hello, i'm ben thompson. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says the military is ready to begin at any moment a ground offensive aimed at crushing hamas. thousands of people in the gaza strip are continuing to flee south — after an order by israel for more than a million people to evacuate. these are the latest developments in the israel—gaza war. israeli troops continue to mass near gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive, but it has given no indication of when it might mount an attack. these pictures show tanks arriving today. the israeli air strikes on gaza continue. it says it is targeting hamas positions. hamas is designated as a terror organisation by many western governments, including the uk. in the last hour, gazan health officials have said 2,670 palestinians have now been killed and 9,600 wounded in israel's bombing campaign. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has held the first meeting of his emergency cabinet. he described those who killed more than 1,400 israelis as "monsters". mr netanyahu said that his country's forces were ready at any moment to demolish hamas. in gaza, a hospital serving thousands of patients in khan younis has warned that it will run out of power completely on monday due to israel's blockade of the territory. israel has said it has turned water pipes into southern gaza back on. the un aid agency told the bbc gaza is "being pushed into an abyss". egypt's president, abdel fattah al—sisi, says israel's reaction to the attacks by hamas has gone beyond self—defence and amounts to collective punishment. he was speaking to america's top diplomat, antony blinken, in cairo. after the talks mr blinken said israel should take every precaution to avoid harming civilians. in the next hour, we will be live with our correspondents across the region. but first this report from our correspondent, nick beake who is in southern israel. gaza is bleeding. its hospitals, already full, deluged with more patients. these some of the youngest victims in this latest chapter of an ancient conflict that's now erupted so violently. israeli air strikes continue to kill civilians in gaza, bringing more searches amid the rubble, often in vain. translation: dozens - of families were massacred. we are beyond capacity. we're treating people in the corridors and on floors. this is a very dangerous situation. israel says this is self defence, to ensure its survival, and that this aerial bombardment is a proportionate response to the atrocities hamas committed a week ago. israel claims this strike killed a mastermind of the attacks. from outside gaza, a glimpse of the aftermath of the israeli raids. all day, we heard militaryjets heading towards their targets. israel says its assault on gaza is onlyjust the beginning, that it will be followed by a major offensive by air, land and sea. united nations agencies say that gaza is being pushed into an abyss and that by forcing the evacuation of more than a million palestinians, it is, for the most vulnerable, a death sentence. israel reinforced this ultimatum that civilians in the north of gaza must move to the south. it said it opened another supposedly safe corridor for three hours today. it accused hamas of blocking routes. translation: residents of gaza city, i call on you again. _ hamas is trying to prevent your evacuation. we will allow it. get out of gaza city and the surrounding areas, for your own safety. many gazans who have tried to seek shelter at schools run by the united nations say getting out is impossible. translation: they said leave towards the south, but there is no transportation. some cars got bombed by air strikes. during the night, the children hugged me and screamed, "save us, save us." gaza's border to the south with egypt has been closed, so leaving that way has not been an option. there are trucks full of aid waiting to go into gaza, but for now, they're going nowhere. a population of more than 2 million, trapped, as israeli forces say they're on their way in. nick beake, bbc news, in southern israel. we have just had a line related to what nick was explaining, coming from the chief spokesman of the israeli army, saying that the group is expected to fight a war on two or more fronts, an indication perhaps that there could be more fronts, an indication perhaps that there could be a more fronts, an indication perhaps that there could be a conflict more fronts, an indication perhaps that there could be a conflict on the northern border, adding they say the northern border, adding they say the iranian backed his —— his brother macro movement was likely to be involved. confirmation that israel is preparing to fight a war on two or more fronts, making this more complicated, but raising tensions across the region, that has been a name of the us secretary of state, lowering tensions, but 600,000 cousins have now moved south following that request for them to move south away from gaza expected ahead of what is expected to be a ground offensive. ever since last weekend's unprecedented attack by hamas, israel and egypt have not allowed journalists to enter gaza. but palestinians trapped inside have been trying to get their stories out. 0ur former gaza correspondent jon donnison has been speaking to one young woman who over the past week has been documenting her daily life there. we are evacuating, we are leaving our houses. bisan 0wda is a 25—year—old film—maker in gaza. they told people to evacuate to this place. all week, she's been posting a video diary on instagram about life under fire. 0ther safe places. there is no safe places in gaza. last monday, israel warned people in her neighbourhood to flee their homes. bisan decided to head for shelter at a nearby hospital. and later that night, it did bomb that district of gaza city, reducing much of it to rubble. this is the first bottle of water. i'm going to drink from it. with a complete blockade of gaza in place, bisan, like millions of others, is running out of basic necessities. there is no food, there is nothing in the shelters or even in the neighbourhoods. and then on friday, another warning from the skies. at 6am today in the morning, thousands of people, all the people living in the northern and western side of the gaza strip got a call from an israeli number. it's a recorded call and the recording is telling us that we must leave our homes for the southern areas of the gaza strip because they want it empty and it will be destroyed. and so they went, in their hundreds of thousands. but not bisan. she and her family decided to stay put in the north, and later that day, another update from the hospital. do you remember when i said that they did push people to evacuate from the northern to the southern areas via a safe route, as they said? ok, that was a trick. that was a trick. they targeted ambulances, cars and buses. israel says it is investigating what happened in an apparent air strike on the main road heading south. 0utside, look, there is no electricity at all. as bisan waits to see what the night will bring, she gives her own sign—off. it's now 10pm. i collect my stuff in my bag in case we need to evacuate as fast as we can, if there was bombing around us or on us during the night hours. this is my daily routine. what about yours? tell me. jon donnison, bbc news. pray for us. hospitals in northern gaza are under pressure to evacuate as israel is preparing for its ground invasion. the gaza ministry of health said on saturday 22 hospitals and medical centres in the gaza strip were told to evacuate their site within 72 hours. it's a task that many doctors and unit managers find impossible. earlier, i spoke to ghassan abu—sittah, a british—palestinian surgeon who is associated with doctors without borders. dr abu sitta is now in al—shifaa hospital in northern gaza. i am in shifaa hospital, gaza's busiest hospital. first of all, targeting hospitals is against international humanitarian law, so the idea that warning hospitals that you are going to target them absolutely get you off to hook in committing a war crime is ludicrous. two, this is a hospital with over 1,000 patients in it, and thousands of people who have sought refuge. it is not evacuable, it is not possible to evacuate a hospital of this size. and most of the patients are critically wounded. but why would you want to target a hospital, why would you want to target a hospital and think that is acceptable if you give people notice? i do not know if you are able to hear any of our interview with the israeli defense forces, they say it is a challenge of any military to avoid civilian casualties, they say they're asking you to evacuate for your own safety, i put it to him that some are unwilling or unable to leave, he says he cannot guarantee safety. with that warning, and even the warning that you will be in danger, you have decided that you cannot or will not leave. the issue is, you know, gaza is the world's most densely populated place, 2.25 million people living in such a small patch of land. any military operation in gaza looks like a turkey shoot, any decision to mount a military invasion or land invasion is a decision for genocide. i mean, the idea that somehow this is beirut and... for someone from my generation, what your speaker set before me, your guest said before me, it sounds exactly what they were saying in 1982, when they invaded lebanon, besieged beirut, and killed over 30,000 people, and then waited for the plo to leave and then massacred 3,500 more. this is the same language, this is the same narrative. the idea is that somehow we are forgetting that this is a 75—year settler—colonialist war against palestinians. we in a hospital, it is overrun with wounded, 40% of whom are children. this morning, i had two little girls, a four—year—old and a five—year—old who are the sole survivors of their families after they were targeted, their homes were targeted, both girls have to go through extensive reconstructive surgery on their own, you know, we are approaching 9000 wounded, 40% of them are children, the rest are women and elderly patients. that is who is staying in these houses when they target these buildings. the idea that somehow they are telling hospitals to evacuate is an acceptable thing to do in the 21st century is just ludicrous. the world health organization has said that order to evacuate the gaza hospitals is a death sentence for the sick and injured, that is a thought that you have echoed in your comments just there. i wonder what facilities you have right now in terms of water, electricity, medicine and the help that you need to be able to do yourjob. so in terms of water, this morning i went for a walk around the outer perimeter of the hospital, and you could see queues forming around water faucets. electricity is completely dependent on diesel, and that is only available in hospitals, which will be rationing the diesel soon, because none has come in over the last week. in terms of medical supplies, we consume a month and a half's worth of medical supplies every day. and, you know, the intervention of medical charities means that they have been able to provide some of the medical supplies in the local market, but that is running out, because the number of wounded is overwhelming. every five minutes, there is a new ambulance that is coming in, bringing in new injuries, and these are devastating, complex, poly—trauma injuries that require a lot of intervention and consume education and time. the other thing that is being consumed is the medical staff, the nursing staff. they have killed 1a doctors so far, 13 nurses so far, and, you know, one was a colleague of ours in the plastic surgery department here at shifaa, a young surgeon who had been on a training programme run by the british charity medical aid for palestinians, he was killed with his family. he was working with us, trying to drop off his sister, who had escaped her own house, and later on they were both targeted and killed. these medical workers are exhausted, and their ability to work non—stop, i cannot even figure out what time it is now, but we have been working since nine o'clock in the operating room... i am sorry to interrupt, time is tight, i want to ask you this, do you have a plan for what to do if the ground invasion begins? we will stay with our patients, we will defend our patients' right to life to the very end, we as health professionals have a commitment for the well—being of our patients, and we will stay here until and after the ground invasion. if the israelis decide to commit genocide, if they decide to commit a war crime, that is on the international community, who saw this coming and allowed it to happen. a doctor speaking to us from northern gaza year earlier. live now to our middle east correspondent tom bateman, who is injerusalem. we have been getting this testimony from people who are choosing to stay in the north of gaza, israeli troops are continuing to mass near that border ahead of that expected ground invasion, but the israeli army not giving any indication about when it may begin. ha. giving any indication about when it ma beuin. ., ~ , ~ ., may begin. no. we still don't know. the only significant _ may begin. no. we still don't know. the only significant part _ may begin. no. we still don't know. the only significant part of - may begin. no. we still don't know. the only significant part of the - the only significant part of the briefing on that front of timing we had from the israeli military this morning was that it will be a political decision, so suggesting that, from a military perspective, they are ready, but there waiting for the government and prime minister benjamin netanyahu, with his emergency war cabinet, to make the final decision. but i think that what you have to look at now is, once the invasion force goes in, the military considerations will be about trying to avoid being bogged down too quickly, because they are going into densely packed urban environments, and that is why there has been a lot of focus by them on the logistics operation. you know, the logistics operation. you know, the biggest reservist call—up in 50 years, that has been a very key part of all of this. remember, it has only been in few days since the israelis regained complete control, as i have said, of the gaza perimeter area, so in terms of getting those forward operating centres up and running, there was a lot to do, so my sense is that it is not imminent, within the coming hours, but wejust not imminent, within the coming hours, but we just don't know, as i say, there will be all sorts of considerations, and at the same time we see the absolutely catastrophic humanitarian situation gripping the civilians of gaza, and particularly in the south of the strip there, where people had fled after being told by the israelis to travel from the north, fleeing to the south, still no movement on whether or not the rough crossing will open, because that is the only way in this siege that aid convoys from egypt can cross. there were some positive signals from antony blinken over that potentially reopening, but as far as we are aware, it still hasn't happened yet. far as we are aware, it still hasn't happened yet-— far as we are aware, it still hasn't happened yet. new talk about the diloma happened yet. new talk about the diplomacy that — happened yet. new talk about the diplomacy that is _ happened yet. new talk about the diplomacy that is ongoing, - happened yet. new talk about the diplomacy that is ongoing, the - happened yet. new talk about the diplomacy that is ongoing, the usj diplomacy that is ongoing, the us secretary of state returning to israel, and while you are with us, we have heard from israel saying that her masses holding 155 hostages, putting a number on that, 155 being held by hamas, and there will be concerns about those hostages if a ground invasion begins. £31 hostages if a ground invasion beains. , ., ., begins. of course, and that has been one of the key _ begins. of course, and that has been one of the key areas _ begins. of course, and that has been one of the key areas of— begins. of course, and that has been one of the key areas of concern - begins. of course, and that has been one of the key areas of concern in - one of the key areas of concern in israel and for the families of those being held captive, the agonising set of circumstances, and many have complained has not been a clear flow of information, but in the last 2a hours we have seen protests by families of some of the missing held outside the israeli ministry of defence. i spoke to one of those relatives whose parents from one of the kibbutz where atrocities were carried out, one of the worst, his parents were missing and that, and he still doesn't know, and he says he still doesn't know, and he says he has had no information about whether or not they may be being held, he was among those protesting yesterday, actually, so i think what is happening within israel is, on top of the sense of a complete security failure that allowed this to happen in the first place, there is this evolving pressure on the government from families of the missing that they want answers, and when the ground invasion begins, that will of course heap more and more concern onto the agony of those people are already going through. good to have you with us, tom bateman live from jerusalem, thank you. as we've been hearing, the israeli prime minister has told the first meeting of his emergency cabinet that his country's forces are ready at any moment to demolish hamas. the israeli military says it's awaiting a political decision on when to begin a ground offensive, following more than a week of aerial bombardment of gaza. peter lerner is a spokesperson for the israeli defense forces. he gave me the latest on their security operation. we are pushing forward in order to make sure hamas can never penetrate our borders again. just last night we took out one terrorist who was the commander of the khan younis commando force of hamas, and he actually penetrated and conducted atrocities in a kibbutz. last night we took him out and killed him, and that is what we intend to do, remove hamas so they cannot use the gaza strip as a staging position for attacks against israel. indeed, the people of gaza paying a very dear price for the poor leadership that they have. joining me now is on givati. he is the advocacy director for breaking the silence, an organisation of veteran soldiers who have served in the israeli military. on also served in the idf from 2010 to 2013 as a tank commander. thank you forjoining us. ijust want to talk a little bit about the purpose of what you do, i was looking at the description, telling us that what you want to do is expose the public to the reality of everyday life in the occupied territories, stimulating public debate about the price paid for a reality that young soldiers face. just explain that for us first of all. ., ., just explain that for us first of all. . ~ , ., just explain that for us first of all. . ~' i., ., just explain that for us first of all. . ~ i. ., ., all. thank you for having me. so breakina all. thank you for having me. so breaking the — all. thank you for having me. so breaking the silence _ all. thank you for having me. so breaking the silence was - all. thank you for having me. so - breaking the silence was established in 2004 during the second intifada, one of the most violent times of the israeli occupation, and what israelis do not really understand is that when we are sent to control the palestinian people, we have been sharing our testimony from the missions we are sent to by our country in order to control the palestinians. we have been doing this for almost seven years now, and i have no recollection of anything close to the feelings we are feeling now, a devastating time, very frustrating, very difficult, after what we saw hamas doing to our people. i what we saw hamas doing to our --eole. ., what we saw hamas doing to our neale, ., what we saw hamas doing to our --eole. ., ., what we saw hamas doing to our --eole. ., . ,., what we saw hamas doing to our eo le, ., ., ., 4' ., ,., ., people. i have looked at some of the tweets from — people. i have looked at some of the tweets from your _ people. i have looked at some of the tweets from your organisation, - people. i have looked at some of the tweets from your organisation, and l tweets from your organisation, and they are very telling about the work that you are trying to do, because you talk, and you refer to the israeli defense forces about security, deterrence, changing the equation, and you say that is simply a code word for bombing gaza to a pulp, in between these rounds of violence we made life impossible for cousins and then act surprised when it all boils over, and that is why we are seeing the cycle, isn't it? look, i think that when we look at what has been going on in gaza, decades of military control, i have friends who were in gaza in 2014 and after, i have friends right now that are about to enter gaza, and we have been collecting testimonies from this operation fort many, many years, and what we are seeing, again and again, these invasions happen, innocent people killed, and palestinians, and then after a few years, we have to understand that this simply doesn't work. it is very clear that it doesn't work, when we talk about, you know, the testimony, how we fight in gaza, how the occupation works, what it means to invade the most densely populated area in the world, all of these things we are tired of seeing and doing. collide and a lot of people will question, particularly in israel, while seemingly israel was so unprepared for this attack last weekend. given the work you have done, why was israel seemingly so unprepared? it is a very difficult question, and i will be proper committees that will hopefully investigate that. fine committees that will hopefully investigate that.— committees that will hopefully investigate that. one of the main roblem investigate that. one of the main problem is _ investigate that. one of the main problem is that _ investigate that. one of the main problem is that we _ investigate that. one of the main problem is that we have - investigate that. one of the main problem is that we have is - investigate that. one of the main problem is that we have is that l investigate that. one of the mainl problem is that we have is that we keep believing in this impossible concept of leaving the palestinians under their own military rule, and nothing can even be close to justified the atrocities that we faced, that is in no way a legitimate way to fight against an army of occupation, but a lot of our partners, peace activists were murdered... i partners, peace activists were murdered. . ._ partners, peace activists were murdered... . , ., , murdered... i am sorry to interrupt, time is tight. _ murdered. .. i am sorry to interrupt, time is tight, thank— murdered... i am sorry to interrupt, time is tight, thank you, _ murdered... i am sorry to interrupt, time is tight, thank you, really - time is tight, thank you, really good to have you with us in the programme. stay with us, headlines next. for most of you today has been dry. plenty of sunshine, glorious skies, and underneath the sunny skies, you could make out some snow on these mountains in glencoe. a beautiful picture from the keswick area, a particularly cold start in cumbria, minus four recorded in shap earlier. you can see the extent of the sunshine from the satellite picture earlier, but we did have a weak weather front across scotland bringing persistent rain into north highland, aberdeenshire up with showers around for western scotland. 0vernight, that zone of rain is going to push northwards across 0rkney and shetland, rain at times, otherwise a decent night with clear skies, turning cold again, temperatures in towns and cities getting down into a low single figures, but in the countryside, cold enough once again for a nip of frost. tomorrow, high pressure dominates, for most another dry day. across western areas, more in the way of high cloud, quite thick cloud as well, so bright or hazy sunny spells likely to come through at times, central and eastern parts of scotland and england having the best of the sunshine, but there are likely to be some showers, and a few showers at times for 0rkney and shetland. for tuesday, mist and fog patches to start the day, there will be some rain moving into parts of south—west england and southern wales towards the end of the day, temperature starting to come up a little bit, and then for the middle part of the week, it is all change, an area of low pressure moving across the uk, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. we could see 25—40 millimetres of rain building in here, causing one or two issues, but as well as the rain we will have strong winds developing, particular for scotland, eastern coastal scotland, some patches of light rain developing here, with the best of any limited sunshine likely across the north west of scotland. temperatures about average, 13—16 degrees. beyond that, heavy rain for thursday, that eases away, then low pressure coming in for friday with more heavy rain during the week.