welcome to the programme. the updates from turkey and syria are relentlessly grim. the deathtoll has now passed 20,000 but only a fraction of the devastated areas have been searched, with hope fading for those still trapped. though there are still miracles. these pictures have recently come in from diyarbakir and they show a little boy, six year old basir yildiz, being rescued. crews had been digging for him for 80 hours. but even for the lucky ones like basir, there are challenges ahead. the world health organization has talked about a new disaster, with thousands unable to find shelter, food and water. help is arriving the first aid has crossed into syria, through the one border crossing point that is open. and in the last hour, the director general of the who, dr tedros ghebreyesus, has said he is on his way to syria. for the latest, our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in southern turkey. it s hard here in southern turkey really hard here, but it s
A day of Significant Developments in gaza. According to hamas two more hostages have been released due to poor health. Its believed they are two elderly israeli women. Meanwhile, israels intense air strikes on gaza have been continuing. Take a look at these pictures, the aftermath. Most strikes in the north, but some in the south as well stop some are reportedly moving back to the north of gaza because of the desperate conditions in the south. This brings us to the issue of aid. 20 trucks across the borders, hundreds a day are needed, according to the un. Still no fuel crossing, fuel which is needed for hospitals, and things like water sites. Israel says it could be taken by hamas, so none so far. Ibrahim jalal is nonresident scholar with the Middle East Institute a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank hejoins me now from vienna. Thank you very much for coming on The Programme. Thank you very much for coming on The Programme thank you very much for coming on The Programme. Thank you for h
these are the latest pictures that we received of them arriving in a coach. we ll have more on this across the program. let s take a closer look at some of the hostages released by hamas today. amongst the group are sisters, dafna and ela elyakim. they were attacked at their home in kibbutz nir oz. the girls were part of a family group whose capture was live streamed by the attackers themselves. also for the first time, an american israeli citizen was released earlier today. abigail idan was just three at the time she was taken hostage she spent her fourth birthday in captivity. her parents were killed by hamas gunmen during the october seven attacks. her great aunt and cousin said they hoped and prayed today would come and expressed graititude to president biden, the qatari government and other parties involved in helping the release. they also said that today s release proves that we can all get all the hostages back home. that was in a statement they released just a shor
and the number of prisoners freed to 117. let s take a closer look at some of the hostages released by hamas today. among the group are sisters, dafna and ela elyakim. they were attacked at their home in kibbutz nir oz. the girls were part of a family group whose capture was live streamed by the attackers themselves. also for the first time, an american israeli citizen was released earlier today. abigail idan was just three at the time she was taken hostage she spent her fourth birthday in captivity. her parents were killed by hamas gunmen during the october seven attacks. her great aunt and cousin said they hoped and prayed today would come and expressed graititude to president biden, the qatari government and other parties involved in helping the release. they also said today s release proves that we can get all the hostages back home. the israel defense forces spokesman daniel hagari said the release of four year old abigail was proof this is a justified war, fighting a