hello and a very warm welcome to bbc news, i mark lowen live from southern israel overlooking gaza, where the united nations says a lack of fuel means aid cannot be brought into the gaza strip from egypt. the relief agency for palestinian says they are almost begging for fuel and should never have been put into that situation. the un says an urgent shipment of fuel is needed, as is the resumption of the telecommunications network. also in gaza, the israeli military raided the strip�*s largest hospital al—shifa this week, but prime minister benjamin netanyahu told cbs news there was no gunfight at the hospital because hamas leaders had left shortly before the israeli army had arrived. israel says there is a hamas command centre at the site, but hasn't yet provided conclusive evidence. mr netanyahu also said hostages could have been moved from the hospital. violence, too, in the occupied west bank, the other part of the palestinian territories not controlled by hamas. the israeli army says its troops killed five gunmen there in a raid in the city ofjenin. several palestinian news sources say israeli soldiers entered the city's ibn sina hospital. and the city's ibn sina hospital. and the israeli army says it has recovered the remains of a soldier held by hamas his death the military had announced early in the week. the idf says the body of noa marciano was recovered from a structure adjacent to al—shifa hospital. our middle east correspondent yolande kneu middle east correspondent yolande knell now reports from jerusalem. the first evidence of a tunnel at al—shifa hospital, israel's army says, but not the vast underground hamas command centre which it had said was hidden under the building. hamas and medics deny that's here. an israeli soldier also shows a haul of weapons said to have been found in the compound. we can't independently verify this footage. hundreds of palestinians, including newborn babies, remain trapped at the hospital without power. meanwhile, the body of yehudi weiss was found in a house nearby, israel's military says. she was one of about 240 hostages snatched by hamas on the 7th of october. they'd believed more were here. we had strong indications that they were held in the shifa hospital, which is one of the reasons we entered the hospital. if they were, they were taken out. we have intelligence about the hostages. meanwhile, in southern gaza, where most of the strip�*s population was told by israel to take refuge, conditions are increasingly dire and israel's told tens of thousands more people to move from their homes and shelters, as it looks to expand its offensive here. translation: you want me to introduce myself? - i have nothing to say. i'm a citizen, like other citizens who fled south. they asked us, the citizens of gaza, to go to the south. we went to the south. now they're asking us to leave. where do we go? we want to understand where exactly we should go. for the first time in the war, this week, israel allowed a small amount of fuel into gaza for un vehicles, but not for telecoms firms, hospitals or water and sewage pumping. un officials warned they can't work. if the fuel does not come in, people will start to die because of the lack of fuel. now, exactly as from when, i don't know, but it will be rather soon than later. and the un says that from today, no humanitarian aid will be able to enter gaza from the rafah crossing because of the lack of fuel. six weeks into this brutal war, there's no end in sight and the humanitarian catastrophe is deepening. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. yolande knell with the latest from the ground in gaza. i spoke to former british—israeli idf soldier alex moeller. he also has experience in an idf anti—terror unit. i asked what kind of challenges the idf will be facing as they search through al—shifa hospital and about the kind of evidence they're trying to find. so the idf are trying to balance the number—one directive of getting to the hamas leaders and taking them out as they've set themselves that goal, which is the ultimate idea of the campaign. but of course, they're very sensitive to the building itself being booby—trapped, to the tunnels themselves being packed with explosives ever since the leadership fled, as you just mentioned. plus, you have to consider that israel is very sensitive to civilian casualties and are trying to prevent that at every cost. and so it's quite obvious at the moment that there's an ongoing challenge, or a balance, between these agendas, in order to ultimately reach their goal. and amidst that challenge, of course, the pressure to some extent is on the israelis to provide the kind of video and photographic evidence of this network of underground tunnels and command centres that they have been claiming not just for several weeks, but for years, actually calling, it a hamas headquarters. the israeli defence minister calling it the "beating heart of hamas". what's your assessment of how the images that have come out so far meet those expectations? i can tell you it's being very well reported in israeli media, on various telegram channels. the enormous efforts that the israelis and specifically the israeli idf spokesman is making to show, first of all, the use of civilians and the use of hospitals by hamas. and that ultimate balance. it's not necessarily being reported around the world sufficiently, i would say. these efforts are paramount to understanding that the israelis are really quite keen to complete this process, but minimise civilian casualties and obviously minimise humanitarian impact. alex, as we were talking, a very loud israeli airstrike, which you may be able to pick out there in the distance. that is the area of beit hanoun, in northern gaza, that continues to see relentless airstrikes. you can see the smoke billowing up there in the air. let me just ask you, there was, of course, an outpouring of sympathy for israel in the wake of the october the 7th attacks, almost 240, of course, israeli hostages still being held, some 1,200 israelis killed by hamas, the deadliest attack in israel's history. the sense now that the sympathy has begun to wane in some circles as the casualty figures continue to rise on the ground. what is your sense of how much longer israel has, in terms of the continuation of this military operation, before the calls for a ceasefire just become too overwhelming to ignore? so i think the sympathy was obviously there for obvious reasons, and then it waned because that is simply the nature of these things. it's human nature. let's not forget that israel went to war with a very clear objective — to rid the gaza strip of hamas. and a ceasefire now would be not just detrimental, it would be, in fact, a disaster. you'd probably, we would probably be losing more soldiers and more palestinian lives if there was a ceasefire now. as an ex—soldier, i can tell you that the request on behalf of hamas for ceasefire is a tactical request. i would not regard it as a sincere, sincerely in line with humanitarian cause. it's notjust a request on the part of hamas. i mean, it's a request on the part of, of course, regional leaders here, but also, increasingly, international leaders. i mean, the un security council passing a motion yesterday for calling for an extended cessation of violence, so that humanitarian aid can get in. and i appreciate that. but if you do look at the numbers, first of all, there haven't been large civilian casualties in the past few days because the air strikes have pretty much stopped to allow the idf to operate. it is unfortunate, every single death, but it's not on the scale that it was. and in the meantime, we are gaining ground and are going to be achieving our goal within the next few weeks if we don't get stopped. and i want to remind you, mark, that in 2014, when hamas asked for a humanitarian pause in the fighting, they used that to snatch two israeli soldiers, who were then killed within 2a hours. and so we understand that a pause in the fighting or a humanitarian need is one thing, but how it is used actually quite cynically by hamas and implemented is something else. and it would be a disaster for the idf to stop now, literally costing lives to both sides. and just briefly, alex, i understand that you have a lot of contacts in the west bank as well. what is your sense of once this is all over, whenever that happens, the possibility of a single, unified palestinian authority governing from the west bank to gaza, given the opposition that there is in the west bank to hamas? no doubt it's going to be a challenge. i think that the ultimate status quo is based on the commercial ties and the ability for israelis and palestinians to work together, which they have done. let me remind you that up until the war, mark, you had figures of hundreds of thousands of palestinian workers coming in from the west bank daily, making a living and leading good lives, and quite a considerable amount from the gaza strip as well. that would be one basis of an ongoing, or a new reality for both sides. no—one knows exactly what it will look like and who will manage it, but i hope that if we at least manage to empower the right people and the arab world as well, we could see a better future. it's inevitable that that should be the case. alex moeller serving with the israeli defense forces. these pictures coming in from the funeral of 19—year—old noa marciano, the israeli female soldier whose body was recovered yesterday by israeli forces close to al—shifa hospital in gaza. she is being laid to rest in modelling, which is close to jerusalem. 19—year—old noa marciano who was serving at an israeli base overrun by hamas on the 7th of october, the funeral huge attention and she was the first, first female soldier who was recovered from gaza by the israeli troops. and her mother has been quoted as saying, our pain has become israel's pain. so much pain, so much trauma on both sides of this conflict, of this intractable conflict which we will continue to bring you from here in southern israel, from gaza and the wider region. go to our live page for continuous updates from our teams across the middle east. but for now, i will hand you back to frank in london. thank you, mark and we will continue our coverage from the middle east with mark and our colleagues around the region throughout the uk. around the region throughout the uk. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. now let's look at other stories making the news. retailers blame the cost of living in poor weather for people buying less fuel. the volume of products sold last month fell by 0.3% to the lowest level since february 2021 — when large parts of the country were in covid lockdowns. two twelve—year—old boys are due to appear before birmingham magistrates�* court today — charged with the murder of a nineteen—year—old man in wolverhampton. shawn seesahai was stabbed to death on monday evening. the boys have also been charged with possession of a bladed article. they cannot be publicly named because of their age. the uk government says an eight—billion pound fund will be made available to councils in england over the next decade to help tackle potholes. the transport secretary, mark harper, said motorists would immediately see improvements in road conditions. councils, on the other hand, say the cost of repairing local roads was closer to £14 billlion. you're live with bbc news. the uk government is planning emergency legislation to bypass this week's supreme court ruling that sending asylum seekers to rwanda was unlawful. the policy was supposed to deter people crossing the english channel in small boats. but would the plan actually stop people from trying to reach the uk? sofia bettiza travelled to dunkirk, from where thousands of people leave for britain. in calais and dunkirk, volunteers prepare a hot meal, and bring it here — the largest camp for migrants in northern france. for many of them, this will be their only meal of the day. the hours drag here. every day, they wait, hoping for good weather so they can cross the english channel. and how will you get to the uk? by boat. nothing anything else. we don't have any other way. we all know about the danger, risk. we know about everything, but we must go there. everyone here told us there's no way that the threat of being sent to rwanda is going to stop them. the living conditions in camps like these are so grim that they just want to get away as fast as they can. and it's taken them months of travelling to get here. they are so close to reaching the uk, they'rejust not going to give up. lamin, from gambia, is a manchester united fan. it took him four years to get to france. if the uk were to send people back to rwanda, would that stop you trying to get to the uk? for me, never. for me, since i was young, i always dreamed to be in the uk, you know. this is a lucrative business. local ngos told us these camps are entirely run by people smugglers. people pay 1,000, people pay 2,000, 3,000 — it's very, very expensive. some people, even if they say 5,000, they will pay because they want to reach the uk. the french authorities are cracking down on people smugglers. they've arrested 272 people this year, but small boats continue to set off all—year round. what would it take to stop illegal crossings on small boats — safe routes? we know that it can happen because if i'm not wrong, it happened when there was the war between ukraine and russia. so many humanitarian visas were created for ukrainian refugees. so we know that there are solutions. but solutions require political will, and that's not the focus of the british government right now. the objective is to deter more people from making the journey. sofia bettiza, bbc news, dunkirk. the turkish president recep tayyip erdogan is making a state visit to germany, he will make the chancellor of olaf scholz in berlin, as well as the german president. some german opposition parties have called for the trip to be cancelled because of mr erdogan�*s stance on the conflict in gaza. let's get more on this on this, our correspondent is in berlin. president erdogan is a very controversial figure berlin. president erdogan is a very controversialfigure in berlin. president erdogan is a very controversial figure in germany, especially following some of the recent comments on the war in the middle east. we understand he is imminently due in the country, how is that trip being received and may be more importantly managed by german politicians?— german politicians? well, i think it's probably _ german politicians? well, i think it's probably a — german politicians? well, i think it's probably a certain _ german politicians? well, i think it's probably a certain amount. german politicians? well, i think it's probably a certain amount of| it's probably a certain amount of nervousness within the german government because there a worry that president erdogan, known to be quite unpredictable in his public engagements, could say something which would be controversial and make life very difficult for chancellor scholz because as you say, germany and turkey, or the german government and turkish government, both have opposing views really on the conflict in the middle east. germany, support for israel, israel security is non—negotiable. that of course is because of germany's historical responsibility and guilt over the holocaust, it seems a founding principle in the modern state to support israel. for turkish president erdogan, it is quite the opposite situation. over the past few weeks, he has been increasingly critical of israel, with some pretty controversial comments which are seen here as in some cases anti—semitic. he has accused israel of being a fascist state and really refused also to condemn the hamas atrocities of october the 7th. all of that is unacceptable for the german government. at this meeting is still going ahead really, albeit on a pared down programme. there is no public speaking engagements, no cheering crowds, and that is because i think chancellor scholz and the german government are really hoping president erdogan won't say anything too controversial or critical of israel because then, the german government would have to react and then of course, that creates a rift between germany and turkey, two very important economic partners and partners within nato and also partners within nato and also partners when it comes to all sorts of deals such as having to negotiate dealing with migration to the eu via turkey. so this is seen as a difficult visit. president erdogan has even called it a difficult part very often, but a necessary one because these countries have to deal with each other in order to solve all sorts of global issues really or at least try to come to some sort of agreement when it comes to various crises hitting the world at the moment. ., ~ , ., crises hitting the world at the moment. ., ~' , ., , crises hitting the world at the moment. ., ~ , ., , ., moment. you keep mentioning it is a difficult trip- — moment. you keep mentioning it is a difficult trip. these _ moment. you keep mentioning it is a difficult trip. these are _ moment. you keep mentioning it is a difficult trip. these are two _ difficult trip. these are two countries on opposite sides of a number of issues. but the two countries really do need each other, they really do need to work together. do we know what exactly is on the meeting agenda, what is going to be discussed in what you have described is the shop meetings? i think one of the key issues will be migration. —— short meetings. there was a very effective from what many people described as very effective migration deal to stem the flow of asylum seekers to germany. that was asylum seekers to germany. that was a deal in which the eu gave substantial amounts of money to turkey in orderfor substantial amounts of money to turkey in order for turkey to take back asylum seekers back to turkey who were trying to get into the eu. most of germany, most of germany's asylum seekers who have come via turkey, and i think what the german government wants because migration is such a top pick —— big topic here with high numbers of migrants and refugees coming to germany at the moment, the german government wants to reinvigorate that deal with turkey. also, the economy is of key importance here. for many german businessmen who want to come to germany and for the german economy, for the turkish economy with german trade is very important, gemma business is very important, it is very hard for german business leaders to get visas to even come to germany. so there are lots of pragmatic issues. they are all tied to this migration debate because i think what we are seeing increasingly is as far as the economy goes, trade, migration, germany and turkey are interlinked. and without good relations, things do start breaking down. and of course, you have a huge turkish diaspora here, 3 million people in germany of turkish heritage, half of them can still vote in turkey, so for president erdogan, it is also about talking to potential voters. so you have lots of deep ties between the two countries. but as i say, over the years, sometimes quite rocky relationships. i’m say, over the years, sometimes quite rocky relationships.— rocky relationships. i'm afraid we're just _ rocky relationships. i'm afraid we're just going _ rocky relationships. i'm afraid we're just going to _ rocky relationships. i'm afraid we're just going to have - rocky relationships. i'm afraid we're just going to have to . rocky relationships. i'm afraid | we're just going to have to cut rocky relationships. i'm afraid - we're just going to have to cut out of that, there are some technical issues. but we will be bringing you live here on bbc news the latest as president erdogan does arrive in germany for what will be some very difficult talks. let's move on now. formula one drivers are facing a long night as they prepare for the first las vegas grand prix. the race has been riddled with problems that has seen practice sessions delayed. and some cars suffering major damage because of loose drain covers on the street circuit. i spoke to formula 1journalist chris medland, who told us more about what's been happening. in one sense, what's happened here with the failure with the drain covers being pulled up, it's happened before. it's happened in azerbaijan about four years ago, in monaco more recently. and if the cars get more and more performant, they do actually suck things like drain covers up from the ground. they do try to chill them, these were cemented down, but that cement failed and it fell out. now, in a sense, you only really find out when a formula 1 car runs over it, there's nothing else comparable. so everything's done in the attempt to make sure it wouldn't happen, but the issue here has been that when it did happen, it happened and caused huge damage to two cars, so whole new chassis had to be replaced on carlos sainz�*s car and esteban ocon�*s. but tests were done yesterday on the track. just again, unless you're in an f1 car in it, you're not going to find out. but then the knock—on effect because of the time zone here, they were running, the second practice session was meant to be midnight to 1am, it's all been pushed back, that's been really damaging and really disruptive. but fans have been asked to leave the circuit because staff couldn't be kept here all night. so there's going to be no—one really watching it here, which has not gone down well locally, i can tell you that. but the second practice session has been extended by half an hour to try and make up for lost time earlier. so in a sense, the team shouldn't lose out for too much running, as long as the tracks hold up now and the repairs that have been done have been done to the right standard. it will mean a very late finish, we're going to be looking ata 4am local time finish for what should have been 1am, but the rest of the schedule is currently unchanged. so itjust means a shorter night for everyone and get back and do practice and qualifying tomorrow. president biden said talks with xi jinping would provide stability for the region and the world. the us and china agreed on resuming high—level communication. however, the leaders are still at odds over taiwan, with president xi calling it the biggest and most dangerous issue in bilateral ties. beijing considers part of its territory while the us maintains unofficial relations with taiwan is a democratically self—governing island. a democratically self-governing island. ,. ,, ., , ., a democratically self-governing island. ,. , ., ., island. our discussions have all was bein: island. our discussions have all was being handed _ island. our discussions have all was being handed and _ island. our discussions have all was being handed and constructive. - island. our discussions have all was being handed and constructive. i. being handed and constructive. i again emphasise to president xi that the united states does not seek conflict. and yesterday, we announced resumption of military to military communication channels to reduce the risk of accidental miscalculation. president biden. do head to our website to find out anything on any more of the stories we are covering today and the ongoing conflict in the middle east. you can also access those via the bbc news app and you can contact me. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it looks like being a pretty good day for most of us today. the weather is going to change in time for the weekend, mind you, but for the rest of the day, a lot of dry weather to come. the showers in the west continuing to fade away and there will be some spells of sunshine, as well. but if we look at the satellite picture, you can see all this cloud here in the atlantic, that's spilling its way towards the uk and will bring very different weather overnight and into saturday. the cloud already beginning to push into the south—west of england, wales, later towards northern ireland, but ahead of that through the afternoon, plenty of sunshine around. it should be dry. temperatures making double figures in england and wales. still a bit chilly in the north—east of scotland and, here, there could be an early frost, but early because the cloud is coming in from the south—west. that's bringing rain. it will bring some stronger winds and push the temperatures up, as well. some quite heavy rain, actually, for a while over the moors of the south—west, the hills of south wales. these are the temperatures by the end of the night, so a very mild start to the weekend. but things are going to look very different from today because we've got this weather front bringing the rain. it's wrapped around that area of low pressure. that's also bringing in some stronger winds, but it's actually bringing in air all the way from the tropics and that's why it's going to be so mild to start the weekend. but a cloudy start, with some rain around. still some heavy bursts of rain here and there. you see how it slowly pushes down towards the south—east, up towards north—eastern scotland. away from these areas, we should get some sunshine after the rain. showers, though, coming into northern ireland and particularly western scotland. those could be quite heavy. it will be pretty windy out there, as well. we're likely to have gales through the irish sea and around some western coasts, but it is very mild air, so temperatures could reach 15, possibly even 16 degrees, along the south coast of england. with that weather front and the band of rain out of the way for the second half of the weekend, we've still got that area of low pressure close by and it still could have around it some thicker cloud, some showers or some longer spells of rain, mainly for the northern half of the uk, where it's not quite so windy. further south, the winds are certainly going to be strong, but at least there will be some sunshine outside of those showers and, whilst not quite as mild, temperatures still are going to be 13 degrees. the wind direction changes early next week to more of a north or north—westerly, bringing in a lot of cloud to start next week, but also dropping the temperatures for a while. uk retail sales drop to a two year low as the rising cost of living keeps shoppers away. we're going to need a bigger box! amazon to start selling hyundai cars as part of a partnership with the south korean automaker. welcome to world business report. we start in the uk, where the latest figures on the economy point towards cost—of—living pressures that are starting to bite. retail sales unexpectantly dropped in october by 0.3% to the lowest level since february 2021 when large parts of the uk were still in covid lockdowns. many had predicted a rise last month on the back of a drop in september, which was put down to warm weather putting off winter shoppers. not sure the same can be said for october. so what's going on? joining me now is victoria scholar, head of investment at interactive investor.