starting with the developments in israel, where the military says it's preparing for a major ground offensive into gaza. prime minister benjamin netanyahu convened a cabinet meeting of the country's expanded emergency government and has promised to destroy hamas, the group designated as a terror organisation by many western governments, including the uk, which was behind last week's massacre of nearly 1,500 israelis. the military response from israel has already seen more than 2,600 people killed in gaza from airstrikes, according to the health ministry there. the united nations says gaza is now witnessing an "unprecedented human catastrophe". we'll report from inside gaza, and take a look at how any israeli military operation might pan out. and what of the ongoing diplomatic efforts in the crisis? but first, here's the bbc�*s jeremy bowen with the latest. along the border, it looked like the eve of battle. in the next few days, israel will send its armed forces into the gaza strip. israel declared its war aims even before the tanks arrived here. first, demolishing hamas, so it can never be a threat again. and avenging more than 1,300 people, mostly its own civilians, massacred by hamas. in the last few days, the border has become an armed camp. israel says its offensive is anchored in justice, security and morality. it has mobilised 360,000 reservists. border communities like kibbutz kfar aza that were barely defended when hamas stormed in, are now staging areas for the offensive. 0ne certainty is that when israel's soldiers move forward, many more palestinian civilians will die. gaza was pounded again, the eighth day in a row. mohammed's sons, daughter and cousins have been killed, eight of them, with three bodies still trapped in the rubble. they were children, he said, they didn't carry guns. many palestinians see the body bags and believe israel's campaign against hamas is also aimed at forcing them out of gaza for good. the price of losing, said this hard—line israeli politician, is for gaza to get smaller, that is the language palestinians understand. the hamas massacres and the response from israel they have unleashed destroyed what seemed to be the status quo. fear is already a winner. the soldiers look like they're ready for whatever comes next. in tel aviv, the war cabinet has been meeting at the ministry of defence, finalising details, making decisions. there are big questions, though — how long the operation will take and what happens afterwards. this afternoon, israeli troops patrolled the gaza boundary. very soon, they will cross it, and this long conflict hurtles into its next destructive chapter. jeremy bowen, bbc news, southern israel. the situation in gaza continues to be one of concern for the civilian population. there's once again limited phone and internet connection in parts of gaza. my colleague rushdi abalouf, who has been reporting from gaza, was also forced to move with his family from the north towards the south after israel's warning for all to relocate. he sent us this update from a hospital in khan younis in the south of gaza. the humanitarian situation is deteriorating, reaching the level of catastrophic as the director of this hospital in khan younis told me. he said, we have as little as 200 litres of fuel to run all the essential operation for the hospital, and they expecting tomorrow midnight, should all the generators in the hospital here will stop. the hospital is providing services for not only 4,000 people who originally lived in khan younis, but for another half million palestinians who are displaced from their homes in gaza city and the north. the hospital in now is supposed to be treating, working to help i million people. 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. she's been posting a video diary about life under fire. and other safe places, but there's 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. pray for us. and later that night, israel did bomb the ramal district of gaza city, reducing much of it to rubble. this is the first bottle of water that i'm going to drink from it. with a complete blockade of gaza in place, bisan, like millions of others, has been running out of basic necessities. there is no food, there is nothing. then on friday, another warning from the skies — israel dropping leaflets, telling more than a million people in the north of gaza to flee to the south. and so they went, in their hundreds of thousands. but not bisan — she and herfamily 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's investigating what happened in an apparent air strike on the main road heading south. 0utside, look, there's 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 to 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. the united nations secretary general has made two direct humanitarian appeals to both hamas and israel. antonio guterres issued a statement saying it was his duty as we are "on the verge of the abyss in the middle east". he called on hamas to immediately release the hostages it was holding, without conditions. and urged israel to allow rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid into gaza, including supplies and workers, for the sake of civilians there. mr guterres said, "each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. they should not become bargaining chips and must be implemented, because it's the right thing to do". america has sent the uss eisenhower carrier strike group to the eastern mediterranean in a move aimed to deter any widening in the war between israel and gaza by other parties. this move comes as us secretary of state anthony blinken said israel must defend itself in a way that protects human life but urged israel to do everything possible to avoid harming civilians. the way that israel does this matters. it needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have. for human life and human dignity. taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. secretary of state anthony blinken said israel must defend itself, but in a way that protects human life. 0ur international editor jeremy bowen said this choice of words was deliberate for a number of reasons. first of all, it's very clear that hamas has committed the most appalling war crime. so, he is saying to israel, don't try and do anything that will allow people to say you are going down that route, too. and of course, israel's critics are already saying that, in terms of the pressure on the civilian population in gaza, they are breaking international humanitarian law. but it's more than that — he's worried about escalation, about the war spreading, perhaps tojerusalem, perhaps the west bank, perhaps further afield. and a lot of palestinian civilian casualties might cause that process to speed up. that's why the americans are sending not one, but two carrier battle groups into the area. and that's nothing to do with hamas — that's because they are worried about what iran might do, what hezbollah, which is iran's ally in lebanon, might do. so there's a lot of balls in the air here, and as well as that, of course, i think the americans are trying to calm things down. this is not something... they don't want the region to be heated up again. and one more thing, i think that because the secretary of state, mr blinken, is due back here tomorrow, that may well delay the start of the israeli offensive. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the snp conference in aberdeen has approved humza yousaf�*s plan to use the next general election result to push for independence negotiations with the uk government. it voted through a motion which said winning a majority of scottish seats at the next election, which would be at least 29, would be a mandate for holding a new referendum. hundreds gathered at a vigil in central london on sunday to commemorate israeli victims killed in the hamas attack. many were draped in israeli flags carrying posters which said "bring them home" with names and faces of the hostages captured by hamas. it comes a day after tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the uk in a show of solidarity with palestinians in gaza. rail services in and out of euston in central london have suffered severe disruption today. a signal points failure caused all lines to shut for several hours. some delays are continuing. network rail has apologised to customers. you're live with bbc news. it has been a big day in poland. parliamentary elections have just concluded. poles have finished casting their votes in what some have described as a bitterly fought and highly divisive contest. the polish electoral commission is reporting that turnout was likely the highest since the fall of communism. the right—wing law and justice party is seeking to secure a third term in office, locked in a fierce battle with the liberal opposition led by former european council president donald tusk. according to the the first exit poll released in the last hour, the governing law and justice party are in the lead, but are likely to fall short of a majority, opening the the possibility that opposition parties could take power in a coalition. 0ur eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford, who is now in warsaw, sent us this report. we were at the result is an event for the opposition coalition, the civic coalition, and donald tusk, the leader of the party, was greeted like a star. his name was cheered, people were cheering in the crowd. there was an exit poll published on screen, and that was greeted with a big cheerfrom screen, and that was greeted with a big cheer from the crowd. they are seeing this very much as a victory. it is just seeing this very much as a victory. it isjust one seeing this very much as a victory. it is just one exit poll but it does suggest the governing party, law and justice, although it won the most seats according to this poll, may not be able to form a coalition or reach a majority, whereas the opposition look like they could do exactly that. that is why this was like a victory party. it wasn't what people were predicting. this has always been a very close race but there was a huge amount of relief when those figures first appeared on screen. the election campaign has been massively divisive, this country is very polarised. the governing party was always campaigning about security, russian aggression, talking about illegal migration and social spending. the opposition has campaigned heavily on democracy itself, talking about the rule of law, the freedom of the press, repairing relations with the eu which have been badly damaged in recent years. people going to the polls to vote were saying this was a historic moment, it was about deciding the kind of country this is going forward, which direction the country moves in. everyone said it was extremely important, and there's just one figure which shows that above all, the turnout. initial figures suggest at least 73% turnout, the highest number since democracy was returned to poland after the collapse of communism. so after the collapse of communism. so a very, very engaged population here, a long way to go of course, votes still to be counted. but at the moment, it looks like a very significant result. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov is set to visit china this week, as president vladimir putin prepares his own visit to beijing soon. a spokeswoman said lavrov would arrive on monday to take part in the one belt, 0ne road forum and hold talks with his chinese counterpart wang yi. at least two people have been killed and more than 150 injured by a 6.3—magnitude earthquake in western afghanistan. residents in the city of herat said they had just begun to return to their homes after two previous powerful quakes when the latest tremors hit. an aid worker said people had been left traumatised. officials at hong kong international airport have uncovered 11 kilograms of suspected cocaine hidden in the cushions of this electric wheelchair. the haul, worthjust over £1.2 million, was found when a 51—year—old man was going through customs on saturday. the man, who travelled from the caribbean country of sint maarten, has been arrested. the israeli prime minister, binjamin netanyahu, benjamin netanyahu, has promised to destroy hamas, and his defence forces seem set for a major offensive into gaza. but what are the challenges israel's forces will face? 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale has this assessment. this is who israel's now at war with. hamas, who last week crossed the border, solely focused on taking life, murdering women and children. for most, it was, in effect, a suicide mission. the left side of my head was hit with shrapnel from an rpg or a grenade, hard to say exactly what. got shot in my finger on my left hand, and a bullet got wedged in the left side of my neck. yoav, who grew up in london, was among the first israeli military casualties of this war. he won't be the last. we've been asked to hide his identity. he says israel's fighting an enemy unlike any conventional army. they have only one interest, which is to to killjews. there was no preservation of their ability to go home afterwards. they were going to die doing whatever they wanted to do, and that meant killing as many people along the way, they'd die doing it. this is just some of their arsenal. israel today displaying to journalists weapons they've seized. they say this is just 20% of the weapons hamas brought into israel, and it is just a fraction of what israeli forces will face when they go into gaza. israel says many of these are built in factories inside gaza itself. are you worried about israeli forces going in if they've got factories producing this? i'm not worried. the idf can deal with everything that stays in that room and more. but this is only a fraction of what they have. yeah. the tightly packed streets of gaza is where israel could soon be fighting, which hamas knows best. it could be littered with booby traps and roadside bombs, and their network of hidden underground tunnels. brutal urban warfare can favour the defender. hamas still has one bargaining chip — more than 100 israeli hostages. 0ne israeli who's helped negotiate prisoner exchanges in the past is once again working his hamas contacts. they're still talking, but he's noted a dramatic change of mood. in the first days, they were boasting their bravery and their heroism and how they surprised israel. they're still talking, but he's noted a dramatic change of mood. in the first days, they were boasting their bravery and their heroism and how they surprised israel. and in the last few days, the tone is very different. their tone is, "we're going to fight to the death, we're not afraid of dying." israel is preparing for a major offensive. but invasions are often easier to plan than to execute — and getting out harder than going in. jonathan beale, bbc news, southern israel. as the israeli defence force prepares for its offensive, aid groups say the situation in gaza is developing into a �*humanitarian catastrophe�*. the international committee of the red cross says hospitals there risk turning into morgues. gaza's biggest hospital, al shifa, has continued to receive a steady flow of gazans injure. on sunday the palestinian health ministry said 300 people, mostly children and women, had been killed in 2a hours, with more than 800 injured. israel has been continuing to bomb gaza from the air. but as the israeli ground invasion looms, hospitals in northern gaza are under pressure to evacuate. the world health organisation said on sunday that 21 hospitals in gaza have been given an order to evacuate by the israel military. i'm joined now by laetitia courtois, the head of the international committee of the red cross delegation in new york, and its permanent observer to the un. thank you very much for your time on the bbc. i would like to begin by asking about your volunteers, who decided not to evacuate over the weekend and abandoned those in need, they said. what is the latest you are hearing from your teams in gaza? thank you for having me. the international committee of the red cross has a team of over 100 staff in the gaza strip. they are still deployed and trying to help and cope with the most urgent need, trying to fix the damage... trying to support the medicalfacilities. in particular the paramedics of the palestinian red crescent society. to take care of the continuous flow of patients back in the hospitals. in very difficult circumstances. we are trying for the thousands of people displaced. but the difficulty right now is to bring the necessary items to respond to those massive needs. there are trucks on the way, but we need access to the gaza strip, into gaza, to make sure they are supporting the people in these critical moments.— supporting the people in these critical moments. israel said it has turned on the _ critical moments. israel said it has turned on the water _ critical moments. israel said it has turned on the water pipes - critical moments. israel said it has turned on the water pipes in - critical moments. israel said it has turned on the water pipes in the i turned on the water pipes in the southern gaza. but will that improve the situation? figs southern gaza. but will that improve the situation?— the situation? as we mentioned several days _ the situation? as we mentioned several days ago, _ the situation? as we mentioned several days ago, the _ the situation? as we mentioned several days ago, the total - the situation? as we mentioned| several days ago, the total siege imposed on gaza and its 2.2 million people, is having a dramatic impact. the lack of water, electricity, food, but also the lack of medical items. it's a very critical level. this will certainly help, but it needs to be resumed everywhere, it is an obligation for the warring parties to make sure the civilians caught in the middle of the fighting do not suffer, in addition to this fighting from the deprivation of basic items. we call for every party to make sure those essential goods for their survival is resumed as soon as possible.— soon as possible. what kind of olitical soon as possible. what kind of political intervention _ soon as possible. what kind of political intervention is - soon as possible. what kind of i political intervention is needed? have you been talking to the israeli government and hamas, and do you feel your concerns are being heard and addressed, perhaps? irate feel your concerns are being heard and addressed, perhaps?- and addressed, perhaps? we are talkin: to and addressed, perhaps? we are talking to all _ and addressed, perhaps? we are talking to all the _ and addressed, perhaps? we are talking to all the sides, - and addressed, perhaps? we are talking to all the sides, making l talking to all the sides, making sure that our concerns are understood. there has been a major outcry from organisations with this message, and you are hoping this is also influencing the decision, the way they are carrying on this war, to spare most of the civilians. we hope our call is being heard, and responses are being adapted. d0 hope our call is being heard, and responses are being adapted. do you think alon: responses are being adapted. do you think along with _ responses are being adapted. do you think along with that, _ responses are being adapted. do you think along with that, there - responses are being adapted. do you think along with that, there needs i think along with that, there needs to be greater intervention from the international community, especially from countries like the us and the uk, that have given support to israel? �* , , ., israel? there's definitely a need for all the _ israel? there's definitely a need for all the countries _ israel? there's definitely a need for all the countries that - israel? there's definitely a need for all the countries that can - for all the countries that can influence to pass the right message. to say that civilians need to be protected. we are talking about the gaza population under 18, women, children, elderly, disabled people, all those people have nothing to do in this fighting and need to be protected wherever they are, first and foremost. this is an urgent plea to make sure international humanitarian law and the laws of war are respected. it cannot be limitless destruction of the gaza strip at this stage. this limitless destruction of the gaza strip at this stage.— strip at this stage. as a ground invasion seems _ strip at this stage. as a ground invasion seems imminent - strip at this stage. as a ground invasion seems imminent by i strip at this stage. as a ground - invasion seems imminent by israeli forces, are you apprehensive and is there a fear that things could get much worse than they already are? it is a legitimate fear that a street to street battle in densely populated neighbourhoods would have a tremendous impact, and even more casualties among civilians. so the fear is definitely there and we call on the parties to make sure they take the necessary precaution if this becomes a reality.- take the necessary precaution if this becomes a reality. thank you very much — this becomes a reality. thank you very much for— this becomes a reality. thank you very much for your _ this becomes a reality. thank you very much for your time. - this becomes a reality. thank you very much for your time. that - this becomes a reality. thank you very much for your time. that is i this becomes a reality. thank you i very much for your time. that is the big focus we are looking at. new zealand is heading into this week with a new prime minister. just three years after entering politics, former businessman and ceo of air new zealand christopher luxon is set to lead new zealand. that is all we have. the news and updates continue on the bbc. stay with us. hello there. for most of you, today's been dry, plenty of sunshine, glorious skies and underneath the sunny skies you could make out some snow here on the tops of the scottish mountains in glencoe. meanwhile, in cumbria, what a beautiful weather watcher picture we have here from the keswick area. it was in cumbria that we had a particularly cold start to the day, minus four in shap recorded earlier. you can see the extent of the sunshine, then, from the satellite picture earlier on. but across northern scotland we did have this weak weather front that brought some persistent rain into parts of north highland, northern parts of aberdeenshire, with some showers around as well for western scotland. and overnight, that zone of rain is going to push its way northwards crossing 0rkney and shetland. so, there'll be some rain here for a time, otherwise it's a dry night with clear skies and it will turn cold again. temperatures in towns and cities getting down into low single figures, but in the countryside, cold enough once again for a nip of frost. tomorrow high pressure dominates, so for most, it's another dry day across western areas of the country. there'll be more in the way of high cloud around the sky, quite thick cloud as well. so, bright or hazy sunny spells likely to come through that at times, central and eastern parts of both scotland and england having the best of the day's sunshine. but there are likely to be some showers working into the thames estuary, and a few showers at times for 0rkney and shetland. now, for tuesday, i think there's a greater risk of seeing some mist and fog patches to start the day. these could be quite slow to clear another fine, unsettled sunny day for most on tuesday. but there will be some rain moving into parts of south west england and southern wales. temperatures starting to come up a little bit and then for the middle part of the week, it's all change. this area of low pressure moves across the uk, bringing its own of heavy rain and some strong winds on wednesday. and some strong winds. on wednesday, he heaviest rain is going to be falling across england and wales, where i think we could see around 20—a0 millimetres of rain building in here — that could cause one or two issues. but as well as the rain, we're also going to have some quite strong winds developing, particularly for scotland, around eastern coastal scotland, probably have some patches of light rain developing here with the best of any limited sunshine likely across the north west of scotland, temperatures average 13—16 degrees. beyond that, we get the heavy rain then moving across northern england, northern ireland and in scotland for thursday, that lot eases away. but then we've got another low pressure coming in for friday with more heavy rain to end the week. this was once a place full of tourists, but when the pandemic came tourists, but when the pandemic came to cuba, the country lost a vital source of income. medicine and food shortages sparked unprecedented demonstrations against the government. and the biggest exodus to the us since the 1959 cuban revolution. many put their lives in the hands of human smugglers, on dangerous journeys across central america. 0thers