into the care of the red cross after negotiations involving qatar. they are on their way to central israel. good evening. we start with the news that the family of two hostages, being held by the group hamas for almost two weeks, had prayed for. israel confirms a mother and her daughter, who are american citizens, have been released. it follows mediation efforts by the gulf state of qatar, with hamas, designated as a terror organisation by many western governments, including the uk, saying they were freed for "humanitarian reasons. " around 200 hostages, are still being held in gaza, and israel's total siege of the territory, cutting off food, water and medicines, will not end, it says, until all of them are freed. emergency aid trucks with badly needed supplies to help some of the more than two million people trapped in gaza sit on the border with egypt, ready to go in. but as yet, there's no deal allowing their entry. meanwhile, israel's bombing campaign over gaza, targeting members of hamas, continues after the group killed more than 1,400 people in their attack on southern israel on october 7th. the ministry of health in gaza says more than 3,500 palestinians have died since israeli air strikes began. we'll hear from one of our correspondents in gaza, but first, jeremy bowen reports on the significance of tonight's hostage releases. natalie raanan and her mother judith, banked by israeli soldiers, emerged into israel after negotiations led by qatar. they had come from chicago to visit family in israel when they were taken by hamas. their release, said the international red cross, was a sliver of hope. when president biden was here earlier this week, the release of the hostages was one of his priorities. antony blinken, the us secretary of state, went to qatar, which also hosts a hamas office. qatar's connections were crucial. ., , ., crucial. good afternoon, everyone. about an hour _ crucial. good afternoon, everyone. about an hour ago, _ crucial. good afternoon, everyone. about an hour ago, two _ crucial. good afternoon, everyone. about an hour ago, two american | about an hour ago, two american citizens held by hamas since october the 7th were released. these two americans are now safely in the hands of israeli authorities in israel. the urgent work to free every single american, to free all other hostages, continues. as does our work to secure the safe passage out of gaza for the americans who are trapped there. in tel aviv, while the negotiations were happening, families and friends of the more than 200 people taken as hostages by hamas were holding a vigil. 20 of the missing, israel says, are under 18. the people here will be hoping that now the principle of doing deals is established, more might be possible. the photos are going up on the wall of the defence ministry. the presence of hostages in gaza puts pressure on israel's generals and politicians, as hamas must have intended. in a small country, the hostage crisis draws in many families. daily life here is on hold. the war dominates everything. israelis are united behind theirflag and their army and in their contempt and hatred for hamas. they are not united about their prime minister benjamin netanyahu, a highly divisive figure whose opponents believe neglected their security. the vigil is a powerful event. but it started when one man, avi, in the black t—shirt, came here on his own. his wife and three small children were taken from a border kibbutz by hamas. if you're sitting on your couch now and look down at your son playing right next to you, you know what's right. you know that he's in the right place. my kids have done nothing wrong. they are four and a half, eight and ten. 0ne just celebrated her birthday. she's still got cake in the fridge. so, you know, we all know what the right thing is to do, where they should be, where my wife should be. it's a pretty easy choice to make. just bring them home to me. israelis, and plenty of others including presidentjoe biden, say this is their equivalent of the attacks on america by al-qaeda on september 11th, 2001. for israelis, this is not a trauma you can get used to. every day, they're learning more about these people, about the missing, about the dead. and that sadness and anger underpins the resolve of the government to hit back, to get their people, bring them home and to destroy hamas. pain is universal. after an israeli raid in the west bank, five children were among 13 palestinians dead. an israeli soldier was killed as well. at the mortuary, palestinian families said goodbye to the boys, aged from 11 to 15, bystanders who were killed by a drone strike. palestinians on the west bank held protests after the noon prayer. the uneasy, unpleasant, but mostly predictable rhythm of the conflict has gone. the only certainty ahead is more pain. and jeremy is here with me. fantastic news for the families of these hostages, but one wonders in a wider context has significant it is that they have been released? weill. that they have been released? well, the international _ that they have been released? well, the international red _ that they have been released? well, the international red cross, - that they have been released? -ii the international red cross, who were part of the process, called it a sliver of hope. a sliver, because there are more than 200 people there. i think there is a principle established now that hamas will do a deal. so i think those hostage families i was speaking to today in tel aviv will be delighted to hear that and they will be thinking, maybe we might be next. 0ne maybe we might be next. one question— why choose americans first? well, the americans have been pushing, but also, i think president biden has been trying to be a bit of a moderating influence on the level of force the israelis use. perhaps hamas think that that is significant too. and maybe he might do more of that. and there is another thing, and that is that the whole purpose of taking hostages for hamas was to have leverage over the israelis. a few years ago, the israelis exchanged more than 1000 palestinian prisoners for one hostage. they have also exchanged other prisoners for bodies. so they must think, well, if we got that many for one, what could we got that many for one, what could we do with 200?— we do with 200? indeed. jeremy bowen, we do with 200? indeed. jeremy bowen. thank— we do with 200? indeed. jeremy bowen, thank you. _ 0ur north america editor, sarah smith, is live in washington. the two hostages released are american citizens, and tonight we've heard from the white house? president biden has put out a statement saying he is overjoyed at the release of these two americans and he has in fact spoken directly to theirfamily here in and he has in fact spoken directly to their family here in the and he has in fact spoken directly to theirfamily here in the us. he has mentioned working around the clock to try and secure the release of all the american hostages. there has clearly been a lot of activity. this bit of good news comes at the end of a week of extraordinary diplomatic focus on the middle east from america. we had that dramatic trip to israel from president biden on wednesday, and an unusual live televised address from the white house last night. i think it is really important and interesting to note, asjeremy really important and interesting to note, as jeremy was really important and interesting to note, asjeremy was alluding to, that every time we hear from president biden and he talks about israel's right to defend itself, he also always mentions the need to respect the laws of war and do everything possible to try to avoid civilian deaths and casualties when israel comes to respond. so while the president is obviously wanting to show solidarity with the state of israel, he appears at the same time to be trying to contain their reaction, and in doing so, trying to stop this conflict from spreading beyond where it is already at. and thatis beyond where it is already at. and that is clearlyjust as much of a priority for america is condemning hamas' attacks and working to secure the release of the other hostages who are still in gaza.— the release of the other hostages who are still in gaza. indeed. sarah smith, in washington. _ all eyes have been on the egyptian border with gaza today. would the lorries parked up at the rafah crossing, loaded with food, water and medicines for the desperate people of the territory, finally start rolling? well, they didn't, leaving more than two million people on the brink. egypt and israel still can't strike a deal to get the aid flowing, which explains the presence of the un secretary—general, no less, at the border crossing today, appealing for the trucks to roll. andrew harding has more from northern egypt. he has been to al arish, close to the gaza border. high above the egyptian desert, a consignment of humanitarian aid on its way towards the besieged territory of gaza. this military plane from nearby jordan has brought medical equipment, including bandages and syringes. theyjoin other supplies being off—loaded here in egypt, just a few kilometres from the border crossing into gaza. and inside gaza today, more signs of growing hunger and desperation, people scrambling to buy a few remaining chickens in crowded cities that remain entirely cut off from the outside world. no wonder there's such pressure to get this aid in. this is an operation fraught with risk. the aim is to channel vast amounts of humanitarian aid into gaza through one narrow border crossing, amid continuing israeli air strikes, amid genuine israeli fears that this route could be used by their enemy hamas to smuggle in more weapons and amid the constant risk that, at any moment, an israeli ground offensive could put a stop to all of this. but first, the border itself needs to open — a logjam of over 100 trucks packed with aid still stuck on the egyptian side as negotiations drag on. so when the united nations secretary—general arrived at the border this afternoon, he did not hide his frustration. behind these walls, we have 2 million people that is suffering enormously, that has no water, no food, no medicine. nearby, an angry crowd demanding the border be opened and the siege of gaza lifted. andrew harding, bbc news, egypt. israeli air strikes in the last two weeks have left much of northern gaza in ruins, and adnan el bursh has sent us this report from one area that's been heavily bombed. this is an affluent neighbourhood in central gaza. 0vernight, it's been completely destroyed. 32 tower blocks, each containing dozens of flats, are now totally gone. translation: they told us to evacuate at around 8.30 or nine at night. we ran through the streets. then israel started bombing the area nonstop from nine until seven this morning. umm salim lived in one of these blocks of flats. she tells me all the families in her tower are now living stranded in the streets of gaza, with nowhere to go. other residents say many people remain trapped. translation: we cannot bring people out from under the rubble. ambulances cannot get here. we cannot pull the bodies out. people are screaming, but we cannot pull them out. last night's attack took many residents by surprise, as people told me that it has been a relatively calm area in gaza. translation: we are civilians living peacefully in our homes. why are you bombing us and ruining our lives? as we were filming here, a new warning came in from the israeli army, telling people to evacuate. we have now left because it's dangerous. but the reality is, for many people still there, there is nowhere safe to go. adnan el—bursh, bbc news, from central gaza. to northern israel now, and the border with lebanon, where there have been regular exchanges of gunfire with the group hezbollah, designated as a terror organisation by many western governments, including the uk. the israeli military is now evacuating thousands more residents near the frontier, this time from the city of kiryat shmona. it's the largest community forced to move out as concerns grow that the israel/gaza conflict could spread. anna foster, has that story, from northern israel. a threat so close you can see it. this hezbollah observation post is metres from an israeli town. and that's why even more of this border is now emptying out. today, kiryat shemona, a community of 20,000. but leaving isn't easy. in the shelter, this lady waits with a husband and three children. she has cancer, but since the war began all her medical appointments have been cancelled. translation: they're evacuating today and i asked them to take i the sick people first. i know they evacuated others, but no one has reached out to me. the feeling is very scary, that's why i want them to evacuate my family as soon as possible. even underground, this lady doesn't feel her twins are safe. she says the law bans locking the door of these public shelters and she fears another massacre, like the one in the south. this is israel's defence. thousands of soldiers digging in as the people move out. this is what's been happening all the way along the border. fields turned into forward operating bases, artillery shells are being prepared, armoured vehicles are being readied. israel has been doing as much as it can to strengthen and fortify this border. these reserve forces know that everything is different now. not my first war and i have never have seen such massive amounts of units all across israel. trained on scales we have never seen before. at least not in my lifetime. these are some of israel's darkest moments. and here they hope there aren't even harder days to come. anna foster, bbc news, on the israel—lebanon border. the persistent fear this conflict could spread. so tonight, the first ray of hope in two weeks of hell — not just for israel but for the civilians in gaza too. the release of two hostages a sign that deals perhaps can be done in this crisis. that's all from us here injerusalem. back to you reeta, in london. thank you very much to you and the team. three people have died and hundreds have been rescued from their flooded homes as storm babet batters scotland and causes chaos around the uk. at midnight a "danger to life" red weather warning will come into force for north east scotland including angus and aberdeenshire. the met office has issued other weather warnings for the coming hours which cover a huge swathe of scotland, england and wales. our scotland editorjames cook is in brechin — in angus — an area hit by severe flooding. yes, it is less than two weeks in scotland recorded its wettest two days on record and here we are again, another unprecedented storm and what storm it has been, a enormous concern here tonight and also further afield in angus and aberdeenshire and across scotland and indeed, other parts of the united kingdom. because there is another red rain warning, as you say, coming into force injust a couple of hours' time. brechin is used to flooding but they've never seen anything like this. the town's defences were breached at 4am. residents had been warned and told to evacuate. but at least 60 families decided to stay and were trapped by the rising water. among them was muriel, who's lived here for 20 years. and i heard the water in the garage of our house. and this is how close we've got to escaping in a car which is hybrid. but we thought for a horrible moment that we were trapped in it because we couldn't get the doors open. but we feel rescued now. this time—lapse shows the north esk river rising in just a few hours. and this was brechin�*s river street at first... and again just a few hours later. as the south esk roared into this residential neighbourhood, swamping hundreds of homes. it was... it was above this area here and it was over the wall. like,you couldn't see the wall at all. and that's the flood defence? and that's the flood defence, yeah. but, you know, it's not doing itsjob at the moment is it? were you frightened ? er, yeah, i was pretty scared. i didn't think it was going to be like this. storm babet has been dangerous as well as disruptive. in the aberdeenshire village of marykirk, police search for a man reported to have been trapped in his vehicle. near forfar, a 56—year—old man was killed when a falling tree hit his van, and in glen esk, a 57—year—old woman was swept her death. police advice — stay at home. over the next few hours and into tomorrow we're going to see a significant amount of rainfall across all parts of the country. and i think really, all drivers should be mindful about making journeys at this time. plan ahead, think about, do you really need to make thatjourney? in some of the areas i have seen there has been exceptional amounts of rain in the last 2a, 36 hours. that includes dundee, wherejenna and darlene had a lucky escape. tried to evacuate earlier on this morning, but i nearly drowned, the current took us and i grabbed on to somebody's windscreen. sorry! sorry, it's broken! who ever it is! yeah, no power, no food, no water until now. the scottish government says this storm has been unprecedented. the met office has issued a second red rain warning for angus and aberdeenshire meaning the danger to life continues tomorrow, especially here in brechin. well, this is river street and you can see the water has gone down a little bit, but there's still a big problem here. there's the bus stop, that gives you a sense of how deep the water is, the road runs along there. and these are the flood defences, that wall which was overwhelmed last night. and there are fears that it might be overwhelmed again before this is over. james cook, bbc news. in england and in wales, homes have been flooded, rail services disrupted or cancelled, and roads and schools have been closed as danny savage reports. early this afternoon at leeds bradford airport, an aircraft came off the runway whilst landing during storm babet. it triggered a major emergency services response. there were no reports of casualties on the tui flight from corfu, but this airport can be a challenging place for pilots to land during stormy weather. for the east midlands north and westwards, much of england has taken a battering from the weather today. in chesterfield, part of the town was flooded, leading to people having to rapidly abandon their homes, or wait to be rescued. it's destroyed everything we own. and i've not even got any contents insurance for anything in my house or anything. i've had to try and get my son from school. he's luckily in the church now, safe, but it's just catastrophic. there was nothing at all we could do. the river, basically, went waist—deep on our road in a matter of ten minutes. not even that. derbyshire fire and rescue service says 400 properties may be affected by the rising waters of the river hipper. this is the main line west to bristol and south wales near royal wootton bassett, flooded and impassable. thousands of rail passengers have had a day of disruption on many lines. in trowell near nottingham, four people had to be rescued from deep water after they climbed onto the roof of a car. the volume of rainfall storm babet has created has turned small tributaries into gushing torrents. these are anxious times for people living close to watercourses, and there's hours of rain yet to come. danny savage, bbc news. labour is jubilant after overturning huge majorities to win the mid—bedfordshire and tamworth by—elections — with its leader, sir keir starmer saying the party is "redrawing the political map." labour overturned a conservative majority of more than 211,000 in mid bedfordshire, while winning tamworth for the first time since 2005. the tories said a low turnout was among the reasons for their defeats. with his analysis of both results, here's our political editor chris mason. jubilation and sleep deprivation has all sorts of effects on political activists, particularly labour ones celebrating victory in a home counties village, marston moretaine. red placards and labour smiles in rural bedfordshire, of all places. mid bedfordshire has been conservative for decades and decades and decades. listen out now for the one word keir starmer is rather keen on. they are crying out for change, positive change that the labour party can bring them. positive change that a changed labour party can bring them. the prime minister claimed he was the agent of change a few weeks back. keir starmer wants to own that label too. did you allow yourself a little jig round the living room when the results came in? a couple ofjigs around the living room as both results came in! jigs and photos on a day of breezy political change. 80 miles up the road, not farfrom birmingham, tamworth in staffordshire, where this happened in the middle of the night... i do hereby declare that sarah siena edwards is duly elected. the defeated conservative candidate didn't hang about. he bolted it out of a side door while the winner gave her victory speech, leaving the prime minister, in egypt, to do the explaining. they're obviously disappointing results, not least because our candidates, festus and andrew, worked very hard and i know they'll continue to be great local champions in their communities. it's important to remember the context — mid—term by—elections are always difficult for incumbent governments. by late morning, tamworth fc was hosting labour, another partisan crowd cheering on their team in what was also another very safe conservative seat. people told me that it was not possible to win this seat in this by—election and you absolutely smashed it. is there a niggling doubt that some of this could be down to conservative voters simply staying at home? no, i don't think that's right, because this is a huge swing. are you more confident than you've ever been about becoming prime minister? i always knew that it was a huge job to get the labour party from where we landed in 2019 to victory at an election in 202a. we're bang on schedule. in 1996, the man on the left won a by—election here for labour the year before labour won a general election. does their victory here again today point towards history repeating itself? a second victory lap in just one morning for labour. it's results like these that allow them to begin to believe they can actually win, and convinces so many conservatives that they are doomed. labour are scoring rather a lot at the moment, but by—elections are still tiddlers compared to the real deal of a general election. and despite the storm, chris has managed to make it back from tamworth and is here now. big wins for labour, put it into context? , ., , context? it is worth unpicking because they _ context? it is worth unpicking because they are _ context? it is worth unpicking because they are just - context? it is worth unpicking because they are just two - because they are just two by—elections and the turnout was well down, as is usually the case in by—elections. but if we look back to the 19905 when labour had been out of government for a long time, the conservatives had been in powerfor a long time there was a run of by—elections. one of them are referred to, in tamworth where labour will winning and winning big. by labour will winning and winning big. by what kind of margin? a similar kind of margin to a couple of three of the by—election5 we have seen in just the last couple of months for the general election again on the horizon. but, can these 19905, 2020 comparisons be overdone? maybe they can, economically things are very different. pretty benign time5 can, economically things are very different. pretty benign times by the end of the 19905, not the case now, how much difference could that make? politically, things are different because the conservatives back then had a small majority that vanished during their term in office. they have, despite these by—election losses, a healthy majority and labour had a dire result in the last general election by any modern 5tandard5. keir starmer has to do better in terms of 5wing, starmer has to do better in terms of swing, in terms of changing votes than tony blair did just to get a very small majority, which is why you are seeing from him that desire that there shouldn't be any complacency from labour despite the big win5. complacency from labour despite the bi wins. , ., , complacency from labour despite the bi wins. , . , ., a5 england prepare for their rugby world cup semifinal against south africa tomorrow, we already know who'll be waiting for them if they make it through. new zealand completely outclassed argentina this evening to win by 114—6 in paris, and reach next weekend's final. from paris, here's our sports correspondent andy swiss. so, who would be first into the world cup final? argentina, facing the mighty challenge of new zealand. the all blacks began as the favourites and it didn't take long to see why. the easiest of finishes for willjordan and they were soon charging clear. jordy barrett with the pick of the first—half tries as new zealand led 20—6 at the break. and after it, theyjust kept on scoring. jordan, racing to his hat—trick and about as one—sided a semifinal as you'll see. new zealand through 114—6 and on this form they'll take some stopping. well, tomorrow, the focus here will turn to england. a team few had fancied before this tournament, but now only south africa stands between them and a place in the final. england's fan5 already started arriving here. their team will be the underdogs against the world champions and while there is optimi5m, it is off the cautious kind. i'm getting more and more deluded, the closer we get to saturday night! gave us no chance last week but after reading the news on the way here i think yeah, we're going to win. i think we've got a chance. i think everyone is writing us off too early. i think we are not as bad as everyone's making. england to get through? erm, yeah, yeah. sounding confident! yeah. i wouldn't put my mortgage on it, but why not? why not, yeah. england, though, have relished defining their doubter5. a team united in a belief and they hope that tomorrow, united in triumph. andy swi55, bbc news, pari5. time for a look at the weather across the uk with ben rich.