word from israeli officials that hamas has lost control of northern gaza. 50,000 palestinians have left gaza city after israeli forces opened the main road leading south. the route was kept open for about five hours and is affected to reopen again on thursday. the hamas one health ministries is almost half of those killed in gaza in the last day were killed in the south, an area meant to be safe. the health ministry also says more than 10,000 palestinians have now been killed. there is possible progress in the race of some hostages. a source of the bbc discussion are taking place for the release of 12 hostages. half of them are americans. in exchange for a three—day humanitarian pause. 0ur international editorjeremy bowen has travelled with the israel defence forces into gaza. the bibs had editorial control of this next report, this action by the idf has been viewed by them. like young soldiers in many wars, israeli troops looked excited, not apprehensive, as they made their final preparations tojoin israel's invasion of the gaza strip. they're moving in as the war approaches a critical point. their colleagues already inside the strip have surrounded gaza city. these men might be part of the next stage, locating hamas tunnels and fighting street by street. israel's prime minister promised his country a mighty vengeance against hamas. but with so much firepower, one question — is israel following joe biden�*s advice not to be blinded by rage, to defend itself, but also, protect the lives of palestinian civilians? we went into gaza with the israeli army on condition we didn't reveal their positions. video shot after they took us through the gap in the fence into gaza — though not this script — had to be submitted to their military censors. we got out of the back of an armoured vehicle and walked into a wasteland. after a month of air strikes and more than a week of tanks and troops, every building i saw was damaged or destroyed. they wanted to show us what they said was a hamas weapons factory in this wrecked structure. this is their scuba diving equipment that's meant to come from sea, from their land to our land. and they made drones that drop bombs, he said, in this workshop. places like this, he said, originated october 7 attacks. but upstairs was a family apartment. the soldiers said it was more proof that hamas used civilians as human shields, building bombs underneath a bedroom used by children. the officer said hamas — not israel — was responsible for civilian deaths. we know, intelligence. we know what we hit. we know the targets, they're approved by our command. it's not that i wake up and my objective is to ruin the city. i aim for enemy and enemy only, and i use all in my power to hit the enemy only. sojudging by the destruction here, the enemy was everywhere, you'd say? yes. israel's strategic equation measures the destruction and death it's brought to palestinians in gaza — civilians as well as hamas — against the pain of its own people and the importance of making them feel safe again. the overriding impressions i have from being here is, first of all, the level of force that israel has brought to bear on the gaza strip — a vast amount of military power. in addition, the level of destruction, massive destruction, thousands of homes gone. israel says a military necessity, self—defence. this woman's view was different. she said it was because of israel's bombardment, because nowhere was safe, because there was no food or drinking water for the children and because israel had bombed the bakeries. israel said 50,000 palestinians moved south after it promised safe passage. hamas released more videos of its fight against israel in gaza's streets. it claims victories, but it is vastly outgunned. hamas cannot win a toe—to—toe fight with israel but guerrilla tactics, hit—and—run, might drag the war out for months, and force a ceasefire. more israeli tanks were moving forward as we left the gaza strip this evening. israel's western allies support the invasion. but america's reminders about the laws of war and the pressure for humanitarian pauses suggest even israel's closest allies are queasy about this war�*s human catastrophe. jeremy bowen, bbc news, gaza. meanwhile, the g7 foreign ministers meeting in tokyo have urged israel to agree to a humanitarian pause in fighting to allow more aid into the anglaise but they stopped short of calling for a ceasefire. there is us secretary of state antony blinken. we there is us secretary of state antony blinken.— there is us secretary of state antony blinken. we had in-depth discussions. _ antony blinken. we had in-depth discussions. we _ antony blinken. we had in-depth discussions. we all— antony blinken. we had in-depth discussions. we all agree - antony blinken. we had in-depth discussions. we all agree that. discussions. we all agree that humanitarian pauses would advance key objectives. to protect palestinian civilians, to increase the sustained flow of humanitarian assistance, to allow our citizens and foreign nationals to exit and facilitate the release of hostages. we arejoined by we are joined by acting consul general of israel new york, thank you so much for being here. i want to start off with these reports coming in of talks on a proposed pause infighting in exchange to allow aid into gaza and for the possible release of hostages. what do you make of that potential proposal and whether or not that is ideal that israel might take? first of all, we israel might take? first of all. we are _ israel might take? first of all, we are very _ israel might take? first of all, we are very focused . israel might take? first of| all, we are very focused on making sure to achieve both of our goals, first of all, to eradicate hamas's ability to hurt us and we are winning to have forces and we have just met pauses, and ensure civilians can leave the gaza strip, and going from the northern to the southern part of gaza. at the end of the day we are willing to do additional pauses if we know that our hostages will be released, and this is part of the call. an this is part of the call. an israeli military _ this is part of the call. an israeli military spokesperson also saying hamas has now lost control of the northern part of gaza. how significant of a victory would that be in this military operation?- victory would that be in this military operation? one of the goals. we _ military operation? one of the goals. we are _ military operation? one of the goals, we are not _ military operation? one of the goals, we are not acting - military operation? one of the goals, we are not acting in - military operation? one of the j goals, we are not acting in any way, shape orform in revenge. even though like the president said justice may be served, the goal thrust is to make sure they are not capable of harming us again. at the end of the day the contract between citizens and the of israel is to make sure that kid would not be extracted in pj's from their beds and executed like we suffered the october seven events. the way we do it is we eradicate every military capability to repeat what they have done on october seven. i want to put some comments to you from the un secretary general, antonio guterres. he said that given the number of civilians killed in gaza, we had earlier that number is now reported by the hamas health ministry to be more than 10,000, something is clearly wrong, he said, when it comes to israel's military tactics. what do you make of those comments? i what do you make of those comments?— what do you make of those comments? ~' ., comments? i think we need to have more _ comments? i think we need to have more clarity _ comments? i think we need to have more clarity here, - comments? i think we need to have more clarity here, and i l have more clarity here, and i think no ambiguity is on the spot. we need to make a distinctive differentiation between deliberately going after innocent civilians like hamas on the seventh of october atrocities in between casualties of a just war. israel has the right to self—defence and israel will exercise according to international law. i think we need to make sure the secretary general understand that this is an ability for israel to prevent these innocent civilians to be heard, through the mechanisms we have tried opening corridors of sending civilians to the southern part of gaza, whereas hamas was using them as human shields and embedding with innocent civilians... iii embedding with innocent civilians. . ._ embedding with innocent civilians... ifi may, 'ust to brina civilians... ifi may, 'ust to bring some i civilians... ifi may, 'ust to bring some more b civilians... ifi may, 'ust to bring some more of_ civilians... if i may, just to bring some more of what l civilians... if i may, just to i bring some more of what the secretary general said, he also said, quoting here, it is in against the interests of israel to the everyday the terrible images of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the palestinian people. is he right? palestinian people. is he riuht? , palestinian people. is he riuht? a: :m right? he is 100% right. the fact that right? he is 10096 right. the fact that hamas _ right? he is 10096 right. the fact that hamas is _ right? he is 10096 right. the i fact that hamas is continuously doing it is because they have an interest, they are embedded among their own people... 1trailiiile among their own people... while he is referring _ among their own people... while he is referring to _ among their own people... while he is referring to the _ he is referring to the casualties from israeli air strikes, not anything to do with hamas.— strikes, not anything to do with hamas. ., ., ., with hamas. how can we have an abili to with hamas. how can we have an ability to defend _ with hamas. how can we have an ability to defend these _ ability to defend these innocent civilians while we are trying to evacuate them and waiting 1a days until we come in, whereas they are pushing them back into the war zone? i think it is pretty clear who is to blame and who has an interest the civilians will be hurt and using them as human shields. 50 hurt and using them as human shields. ., ., shields. so in an earlier report. _ shields. so in an earlier report. i _ shields. so in an earlier report, ijust _ shields. so in an earlier report, i just want - shields. so in an earlier report, i just want to i shields. so in an earlier. report, i just want to ask shields. so in an earlier- report, i just want to ask you the absolute devastation on the ground there in gaza. is there a plan in place right now for any thoughts of rebuilding efforts and how israel might be involved in that?— involved in that? every civilian _ involved in that? every civilian loft _ involved in that? every civilian loft -- - involved in that? every civilian loft -- life - involved in that? every civilian loft -- life lost| involved in that? every l civilian loft -- life lost as involved in that? every - civilian loft -- life lost as a civilian loft —— life lost as a tragedy but the blame has to go directly to the terrorist organisation, hamas. pill directly to the terrorist organisation, hamas. all right. the acting _ organisation, hamas. all right. the acting consul— organisation, hamas. all right. the acting consul general- organisation, hamas. all right. the acting consul general of. the acting consul general of israel in new york, thank you very much for your time and your perspective.— very much for your time and your perspective. as your perspective. thank you. as we heard a _ your perspective. thank you. as we heard a bit _ your perspective. thank you. as we heard a bit there _ your perspective. thank you. as we heard a bit there from - your perspective. thank you. as we heard a bit there from the i we heard a bit there from the un secretary general, the un humanitarian chief has described the situation in the occupied west bank is increasingly dire, citing the rising death toll in that area. 158 palestinians have been killed in the territory since the war began. among them are 45 children, more than 21100 people have been injured. israel's minister benjamin netanyahu has condemned the violence saying it would not be tolerated. we have more now from jon donnison reporting from jon donnison reporting from the northern west bank, and a warning, some scenes in his report are disturbing. this war is not only being 1a gaza. this funeral in a west bank town forfour gundeman this funeral in a west bank town for four gundeman goodbye israel this week. there is angen israel this week. there is anger. and defiance. but also, grey. —— grief. and fear of what is to come. even before the war, the west bank was a boiling point, and the fury of what is happening in gaza as well as israel's crackdown on militancy art as well as civilians has seen the temperature rise to a whole new level. it is a dangerous moment. translation: we have been refugees in this camp was 75 years. everyone has just been laughing at us. the stress on the people, cut the streets, cut the cities, kill children. everything is stress. does it feel like war here as well? maybe. maybe in two months. maybe — maybe. maybe in two months. maybe the war here in two months _ maybe the war here in two months with gaza. it is connected. there is no gaza in this_ connected. there is no gaza in this respect. connected. there is no gaza in this reaped-— connected. there is no gaza in this resiaect-— this respect. and in parts of the west — this respect. and in parts of the west bank— this respect. and in parts of the west bank over - this respect. and in parts of the west bank over the - this respect. and in parts of the west bank over the lasti the west bank over the last month, it has already looks like war. israel, it says, targeting terrorists, including from hamas. who are fighting back. and israel has been using bulldozers to rip up the streets. it says as punishment for palestinian attacks. they came and destroyed the camp and then they came again with bulldozers, he tells us. it is always like this. israeli raids of palestinian towns and villages are happening night and day. this person wasjust 15... when he was shot dead by an israeli soldier. as his sister looked on in horror. the un says the majority of palestinians been killed in the west bank are civilians, including children. and they are suffering notjust at including children. and they are suffering not just at the hands of the israeli army, but also, armsjewish settlers in attacks like this last month which left the victim still in intensive care. in the background, an israeli soldier looks on. palestinians say israel allows settlers to act like a militia with impunity. in this case, the army says it is investigating what happened. and for some, it has become too much. this man's family has found this area and occupied west bank for generations. at this week, they were packing up to leave. translation: ~ ., .,, ., translation: we have lost our land because — translation: we have lost our land because it _ translation: we have lost our land because it couldn't - land because it couldn't confront them. we escape out of fear. no—one was there to protect us. fear. no-one was there to protect us— fear. no-one was there to protect us. land has always been at the _ protect us. land has always been at the heart _ protect us. land has always been at the heart of - protect us. land has always been at the heart of this - been at the heart of this decade—long conflict. and palestinians are losing. jon donnison, bbc news in the west bank. the worldwide attention on the israel gaza was done little to slow events surrounding other global conflict the war in ukraine. global conflict the war in ukraine-— global conflict the war in ukraine. ~ , ._ ukraine. on wednesday the eur0pean — ukraine. on wednesday the european commission - ukraine. on wednesday the european commission took| ukraine. on wednesday the - european commission took steps to strengthen ties with kyiv the executive body recommended formal membership talks should begin the executive body recommended formal membership talks should begin with the executive body recommended formal membership talks should begin with ukraine the executive body recommended formal membership talks should begin with ukraine on the executive body recommended formal membership talks should begin with ukraine onjoining the european union. that comes five months after the 25 european states gave them candidate status, the president has welcomed the decision saying the history of ukraine and the whole of europe has taken the right step. the talks were not begin until a set of conditions have been met. this is very good — conditions have been met. this is very good news _ conditions have been met. this is very good news for _ conditions have been met. ti 3 is very good news for president zelensky, he said that this is a historic decision, which would give fresh motivation to his troops, especially at a time where he is concerned that the war in the middle east is taking away the focus on the war in ukraine. in reality, the eu is facing a dilemma, on one hand they want to send a strong signal of solidarity to the ukrainian people, to show that ukraine belongs in europe, and not in the russian orbit. but in reality it would be very challenging to take in a country that is at war, ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world, it is awash with weapons, and about the fifth of its territory is controlled by russia. also, takes about ten years to become a member of the european union, there are a lot of technicalities and caveats. so in practice a big, strong political signal coming from the eu, but it may take years before ukraine finallyjoins before ukraine finally joins the before ukraine finallyjoins the european union. before ukraine finally “oins the european union. round the world and _ the european union. round the world and across _ the european union. round the world and across the _ the european union. round the world and across the uk, - the european union. round the world and across the uk, this i world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making headlines. it's been almost 400 years to the day since shakespeare's first folio was published back in 1623. collection was compiled while several of his friends a few years after his death, without many of his plays would have been lost. the bbc has been talking to david tennant was about to play macbeth on stage in london. what shakespeare managed to do is manage to capture the human experience. and it feels weirdly modern actually. that he writes about the moment he was in, which seems to buy dint of his genius,.— of his genius,. there were only 750 copies _ of his genius,. there were only 750 copies of— of his genius,. there were only 750 copies of that _ of his genius,. there were only 750 copies of that first - of his genius,. there were only 750 copies of that first folio, i 750 copies of that first folio, original, first folio is unknown to survive, one for me in the us and 50 in the uk and ireland. you are live with bbc news, we are an hour and 15 minutes into the third us republican presidential debate, five candidates on stage in miami, florida trying to make a mark with voters but make a dent in former president donald trump's formidable lead in the polls, he once again shows —— chose not to participate with this debate. let's go live to helena humphreys and miami, she has been following the debate. it is still under way but what have we seen so far from those five candidates on the stage. the candidates are starting to enter their final stretch in this debate, there is plenty to talk about and i think still, the trio to watch tonight on that debate stage the vict premise rummy, nikki haley and rhonda centres, so far they have proved to be the most punchy, rhonda centres has changed tactic from last time he is focusing less on culture wars he received some criticism from republican strategists for “p from republican strategists for up to that turning his last answer to talk about inflation and american families saying i will be the president who will be there for you. big foreign policy issues asked about by the moderators, when it comes to israel all the candidates on the stage voicing support for israel, defending itself from those hamas attacks and saying hamas needs to be eliminated but certainly to varying degrees, tim scott coming up saying he believes iran also should be the target of strikes in terms of financing to hamas as well. interestingly chris christie was the only voice on the stage to voice any concern not just about the rise of anti semitism in his country but about slammer phobia and the rise of that as well pointing to some of his work post—9/11 and keep in mind the biden campaign has been a target of some criticism following the support of israel and some muslim voters in minnesota for example in a recent visit saying they had lost, they would no longer give that support to president biden because of that. ukraine was asked about as well and this might have been a misstep from ron desantis who really refused to fully engage on the question of aid to ukraine, and further military spending, instead pivoting to talk about the southern border and that gave this runaway moment for nikki haley, the moment she could flex her muscle and expertise in foreign policy is the former un ambassador where then she said to the vic ramos farming had been taking a more isolationist approach, she said i think she and putin would be salivating at the thought of a president like you. so far, the runaway moment between any of them the fun punchy as to what moment was on the question of tech tech and calls to bennett with ramaswamy saying to hayley have you seen your daughter has signed up for it and then she said get my daughter's name out of your mouth calling him scum. his views more out of the mainstream so i think potentially he would find it more difficult to win over those american viewers watching tonight. irate those american viewers watching toni . ht. ~ . those american viewers watching toniaht. ~ . tonight. we are calling it the elehant tonight. we are calling it the elephant not _ tonight. we are calling it the elephant not in _ tonight. we are calling it the elephant not in the - tonight. we are calling it the elephant not in the big - tonight. we are calling it the elephant not in the big front| elephant not in the big front runnerformer president elephant not in the big front runner former president donald trump not at the debate but he in florida? he trump not at the debate but he in florida?— in florida? he is in florida and talk — in florida? he is in florida and talk about _ in florida? he is in florida and talk about counter- and talk about counter programming he is holding this rally about 30 minutes from here, it is a rally, he is courting the latino vote, 95% identifying their as latino and he came on stage at precisely 20 past eight, really trying to split the audience here, in terms of american viewership and attention.— terms of american viewership and attention. ., , , , and attention. helena humphreys therefore asked _ and attention. helena humphreys therefore asked as _ and attention. helena humphreys therefore asked as the _ and attention. helena humphreys therefore asked as the debate - therefore asked as the debate continues in miami stop thank you for your reporting. for my president trump may be the elephant in the room or not in miami but it is his daughter who was the centre of attention on wednesday, she told a court she could not remember the specifics about real estate deals that she worked on during her time at the family business. herfatherand business. her father and brothers donald business. herfatherand brothers donald trump business. herfatherand brothers donald trumer and brothers donald trump jr and eric brothers donald trumer and eric trump are accused of inflating the value of the properties to secure more favourable loans,. sine favourable loans,. she negotiated _ favourable loans,. she negotiated the - favourable loans,. she negotiated the loans l favourable loans,. 5ie: negotiated the loans under scrutiny in this case but even when prosecutors display to e—mails in court she claims that did not help jog her memory on the specific conversations we had with deutsche bank or other trump organization employees and her responses frustrated prosecutors. her demeanour smiling brightly and answering and even tones was a sharp contrast to her father's combative style. like her brothers she is seeking to distance herself from her father's financial statements and the methods used to calculate his assets. speaking of presidential _ calculate his assets. speaking of presidential offspring, - of presidential offspring, republicans have launched a summons against hunter biden the son of presidentjoe biden, the son of presidentjoe biden, the oversight committee also subpoenaed his brotherjames and the biden family associate rob walker. it is requesting transcribed interviews with five others, hoping their impeachment enquiry and sit timber said they had uncovered evidence of president biden's knowledge and role in his family members foreign and domestic business dealings. the white house accused them of using their power to conduct a smear campaign. before we go a quick round—up of some other items making news. 16 suspected members of a crime family have been charged with racketeering, extortion witness retaliation and fraud, the justice department says a 17 suspect is still at large, the gambino family is one of the five prominent new york area mafia syndicates known as larko is a no stress. the national zoo in washington had farewell to their three giant pandas on wednesday, the departure marks the first time in more than 50 years the nation �*s capital will not be home to any of the iconic animals, only four pandas remain in the us, all in atlanta, they are also scheduled to return to china, departing next year. thank you for watching, departing next year. thank you forwatching, i departing next year. thank you for watching, i will be back in 30 minutes, more on that republican debate in miami. stay with us right here, on bbc news. hello there. wednesday brought us some pretty big weather contrasts across the country. for the southeast of england, we have a persistent band of rain, it was raining for most of the day, bringing these rather grey skies, quite windy as well. most of the uk have actually managed to see something a bit brighter through the afternoon with some sunshine, shower clouds getting in here to northern ireland. and here are the showers on the radar picture from wednesday. the speckled shower clouds extend right out into the atlantic to near greenland. and all of those shower clouds are coming our way. so it is going to be quite an unsettled looking weather picture over the next few days, really. now, over the next few hours, a bit of rain crosses northern england, a few showers here and there. most of them will be across western areas. these are the kind of temperatures that you'll start off thursday with. so quite a chilly start to the day, cold enough for a nip of frost across northern scotland, mostly eastern scotland, central and eastern england, east wales starting off on a dry and sunny note, the showers across western areas. but as we go through the day, you could see an odd shower just about anywhere. they'll always be most frequent, though, towards wales and southwest england where they could merge to give some slightly longer spells of rain. and as well as that, it'll be quite windy around the coast, gusts of around 40, perhaps the low 50mph. now, friday is another kind of showery day, but this time the winds are generally coming in from a northwesterly direction. and that means the showers are going to tend to be draped around coastal areas. if you live away from the coast, you've got a much better chance of it being dry and sunny as well. temperatures running quite close to average for the time of year, about 8 to 11 degrees. now, as we head into the weekend, saturday looks all right. sunday, the big question mark isjust how quickly this band of rain comes in off the atlantic. at the moment saturday, the better of the two days of the weekend, plenty of sunshine around, maybe a few early morning mist and fog patches. but for the vast majority, it's a dry day. perhaps just one or two showers rolling in to the far northeast of scotland. temperatures not really changing too much, around 8 to 11 degrees celsius. the big question mark on sunday is just how quickly this band of rain gathers and moves in from the west. it might be a lot slower coming in. and if that happens, well, sunday could also be a dry day with plenty of sunshine around as well. so there's a bit of a question mark about sunday's forecast in terms of whether we do see that band of rain spreading its way in. a deal ending the strike. and fortescue turns green: how one mining tycoon is reinventing himself. hi, there. welcome to asia business report with me, mariko oi. we begin with some news in the last hour. the hollywood actors' union have reached a tentative agreement with studios to and strikes which have rocked the entertainment industry. actors, and before them, writers, demanded higher pay, costing the california economy some $6 billion. it lasted 118 days. we bring in our reporter who has been following the story. do we know anything about this agreement they have managed to reach? ., , , , ., reach? not yet because the deal still needs _ reach? not yet because the deal still needs to _ reach? not yet because the deal still needs to be _ reach? not yet because the deal still needs to be approved - reach? not yet because the deal still needs to be approved by - still needs to be approved by their board of the union. this is the sag union which represents a lot of the actors in hollywood, a lot of the actors that play smaller roles. we don't know the details of the agreement but we do know what those actors were demanding. you mentioned higher pat’- demanding. you mentioned higher pay. they say that streaming giants have been profiting ever since the streaming era started, the pay hasn't trickled down to the actors, the local level actors in