keep going lower and lower with these guys, especially with not much wind. i try to stay focused on my game and focus on my swing, picking small targets and staying 100% committed, and whatever happens, happens. third round from there gets under way in the next hour. and that's all the sport for now. i promise you we will take a look in more detail at the hostage situation because up to 150 people were taken when hamas launched that surprise attack a week ago today. our correspondent has been speaking to families of those missing and feared to have been taken hostage. posted online, this video of a woman and her baby surrounded by militants, you canjust about and her baby surrounded by militants, you can just about see the nine—month—old in her arms, believed to be one of the youngest taken hostage. and this is an 84—year—old woman, one of the oldest still missing. her niece says her aunt was hiding in a safe and talking to herfamily aunt was hiding in a safe and talking to her familyjust before she was taken. talking to her family 'ust before she was taken._ talking to her family 'ust before she was taken. ~ , ., ., , she was taken. when her phone was answered this _ she was taken. when her phone was answered this time, _ she was taken. when her phone was answered this time, it _ she was taken. when her phone was answered this time, it was - she was taken. when her phone was| answered this time, it was answered by a man speaking arabic. he said hamas, hamas. they later heard from a neighbour of hers in the kibbutz that he had heard her crying for help. he had rushed out of his home and he'd seen her surrounded by gunmen being led away. the aftermath. _ gunmen being led away. the aftermath, following the reported abduction of 11 people from this home, burnt to the ground, nowjust a shell. home, burnt to the ground, now 'ust a shell. ., ., ,, , ., , .,, a shell. one of the assumptions was that they put — a shell. one of the assumptions was that they put the — a shell. one of the assumptions was that they put the house _ a shell. one of the assumptions was that they put the house on - a shell. one of the assumptions was that they put the house on fire - a shell. one of the assumptions was that they put the house on fire to i that they put the house on fire to force my family out of the shelter, and then at gunpoint took them to the vehicles and to the borders. my sister... her husband, they are both 38. their child is eight years old. and another child, she is two years old... the age of my son. ten of her family ten of herfamily members ten of her family members are still missing, as well as her uncle's carer. in orderfor our team to try to work out from those who are missing who may have been taken hostage, we have been listening to the testimonies of dozens of families. inaudible. that have managed to track mobile phones before they were cut off. we have also been sent videos from families that appear to show their relatives being put into the back of vans and trucks before being driven off. as for where people have been taken after videos like this emerged, it is unclear. we also don't know what condition they are in. in the complexity of this ever—changing situation, it's been highlighted again in the case of this tattoo artist from germany. she was at the supernova music festival, which was stormed by militants who killed at least 260 people and kidnapped many others. news outlets were initially reporting that she had died after this footage emerged of her in the back of a pick—up truck, which we have edited because it is too upsetting to show. but after, her mother released a video to german media to say she believes her daughter is in hospital and alive, which is the desperate hope for so many other families. alive, which is the desperate hope for so many otherfamilies. but alive, which is the desperate hope for so many other families. but this is a war with no end in sight. with me, i will be back with more on the latest developing lines, but also coming up in the next little while, we will hear from also coming up in the next little while, we will hearfrom my colleagues lyse doucet and jeremy bowen answering your questions on this conflict. welcome back to bbc news. as i was saying, let's rejoin lyse doucet and jeremy bowen, who have been reporting all week from the middle east conflict. they have a special programme where they are answering viewers' questions about what is actually happening. hello, iam hello, i am jackie hello, i amjackie leonard, the host of the global news broadcast. today we have teamed up with a new bbc podcast, the conflict, for a special programme answering your questions about what's going on in israel and gaza. we arejoined by about what's going on in israel and gaza. we are joined by the about what's going on in israel and gaza. we arejoined by the host, the bbc chief international correspondent lyse doucet in ashdod north of gaza, and also byjeremy bowen. a relatively easy question to kick off with. can you give us a sense of the size and location of gaza in relation to israel, who lived there, who is in charge and who are the neighbours? that lived there, who is in charge and who are the neighbours?- lived there, who is in charge and who are the neighbours? that is a sort of wikipedia. .. _ who are the neighbours? that is a sort of wikipedia. .. the _ who are the neighbours? that is a sort of wikipedia. .. the gaza - who are the neighbours? that is a | sort of wikipedia. .. the gaza strip sort of wikipedia... the gaza strip is a coastal strip of land on the mediterranean. 0n is a coastal strip of land on the mediterranean. on one side, the mediterranean. on one side, the mediterranean. the other side, the southern side, connected to egypt. and its other neighbour is israel. it is described as one of the most densely populated places on earth. 2.3 million palestinians living there. they live with great frustration, because they feel they don't really have control over their lives. even though israel pulled out its troops in 2005, it controlled the airspace, it controlled the sea, it also controls the land crossings into gaza, except the one which goes to egypt, which is called the rafah crossing. we have tried to use various measures to say how big it is for british viewers. it's about as big as the isle of wight. the people in north america, it's about the size of washington dc. i think i'm right, jeremy you might correct me, it's about 140 square miles? i'm not sure exactly. i always go with the isle of wight definition. 0k. so that was the geography part — to the more complicated part. now, what is behind this conflict? let's hear from a listener, from albany, new york. and this one. i was wondering, how— was the state of israel founded? how did that impact local people | in what was formerly palestine? | why did the following wars break out and what is life for people _ under occupation in| the west bank like? sojeremy, the problem here is how far back do we go? can you attempt a potted history for us? the first part of the question, where did the conflict start? well, i suppose you have to go back to the zionist movement in europe, where in 1897 they had a congress and they decided, among other things, that they would push to get a jewish state within 50 years. in fact, they got one in 51 years in 1948. and there was even by 1897, there was a settlement byjews who were known as zionists. it's a jewish nationalism, if you like. it was a period of nationalism in europe. the czechs wanted a homeland. you know, the the hungarians wanted independence. and jews were thinking, well, let's get a nation state as well. and they decided they wanted to have one here in palestine. but there was a famous historian, found this great quote. some rabbis who came out here after that first zionist conference, they telegraphed back to europe and said, because they were there to survey the territory, and they said the bride is beautiful, but she's already married. in other words, there were people here. one of the old sayings about israel was it was a land without a people for a people without a land. but that wasn't true because there were palestinian arabs here. and the fact that when the zionists were coming in, there was to start with, there was a bit of cooperation, but increasingly there was conflict. and i think asking where this conflict came from, i think it started off with two peoples having very strong claims to the land in their own minds and not being able to agree how to split it and how to share it. now, the british were in charge here between the world wars. effectively, they left in 1948 and they did have a plan to try to split the land into two states. but it was one which the arabs particularly would not accept. they wanted everything. i think that the jews at that time were more of a subtle approach and while they weren't getting what they wanted they thought, we'll take that and maybe we'll have something extra. so in 1948, israel's war of independence, they won a massive victory. all their arab neighbours tried to invade it and try to strangle the state at birth. didn't succeed. but since then, it has had a very troubled history. and one of the questions was about religious differences. well, you know, in the time that i've been here as a journalist and i've been reporting from here and i lived here, too, for, well, reporting from here for more than 30 years, the conflict has got more religious. i used to feel it was when it was groups of basically guys in suits ina room, maybe they had a chance of trying to sort it out. but now there are people on both sides who believe they are doing the will of god. and those people always existed, but now they're in really powerful positions. so that's pretty difficult. if you think you're doing the will of god, you're not going to make a deal about it, are you? well, the latest stage in the crisis started with the unprecedented attacks on israel by hamas, which seemed to come as a complete surprise. we'll talk about that shortly. but first, let's have another one of your questions. i want to know what life i was or is like in palestine. and is it those harsh conditions that led to this breaking point? j or did hamasjust do i this because they want to eradicate jewish people - from the earth and they're just using this claim of oppression - as an excuse to killjewish people. so, would you like to take this one? well, i'lljust pick up on whatjeremy said, is that the longer this conflict goes on, it does acquire more and more of a religious dimension. but as muslims against the jews and the jewish people feel very profoundly threatened by the attacks that hamas carried out on saturday, it has gone right round the world for in jewish communities. but i think predominantly the issue this is an issue about, yes, the very the very difficult, evermore difficult, impoverished conditions in gaza, the conditions in the occupied west bank, the fact that israel continues to exercise control over people's lives, the fact that the hopes of the palestinians for a state of their own seems to recede further and further in the distance. so much so that those who have long hoped for a two—state solution, a palestinian state and the state of israel side by side, have now begun to believe that the only way forward because simply by in terms of having contiguous land, that it's not possible will have to be a one state solution just because one of the most controversial issues of all... just sorry, just to interrupt you there at least we were hearing some sirens there and it sounded like some explosions. can you tell us what's going on? well, that's the thud of artillery. we're very close to the gaza border, so that's outgoing in the night. there's a lot of intense aerial bombardment that goes on around the clock for gazans. it is in the distance, i'm afraid. it is a sound that we hear all day, even here in southern israel. artillery going out, drones in the sky. helicopter gunships, we hear the thud of of some of that bombardment in gaza. we only see the, for the most part, hear the sound. and right here, we can't hear, see, what's happening on the ground. it is frightening. are you 0k? you continue? 0k. for the people under them. it is so i was saying that it's the one of the most controversial issues between the israelis and palestinians is the continuing the these expansion ofjewish settlements. and in the past many months, with binyamin netanyahu remaining in power and now governing with the most right wing government in israel's history, it is very pro—settler and there's been for most of this year, more and more clashes. the siren is going off, but i think we're fine. we can continue. and i think maybe it's good for our listeners to know that this is the reality of life, the fact there's been a lot of clashes between the settlers and palestinians in the west bank, so much so that it was regarded as israel's more focused on the west bank than they were on gaza. but there are many reasons for this and they are very profound. they're very emotional. they're historical and very personal and political. all right. let's have another clip from one of our listeners. given the israeli response - to the hamas attack seemingly resulting in collective punishment towards the palestinians. - i'm curious as to what the average palestinian civilian sentiment - is towards hamas. is this an organization - that is largely supported? and that one's for you, jeremy. well, there have been any polls in the last week, because i think that for a lot of palestinians and ones i've spoken to in the last week, there has been horror and incredulity about what has been happening, about the numbers of people that were killed. i think people had no idea that this was coming. so there's that. now, before all this happened, hamas, when hamas took over in gaza in 2007, quite violently, they kicked out the other faction, fatah. they were daggers drawn, literally, in some cases. they had won an election the previous year. so they were popular then. and a lot of that was a protest vote against the ineptitude and the corruption of the other palestinian main group, fatah, and the fact that they hadn't delivered their objective of a palestinian state. and to start with, some people thought hamas were, palestinians, i mean, were quite a breath of fresh air. but things have changed, became more authoritarian. and they're not, they haven't been so popular in gaza and also here in the west bank. yes, of course, they have their followers, some very, very dedicated followers, often people who are religious. but it's, you know, you cannot say that the palestinian national movement, those people who want to have their own state, which is virtually every palestinian i've ever met, that they are, you know, co—extensive with hamas because that's not the case. far from it. and so, you know, hamas were not ragingly popular group and i don't think this is necessarily going to make them any more popular. but what will happen because what is already happening because of the number of deaths of palestinian civilians, particularly, is there will be a feeling that palestinians and others in the arab world, we've seen a lot of demonstrations today, will be angry about what was happening and angry at israel because of the way that they are attacking gaza. well, turning to current israeli politics now, let's get a bit more context. chris from texas, but. originally from australia. how much of a factor is - the settlements in this situation? how has this changed israeli policy, given that to get support _ from the right, - netanyahu had shifted to a more anti palestinian policy? what's iran's role in all of this? well, i've mentioned as one of the one of the primary reasons for the increasing anger of palestinians, including hamas against israel, is the rise and rise expansion of ofjewish settlements. jewish settlements was one of the issues that was postponed in the oslo peace accords of 30 years ago. and many now realize that was a huge mistake. they thought they would be able to deal with it. israel has given back some of the control of the occupied west bank, but there are large swathes which are under israeli control and the settlements continue to expand. and also the israeli settlers now feel emboldened by the right wing government, which has many pro—settler politicians inside prime minister netanyahu's cabinet, at least the cabinet he had before he formed the war cabinet. so, yes, it is a major issue. 0n iran, this has been asked many times. iran is one of the main backers of hamas and islamichhad. it both helps to arm and finance both groups. but in this particular crisis, the united states and israel have both said that there is no intelligence to suggest that iran was part of the planning and the execution of this assault by hamas. it's very difficult, isn't it, to be accurate, to be sure that the information that you are receiving is true? we've had some questions about how we verify information. hello, bbc, this is zoe in chicago. i'm wondering how news organisations and governments develop counts - of those killed and injured so- quickly within often just a matter of hours or a day or two. so, jeremy, how do you do that? well, in terms of the numbers of people who've been killed or wounded, i think sometimes it is an approximation and it still is at the moment in terms of those who were killed in that hamas attack, because frankly they're still finding bodies, they don't really know. today in israel, there was a photo opportunity arranged by the israeli army and they took journalists to a series of refrigerated containers, shipping containers, which are overflow morgues. and in there there are dozens of bodies and body bags which are awaiting identification. and i was only a couple of days ago at one of those kibbutz that were overwhelmed by hamas, and they were still finding bodies. so it's a that's a bit of an approximation. in terms of other things, like, for example, how many people have been killed in the west bank in violence between settlers, the israeli army, armed palestinians, we keep a running total and so do other organizations, which we add to as necessary. so, yeah, we do know. i mean, for example, on our office whatsapp today, i was writing a script to do with what's been happening around here and some of the political developments. and there were some confrontations between the israeli army and palestinian demonstrators in the west bank. and by 4:00 this afternoon, we saw that 11, the figure was that 11 palestinians had been killed. now, that came from what's considered to be a fairly accurate source, which is the palestinian health ministry. but, you know, we would be also double checking it against other accounts. and we keep, as i say, our own running totals for things in terms of verifying things like those videos. you see that. i mean, one thing that's really changed reporting and since the advent of the smartphone and the internet is the fact that so much video is around that we see so much that we even, what, 15 years ago we would never, ever have seen and which has a a direct political impact as well, which we can talk about on another occasion. but those videos, we have a great big department at the bbc and so do other news organizations where we try and work out where they came from. there were various ways of using open source intelligence, geolocation, sometimes bringing in people who come from that town or that country. and we're an international organization, the bbc, so we can do that who say, you know, is that really the main high street of homs in syria? so we try and prove things. we don't just stick them out there. and we hear a lot aboutjust how intractable a conflict this is. and of course, our listeners have questions about how to resolve it. first, there was this suggestion about a short term solution. hi, this is sam oppenheim, a - new york city public school teacher. and my question is, would israel | consider a humanitarian corridor| and a temporary cease fire that| could allow women and children out of gaza, for example, into egypt or an army camp or all the way- to the west bank? i understand that the israeli military is looking _ for a military solution. but in all the interviews that you've posted on the bbc. podcast, they claim to value civilian lives of innocent - non hamas actors so could israel put weightl behind those statements? israel is under huge pressure now, most of all pressure from its own people after these atrocities committed by hamas. there is deep, deep anger and fear in this society and a very strong feeling of the need to retaliate, to use their phrase, to crush hamas. but there is also pressure on israel from its closest of allies, including the united states, to make how they respond, to use the phrase used by the us, how you respond matters as well that there are rules even in war. and one of the most important rules is not targeting civilians. that is a war crime. and so israel seems to be listening to that. there's also discussions with egypt about trying to keep that crossing open. but egypt has its own concerns. it doesn't want a huge influx of palestinians onto its territory. and the rafah crossing couldn't be it can't take it can't move people quickly enough through it. israel does not want to be delayed. it's not in a mood to compromise in any way. the clock for its military operations matters more than the clock on the time it would take to open a humanitarian corridor, there's not even a window, much less a corridor now. and i think we'll see in the days to come how many how far they're willing to heed these expressions of concern which grow ever louder about the price that civilians will pay for israel's military operations, which, of course, israel has a lot of support for that from its allies, too. 0n the subject, the question asked about maybe women and children going to egypt or a camp or west bank or something like that. the the israeli instruction for people to go south has raised a lot of ghosts of the past. a lot of the people in gaza are descendants of people who became refugees when israel was created. and they either were in 1948, something like a million palestinians were either evicted from their homes or fled the war. and they have never, and they, their descendants, those people and their descendants were never able, have never been able to return, except in a very, very small minority of cases. so, palestinians, when you say, well, just leave for a while, you'll be able to come back. frankly, they don't believe it. and finally, the biggest question of all. hi, it's alex from colchester. my question is, - what is the solution? what would it take from both sides for a lasting peace - to be brought about? which of you wants to go first? i'll have a go if you like. go ahead, jeremy. once upon a time, there was something called the peace process. back in the '90s, it raised an awful lot of hopes. the idea was that through negotiation, there would be a palestinian state alongside israel. now, for a number of complicated reasons, which we don't have time to get into, that did not work. they tried to, it was in intensive care for a while. diplomats, particularly some very hard working americans, tried to jolt it back into life, but it didn't succeed. perhaps it was never going to succeed. perhaps the differences between the two sides were too great. and for the last ten years or so since the americans last had a go at trying to revive that peace process, the conflict has effectively been left to fester, and a feeling has grown up, particularly, i think, among mr netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, and his allies, and also some of his allies abroad as well, that it could be managed, that it was a conflict that could be contained and israel could get on with other things like dealing with iran, like maybe having a rapprochement with saudi arabia, and they could build a new middle east. but there was always this terrible problem of the arab—israeli the palestinian—israeli conflict. and i would argue it's really central to the problems of the region. and i think that that has been shown once again by the tragic, horrendous, brutal events, starting with that hamas raid. so you could say that perhaps there was a moment back in the '90s when they might have got close to it, they might have had a chance, but that moment went away. and i've thought for some time that an explosion was coming. i didn't expect it the way it was. the optimistic way of looking at it, if you want to find a cloud somewhere, i mean, if you want to find a silver lining somewhere in the cloud is that perhaps this willjolt all parties, i'm not talking about hamas, i'm talking about palestinians talking about israelis, their allies, into doing some kind of a deal to at least talking about doing some kind of a deal. that's the optimistic one. the pessimistic one is we go even further down from here. the mantra was land for peace and for the palestinians. the land meant returning to the borders of the territories seized by israel in the 1967 war or land swaps, so that they had enough territory to make an effective and a cohesive palestinian state. and when those negotiations first started and they were hope that they could be concluded, there had to be a corridor which connected gaza with the west bank. so i think for the majority of palestinians, a palestinian state, control over their own lives is what they want. and i think israelis would want to be out of palestinian lives that they either would for a long time they talked to peace, then they talked about separation. they don't want to be have each other to interfere and especially not in the way they're doing now. the big question is, what does hamas want? israelis get really worried and angry that the hamas has not changed its charter, its founding charter, which calls for the destruction of the state of israel. now, in recent years, they have come up with documents which talked about their readiness to accept that there could be a state if principles like the right of palestinians to return are respected by israel, it's carried out that it's possible that they could move towards some kind of an agreement. but i think what this current crisis tells us is that hamas is divided. there are political leaders in hamas who didn't know about this assault, who don't support this assault, who were trying to move away from the rule of the gun, but the military wing, which seems to be the one in charge. now, the big question is what do they want? our thanks to lyse doucet. her podcast is called the conflict, and you'll find it wherever you find your bbc podcast. you will also find the global news podcast there as well. our thanks as well tojeremy bowen, our international editor. i'mjackie leonard. and until next time, goodbye. hello there. colder air has been pushingway its southwards across the uk over recent hours. it's been cold enough actually today to see a bit of snow on the tops of the scottish mountains. nothing unusual about that for october but this month has been very warm so we haven't seen anything like that so far. the biggest drop in temperatures between yesterday and today was across southern england and wales — 12 celsius in hereford today compared to 22 degrees yesterday so a drop of 10 degrees as these cooler north—westerly winds continue to spread in. those north—westerly winds are bringing plenty of showers to northern and western areas and they will continue through the rest of today, again with some snowfall over the tops of scottish mountains, and it will continue to be very windy for the northern isles, gusts of 55—65 mph and gusts more in the 40s across the north of mainland scotland. temperatures for many still in double figures but these temperatures are actually just a few degrees below average for this time of year. overnight tonight, showers will continue to affect areas near the coast, clear skies inland allowing quite a widespread frost to develop in rural areas with the lowest temperatures down to around minus two celsius, something that gardeners might want to take note of. it will be much, much colder overnight. on to sunday, overall, a similar kind of day, probably rather than showers in northern and western scotland, we'll have a spell of more prolonged rain for a time and away from that, plenty of sunshine across inland areas and again, temperatures continuing to be below average for the time of year, looking at highs of around 11 or 12 degrees pretty widely. similar weather conditions on monday although we will probably start off with some more mist and fog patches first thing they could take a while to clear out but then sunshine for most, a few showers in northern scotland and similar temperatures overall, 11—13 , still below average for october. but we then see further changes in the weather pattern deeper into next week as low pressure moves from the bay of biscay, and ultimately this will return temperatures back to normal, it will turn a bit windier and we will see some rain coming up from the south which could end up being quite heavy for a time but temperatures moving back closer to average for the time of year. that's your latest weather. bye bye. live from london. this is bbc news. the bbc confirms young children were among those killed yesterday in an air strike on vehicles leaving northern gaza on a designated route south. a un relief agency says nearly a million palestinians have been displaced in gaza over the past week — nearly half its population. hamas and israel continue to target each other with rocket fire. the israelis say a senior hamas commander has been killed in an air strike. the objective israel is to destroy the hamas capability to ever do this again. this is the scene live in gaza. israel contines to urge anyone left there to leave as soon as possible. diplomacy intensifies — the us secretary of state is in saudi arabia, which says it's suspended talks on normalising ties with israel.