Hello. This is bbc news. We start with the latest on the israel gaza war. In the past hours, weve heard that the heads of the us and Israeli Security agencies have met to discuss the hostage situation. The Israeli Prime Ministers Office said the cia and mossad bosses met on friday in efforts to advance another hostage deal. In cypius, final preparations are being made for the first aid vessel to use the sea corridor to gaza. The un says a quarter of gazas population is on the brink of famine, and children are starving to death. This is the scene live in larnaca in cyprus where 200 tonnes of food and medical supplies have been loaded onto a barge. It will be towed by a Spanish Charity ship to gaza. The sea corridor is a joint operation between the eu, us, uk and united arab emirates, aiming to take supplies from cyprus to the gazan coast. This video shot today along the Israeli Border into gaza shows more aid being dropped. The parachutes carrying the boxes of supplies to the people of gaza. The us has confirmed that its troops conducted an Airdrop Into Northern Gaza today. Our correspondent wyre davies reports from jerusalem. In the cypriot port of larnaca, they have been working around the clock. The spanish ship, open arms, is preparing to tow a barge with 200 tonnes of food with medical aid all the way to gaza. Its a precarious, untested plan with obvious risks. Translation yes, we will tow this platform to gaza, where The Last Mile will be the most complicated operation. The disembarkation will be done on a pier that is being built right now by the world central kitchen. How the aid will be unloaded into gaza, where there is no port or functioning harbour, is not clear. Air drops and some Land Deliveries were often swamped by thousands of desperate, hungry people. Some aid agencies say that the plan is misguided and ineffective. The humanitarian crisis is worsening by the day. The un says there is a danger of famine, and children are already reported to be dying from malnutrition. All of this is happening because israel and hamas have been unable to agree a ceasefire that would have allowed more aid in by road through israel still the preferred, most effective route. And the fighting continues. A tower block in the Southern City of rafah was hit in an air strike overnight. And israel, despite growing International Pressure for a truce, says the Military Campaign is not yet over. Wyre davies reporting. In the last few minutes, weve received these pictures. Palestinians in gaza city receiving the aid after the airdrop of supplies. You can see there the parachutes that have the aid on them as that plane flies away. Us Central Command says it dropped the equivalent of 41,000 meals and 23,000 bottles of water into northern gaza. As you can see, the people there running as saw those suppliers were dropped from the air, those parachutes bringing it down slowly of course, last week we had reports that five people had been killed in another airdrop. You can see the smiles on those peoples faces as they managed to pick up one of those Aid Deliveries that has been dropped by air. The us said that the airdrops were part of a sustained effort to get aid into gaza and that they continue to plant more aerial deliveries, but as you can see, people out london that into cars and any other forms of transport that they have picking up those boxes and also you can see there sacks of wheat or Something Like that, flour, that they are using bicycles, carrying them on their shoulders. Those are the latest pictures we have that have come in of the aid dropped in by air into gaza. Lets speak to sir stephen 0brien, former un under secretary general for humanitarian affairs. Thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. How do you think this maritime corridor will work . There will be a lot of supplies desperately needed by the people in gaza plea positioned in cyprus insecure compounds, there are a number of military bases not least our unaware that can be done, they will be loaded onto ships, i gather is one that has been on its way, thatll be test the maritime route. As you know, they are not only is really ports, but up and so where a russian fleet is stationed, people are not going to object to the passage of the ship to get to the gaza coast which has been blockaded for decades by israel, so it has not been an access point in the past for any suppliers for people in gaza. There are plenty of beaches which are quite soft gradients, a bit like are quite soft gradients, a bit like a hovercraft could to land on the beach, so you can imagine how a Temporary Port or a long strong first match can be built and that would be able to take ships of medium tonnage in to dock, make sure it is wide and Strong Enough for lorries to be loaded straight from the shipped either by the ships trains are by cranes positioned on the dock, so you are the number of transfers of goods into the vehicles, then they can be taken straight off. So thatll be the way it works, and the significant thing about this as it is additional, the main thing is to try to press for more and more Road Transport through the rafah crossing and others dont like other crossings. The main scope for humanitarian aid still has to beat by land, but the maritime, there will be very important, i am sure we will stand it up pretty quickly. D0 sure we will stand it up pretty cuickl. , ~ w quickly. Do you think the fact that the uk, us. Quickly. Do you think the fact that the uk, us. Eu quickly. Do you think the fact that the uk, us, eu and quickly. Do you think the fact that the uk, us, eu and uae quickly. Do you think the fact that the uk, us, eu and uae are quickly. Do you think the fact that i the uk, us, eu and uae are having to do this maritime route is a sign that International Pressure on israel to get more aid in by road has failed . I israel to get more aid in by road has failed . Israel to get more aid in by road has failed . I dont think so much failed, clearly has failed . I dont think so much failed, clearly we has failed . I dont think so much failed, clearly we have has failed . I dont think so much failed, clearly we have to has failed . I dont think so much failed, clearly we have to keep i failed, clearly we have to keep pressing for a lot more and a lot more urgently, but the time it takes to inspect the goods going through the crossings obviously leads to a bit of a delay, the distribution once you get inside, the scale of aid which is ready and prepared in the warriors queueing up in egypt is probably fairly adequate. The issue is in terms of the maritime aid, it is in terms of the maritime aid, it is going to be that you can have enough to make a difference, particularly to those areas to the north, the river channel, and then on northern gaza, where lots of people are still in grave distress and peril, he did not move to rafah in the south, and the whole thing is very difficult to manage, where you have got continuing bombardments both from land based and air base missiles, and when you have got a Distribution System which is probably the most effective, which is causing people to worry about it, and where you have got such desperate people, you have to try to make sure that the people who are distributing, whether they are un officials or agencies or ngos or Civil Society organisations, are themselves protected. It is very difficult to get some of these vehicles, to get access, so you can see the challenges, particularly where the eu, the uk, the us, in making this approach, are not going to put any boots on the ground, and i can understand that. That said, have a a big difference, because it is interesting and important that israel has said we will not object to this proposal which President Biden has articulated about putting up biden has articulated about putting up a Temporary Port, a long pier, as i would put it, and to make sure that there is at least going to be that there is at least going to be that access granted, however difficult it might be to get it in. Thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. Those live pictures again, this is the vessel we are talking about, 200 tonnes of food being put onto that vessel. It is hoping that that will head to gaza this weekend. We are to keep an eye on that and let you know. Now, these are pictures of a demonstration in tel aviv, an Anti Government demonstration, taking place in a tel aviv now. Every saturday since the 7th Of October, supporters and families of 0ctober, supporters and families of the hostages of the hostages have been a rallying in tel aviv, they are demanding that the Israeli Government do more to get the hostages taken out of gaza, so these are the scenes in tel aviv where you can see a number of israeli flags flying, an Anti Government demonstration in the centre of tel aviv that is there at the moment. As i said, every saturday, we have seen friends and relatives of the hostages that are held in gaza since the 7th Of October attacks, colin from ought to be done to release them. We will keep an eye on those pictures as well. Here in the uk, thousands of people have joined a pro palestinian rally in london, tenth major demonstration in the capital sum to the 7th Of October attacks on israel. 0n capital sum to the 7th Of October attacks on israel. On friday, the uk government. It is the tenth major demonstration in the capital since the seventh 0ctober attacks by hamas on israel. On friday, the uk governments counter extremism commissioner, robin simcox, said weekends in london had become a no go zone for dues. 0ur correspondent Louisa Pilbeam sent this report from central london. Well, were at the concluding part of the march here just outside the us embassy. I must say that when we were with the start of the march, there were thousands of people which was significantly lower than in previous weeks. I have been here and witnessed the numbers which are very, very large numbers of people. But being here along the way, Tens Of Thousands of people, i would say, are here now. And as you mentioned, the governments anti extremism commissioner, he has spoken about the fact that what during these marches it is a no go zone, as he put it, forjewish people to come into central london. Now, when i spoke to the organiser of this march and put those comments to him, lets have a listen to what he had to say in response. I think his remarks are disgraceful. One of the things he ignores is that on every single march, youll see it again today, we have a block of members of Thejewish Community, usually about 3,000 strong, who march with us. If there are members of Thejewish Community who feel afraid, then possibly that is something to do with hearing people say things like, these are hatemongers, these are islamist mobs, these are people chanting genocidal chants, where the reality, as you will see, is these are people from all walks of life, young and old, from many, many backgrounds who are here marching for peace. And as the police themselves have said, these marches are overwhelmingly peaceful. It is very loud down here. They are very vocal. But i must say that in response to those comments you just heard from the organizer, we have seen groups ofjewish people and from jewish organisations here, and they have said that they feel comfortable being here. The organiser also said that he feels that in response to policing numbers, there are around 1,500 police from across the country policing this kind of event week after week. Upwards of £25 million has been spent since the first couple of months since the 7th Of October hamas attacks on israel. And the organiser feels that this is overpoliced in his words. He said he feels that that actually creates a sense of anticipation of trouble. And i have to say that it has been very well organised from what i have witnessed, and its very peaceful, a very calm atmosphere down here. Lets turn to another element of the crisis in the middle east the threat to global trade because of attacks In The Red Sea. The us military says its ships and aircraft have shot down more than a dozen drones In The Red Sea after coming under what it called a sustained attack by iranian backed houthi forces in yemen. British forces were also involved in that operation. On saturday the uk defensc secretary grant shapps tweeted a video that he said showed hms richmond using its sea ceptor missiles to shoot down two houthi drones. He said, the uk and its allies will continue to take the action necessary to save lives and protect freedom of navigation. With more, heres david waddell. The singapore registered propel fortune is the latest commercial ship to be targeted by the houthi movement. The bulk carrier departed india just under two weeks ago, with her automatic Identification System signalling that she was not connected to israel supposedly to deter this kind of attack from yemen. The uk Maritime Trade Organisation said the captain reported no Collateral Damage to the ship and that she was bound for her next port. These attacks have been ongoing since october, both In The Red Sea and in the gulf of aden, causing many commercial ships, both freighters and passenger liners, to divert around the cape of good hope. This attack took place about 50 nautical miles south of the port of aden. Heres the houthi description of what happened. Translation yemens naval forces. And the air force carried out two l specific military operations. The first targeted the American Ship propel fortune in the gulf of aden, with a number of suitable naval missiles. While the second targeted a number of american destroyers at the red sea and the gulf of aden with 37 drones and the two operations successfully achieved their goals. So the Second Attack was focused on us warships which have gathered in the region in greater numbers since the red sea crisis began, led by the uss dwight d eisenhower. Us Central Command said that us naval ships and aircraft shot down 15 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles early in the morning. They regard this large scale attack is an ongoing imminent threat to merchant vessels, the us navy and coalition ships in the region. In the past few minutes, the us Central Command has issued an update saying us and Coalition Forces downed at least 28 uncrewed aerial vehicles or drones In The Red Sea between between about 4. 00am and 8. 20am local time. They added that no us or Coalition Navy vessels were damaged in the attack and that no commercial ships reported damage. Theres been another mass kidnapping in nigeria the third in just over a week. Armed men abducted 15 students from their school in the Northwestern State of sokoto in the early hours of saturday. Four women were also taken. There is already a major search for almost 300 students who were abducted by armed men on thursday. The Nigerian Army is leading the hunt for those children, who were abducted from the North West Town of kuriga in kaduna state. Reports say students between the ages of 8 and 15 were taken, along with a teacher. The abductions have been blamed on a Breakaway Faction of the militant Islamist Group boko haram. And about 200 people were abducted in borno state on february 29. Victims of kidnappings usually pay a ransom to secure their freedom. A controversial law passed in 2022 made it a crime to make ransom payments, with a potentialjail sentence of at least 15 years. But many victims feel they have no choice but to pay. Our west africa Correspondent Mayenijones has more. Details are still trickling in. It happened very early in the morning, around 1am. Local Media Reports say that armed men stormed the area and carted away these 15 students, who were running towards their dormitories, as well as four women. Meanwhile, as you mentioned in your introduction, this search for the 300 schoolchildren, almost 300 schoolchildren that were taken on thursday is ongoing. 28 of them managed to escape but the armed forces, joined by the police and local hunters, are still combing the forests of the state of kaduna, as well as neighbouring zamfara and katsina, looking for them. And families must be desperate for news. Absolutely. The families themselves have joined in the search, they are visiting neighbouring communities, trying to find out if they have any information at all. And when the authorities visited the day of the attacks, they told them that they felt abandoned, that there was not enough security in their community, that they wanted a Police Station there. Its an area of the country that is particularly susceptible to kidnappings for ransom. There are a number of gangs who oper