it s singapore, this is bbc news. it s news. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we start with the us secretary of state antony blinken, who is headed to the middle east to visit israel, the west bank and seven countries over the next week. the us state department says during mr blinken s trip he will seek immediate increase in aid to gaza as the strip continues to deal with a humaniatarian crisis. the trip comes as the uk foreign secretary, david cameron, warns israel must allow more aid into gaza in order to avoid starvation and large outbreaks of disease. and there are reports of dozens more deaths from air strikes in southern gaza as israel continues its military operation there. and in lebanon, people gathered for the funeral of deputy hamas leader saleh al arouri. he was killed earlier this week in an explosion. hezbollah a powerful iranian backed group in lebanon has blamed that attack on what it says was flagrant israeli ag
hello, i m lucy hockings, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast moving news, interviews and reaction. we begin in the middle east and the aftermath of several acts of deadly violence in different countries which, it can be argued, are all linked in different ways. there s no end in sight to the fighting in gaza with israeli forces continuing with their military operation against hamas. there are reports of dozens more deaths following israeli air strikes in southern gaza. in lebanon, a funeral will be held shortly for a senior hamas figure the group s deputy leader who was one of several people killed in an explosion in beirut on tuesday. hezbollah a powerful paramilitary and political group in lebanon has blamed that atack on what it says was flagra nt israeli aggression. both hamas and hezbollah have close ties to iran which itself is holding a day of mourning, after 85 people were killed by explosions near an event to mark the anniversary of the d
It s singapore, this is bbc news. it s news. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we start with the us secretary of state antony blinken, who is headed to the middle east to visit israel, the west bank and seven countries over the next week. the us state department says during mr blinken s trip he will seek immediate increase in aid to gaza as the strip continues to deal with a humaniatarian crisis. the trip comes as the uk foreign secretary, david cameron, warns israel must allow more aid into gaza in order to avoid starvation and large outbreaks of disease. and there are reports of dozens more deaths from air strikes in southern gaza as israel continues its military operation there. and in lebanon, people gathered for the funeral of deputy hamas leader saleh al arouri. he was killed earlier this week in an explosion. hezbollah a powerful iranian backed group in lebanon has blamed that attack on what it says was flagrant israeli aggression.
But the explosion is creating concern about violence spreading in the region. our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega, gave this update. crowds gathered in beirut for the funeral of saleh al arouri, the deputy hamas leader who was assassinated in an attack here in beirut, on tuesday. some people were carrying placards with his face, some were waving hamas and palestinian flags. and this assassination was a blow for hamas, but it also hit its lebanese allies, hezbollah, because it happened in an area of beirut that is a stronghold of hezbollah. so this has raised fears of a wider regional conflict, but there have been some indications that both hezbollah and israel are willing to take steps to avoid an escalation in their confrontation.
The white house line. we have no indication at this time at all that israel was involved in any way whatsoever. no indication, butjust to be clear, you don t think, did they support or assist in some other way? i m not going to speak for another nation. i willjust tell you that we have no indication that israel was in any way involved in this. let s turn now to lebanon where the funeral is being held of the deputy leader of hamas. saleh al arouri was seen as a key intermediary between hamas which is considered a terrorist organisation by many countries around the world and its allies and supporters. let s ta ke let s take you straight to beirut. live now to our middle east correspondent hugo bachega in beirut. give us a sense of the atmosphere there today. in give us a sense of the atmosphere there today-