Speaking at a news conference, the White House Press secretary, karine jean pierre, said more was needed to be done. So this level of aid remains insufficient, and we want to continue to press israel to increase the level of assistance moving into gaza. We understand what ijust laid out is not sufficient. We want to get more in. We are continuing to have those conversations with israel, and we have seen some progress. We need to get more in. On thursday, us troops anchored a long awaited Floating Pier which will soon enable aid to enter gaza by sea. Hundreds of tons of aid has arrived in cyprus, where screening takes place before being loaded on to ships for delivery to the pier. But the pentagon stressed this would not be enough to meet the needs of people in gaza. The purpose of this temporary pier is to deliver critical humanitarian assistance to the palestinian people. The pier is temporary, and not meant to replace land routes into gaza. And last, this is an internationally backed effort co ordinated with the united nations. The us military is merely providing the Logistical Support to enable humanitarian aid to flow into gaza from the sea. The us concern over the amount of aid getting into the enclave has been echoed by the un. Their aid chief warned that famine is now an immediate threat and that un staff were struggling to help people displaced by the Israeli Offensive on rafah. The facts on the ground tell us we dont need to be scientists to see the consequence of the delivery of food. And also for famine, particularly, the removal of medical care and nutritional care, which is the precursor to, you know, famine kills through disease, as well as hunger. Meanwhile, the israeli Prime Minister has doubled down on the importance of a Military Campaign in rafah. Benjamin netanyahu was shown flying over the gaza strip with military officers. His comments come after a very public spat with his defence minister, yoav gallant, over the future of gaza. He was speaking during a visit to soldiers at a military base. Translation The Battle For Rafah is critical. Translation The Battle For Rafah is critical. Its translation The Battle For Rafah is critical. Its not rafah is critical. Its not just the rest of their battalions its also their oxygen pipes for escape and resupply. This battle of which you are an integral part is a battle which decides many things in this campaign. I repeat we are in a critical battle now. Your action helps to end it. Binyamin netanyahus comments come as the Israeli Military say its identified the bodies of two Thai Agricultural workers abducted by hamas. Sonthaya oakkharasr and Sudthisak Rinthalak were killed during the groups October The 7th attack on Southern Israel and their bodies taken to gaza. At the united nations, victims of that attack have been speaking about their experiences. Heres shoshan haran, who was taken hostage. They handcuffed me and pushed us all into their car, stealing our pyjama still in our pyjamas, and we were taken barefoot as hostages to gaza. You cannot even start to imagine what it means to be a hostage held by terrorists. Total dependency for every human need, 24 7 control of every move and action. Meanwhile israel has complained that the uns top court is being exploited by south africa, which has called for an order to halt the Israeli Offensive in rafah. The Israeli ForeignMinistry Said south africa had presented biased and false claims that relied on hamas sources. It insisted that israel acted in accordance with International Law and its humanitarian obligations. South african lawyers told the court in the hague that israel had intended, from the outset, to destroy palestinian life. Israels legal team will present its case to the International Court ofjustice on in the next couple of hours. For more on that, we are joined now by benjamin radd. Hes a political scientist at the ucla international institute. Welcome to the programme, benjamin. What did you make of proceedings yesterday . Proceedings yesterday . Well, it was interesting. Proceedings yesterday . Well, it was interesting. Several proceedings yesterday . Well, it was interesting. Several things | was interesting. Several things that came up in your report was the rift between yoav gallant and Binyamin Netanyahu in the Prime Ministers war cabinet, indicating clearly that there is no unity with regards to how to proceed going forward. And thats been also a source of division between israel and the United States primarily as to what would happen in gaza if israel were to meet its objective of Ridding Hamas of any civilian Political Leadership whatsoever. So i think it was a big deal to see that publicly be exposed between the two men, for gallant to take that position. And again, it remains consistent with what both the us president and the Secretary Of State have said. Us president and the Secretary Of State have said. What are we exectin of state have said. What are we expecting to of state have said. What are we expecting to hear of state have said. What are we expecting to hear from of state have said. What are we expecting to hear from israel. Expecting to hearfrom israel today . What do you think the argument will be . Argument will be . Well, the argument argument will be . Well, the argument is argument will be . Well, the argument is simply argument will be . Well, the argument is simply going i argument will be . Well, the argument is simply going to | argument will be . Well, the i argument is simply going to be that what netanyahus been saying all along which is his position that, until he has confidence in any palestinian civilian authority to come in and to not reconstitute what netanyahu calls a terrorist entity or a terrorist state, he simply doesnt have faith in any existing organisation, Political Party or group to come in and do that. Of course, the bigger issue remains that, would the palestinians be doing this alone . Gallant� s position is that there has to be Co Ordination with other International Arab allies, Co Ordination bodies. It wouldnt be solely a palestinian affair, but palestinians would have some form of control and jurisdiction over day to day life in gaza. D0 jurisdiction over daytoday life in gaza. Life in gaza. Do you think, ust life in gaza. Do you think, just going life in gaza. Do you think, just going back life in gaza. Do you think, just going back to life in gaza. Do you think, just going back to the just going back to the International Criminal court, this will have any bearing on What Happens Next . What happens next . None. I mean, What Happens Next . None. I mean. The What Happens Next . None. I mean, the allegations What Happens Next . None. I mean, the allegations and l What Happens Next . None. I. Mean, the allegations and the charges in the icc have been floating for a while now, and its not going to impact ultimately, israel will continue to do what it feels it needs to do, netanyahu specifically. The icc� s decision will be an absolute Public Relations black eye for the country and for the Prime Minister in particular. But it will not impact, at this point, what hidecision will be. His sole priority right now is to meet his own stated military and political objectives with regards to hamas and gaza. The issue of aid. Regards to hamas and gaza. The issue of aid, of regards to hamas and gaza. The issue of aid, of course, is getting more and more concerning. Is there the thought that this could really leave a black market on mr netanyahus legacy not allowing aid into the enclave . It doesnt help his legacy. Its already been tarnished. Hes been labelled as overseeing the biggest failure intelligence in military and security failure in israels history. And weve seen in the last week footage of attacks on Aid Convoys Notjust by hamas operatives and fighters once the convoys make their way into gaza, but also before they get into gaza. Weve seen reports of Extremist Settlers and others in israel whove attacked these convoys, preventing the aid from making its way through. So i think that, once this us operation, this pier, is set up in the mediterranean, it will help offset a lot of these logistical challenges that were seeing on both sides of the israel gaza divide. fik. The israelgaza divide. 0k. Thank you the israelgaza divide. 0k. Thank you very the israelgaza divide. 0k. Thank you very much the israel gaza divide. Ok. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Lets get some of the days other news now officials in Russias Belgorod region say a woman and her four year old son have been killed in a Ukrainian Drone strike. The family were travelling in a car when it was struck in a nearby village. The woman died at the scene and her son died of his injuries after being taken to hospital. The boys father and a man driving the car were injured. The governor of texas, greg abbott, has pardoned a man who was convicted of murdering a black lives matter protester during a wave of demonstrations in the United States four years ago. Daniel perry had argued that he opened fire in self defence. The demonstrator he killed, garrett foster, was carrying a semi automatic assault rifle. President biden has taken a step towards reclassifying cannabis as a less dangerous drug. Hes begun the process of downgrading it to a schedule 3 drug, which would make federal arrests less likely. In a video statement, mr biden described it as a monumental step. He said no one should be injailfor possessing or using marijuana. A 71 year old man has been charged with the Attempted Murder of slovakias Prime Minister. Robert fico remains in a Critical Condition in hospital after he was shot five times at close range on thursday. It was the first major Assassination Attempt on a european political leader for more than 20 years. Ministers say they believe the gunman acted alone, describing the attack as politically motivated. Our Eastern Europe correspondent, sarah rainsford, reports and a warning her piece shows the moment of the shooting. At the spot where a man tried to kill a Prime Minister, there is a hole where a bullet hit a tree and a faint stain of blood. Small traces of a giant moment that has shocked slovakia deeply. It was early afternoon when robert fico strode out of a meeting and towards a group of supporters, but on the edges of the crowd was the gunman. He looks the other way at first, then abruptly pulls out a gun, points at the Prime Minister and fires five times. Gunshots. By the third shot, hes being tackled by Security Officers as the Prime Minister tumbles to the floor. Mr fico is then dragged to his car and rushed to hospital. The gunman detained and handcuffed. You were filming with the Prime Minister. Dana was reporting on the Prime Ministers visit to her town. She says the gunman didnt stand out at all, until he attacked. Nothing special. He stay and was. Looked normal. Man waiting for our Prime Minister. Robert fico had come from this event, offering support for a small town economy. But on the big stage, hes a populist who opposes sending arms to ukraine and will block its entry to nato. He also thinks Vladimir Putin has been demonised. His government claims these issues infuriated the gunman and drove him to this attack. The Interior Minister describes him as a lone wolf, but the governments accusing the opposition here and the media of Whipping Up Tension and hatred. Given that mr fico himself often uses very confrontational language, inflammatory language himself, would you agree that he is at least, or the government is at least partially to blame for the tensions in Slovak Society right now . Translation robert fico won elections for the fifth time. Then a frustrated part of the political spectrum and the media started a six month hunt which has ended like this. Im not pointing fingers, but you phrased a question to divert attention from the real reasons that led to this. The Prime Minister is still in intensive care, but his life is no longer at risk, after an attack that has exposed huge divisions here and their danger. Sarah rainsford, bbc news, bratislava. Trade and economic co operation is set to be the theme of president putins second day of his visit to china. The russian leader is in the chinese city of harbin, home to a Large Russian population. In the coming hours, hes expected to visit a trade fair and a University Specialising In Research into into new military technologies. It comes a day after meetings between putin and chinese leader xijinping, where they praised their deep ties. Lets speak to our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, in beijing. Hello there to you, stephen. Second trip in just over six months. Is mr putin desperate for the trade and the economic strength with china . Strength with china . Well, certainly strength with china . Well, certainly he strength with china . Well, certainly he needs strength with china . Well, certainly he needs backing| strength with china . Well, certainly he needs backing from china, because of the sanctions placed on his country following the invasion of ukraine. So the short is yes, he somehow needs to make up for this. The russian economy really, i mean, its the size look how big russia is, its kind of the size of one province in china, to give you a comparison of the relationship between the two. So, yeah, he does need backing for his war economy and, according to the State Department in the us, essentially the Chinese Government has rebuilt the military Industrial Base in russia and provided equipment thats enabled russia to build tanks, drones and the like to be used in that bloody war that Vladimir Putin instigated. So, when he goes to harbin and talks about trade, i mean, its all sort of interwoven with the theme of the war, really, even though its kind of softened by going to a place can has these cultural links between russia and china and enables him to sort of walk around that place, a chinese city which once had a russian heritage, and to appear to his people as something of a statesman rather than a global pariah. Statesman rather than a global ariah. ~. ,. , pariah. What do the chinese think of mr pariah. What do the chinese think of mr putin pariah. What do the chinese think of mr putin and pariah. What do the chinese | think of mr putin and russia . We know what the political scene makes of the relationship, but what about the chinese themselves . Well, obviously people the chinese themselves . Well, obviously people here the chinese themselves . Well, obviously people here have the chinese themselves . Well, obviously people here have all| obviously people here have all sorts of different views about russia. It is interesting, though despite all the talk of trade between the two countries, when you go to the Border Regions and this is where Vladimir Putin is now in the north east, close to the border all along that border, those towns are kind of dying. The ones right on the border, on the chinese side, youd expect thered be all these russian people coming across the border and buying chinese goods and going the other way. Theyve built these Rail Connections and bridges, but the bridges dont have many cars going over them. We watched one of them for a couple of hours didnt see a single vehicle. So itjust shows that there really isnt the interaction there that, say, china has with the us, despite all its problems. And the two leaders there they are, theyre criticising the west and saying how theyre going to stand firm against the west and against the us, and yet really the us economy remains much more important to china than the russian economy. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. The vatican will present new guidelines later on regula