in hamas�*s internal security force during a raid on gaza's biggest hospital. the military also made dozens of arrests in al—shifa hospital in gaza city. palestinian health officials said a number of people were injured in the raid, but they could not be helped because of the intensity of gunfire. it comes as a new report backed by the un says famine is expected between now and may in the north this of the gaza strip. here's anna foster. gunfire. gunfire rings out in a street near gaza's biggest hospital. inside it, medics are still working and patients are still being treated. for months, hundreds of displaced palestinians have used the compound for shelter. israel called its operation a targeted mission, saying it used caution and care. hamas accused israel of acting against all international laws. the idf is conducting a high—precision operation in limited areas of al—shifa hospital, following concrete intelligence that demanded immediate action. we know that senior hamas terrorists have regrouped inside the al—shifa hospital and are using it to command attacks against israel. the israel defence forces released these pictures, saying they show its troops under fire. it's a short clip which doesn't confirm the time or sequence of events. international medics who have worked in gaza say their colleagues need to be protected. i do not believe the idf have provided any credible evidence since october 7th, and indeed, before then, that these hospitals were being used as hamas command centres. i have been in al—shifa hospital on many occasions. i have spoken to people i have known for many years who work there and i do not believe there is any evidence to suggest that. this morning, people have been told to evacuate the area around al—shifa to ensure their safety. moving isn't easy after more than five months of war. there still isn't anywhere near enough aid getting into gaza. the un has warned of a looming famine. when the leaders of israel and germany met yesterday, the need to help starving civilians in gaza was high on the agenda. much more humanitarian aid is needed, continuously and reliably. i shared my concerns with the prime minister that the provision of aid from israel into gaza and the conditions for distribution must be urgently and massively improved. talks on a humanitarian ceasefire in gaza are due to resume today. in qatar, mediators will again try to negotiate a deal that both israel and hamas can agree to, but against that backdrop, a military ground offensive in gaza's southern city of rafah is still looming. half the population has been displaced to there, and there is strong pressure on israel to protect them. our goal in eliminating the remaining terrorist battalions in rafah goes hand—in—hand with enabling the civilian population to leave rafah. it's not something that we will do while keeping the population locked in place. in fact, we will do the very opposite. it's hard to predict which will come first — a new ground attack or a ceasefire deal. another overwhelming uncertainty for gaza's desperate population. anna foster. let's continue with that final point. speaking a short time ago, the un secretary—general, antonio gutteres, warned that gaza is on the brink of famine. the latest report on food insecurity in gaza is an appalling indictment of conditions on the ground for civilians. the world's leading experts on food insecurity clearly document that famine in the northern part of gaza is imminent. more than half of all palestinians in gaza — 1.1 million people — have completely exhausted their food supplies and are facing catastrophic hunger, according to the report. palestinians in gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering. this is the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the integrated food security classification system anywhere, anytime. this is an entirely man—made disaster, and the report makes clear that it can be halted. our correspondent mark lowen is injerusalem. he talked to me a little while ago and told me more about the difficulties of getting aid into gaza. i mean, israel has consistently restricted the delivery, the overland, the land delivery, the ground delivery, if you like, of humanitarian aid, since this conflict erupted in october. now, israel has accused hamas of disrupting aid and also said un bodies have failed to distribute aid on the ground, but we have had countless reports about how israel has performed extremely cumbersome checks on trucks as they were trying to come in, it has limited the number of entry points for trucks to get into gaza and so we know that the criticism internationally has been absolutely directed at israel. you heard there antonio guterres from the un pointing his finger very much at israel, saying that this is a man—made disaster. today the eu's foreign policy chief, josep burrell, said israel was using starvation as a weapon of war. i think the message today has been extremely stark and extremely terrifying, but in effect gazans are starving to death. mark, last week we had that stinging speech from chuck schumer in the us. this afternoon we are expecting the first phone call between biden and netanyahu since that speech. it is going to be pretty tense, isn't it? very much so, it is a very much acrimonious relationship at the moment. chuck schumer in effect calling for benjamin netanyahu's replacement last week, calling him "an obstacle to peace" and saying that israel would not be able to exist as a pariah. then he was backed, chuck schumer, by president biden. incidentally, chuck schumer is the highest ranking jewish official in the biden administration and an avowed friend of israel, so he was trying to make the distinction between criticising israel and criticising this government, which is not something that the israeli government takes well. and then president biden seemed to endorse that, which was actually extraordinary. benjamin netanyahu came out today and said that he absolutely rejected american criticism. he suggested that american criticism of his government was aimed at domestic political reasons in the us, meaning shoring up support for biden ahead of the election in november, given the amount of discontentment there is now at america's support for israel. so i think it's going to be a very tricky call between biden and neta nyahu today. it is the first time they will have spoken in a month. of course, they have a very long history. netanyahu is making the calculation that the pro—israel lobby in the us is enough, is sufficiently behind him, but who is to say, as we go through this year, that america might not decide, or might decide to limit military aid to israel, in order to placate some of biden�*s critics? we don't know, that is an option being discussed in american political circles. so it is going to be a tense call, they will be talking about rafah in gaza, southern gaza, where the israeli government has promised it will launch a military offensive and that is something that would, i think, huge wave of prompt a huge wave of international criticism. they will also be talking about the ceasefire talks in doha, to which israel is sending a delegation while at the same time warning of an imminent incursion into rafah, so i think a fractious relationship could get even more acrimonious in the days and weeks ahead. that was mark lowen injerusalem. just in the last few minutes we have had word from whitehouse, some of the readout. we are waiting for the full readout, but that phone call has now taken place and we are told from the white house that, president biden and prime minister netanyahu discussed the situation in rafah and talks about discussing attempts to surge humanitarian assistance into gaza. so, those two lines coming from the white house, that they have been talking about rafah and talking again but trying to surge humanitarian assistance into gaza. so we will wait for more details there from that readout. i will show you pictures, actually, from the white house because there at the moment there is a women's history month reception going on at the white house. out of shot is present joe biden and the vice president. so when he comes to the microphones, we will keep an ear across that and if he talks about the middle east or talks about anything significant, we will obviously bring that to you. now, let's return to those events in downing street that we showed you about an hour or so ago because president obama, former president obama, they're at number ten in the last hour. he has just emerged in the last couple of minutes. ijust want just emerged in the last couple of minutes. i just want to show you those pictures. it wasn't the longest of meetings, perhaps about 30 or a0 minutes, but their president, former president 0bama tried to find his car, initially, but as he wanders over, let's put the sound up and hear a bit of what the sound up and hear a bit of what the reporters are shouting. you have a few moments? _ the reporters are shouting. you have a few moments? did _ the reporters are shouting. you have a few moments? did you _ the reporters are shouting. you have a few moments? did you discuss - the reporters are shouting. you have i a few moments? did you discuss gaza? come and have a chat with us for a minute _ come and have a chat with us for a minute. ., ., ., ., , ., minute. how did it go, what do you talk about? — minute. how did it go, what do you talk about? well, _ minute. how did it go, what do you talk about? well, he _ minute. how did it go, what do you talk about? well, he has— minute. how did it go, what do you talk about? well, he has finally - talk about? well, he has finally found the car— talk about? well, he has finally found the car and _ talk about? well, he has finally found the car and avoiding - talk about? well, he has finally found the car and avoiding all l talk about? well, he has finally - found the car and avoiding all those questions. we were talking to helen catt a little earlier and a certain amount of surprise amongst political reporters there suddenly seeing the former american president arriving there at downing street, but no word about what exactly was discussed in that meeting. if we hear, we will obviously return. the european union has denounced russia's presidential election, which — according to official results — saw vladimir putin re—elected by alandslide. the eu said it took place in an ever shrinking political space, characterised by accelerating and systematic repression. it also described the vote in illegally occupied parts of ukraine as "null and void". the result�*s been welcomed by russia's allies, including iran, north korea, belarus and china. these are the live pictures coming to us from moscow, there are in the red square a huge celebration going on. we are expecting to hear from vladimir putin himself, so those are the pictures from the start of the celebrations. i suspect that is going to go on for hours, so as soon as we see vladimir putin we will be sleeping that shoe. —— we will bring that to you. ben noble is an associate fellow for the russia and eurasia programme at chatham house. the kremlin will definitely point to the official result as proof that putin is actively and enthusiastically supported by the vast majority of the population. but the picture is much more complex than that. yes, there are some people who are ardent supporters of putin, but there are also those that detest him and more importantly, there is a large group in the middle with ambivalent feelings towards putin. and the kremlin has made sure that it presents to that large middle group, "putin is the leader without alternative," so many people have gone to the polls because of that. if not putin, then who else? but also we shouldn't forget the extraordinary propaganda in the country and as i say, the kremlin will demonstrate that putin is still at the centre of politics and therefore is going to be around for many more years to come. so what do you expect over the next six years? i think we are going to see an even more emboldened putin. this is a man who will now have six more years in power and then because of changes he introduced to the constitution in 2020, he can run again in 2030 to stay in power until 2036, at which stage he will be 83. i think we are likely to see more domestic repression, more use of coercion, the kremlin taking unpopular decisions that it didn't want to in the lead up to the election, where it wanted to present a russia that was confident and rosy and the state providing support to people. so it is going to be an even uglier russia domestically, but also emboldened when it comes to the ongoing war against ukraine. you talk about making unpopular decisions. i mean, there have been huge losses in this warfor russia, upwards of 300,000 people. given he has said what he has said about the war and what lies ahead, does it give him scope also to implement scope also to implement full mobilisation there in russia? that is certainly the question that many people are grappling with, but i think it is not certain that putin will, now that he has been re—elected, call a full mobilisation and the reason is because when they called a partial mobilisation in september 2022 it was so deeply unpopular putin's own approval ratings took a hit, but the kremlin just probably won't want to do that. of course, it is difficult to predict at this stage, but it is more likely the kremlin will take steps in order to find new manpower to feed the voracious appetite of the war machine in russia, through things that go under the radar. recruiting people in different ways without the big policy announcement that could be deeply unpopular of a full mobilisation. ben noble from chatham house talking to me a little earlier. around the world and across the uk, you're watching bbc news. you are alive with bbc news. as the world looks to move away from using fossil fuels... demand for deep—sea mining permits is increasing. there are tens of billions of pounds' worth of metals and minerals lying on the ocean's seabed, which could be used in renewable technologies. but what impact could mining have on marine life and coastal communities? 0ur climate editor, justin rowlatt, reports. in november last year, a research vessel chartered by a mining company is assessing the impact of mining on the abyssal plain, the sea bed of the deep ocean. protesters from greenpeace board the vessel, hampering the research, according to the mining company. you might think this is the usual conflict between industry and activists, except that in this case the miners, like the greens, claim to be acting in the best interests of the planet. why? they claim the potato—sized metallic nodules they are after are crucial to the green transition, and that hoovering them up from the sea floor is far less damaging than mining on land. this is what the miners are after. this is a polymetallic nodule. they take millions of years to form and they contain cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese, all metals used in renewable technologies. the problem is getting hold of these destroys the creatures that live among them. for years, it was assumed there was little life in the cold, dark depths of the ocean. it's true there aren't many animals per square metre, but what scientists are learning is that what is there is far more diverse than was expected. but the abyssal plain is vast. it covers a0% of the entire surface of the earth. land makes up just 29%. mining companies say the area they plan to work is a tiny proportion of the total. i understand why the greens are cautious, but on this occasion they've got it wrong. let's go back to first principles. we should be carrying out extractive industries in parts of the planet where there is the least life, not the most life. mr barron says greenpeace's approach is anti—science. as the world is saying, "give me more scientific evidence", here we were going back to an area that we had been harvesting these very same rocks from a year earlier. greenpeace, unfortunately, do not sit into that group that want more scientific evidence. what they wanted to do was to disrupt us. greenpeace says its protest wasjustified because the metals company plans to press ahead with mining before regulations have been agreed. there is so much science out there already which is urging extreme caution. 800 scientists, more than, have said we should not be transitioning right now to actually mining. we don't want to see licences coming forward... they're not transition to mining, they're collecting evidence, right? with the intention to put that into application... you've said we need more science and then greenpeace is blocking the effort to get that science... apologies to leave that report, but we are going to go straight to moscow. i have been saying we are expecting to see vladimir putin and their years, the first sighting of him since that election victory. let's put a sound of an era of what russia's president is saying. translation:— russia's president is saying. translation: ., ., ., , translation: crimea above all its --eole. translation: crimea above all its peeple- the _ translation: crimea above all its peeple- the peeple _ translation: crimea above all its people. the people of— translation: crimea above all its people. the people of sebastopol i translation: crimea above all its i people. the people of sebastopol and crimea, they are our pride. through decades they carried faith in their fatherland. they never separated themselves from russia and that is what allowed crimea to return to our common family. but as for nova russia, donbas, the people living there in those days of the russian spring declared their desire to return to their native family. their path back to her land was much more difficult and tragic. but we did it. and that's also was a great event in the history of our state. now we are developing, we are marching together. we will feel the fellowship. just this morning i was told that the railway from rostov to donetsk and mariupol has been restored. we will continue this work and soon railway carriages will move all the way to sebastopol, offering another alternative road, an alternative to the crimean bridge. so together, arm in arm, we will go forward and this, this action, not words, it is this that makes us really stronger. cheering and applause and all this is happening thanks to you. citizens of russia.— you. citizens of russia. crowd chant. translation: dear friends, i have 'ust been translation: dear friends, i have just been meeting _ translation: dear friends, i have just been meeting colleagues - translation: dear friends, i have just been meeting colleagues who. just been meeting colleagues who travelled their own road as part of the presidential campaign. they are all here and, as a surprise to them, i invited them to come to this festive event. we have different approaches to achieving the national goals, but we share one motherland. they are here and i congratulate you on this occasion and i want them to say a few words as well. cheering and applause translation:— cheering and applause translation: , ., , translation: dear friends, you will recall the troublesome _ translation: dear friends, you will recall the troublesome time - translation: dear friends, you will recall the troublesome time that - translation: dear friends, you will recall the troublesome time that the | recall the troublesome time that the country— recall the troublesome time that the country was living through, but everybody believed and hoped that crimea _ everybody believed and hoped that crimea would return home, would return_ crimea would return home, would return to — crimea would return home, would return to the home harbour. we all remember— return to the home harbour. we all remember how president putin was active _ remember how president putin was active irr— remember how president putin was active in making sure that the desire — active in making sure that the desire of— active in making sure that the desire of the crimean people would prevail— desire of the crimean people would prevail and that they would return home _ prevail and that they would return home. russia, crimea, motherland are the same _ home. russia, crimea, motherland are the same. congratulations, friends. on the same. congratulations, friends. 0“ the _ the same. congratulations, friends. on the tenth anniversary. cheering and applause translation:— cheering and applause translation: _, ., cheering and applause translation: ,, ., translation: good evening, russia. good evening. — translation: good evening, russia. good evening, crimea. _ translation: good evening, russia. good evening, crimea. good - translation: good evening, russia. good evening, crimea. good evening, j good evening, crimea. good evening, sebastopol. we remember those worrisome days. those exciting days. when crimea and sebastopol were again and forever part of the great rush on the political map of the world. those days were not easy, but there was no other way but to come home. we remember the happy faces. and throughout these ten years, their sparkling eyes and the smiles of those who came home, those who came to the home harbour. those who came to the home harbour. those who came back to great russia. cheering and applause translation:— cheering and applause translation: �* ., ., ~ translation: and today, marking the first jubilee translation: and today, marking the firstjubilee of — translation: and today, marking the first jubilee of that _ translation: and today, marking the first jubilee of that historic _ translation: and today, marking the first jubilee of that historic day, - firstjubilee of that historic day, but forever is written in golden letters into russian history, i would like to congratulate all those courageous people of crimea, sebastopol on thisjubilee courageous people of crimea, sebastopol on this jubilee for russia, sebastopol on thisjubilee for russia, for our great sebastopol on this jubilee for russia, for our great future, sebastopol on thisjubilee for russia, for our great future, for the president of great russia. cheering and applause translation:— cheering and applause translation: , ., , translation: dear friends, iwill never forget _ translation: dear friends, iwill never forget my — translation: dear friends, iwill never forget my feelings. - translation: dear friends, i will never forget my feelings. the - never forget my feelings. the feeling — never forget my feelings. the feeling of pride for our country and follow_ feeling of pride for our country and follow president. exactly ten years a-o. follow president. exactly ten years ago. congratulations on this occasion _ ago. congratulations on this occasion-— occasion. translation: congratulations - occasion. translation: congratulations on - occasion. translation: congratulations on the l occasion. translation: - congratulations on the festive occasion. long live russia! cheering and applause patriotic song plays will well, the initial thought from vladimir putin and others there just talking to that crowd. many, many references to crimea, of course, which was annexed ten years ago and vladimir putin talking about that and talking about the other occupied areas but of course the eu had referred to as being null and void in terms of the election we have just seen, the voting that came from some of those areas. but vladimir putin absolutely clear in terms of what he claims the mandate of this election victory is for him, talking about the special operation in ukraine and of course we are expecting a redoubling of focus on that in the weeks and months now, going forward, and vladimir putin securing around 87% of the vote, but absolutely critical to that, when you look at that number, the obvious fact that just about every form of opposition inside of russia has been crushed, with opponents either dying or imprisoned or an exile. and with that as the backdrop, then of course it was always clear that he would win this landslide election, with of course many pundits, even quibbling with the use of that word, in terms of election, given what we have seen. but certainly, these are the scenes that have been orchestrated and choreographed there in moscow, with the russian leader winning or securing another term in office. we were talking on the programme to ben noble a little earlier in terms of what he anticipated going forward. just a lack of any sort of space for the opposition or any sort of dissent, but of course also giving vladimir putin more strength, more options in terms of perhaps the more difficult decisions going forward. and that may be critical in the months ahead. certainly around the war in ukraine. 0ne months ahead. certainly around the war in ukraine. one of those questions, of course, is around mobilisation, whether russia will make more changes, mobilise more people and of course that carries risk because of course so many people concerned and alarmed by the war, in terms of loved ones and conscription. so that is just one of the areas that will certainly have difficult choices for the russian president in the weeks ahead, but certainly enjoying every moment. we saw that elections sprawl across three days. they were of course those protests, the noon protests we saw right across the world at midday on sunday, so many people come out because of course alexey navalny�*s widow talking about just because of course alexey navalny�*s widow talking aboutjust marking that moment as a mode of protest. well, i think we saw a wave of air from vladimir putin. i don't think he is going to come to the microphones again, as the crowds cheer. but it looks as if those few comments that we had from vladimir putin probably are all we are going to hearfrom russia's president. but huge crowds being organised there in red square to hear those initial comments from vladimir putin. i think we will come away from that because that looks very much like it has come to its conclusion. we showed you pictures a little earlier from the white house. let's switch horses because joe from the white house. let's switch horses becausejoe biden at the microphones and let's just put the sound up and hear what the american president is saying. i think he is talking aboutjobs and women accessing jobs. talking aboutjobs and women accessingjobs. let's talking aboutjobs and women accessing jobs. let's listen in. cheering and applause isaidi i said i want you to show me on a yearly basis, increased number of women in unions, increase minorities in unions. if you want to have the strongest workforce and economy you can't leave half the well behind. but the help of so many of you we've brought the total of investment in the violence against women act, which i proudly spent six years getting past, most of the funding for everything from community groups focusing on prevention, establishing the first of a hotline on abuse, holding predators accountable, etc. applause