is totally defeated. our middle east correspondent jon donnison has more from jerusalem on the uncertain political situation. well, i don't think the disbanding of the war cabinet is going to have a significant impact, really, on israeli strategy in the war in gaza. but it is symbolic, because the war cabinet was set up in the days following the october 7 attack really as a symbol of political unity. well, the truth is that political unity has evaporated. so you have prime minister netanyahu looking increasingly isolated, with the resignation last week of benny gantz, the centrist opposition leader, and his ally, gadi eisenkot, both of them relatively moderate figures, both men with vast military experience. and, in particular, someone who i think the americans were keen to hear their views. so now, mr netanyahu will be calling the shots and making the decisions with regard to the war, while talking to his closest ministers and advisers. so, as i say, no real change in the strategy in gaza, but we're also getting a bit of a picture of the discord between the politicians and the military. so this tactical military pause that was announced yesterday by the military that would occur daily between the hours of 8am in the morning and 7pm at night, affecting the main road leading in from the keren shalom checkpoint at the border between israel and gaza, and stretching 8km into gaza, that was announced by the military to allow more aid to pass into gaza. well, we had prime minister netanyahu calling that decision to have a tactical pause unacceptable, yesterday. some of his ministers even more critical — yet the military are going ahead with it anyway. so i don't really think the israeli politicians or the military are really speaking with one voice over strategy in gaza at the moment. for more on the situation in israel, i spoke to laura blumenfeld. she served as a senior policy advisor on the us state department's israeli—palestinian negotiating team. that development today with the war cabinet being dissolved, what was the thinking or reasoning behind that? look, the war cabinet is dead, long live the war council. it is mostly symbolic. he still will rely on his key advisors. but he was trying to elbow out the too far right extremist ministers from saying we would like to join the cabinet, so the best thing to do is to shut it down and say there is no spot for you because the war cabinet no longer exists. what impact will that have on benjamin netanyahu domestically? israel is facing its biggest military challenge in its history, with the least military experience in the government. and benjamin netanyahu has lost not only his domestic political legitimacy, but also internationally, because it is clear the biden administration and other world leaders prefer to deal with gantz and ashkenazi. where there is vulnerability for netanyahu, there is also opportunities. you can make concessions, show some flexibility — we saw with the hostage deal a few weeks ago when he was under threat from the icc — i imagine there was some negotiating behind the scenes with benjamin netanyahu to show some vulnerability or concessions and we will see how we can protect you. for netanyahu it is a bit of a get out ofjail free card. he is facing corruption charges at home and is under threat at the icc abroad for, you know, committing genocide or war crimes, and, right now, he is just trying to navigate it all. the un has welcomed israel's ii—hour daytime pause — but it will only apply to a road leading from the kerem shalom crossing. and unrwa, the un's main humanitarian agency in gaza, told the bbc that volatile conditions on the ground have not allowed aid workers to take advantage of the break in fighting. well, for more on all of this, i spoke earlier with unicef spokesperson james elder who is in gaza. james, you are just back in gaza having been out for a couple of weeks. what changes have you noticed? it is dire. everything has gotten worse. it is incredulous to imagine. but it should be unsurprising. in the two months since i have been here it has been relentless bombardment, caitriona. in the two months i've been here that has been a rather offensive, the limited offensive, that meant a million more people had to forcibly evacuate, going from rubble to rubble. i walk in hospitals and it is like it was in november, children with broken bones, with burns, with head gashes, on the floor. and now, of course, it is summer, and you have a million people who previously would have enjoyed summer in their homes, with theirfans, and ventilation, now in tents, in the sand, with a lethal lack of water. i did somebody�*s temperature the other day and it read above 50 celsius in the tent. people are hanging on. physically, psychologically, they are on a precipice. the israeli military said it was going to put in place a daytime pause in fighting in order to get humanitarian aid in. have you seen that? no. we've not seen that change. even if it were to be implemented, it is in a tiny, tiny portion. any pause in the bombing of children would be incredible. but firstly, we haven't seen that take root, but secondly, it's in a very small access route for aid. we need more aid in, but we need to address the problems. more aid in, means more access routes, more entry points, more crossings. areas in the north are closed. the pier isn't operating right now. rafah, the life line for humanitarian aid, hasn't worked since may. in may, half as many humanitarian trips came in as april. this is the evidence. these are the things that need to be addressed for a population that is under attack from the sky, has a lethal, lethal lack of water, so, yeah, as i say, they are hanging on as one gazan said to me today, "we just need to breeze." how much more evidence of the world need as to what is being done here? are you managing to get any aid in at the moment, james? yes, unicef still is. aid agencies are. but it isn't enough. unrwa, the backbone of humanitarian aid, has been unable to lead a convoy to the north since january. i was only convoy that had denials on wednesday. denials, delays, distractions. this been the language of the entire time. the evidence speaks to the nutritional state of children speaks to that. so in a way it isn'tjust aid. there is also community members who are real frontline here. caitriona, i have seen families open their doors to six or seven families. now they open their doors to the tent, because the home has been bombed. the community spirit remains in the same, but culture is under attack, the economy is under attack, the human spirit that keeps pushing through and trying to persevere, that, too, is under attack right now. do you have any guarantees about safe passage for convoys for what you do manage to get into gaza? yes and no. they're meant to be deconfliction sites. guarantees are — the safety depends on where we move. guarantees are made. whether they are implemented is different. whether we can take the aid in is a different matter. we need to look at the evidence of the ground. unicef does an incredible amount of work, not just food and medicine, but water, which is a critical element right here. it is hard to overstate, when you have people living on a couple of litres of water a day. people are showering every two weeks. a grandmother will queue all day. there are guarantees united nations will keep working at the highest levels, unrwa, who, world food programme, unicef, but there remain so many obstructions. and let's not forget the bombardments are continuing. there will be bombardment tonight. most nights since i've been here in the last week have been sleepless. it is like somebody banging a pot next to your head all night. or had all the drones, attack drones or surveillance drones, i don't know, like a lawnmower or wind blower next to your head. what that is doing to the psychology of children and of civilians, you know, as one woman said to me at some point, you know, if there was a ceasefire, she could finally promise her daughter she would wake up next morning. parents can't do that. children look in their parents�* eyes and know that their pa rents have lost the ability to protect them and parents know that they have lost the ability to protect their son or daughter. these are harrowing moments for children and adults alike to learn. james elder, there. the us says it's deeply troubled by what it claims is the supply of north korean missiles to russia for its war effort. the white house expressed that concern as russian president vladimir putin prepares to arrive in north korea for talks with leader kim jong—un. the kremlin describes the meetings as a "friendly state visit", while russian media report that mr putin and mr kim will sign a security pact. on monday, us national security communications advisorjohn kirby warned moscow might provide military assistance to pyongyang. what we are concerned about, however, is the deepening relationship between these two countries. notjust because of the impacts it will have on the ukrainian people — because we know north korean ballistic missiles are still being used to hit ukrainian targets — but because there could be some reciprocity here that could affect security on the korean peninsula. nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg echoed that concern in an interview with the bbc today. here's part of that discussion with my colleague, sumi somaskanda, ahead of his meeting with us presidentjoe biden. i want to ask you about the news that vladimir putin is going to travel to north korea for a two—day visit and a kremlin aid has been quoted as saying it would include a partnership agreement that would need to include security issues. what do you make of this? it issues. what do you make of this? ., , ., , ., this? it demonstrates how russia now _ this? it demonstrates how russia now is _ this? it demonstrates how russia now is aligning - this? it demonstrates how. russia now is aligning more this? it demonstrates how- russia now is aligning more and more with authoritarian leaders. iran, beijing, but also with north korea. north korea has delivered more than i million shells for artillery to russia. so north korea is helping russia to conduct their war of aggression against ukraine. in turn, russia is delivering technology for the missile technology programmes. will there be a neater response to what the agreement looks like? ., ., , , .,, like? -- nato. our response has been clear. _ like? -- nato. our response has been clear, that _ like? -- nato. our response has been clear, that this _ like? -- nato. our response has been clear, that this shows - like? -- nato. our response has been clear, that this shows howl been clear, that this shows how dependent russia is on authoritarian powers, but also how russia is violating un security council agreements in supporting the north korean nuclear programmes. what happens in ukraine and europe matters for asia. what happens in asia matters for europe. i want to ask you about something you mentioned in your comments, when you said allies need to impose a cost on china unless it supports the russia stops. what you think cost looks like? it is too early to say but the reality is china is trying to haveit reality is china is trying to have it both ways. china is propping up the russian war economy. they are sharing a lot of technologies, microelectronics, which are key for russia to build missiles, the weapons they use against ukraine. at the same time, china tries to maintain normal economic relationships with european and nato allies. d0 european and nato allies. do ou european and nato allies. do you think _ european and nato allies. do you think there should be sanctions? fist you think there should be sanctions?— you think there should be sanctions? �* , ., sanctions? at some stage we should consider _ sanctions? at some stage we should consider an _ sanctions? at some stage we should consider an economic| should consider an economic cost if china doesn't change their behaviour. now china is their behaviour. now china is the main support for russia's war effort, the war of aggression against ukraine, the biggest war in europe since the second world war, and, at the same time, they are trying to have a normal relationship with european allies. this cannot work in the long run.- european allies. this cannot work in the long run. have you soke work in the long run. have you spoke to _ work in the long run. have you spoke to nato _ work in the long run. have you spoke to nato member - work in the long run. have you spoke to nato member states| spoke to nato member states about possible sanctions on what the cost could look like? this is an ongoing conversation among nato allies about how to deal with the security consequences of the fact that china is propping up russia's war effort in ukraine. it isn't for nato to make decisions on sanctions as that is for individual allies, the european union and the us, but the discussion about the consequences for china if they continue to provide support is something that will go on among nato allies. fin something that will go on among nato allies-_ nato allies. on friday nato aareed nato allies. on friday nato agreed to _ nato allies. on friday nato agreed to assist _ nato allies. on friday nato agreed to assist more - nato allies. on friday nato agreed to assist more in i agreed to assist more in quantity weapons deliveries. it is a direct response to a change in the white house after november? we change in the white house after november?— november? we have said that nato november? we have said that nate allies — november? we have said that nato allies have _ november? we have said that nato allies have provided - november? we have said that nato allies have provided and| nato allies have provided and support to ukraine but at the same time this winter we saw a serious delay and gaps in our support and we need to do whatever we can to ensure that we prevent those kinds of gaps in the future. because we know that the stronger our support to ukraine, the sooner the war can end. because the quicker vladimir putin will understand he cannot wait us out. and therefore i hope that allies can agree a more long—term pledge, support to ukraine, and also to give nato a strong role in providing that support. donald trump said that volodymyr zelensky was the greatest salesperson of all time, saying that his claims for aid never end. time, saying that his claims foraid never end. i time, saying that his claims for aid never end. i strongly believe it — for aid never end. i strongly believe it would _ for aid never end. i strongly believe it would be - for aid never end. i strongly believe it would be the - believe it would be the security interests of the united states if president putin wins in ukraine because that was in a message to him but also to president xi that when they violate international law, when they invade another country, they get what they want. so this is not only about ukraine, but also sending a message to president xi that he shouldn't use military force against taiwan or in any way in the asia—pacific. so therefore it is in the us security interests to ensure that ukraine prevails. european allies are really matching with the us is doing. the us isn't doing this alone. european allies are providing as much material support ukraine as the united states. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some stories making news in the uk. the actor sir ian mckellen has been taken to hospital after falling off stage in london's west end. the theatre says he's in good spirits and is expected to make a speedy and full recovery. the 85—year—old was taking part in a fight scene in a performance of player kings, an adaptation of shakespeare's henry iv parts one and two. a third company has recalled some of its lunch wraps from wh smith due to e coli concerns. the new recall is for this vegan chicken and bacon wraps. more than 200 people have fallen ill recently after eating products from other major supermarkets across the uk. the ten—month—old escaped calf, deliberately hit by a police car in a residential street in surrey, is recovering. the animal is back with her herd after the incident which caused widespread outrage. the officer driving the car was removed from frontline duties. the national farmers union said that while the situation looked "horrendous", the officer's options were limited and they probably did they right thing. you're live with bbc news. firefighters in california are working to contain a wildfire that burned more than 2a square miles — or 63 kilometres — of land over the weekend. the fires are mostly burning north of the city of los angeles. over 1000 campers were evacauted, as the combination of high temperatures and windy conditions fuelled what's being called the post fire, the state's largest of 202a. as of monday, just 8% of the fire is contained, with nearly 1200 firefighters on the scene. joining me live from sacramento is cal fire's deputy chief of communications, isaac sanchez. thank you forjoining us on bbc news, isaac. bring us up to speed. what is the latest with the wildfires in the efforts to bring them under control? unfortunately they are continuing to expand and not only that but increase in number. as of right now we have about 18 fires that we are currently fighting state wide, while you specifically mention the post fire, the largest at 15,000 acres or 15,600 acres, we also have the point fire in sonoma county, just under 1200 acres, and just this evening, this afternoon and evening we have two expending incidents of concern, the first is the arrow fire and the sykes fire. both are expanding and we are fires. whether particular conditions that led to the fire spreading so quickly or with this be usualfor so quickly or with this be usual for this so quickly or with this be usualfor this time of so quickly or with this be usual for this time of year? —— were there particular. fix, usual for this time of year? -- were there particular.- were there particular. a bit of both. in california _ were there particular. a bit of both. in california these - were there particular. a bit of both. in california these are l both. in california these are the conditions that will materialise at any moment. the fuel is ready to burn. but when you add in things like the warmer weather, the lower humidity, and the winds that we have been dealing with, that leads to catastrophic fire growth. at this point we are still dealing with it. we are hoping that — we are expecting their winds to die down a little first thing in the morning, but we still have to get there. so the big thing now is to stay fully engaged overnight and keep the damage away from homes, away from people, and do what we can to stop that while conditions have cooled overnight. {lin stop that while conditions have cooled overnight.— cooled overnight. on that oint, cooled overnight. on that point. how _ cooled overnight. on that point, how widespread i cooled overnight. on thatl point, how widespread has cooled overnight. on that - point, how widespread has the need for evacuations been so far? ., ~ ., ., , far? you know, there are spot evacuations _ far? you know, there are spot evacuations when _ far? you know, there are spot evacuations when it _ far? you know, there are spot evacuations when it comes - far? you know, there are spot evacuations when it comes to | evacuations when it comes to some of these fires. obviously the largest of the fires that i have mentioned is in a very remote area, just north of los angeles. ironically it has some of the fewest evacuations associated with it. but some of the communities, some of the emerging fires are near could potentially change. and we need folks that live near these fires to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. this is the beginning _ at a moment's notice. this is the beginning of— at a moment's notice. this is the beginning of the - at a moment's notice. this is| the beginning of the wildfires season. what are you expecting for the rest of the summer? well, you know, we don't really talk about fire season is too much anymore in california, talk about the fire year. so we have ahead of us the rest of the year. we know things will continue to dry out, we know that the winds will come, typically in october and november, through the first part of the year, but what we need to do is maintain the readiness that we have prepared for and be prepared to fight fire at any given moment until we see the conditions change, which, untilwe we see the conditions change, which, until we get significant rain, it isn't going to happen. what are your resources like? do you have enough personnel and equipment? 5. do you have enough personnel and equipment?— do you have enough personnel and equipment? 5, right now we absolutely _ and equipment? 5, right now we absolutely do. _ and equipment? 5, right now we absolutely do. california - and equipment? 5, right now we absolutely do. california is - absolutely do. california is very fortunate in that we have a robust mutual aid system. —— yes, right. one which all fire departments in the centre california support each other readily and willingly with resources to fight fires like this, because we know at any given moment we will have to turn around and ask for help from our neighbours as well. so the mutual aid system in the state of california is — is being utilised and, again, it is something that the residents of the state of california should be very proud of in a way that theirfire way that their fire departments co—operate together. {lilia way that their fire departments co-operate together.— co-operate together. ok, we wish you — co-operate together. ok, we wish you the _ co-operate together. ok, we wish you the very _ co-operate together. ok, we wish you the very best - co-operate together. ok, we wish you the very best to - wish you the very best to yourself and the colleague fighting fires there. thank you for bringing us up to date, cal fire's deputy chief of communications isaac sanchez. a bbc investigation has found the greek coastguard has caused the deaths of dozens of migrants in the mediterranean. the deaths are said to have happened over a three—year period. witness say nine people were deliberately thrown into the water. others are said to have died because they were forced out of greek waters, or taken back to sea. the greek coastguard strongly rejects all accusations of illegal activity. with more on this, here's paul adams. and a warning — viewers might find the content upsetting. for years, the greek authorities have been accused of taking a sometimes uncompromising attitude towards asylum seekers attempting to reach the islands. the bbc has documented some of these episodes, and heard stories of other practices which appear to breach international law. and now, video of one such episode. on the island of lesbos, a group of migrants — including women and children — are taken back to the shore and escorted by masked men to a waiting coastguard ship. the boat heads out to sea, out of greek waters. the migrants are put into a tiny life raft and set adrift, found later by the turkish authorities. greece says it's investigating. doesn't seem like it's forceful. the footage is shown to the former head of the coastguard's special operations. he says he sees nothing wrong with the video, but during a break, he takes a different line. the documentary contains other shocking allegations. ibrahim says he was shot at after coming ashore on the island of samos, taken back out to sea with two companions, and thrown overboard. the two others drowned. now do some breaking news coming into us, at least 20 north korean soldiers briefly crossed into south korea on tuesday morning. the troops retreated after south korean military fired warning shots. the south korean military said it believed the troops had crossed the demilitarized zone, which separates the two nations, by mistake. a similar crossing incident occurred less than two weeks ago onjune nine. north korea has been sending a large number of trips into the dmc to clear vegetation and plant landmines, according to south koreanjoint chiefs of staff. it comes as russian president vladimiar putin is expected to visit north korea in the coming hours. you can find more on that story and others on our website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. we have a spell of slightly more settled june weather and temperatures a little bit warmer than they have been, certainly compared to the first few weeks of the month. through the day on tuesday there will be some sunshine for many of us, a few showers around, not as many as we have seen over recent days. we have high pressure trying to build in from the atlantic. low pressure clearing away to the east. another area of low pressure moving in from the near continent, that will be close to the southeast of england sitting through the english channel, it could bring a bit of rain at times. many of us start the day on a dry note. we have got more cloud and a cool northerly wind blowing across northern scotland with a few showers, also some showers cropping up for northern england. let's take a look through the english channel, there is that rain perilously close to kent and east sussex. a bit of wet weather possible here. should clear away during the afternoon. sunny spells for wales up towards east anglia. variable cloud as we move across into northern ireland. but a bit more brightness here than in recent days. still fairly cloudy for scotland with that northerly wind bringing a few rain showers, but they will be fairly light and patchy as they clear through the day. one or two sharp showers for southern scotland, and northeast england down the pennines as well. some sunshine to the south of that lifting temperatures to about 21—22 degrees in the warmer spots. typically looking at the mid to high teens for most, coolerjust 12 or 13 across the northern half of scotland. moving into the middle of the week into wednesday, this ridge of high pressure moves its way in and squeezing the weather fronts away. so most of us having a fine, dry day on wednesday with some longer spells of sunshine, maybe some cloud bubbling up through the day so not looking at wall—to—wall blue sky. a bit of a cool breeze blowing for east anglia and the far typically looking at the mid to high teens for most, coolerjust 12 or 13 across the northern half of scotland. moving into the middle of the week into wednesday, this ridge of high pressure moves its way in and squeezing the weather fronts away. in between, a fair amount of dry weather, 18—22. a touch colder than that for the northern isles and the western isles, too. most of us dry, through into friday but more of a chance of a bit more unsettled weather initially in the northwest and then perhaps a little bit more widely some spells of rain as we head on into saturday. bye for now. voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk from paris, i'm stephen sackur. to outsiders, this city conjures up images of style, elegance and romance. but, of course, the reality is much messier and more complex than that. there is poverty here, racial tension and, among some, a deep distrust of the police. my guest today, the internationally acclaimed director and actor mathieu kassovitz, addressed all of those issues in his ground—breaking film la haine — hate — some three decades ago. he is still an influential figure inside french culture. so is his country still disfigured by hate? mathieu kassovitz, welcome to hardtalk.