tonight the united nations hears a claim that 3,200 children have been killed in gaza injust three weeks, more than the number of children killed annually across the world's conflict zones since 2019. as israel's ground operation continues, what next for this escalting conflict? tonight talking us through israel's strategy for its ground operation inside gaza, mark will be with us. we'll be hearing from the director of a palestinian medical aid charity who refuses to leave northern gaza. everywhere you go right now there is a complete disaster happening right now and gaza strip. people are saying that gazza is the new aleppo, so i am still standing in the north of gaza and i believe i still have my dignity with me, staying in my home, scrapping for whatever food and water. and as the united nations security council holds another emergency meeting tonight, we'll bejoined live by an israeli cabinet minister and the un special rapporteur for the palestinian territories. is the unity over israel in the labour party coming apart at the seams? the party leadership suspends andy mcdonald over a speech about the conflict, sparking furious criticism from some who think sir keir starmer needs to change course. we'll discuss with one ofjeremy corbyn�*s former leutienants and a one time labour mp who quit the party the party over anti—semitism. and where's the line between the right to protest and the need to curtail extremism? as the home secretary brands saturday�*s pro—palestine march a "hate march" does the uk have a problem, or is itjust freedom of speech in action? we'll ask a former head of the uk's joint intelligence committee and a human rights campaigner if the law needs to change. good evening. in the last two hours the united nations security council has heard a particularly stark statistic. citing a report by the charity save the children, philippe lazzarini, the head of the un agency that supports palestinians in gaza, told an emergency meeting that 3,200 children had been killed there since october 7th. that's more children killed in gaza, he said, than have died in any one year since 2019 across all conflicts around the world. with confirmed information hard to come by amidst the chaos in gaza, of course no data can be officially verified. but as the israeli operations by land, sea and air continue nobody doubts the scale of its destruction on the gaza strip. today the israeli military announced it had freed a hostage, private 0ri megidish who was taken captive by hamas on october 5th. her liberation came after hamas, proscribed a terror organisation by many western governments, released a video of three other hostages, all women, who are still in capitivty. in the 76—second clip, which the bbc is not showing, the women are seated together on plastic chairs. 0nly danielle aloni, in the middle, speaks. addressing the camera she accuses benjamin netanyahu and the israeli government of failing to defend them. she says, "we are getting punished for your political, national neglect." this on the day when israeli troops and tanks attack gaza city from both sides. here's mark. the israeli army has mounted a succession of probing missions into gaza during the past week. the information blackout that started on friday has been lifted, apparently due to american pressure on israel. so today we know that the northernmost advance has been developed about four kilometres into gaza, along the coast. and the one just south of gaza city to the point where the salah al—dini main road has been cut. in these advances the israelis seem to be trying to draw out their enemy into an unfairfight. as for how long it will last, the decision will not be israel's alone. what we don't really understand is the full level of ambition. how far does israel want to go on this one? and the otherfactor that i think is going to play is what is the duration of this campaign? as far as i can see there is still a lot of us support for this, but as we have seen in previous operations, in previous wars in israel, lebanon in 2006 in particular, that international support is not going to be unlimited. i have said right from the outset that i believe the idf perhaps maybe have 30 days, 60 days, 90 days at most, to achieve their objectives. as to how these operations may develop, conventional military wisdom about fighting in built up areas suggests slicing through to divide an enemy into smaller pockets. a push along the two main axes in order to surround gaza city therefore seems likely. in the future perhaps other thrusts to divide the strip into thirds or quarters. but these tactics will produce violent confrontations with local people as well as armed opposition. and they risk dramatically worsening humanitarian conditions. israeli fire is falling closer to the shifa and al-quds hospitals, both near the sea front in gaza city. they have been warned to evacuate but aid agencies consider that idea completely impractical. this is the impossible dilemma, that no doctor or nurse should face. leave the hospital to seek safety, but leave their patients behind, or stay in the hospital risking their lives. palestinian red crescent teams have said clearly they will stay with their patients. and, as the israeli army presses deeper, sitting astride important thoroughfares, the distribution of aid could get more and more difficult. currently the rafah crossing is the only route in. a0 trucks came through yesterday, and israel has reportedly promised america that it will allow 100 a day through in future. as for the security of the rafah crossing itself, the israeli army did conduct a probing mission in the far south of gaza at the weekend, onto the territory of gaza's disused airport. that caused egypt to warn israel that they should not try to re—establish the iii—kilometre route to rafah that used to be called the philadelphia road, positions israel gave up in 2005. why would they even try? it's not clear but it could indicate a longer term ambition to control access via the egyptian border. that's all some way off even if it does happen. the questions for the next few days will centre on operations around gaza city and whether the humanitarian consequences prompt further us pressure on israel. well, today israel defence forces say its troops had killed dozens of terrorists who had barricaded themselves into buildings and tunnels and attempted to attack its troops, while the palestinian red crescent said that it was impossible to follow an israeli evacuation orderfor al-quds hopital in northern gaza, because they could not move hundreds of the patients who were being treated there. eye witnesses described heavy shelling around the hospital. so what is the experience of gazans still trying to live in the north of the territory? two weeks ago the gaza director of medical aid for palestininans, who is married with three young children, said that he would rather die with dignity in his home than leave northern gaza. when i spoke to mahmoud shalani earlier toay he was adamant that that was still the case, despite what he called a "horror house" in hospitals, including people being operated on without anaesthetic and a fatal bombardment in his own neighbourhood. i still have the same beliefs. day by day my belief it actually gets bigger and bigger, so i'm still standing in the north of gaza and i believe that i still have my dignity with me, staying in my home, scrapping for whatever food and water there is still in the north. you have three children, your wife as well, but it is very dangerous where you are, there has been a bombardment, has there not? two days ago suddenly there was a very loud explosion and my daughter, seven years old, her name is mesc, she was next to me with my other children, and i hugged her because she started crying hysterically and shouting. i rushed outside to see what was happening in my neighbourhood. i have seen people on the ground, i have seen shrapnel everywhere, i have seen destroyed cars, but when the dust settled a bit we saw the devastation and the destruction. ten of my neighbours got killed, including four children in this air strike. so let me just say to you, to offer my condolences for those deaths and those injuries, but what does it do to your own children when they hear that? panic and fear, so my daughter now is asking me continuously whether we are going to die or not. my eldest, zac, who is nine years old, at the beginning of the war on that day when the bombardment happened when he was looking at me, at his mum and we were also panicking, not knowing what was going to happen to us. before he went to bed he came to me, he hugged me and he said, "nothing is going to happen to us, dad." that's. .. i can't describe how i am feeling right now because i am the one who is supposed to provide comfort and assurance for my children, not the other way around. israel says that, for example, al shifa hospital is not protected under international law because hamas are operating in that area out of the hospital, underneath? what do you say to that? these are hospitals, in a nutshell. shifa for example has 40,000 internally displaced people and it is filled with health professionals. the turkish palestinian friendship hospital, which is the only cancer hospital in gaza, has been targeted twice today. hospitals should remain hospitals and no—one should be touching or threatening them to begin with. i suppose the argument would be that hamas has said that they do have many tunnels under gaza and it is possible that some of these tunnels are under hospitals. i'm not a spokesperson of hamas and i am a humanitarian. i have never seen any of the tunnels that they are speaking about. that doesn't give an excuse for people to destroy neighbourhoods. this morning the spokesman of the israeli government, elon levi, told the bbc there is sufficient food in gaza. no, there isn't, there isn't. these are just pure lies. what aid is coming through rafah is very tiny in comparison to what was allowed previously. palestinians broke into an aid warehouse in khan younis in the south. do you worry about civil unrest? yes, of course. if you have a generator, you can pump that water into your home or you can rely on your neighbours to provide you with some water to survive for the remainder of the week. once that stops i am pretty sure that there will be public unrest and there will be a huge, catastrophic consequences. mahmoud shalani, thank you very much forjoining us. we're joined now yoav kisch — he's israel's education minister and a member of benjamin netanyahu's cabinet and likud party. thank you very much forjoining us. as i said, you are the education minister. you deal with the lives of children day in, day out. what do you make of that statistic? in the last few hours we have heard that more children have been killed in this conflict in three weeks, more than 3000, in any year since 2019. is that collateral damage? israel is doing whatever it can to avoid collateral damage. we are fighting evil, we are fighting hamas isis is taking the palestinians as hostage and using them as a shield and they are trying to behind them. i myself used to be a fighter pilot, i can tell you that we are doing all what we can to avoid that. they are trying to be behind civilians. we have more than 30 children, the youngest is nine months old, that is being held hostage. they have been kidnapped from their homes. i am not talking about the hundreds that they killed and burned alive in israel. this is evil that you cannot imagine. this is evil that you cannot imagine-— this is evil that you cannot imauine. ~ . ., imagine. we are determined... you tarueted a imagine. we are determined... you targeted a cancer _ imagine. we are determined... you targeted a cancer hospital- imagine. we are determined... you targeted a cancer hospital and - imagine. we are determined... you targeted a cancer hospital and you | targeted a cancer hospital and you heard from mahmoud, in his neighbourhood his neighbours were killed and four children were killed. why bombard an ordinary neighbourhood?— killed. why bombard an ordinary neighbourhood? israel provided a safe zone in _ neighbourhood? israel provided a safe zone in the _ neighbourhood? israel provided a safe zone in the south _ neighbourhood? israel provided a safe zone in the south of - neighbourhood? israel provided a safe zone in the south of gaza, i safe zone in the south of gaza, including a corridor to evacuate people for a safe place. those who are staying in the war zone are actually playing to the hamas hands and being put in danger, so we are doing whatever we can to avoid that. but i must tell you, that like in the nazis, or like isis, you cannot let evil prevail. we have to do this for the whole good of humanity. we are fighting this war, israel is fighting this war, for the whole free nations.— fighting this war, for the whole free nations. you would say that --eole free nations. you would say that peeple staying _ free nations. you would say that peeple staying in _ free nations. you would say that people staying in the _ free nations. you would say that people staying in the northern . free nations. you would say that i people staying in the northern area are playing into hamas's hands, but what do you say to doctors who are refusing to leave their patients who cannot be moved? it is the hippocratic oath will stop doctors are trying to help patients in hospitals that can't be moved, are they legitimate targets and are the family's legitimate targets? because some people would say that actually there are not safe corridors. khan younis has been bombarded as well. what you say to these doctors who are staying with their patients? fire are staying with their patients? are the are staying with their patients? fife: they doing are staying with their patients? fife they doing the are staying with their patients? fie they doing the wrong thing? of course they are not targets, it is the opposite. hamas is trying to use them. let me ask you a question. you were fighting the nazis, how about if the would stay behind to households? what would you do to stop this war machine that is fighting and killing your civilians that has no limits in the way that they are attacking humanity? so we do whatever we can to make sure that non—civilians are being harmed and i totally don't agree with you, we enabled safe corridors. there are more than a million people who already left the north, so whoever wants to live kindly. i heard hamas is flooding them with guns not to go to the south, so we are doing the opposite and hamas is actually putting the lives of the civilians in danger in order to protect themselves. but a lot of people cannot move to the south and i come back again to the south and i come back again to the central question, in all this, and what happened in israel, of course, it's appalling, but it's also appalling that more than 3000 children have died in three weeks. if you have got air strikes and land and bombs, you see yourself, even if you are trying to minimise damage, children are dying and they are dying in their thousands. from every loss of life that _ dying in their thousands. from every loss of life that is _ dying in their thousands. from every loss of life that is not _ dying in their thousands. from every loss of life that is not part _ dying in their thousands. from every loss of life that is not part of the - loss of life that is not part of the war is a price that nobody wants to play and we are doing whatever we can to avoid it. i'm saying it again and again. but you have to understand, we have one mission, to destroy hamas militants. they have shown to the whole world that they are worse than isis, worse than nazis, they are the axis of terror and the worst enemy that humankind has ever seen, even more than the nazis. we are doing whatever we can that there be no other casualties, but we must say and say again, we will continue in our mission, we are not going to stop and i heard your chris brunt say before about how long time israel is going to have, it's not anything like what happened before. we had more than 1000 people slaughtered by hamas. thank before. we had more than 1000 people slaughtered by hamas.— slaughtered by hamas. thank you. there is no — slaughtered by hamas. thank you. there is no chance _ slaughtered by hamas. thank you. there is no chance to _ slaughtered by hamas. thank you. there is no chance to live - slaughtered by hamas. thank you. there is no chance to live in - slaughtered by hamas. thank you. there is no chance to live in peace| there is no chance to live in peace with hamas. there is no chance to live in peace with hamas-— there is no chance to live in peace with hamas. ., ~ , ., , . ., with hamas. thank you very much for “oininu us. joining me now is francesca albanese — she's the united nations�* special rapporteur on the occupied palestinian territories. do you agree that hamas deliberately seed themselves among the civilian population? i seed themselves among the civilian --oulation? h, ., seed themselves among the civilian --oulation? ., ,, .,~ ., ., population? i cannot speak on what hamas does — population? i cannot speak on what hamas does and _ population? i cannot speak on what hamas does and thinks, _ population? i cannot speak on what hamas does and thinks, but - population? i cannot speak on what hamas does and thinks, but i - population? i cannot speak on what| hamas does and thinks, but i would like to make some comments and some remarks from an international law perspective. there are israeli leaders who are reported, on record, saying that hamas was an asset and the place to authority was a liability, so what israel is doing clearly, and it has been reflected in statements by israeli political leaders since the very beginning, it's not to destroy hamas militarily but it's to eradicate hamas as a whole entity hamas is a movement, notjust whole entity hamas is a movement, not just a whole entity hamas is a movement, notjust a political whole entity hamas is a movement, not just a political wing. whole entity hamas is a movement, notjust a political wing. plan, and prescribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments. i5 organisation by many governments. is a rapporteur, you are advocating for the palestinian people many palestinians have nothing to do with hamas. flan palestinians have nothing to do with hamas. ., . , palestinians have nothing to do with hamas. . . , ., ., hamas. can excuse me, i do not advocate — hamas. can excuse me, i do not advocate for — hamas. can excuse me, i do not advocate for the _ hamas. can excuse me, i do not advocate for the palestinian - hamas. can excuse me, i do not. advocate for the palestinian people, you are wrong. i advocate for the application of international law, human rights and justice. [30 application of international law, human rights and justice. human rights and 'ustice. do you think hamas — human rights and justice. do you think hamas cares _ human rights and justice. do you think hamas cares that more - human rights and justice. do you | think hamas cares that more than 3000 children died and more have been wounded, orphaned and traumatised? do you agree that hamas is breaking the law?— is breaking the law? excuse me, what auestion is is breaking the law? excuse me, what question is it? — is breaking the law? excuse me, what question is it? i don't _ is breaking the law? excuse me, what question is it? i don't know— is breaking the law? excuse me, what question is it? i don't know if- question is it? i don't know if hammers or not but i know it is israel's responsibility not to bomb 360 square kilometre strip of land where the people are besieged. excuse me, i cannot be known to be when i've just heard somebody saying we are doing ev