is clear and it is unwavering. hello, i am is clear and it is unwavering. hello, iam lucy is clear and it is unwavering. hello, i am lucy gray. is clear and it is unwavering. hello, iam lucy gray. lockim hello, i am lucy gray. lockim to verify live —— welcome to verify live. the armed wing of the palestinian group hamas says the youngest israeli hostage in gaza, ten—month—old baby, kfir bibas, as well as his four—year—old brother, ariel, and their mother, shiri, were killed in an israeli air strike on the gaza strip. israel said it is checking the claim, which the bbc has not yet been able to verify. the family are among the highest—profile civilian hostages yet to be freed. relatives had issued a special appeal for the family's freedom after the children and their parents were not included in the group freed on tuesday. a statement from the missing family form say the family have been informed of the claims and are waiting for the information to be confirmed and hopefully refuted by military officials. the idf also issued a statement saying that hamas issued a statement saying that hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages in the gaza strip. hamas must be held accountable, hamas's actions continue to endanger the hostages which include nine children. hamas must immediately release our hostages. live now to our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams, injerusalem. asi as i was saying there, paul, this family has been really high—profile in terms of the images of them being taken hostage, we have been shown so many times, over the past seven weeks, and they really have struck a chord with people there in israel and around the world.— chord with people there in israel and around the world. yeah. israelis have taken — and around the world. yeah. israelis have taken those _ and around the world. yeah. israelis have taken those two _ and around the world. yeah. israelis have taken those two little - and around the world. yeah. israelis have taken those two little boys - have taken those two little boys very much to their hearts and have started to pin very, very great hopes on their release. there was a vigil in tel aviv yesterday devoted entirely to the bibas family. as the number of children being held in gaza has dwindled, with each phase of the hostage releases, down to now just around eight, if you include two to have turned 18 in the course of their captivity, everyone clearly in israel was hoping that the two boys and their mother would be among those to walk free. we know that another group of hostages is on its way out of gaza tonight. we think that it includes a number of children, but unfortunately the bibas family are not on that list, and at the moment, but we know is that the israeli military is trying hard to verify this claim from hamas that said that all three of the mother in the two boys, were killed in an israeli air strike. they did not say when or where in their statements, butjust on monday, the israeli military put out a statement saying that he believed that hamas had handed the family onto another militant group in gaza and that they were being held in khan younis, which is in the far south of the gaza strip. so we don't have confirmation of this, but it is absolutely the news that many in israel have been dreading and hoping would not come true. find israel have been dreading and hoping would not come true.— would not come true. and 'ust in terms of the i would not come true. and 'ust in terms of the negotiations h would not come true. and just in terms of the negotiations about | would not come true. and just in i terms of the negotiations about the extension to the truce, the deadline is the end of today, isn't it? there have been some positive signs about the possible extension of that, haven't there?— the possible extension of that, haven't there? both sides have indicated that _ haven't there? both sides have indicated that they _ haven't there? both sides have indicated that they want - haven't there? both sides have indicated that they want to - haven't there? both sides have indicated that they want to see j haven't there? both sides have - indicated that they want to see this process continue. hamas put out a statement suggesting that they were interested in a four day extension, another four day truce. the interested in a four day extension, anotherfour day truce. the israelis don't like those extended periods. they think it gives hamas too much time and scope to reorganise, but israeli officials have said they would be interested in seeing further day by day exchanges, so there is apparently a willingness on both sides to see this continue. the israeli government, according to an agreement reached more than a week ago now, said that it would be willing to see that process go on until sunday, so that leaves several more days in which as many as 100 hostages in total might be freed. so thatis hostages in total might be freed. so that is the kind of mandate that the government has at the moment, beyond which any further extension would have to be the subject of a new agreement by the war cabinet, so there is still time left, the news, there is still time left, the news, the unconfirmed news about the bibas family, clearly is a terrible omen, and also hamas's statement tonight about events injenin, in which two palestinian children were killed, also suggests there is anger on the hamas side. so whether that means any of these negotiations are going to founder, we don't know yet. thank ou ve to founder, we don't know yet. thank you very much. _ to founder, we don't know yet. thank you very much, paul— to founder, we don't know yet. thank you very much, paul adams - to founder, we don't know yet. thank you very much, paul adams for - to founder, we don't know yet. thank you very much, paul adams for us . you very much, paul adams for us there injerusalem. earlier, i spoke to our security correspondent frank gardner about the talks in doha that focus on the temporary truce and hostage exchange. the talks have been going pretty well because both hamas and israel would like to see a temporary extension of the truce, because there are more hostages to come out, more than half those hostages seized on october the 7th are still in captivity in gaza. the problem is that hamas, which spearheaded those grisly raids on october the 7th, don't necessarily or did not really have a hand on whether they are being held. as paul adams mentioned there, there is more than one militant group in gaza, there is the palestinian islamichhad, the gates, and so on, so hamas which is during the negotiation for gaza as it were, for its part of the equation, is having to try and locate those hostages and get it under their wings so they can offer them to israel and say, look, here are ten more hostages. we would like another day of extension of the truce. there is a sort of growing voice in the israeli security and military establishments that are growing uneasy that every day that this truce lasts, it is going to make it harderfor them to resume theirfight against make it harderfor them to resume their fight against hamas, to try and crush its military capability, but certainly everybody in the region outside israel wants not only interest to extend but for it to turn into a permanent cease—fire. and there even indications the us and started to think that way too. yes, as we saw this tweet from president biden, saying that going down the path of violence and killing in war would be to give hamas what they seek, suggesting that there is a change of tone. is the pressured intojoe biden, do you think? i the pressured into joe biden, do you think? ~' the pressured into joe biden, do you think? ~ , , , , think? ithink it is, yes. he is caettin think? ithink it is, yes. he is getting pressure _ think? ithink it is, yes. he is getting pressure from - think? ithink it is, yes. he is getting pressure from underl think? i think it is, yes. he is i getting pressure from under two angles, his own party. the democratic party is very unhappy at the massive casualties inflicted on ordinary palestinian civilians. the figures of 13,000 plus people killed, 6000 children killed, these come from the hamas run health agency but they are largely supported by aid agencies, those are intolerably high figures for this campaign, and that is... he is under a bit of pressure domestically but also internationally. from america's allies in the region, from qatar, which hosts a massive us base, from saudi arabia, egypt, jordan — these are all friends of the united states in the region, and they are all telling washington, you've got to do more to restrain israel's actions in the gaza strip, and some countries, the gaza strip, and some countries, the saudi arabian others, have said the saudi arabian others, have said the un security council permanent members are not doing theirjob because they were the very quick for criticising russia for killing civilians in ukraine but not stricking israel. that is their view. when he put out that tweet, a lot of people seized on it and said, this looks like america's doing a 180 on this i'm having said it supported israel's opposition to a cease—fire hundred percent, now seems to be wavering. it is a bit ambiguous to be honest, because us officials have been backtracking on this sanctum the us supports israel, but behind the scenes we know that there is disquiet being expressed by there is disquiet being expressed by the americans to the israelis about the americans to the israelis about the level of civilian casualties, not only what has happened over the last of until the cease—fire, or up until the truce took hold, but what is going to happen next, because israel has made it clear that once the hostage releases are over, they are going to carry on with their results, they are going to intensify and they are going to move to the gaza strip. that is where 1.7 gaza strip. that is where1.7 million displaced gazans are currently crowded. how is israel going to protected those if it is carrying out a full—scale military campaign against hamas they are? it was israel telling them to go there, wasn't it? what about in the west bank? how concerning is that? it is concerning- — bank? how concerning is that? it is concerning. the _ bank? how concerning is that? it 3 concerning. the violence has been raising there for sometime, it predates october the 7th. the rising incidence of clashes between israeli settlers and palestinian residents of the villagers who have lived there for their lives, and in some cases clashes between palestinians and the idf, because of that rising violence, the israeli security establishment has thought on october the 6th, if they had to worry about anywhere, it was the west bank. gaza, we have got this, we got a billion—dollar wall in there, the iron law, we are safe, but they got that catastrophically wrong, but all the stuff that is been going on in gaza and it is horrific, what is going on there and what happened on october the 7th, the barbaric attacks against civilians in southern israel, that has all taken the spotlight off what is going on in the west bank, which is that there are a number of incidents of israeli settlers attacking palestinians and essentially trying to push them out of what they considered to bejudeo and samaria and with the rest of the road considers to be the west bank and the future palestinian state —— the rest of the world. there are reports the idf is simply standing back and not protecting those palestinians. at the same time they been caring out raids into palestinian areas, such asjenin, the refugee camp there, and there are undoubtedly some violent incidents by palestinians as well and the israeli forces have gone in looking for perpetrators, one of the depressing things about all of this is that as prisoners are released in exchange for hostages, more and more palestinian prisoners are simply going to be put into israeli jails and no one is really paying attention to the big, long—term problem, challenge, which is to find a solution for as —— israelis and palestinians live side by side, whether it is a two state solution or some form. they have both got a right to live there but under the current leadership, with hamas vowing to destroy israel and israel that when to crush hamas, it is very hard to see how there is a way forward at the moment. that is our security — a way forward at the moment. that is our security correspondent _ a way forward at the moment. that is our security correspondent frank - our security correspondent frank gardner there. the un chief says an estimated 45% of all homes in gaza have been damaged or destroyed. bbc verify has been analysing the latest satellite imagery to get a sense of the scale of the destruction. here's merlyn thomas. since the conflict began on october the 7th, almost 900,000 buildings in gaza may have been destroyed or severely damaged according to satellite images analysis. this is a snapshot of what the gaza strip looked like just before the humanitarian pots came into force. let's take a look at three specific examples. this one here, one near gaza city and one herejust examples. this one here, one near gaza city and one here just north of... this is the neighbourhood that ijust of... this is the neighbourhood that i just showed you. of... this is the neighbourhood that ijust showed you. the north of the gaza strip. and this is what it looked like before the israeli bombardment began. it is an image from may was to focus on this area. you can see just how densely populated this area is. all of these neat residential homes. and look, this is after. as you can see there is almost total destruction of buildings on the eastern side, and severe damagejust some buildings on the eastern side, and severe damage just some of those on the west. these really military also appeared to have cleared roads through here. —— b is really military. there are defensive positions where there were once green fields. there are also things you can also spot on sidelight imagery. on this image, near gaza city, we can see the symbol of the israeli flag, the star of david marked onto the ground. in this location appears to have been a park before the war. this is video we verified that very same location. as you can see their kids running around and playing. the israeli military said the park had been used by hamas as a parade square near a base. we have not been able to verify this. now that very same park looks like this. this is a video posted by the idf that we have geo— located to the very same spot. they have marked on that symbol that i showed you earlier, on the israeli flag, with their armoured vehicles. satellite imagery also gives us information about the israeli advance. this is what an area looks like before the war. have a look at the middle here where you can see the middle here where you can see the fields and the dotted houses around stuff and suddenly and after, you can see an access road built right the way through by the idf, and here there also some defensive banks and lots of armoured vehicles, in —— and there also appears to be a temporary military compound they have created. nearly eight weeks on since the war began, it is clear the israeli bombardment of gaza strip has caused widespread destruction. merlyn thomas there. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. an inquest has heard four teenagers drowned after their car overturned on a camping trip in north wales. jevon hirst, harvey owen, wilf fitchett and hugo morris were found in an overturned, partially submerged car in gwynedd on the 21st of november. a search was launched after the teenagers from shrewsbury failed to return home. new data suggests the rising cost of renting, and a fall in available properties, is causing families to move to smaller homes. campaigners are warning that the state of the market is also leaving older renters struggling with short term tenancies in their retirement. courts in england and wales could soon be sentencing fewer people to shorterjail terms and instead handing out more rehabilitative community sentences. new proposals from the sentencing councilfor the two home nations says judges and magistrates should be focusing more on reforming offenders. the plans also tell courts to think twice aboutjailing women because of the impact on children. you're live with bbc news. let us turn our attention to the war in ukraine. antony blinken says there's no sense of fatigue among nato members when it comes to supporting ukraine in its defence against russia. nato foreign ministers have been meeting for a second date to discuss the war as well as sweden's accession to the organisation. our reporter is in brussels and updated us on the nato meeting. the brussels and updated us on the nato meetinu. ., ., .., meeting. the main thing that came out of this nato _ meeting. the main thing that came out of this nato meeting _ meeting. the main thing that came out of this nato meeting today - meeting. the main thing that came l out of this nato meeting today was a strong message of support for ukraine. the us secretary of state into the blinken said that nato must and will continue supporting kyiv and will continue supporting kyiv and we also heard from yen stoltenberg, the secretary—general, who had a positive assessment of the war. he said president putin made several strategic mistakes and that russia is now weaker and it is losing influence. but there has been quite a lot of talk about ukraine fatigue, and there were concerns in brussels about us not being able to support ukraine while preoccupied with the middle east, so blinken was here today, used to this meeting to reassure nato allies that the us can handle two wars at the same time. now, in reality, there are 31 countries in nato, and not everybody agrees on how to continue supporting ukraine. some are frustrated because they were expecting kyiv to make, achieve, more territorial gains that they have not been able to achieve so far, and also you've got countries like hungary and slovakia that are not very keen on sending additional support for kyiv, but in spite of some internal division, nato today is very keen to project a strong message of unity and of unwavering support for ukraine. sofia bettiza there. the indian prime minister, narendra modi, has praised the courage and patience of the 41 construction workers rescued from a collapsed himalayan road tunnel after 17 days. there's been widespread relief in india after the men were extracted, following days of drilling through rock and debris. here's our south asia correspondent samira hussein, who told us more about what's happened. the 41 construction workers trapped in that tunnel were initially brought to this hospital here. it is a very small hospital, more like a medical clinic, so earlier today, they were actually taken by chinook helicopter to rishikesh, about a four hour drive away, and that has a much more major hospital, and there, the men will be under observation for the next 2a to 48 hours. this rescue operation was marred by technical difficulties and the realities on the ground that we are talking about a mountain that was continuing to shift, and the risk of any landslides was really high. now that the men are safely out, there are going to be a lot of questions, questions about whether this tunnel will still be constructed, given what happened and given the safety of the mountain. and if the tunnel is going to be constructed, will they be able to find construction workers that will be willing to do the work on that tunnel? and of course another question is going to be about safety. why is it that this tunnel did not have an emergency route being built simult