welcome to bbc news. i am in jerusalem. 0urtop welcome to bbc news. i am in jerusalem. our top story this hour is the intense diplomatic shuffling of the top us diplomat. the us secretary of state, antony blinken has met the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas in the occupied west bank city of ramallah for talks on the gaza conflict. mr abbas told mr blinken there must be an immediate ceasefire and an allowing of humanitarian aid to the gaza strip. according to us spokesperson matthew miller, the secretary reaffirmed the united states�* commitment to the delivery of life—saving humanitarian assistance and resumption of essential services in gaza and made clear that palestinians must not be forcibly displaced. secretary blinken and president abbas discussed efforts to restore calm and stability in the west bank, including the need to stop extremist violence against palestinians and hold those accountable responsible. secretary blinken reiterated that the united states remains committed to advancing equal measures of dignity and security for palestinians and israelis alike. the secretary also expressed the commitment of the united states to working toward the realisation of the palestinians�* legitimate aspirations for the establishment of a palestinian state. that is the key palestinian goal. following mr abbas�* calls for an immediate ceasefire, the israeli government released a clip of prime minister netanyahu speaking to troops and insisting that there will not be a ceasefire, without the release of all the hostages. said to be more than 240. take a listen. translation: there will not be a cease-fire until - the return of the hostages. let them remove this from their lexicon. we are saying this to our enemies and to ourfriends. we will simply continue until we win. we have no alternative. that was prime minister benjamin netanyahu speaking a short time ago. us secretary of state met several arab ministers. let�*s go live to amman and speak tojordan�*s minister of foreign affairs — ayman al safadi. welcome to bbc news. we heard from presidentjoe biden when he was asked about the progress on the humanitarian pause, he said yes, there was progress. is this what you have also heard following those meetings that you were part of yesterday? we meetings that you were part of yesterday?— meetings that you were part of esterda ? ~ . ., , meetings that you were part of esterda ? ~ . . , ., yesterday? we heard that there is an understanding _ yesterday? we heard that there is an understanding to _ yesterday? we heard that there is an understanding to increase _ yesterday? we heard that there is an understanding to increase the - yesterday? we heard that there is an | understanding to increase the number of trucks that will go into gaza as a matter of principle. the logistics, the details have yet to be agreed upon. meanwhile whether or not the supplies reach the target it will be insignificant compared to the rising needs of a whole population that has been besieged and bombed and pushed out of their homes for over a month, almost a month. . , ., , ., month. that is the aid, but what about the specific _ month. that is the aid, but what about the specific demand - month. that is the aid, but what about the specific demand for i month. that is the aid, but what about the specific demand for a | about the specific demand for a humanitarian pause or pauses? that is what the united states seems to be pushing. we hearfrom the israeli is that there will not be a pause much less a cease—fire until there is movement, movement, on the issue of hostages. is that your understanding as well? first of all let me reaffirm _ understanding as well? first of all let me reaffirm that _ understanding as well? first of all let me reaffirm that in _ understanding as well? first of all let me reaffirm that in jordan - understanding as well? first of all let me reaffirm that in jordan and | let me reaffirm that injordan and in the arab world, our demand is clear, we want an end to this war, we want an immediate cease—fire. that is a necessity, it is imperative, it is essential for stopping the destruction that israel is bringing upon 2.3 million people in gaza. yes, we did hearand is bringing upon 2.3 million people in gaza. yes, we did hear and we do know that israel is linking any humanitarian aid to success on the issue of hostage release. we find that totally unacceptable. as well what israel is saying, it is going to take 2.3 million palestinians hostage, starve them of food and water and electricity until there is progress on that. how does that justify that? this is beyond any understanding. and speaks to their brutal, illegal approach that this israeli government continues to have towards this issue. yes, we want release of all civilians, but conditioning lifting the hell it has perpetrated on gazans on this issue is morally unacceptable and legally unacceptable and by any human standard it is totally abhorrent. you were very blunt in public you said and i quote, to stop this madness. in public or in private, did you get any indications from antony blinken that they would try to put pressure on israel to achieve a cease—fire? in public they are saying they agree with israel that a cease—fire now would only benefit hamas. i cease-fire now would only benefit hamas. ., , , ., ~ ., , ., ., hamas. i will not speak on behalf of the united states, _ hamas. i will not speak on behalf of the united states, all— hamas. i will not speak on behalf of the united states, all i _ hamas. i will not speak on behalf of the united states, all i would say i the united states, all i would say is that we had a very, very blunt, detailed very open conversation. 0ur detailed very open conversation. our understanding it is working towards a humanitarian cease—fire. 0ur position was unequivocal in terms of demanding an immediate end to this, again, abomination of this war. rejecting any attempt to justify this as self—defense because it is not. the amount of death, destruction that israel is bringing upon gazans is actually within the threshold the legal definition of genocide. sold this madness, i say again, has to stop. —— so this madness, i say again, has to stop. how can anyone except the justification that killing almost 9500 civilians, killing 4000 children, destroying homes, denying people a drop of water for their children, telling them to leave hospitals which are already operating at very dangerous capacities, how anyone can even think of presenting this as self—defense, is beyond our understanding, our comprehension, to be honest. iii understanding, our comprehension, to be honest. ., , ., , be honest. if what you 'ust expressed i be honest. if what you 'ust expressed are i be honest. if what you 'ust expressed are not i be honest. if what you just expressed are not going i be honest. if what you justj expressed are not going to be honest. if what you just i expressed are not going to be addressed at least not now by the united states and not israel, if all thatis united states and not israel, if all that is on the table is a possibility of a humanitarian pause, there were a number of leaders at there were a number of leaders at the summit including very senior officials from qatar, from egypt who have been helping on the hostage issue. did they provide any information that suggested that there could be more progress on the release of more hostages? fies i there could be more progress on the release of more hostages? as i said, eve bod release of more hostages? as i said, everybody wants _ release of more hostages? as i said, everybody wants a — release of more hostages? as i said, everybody wants a closure _ release of more hostages? as i said, everybody wants a closure of - everybody wants a closure of this issue. all of us are behind and are demanding and some of us are working very, very hard because they do have the ability to communicate with both sides of this, so that is something that none of us are anything except supportive. but again, it is unacceptable by any standard, human, legal or anything, to continue to drive the region further into this madness. again, israel is not thinking, it seems, beyond the first and second step. it is not thinking about medium or long—term impact of this. the kind of anger this is going to generate. it will haunt us for generations. it will define generations. listen to some of the abhorrent rhetoric. a sitting minister says there should be no gaza. they have so much more fire power than the bomb that was thrown over to israel. they are saying blow them out of existence and that does not matter to them. if this was said by anybody else in the world, i think the whole international community would be up and running and saying this is criminal. but not one word. not one word against this kind of rhetoric which is fuelling this war and this hatred and actually exposing the nature that we knew and had been warring against for some time that in the israeli government there are racist extremists, radical extremists who are refusing to recognise that palestinians are human beings. this war has come to them and again, it seems that they are playing right into its agenda ofjust a finding —— ofjustifying this war. they will fail. this is a reality that is going to create anger and outrage that will haunt all of us for a long time to come.— time to come. some of the arab leaders at _ time to come. some of the arab leaders at the _ time to come. some of the arab leaders at the summit _ time to come. some of the arab leaders at the summit have i time to come. some of the arab| leaders at the summit have close ties to hamas likejordan and egypt worry about their own threats to the country by hamas. israel is accusing hamas of using civilians as human shields as well as ambulances to transport fighters.— transport fighters. everybody is doinu transport fighters. everybody is doing everything _ transport fighters. everybody is doing everything we _ transport fighters. everybody is doing everything we possibly i transport fighters. everybody is. doing everything we possibly can transport fighters. everybody is i doing everything we possibly can to create conditions that would lead to the end of this catastrophe. yes, countries are talking to hamas on the release of civilians, particularly this case. again, israel is using civilians as human targets. this argument of human shields, i mean, gaza is a prison that israel has made over the years. i�*m not defending this or that, but i�*m not defending this or that, but i�*m speaking to reality. the nature of gaza and you know gaza. civilians are everywhere. people are crowded it is one of the most densely populated areas on earth. so again, this narrative just does not make sense. israel is targeting civilians right now. look, again, the international standards, international standards, international morality... you saw what the israeli soldiers did to palestinians. spitting on them, humiliating them. is this what israel claims to be a democracy defending itself? 0r israel claims to be a democracy defending itself? or is this simple brutality that must be accounted for in international courts and everywhere else? i am telling you, in the arab world, we are having an arab summit very soon and i am telling you we are all are going to have to do whatever we have to do to send our message clearly and openly to israel and everyone else that we cannot accept what israel is doing any more and whatever we have to do to end this madness, we will do it. briefly, you�*ve already recalled your ambassador, your last lever is a peace treaty. could that be in doubt? . ., ., a peace treaty. could that be in doubt? _, ., , , doubt? our commitment to peace is strate . ic doubt? our commitment to peace is strategic because _ doubt? our commitment to peace is strategic because we _ doubt? our commitment to peace is strategic because we do _ doubt? our commitment to peace is strategic because we do believe i doubt? our commitment to peace is j strategic because we do believe that everyone in this region should have the right to live in peace. unfortunately the israeli government over years have a race in towards peace. look at the number of settlements and settlers and violent terrorism against palestinians, confiscation of land. steps as small as paying palestinians their money have not been taken. yesterday and the day before, is reality informed people... salaries will not be paid. israel has not been interested in peace. we are working with all of our partners including the us, yesterday, to make sure that we move towards a comprehensive peace. gaza alone will not happen. we will not discuss management of gaza alone separate from the west bank. israel is continuing to push us towards the abyss of chaos and war. i�*m not dodging your question, everything we believe will help end this war, protect the right of palestinians and israeli civilians to live in peace, everything that will advance our efforts to stop this war, everything is on the table. but again, we are not losing sight of the broader picture unlike the israeli government, we are not acting out of pure rage and anger. we have our eye on the fact that we need comprehensive peace. we we have our eye on the fact that we need comprehensive peace.- need comprehensive peace. we will have to leave _ need comprehensive peace. we will have to leave it _ need comprehensive peace. we will have to leave it there. _ need comprehensive peace. we will have to leave it there. thank i need comprehensive peace. we will have to leave it there. thank you i have to leave it there. thank you forjoining us. updating us after the arab summit that was held yesterday in jordan. day 30 of the war. 45 people were killed in the israeli air strike in a refugee camp. the central part of the gaza strip, that is part of the territory worked civilians were told to move to buy the israelis. they continued to say that they must move out of the north because it is not safe. we are still waiting to hear from the israeli military forces as to whether or not it was operating in central gaza at that time. in addition to the update on the people killed in that air strike, there is a final tally that the hamas run health ministry has given. they say that since the beginning of the war the death toll of civilians in gaza has risen to 9770 including 4008 children. we have this report for mark loewen. translation: we are sleeping peacefully- _ translation: we are sleeping peacefully- we _ translation: we are sleeping peacefully. we were _ translation: we are sleeping peacefully. we were removing l translation: we are sleeping i peacefully. we were removing bodies. we are pulling people out with her bare hands. by, we are pulling people out with her bare hands-— bare hands. a local “ournalist is no loner bare hands. a local “ournalist is no longer chronicling i bare hands. a localjournalist is no longer chronicling the _ bare hands. a localjournalist is no longer chronicling the grief - bare hands. a localjournalist is no longer chronicling the grief of i longer chronicling the grief of others, but enduring it himself. his family was killed in the strike. the emotion it was too much to bear. sunshine yellow —— translation: today i have lost my children. i only have one left, my only daughter. i wanted only have one left, my only daughter. iwanted her to only have one left, my only daughter. i wanted her to have a sister, but i have lost her. i don�*t know what else to say. sister, but i have lost her. i don't know what else to say.— know what else to say. israel is -aushin know what else to say. israel is pushing on _ know what else to say. israel is pushing on with _ know what else to say. israel is pushing on with its _ know what else to say. israel is pushing on with its offensive i know what else to say. israel is i pushing on with its offensive insist that it targets hamas sells often hidden, it says, among civilians. its troops are advancing on gaza city, closing in on what they believe are hamas command centres. they are urging gazans left in the north to move south, dropping leaflets with warnings and opening a key road to evacuate. the un says 1.5 million gazans are now displaced with a need for aid acute. the civilian plight is top of the diplomatic agenda as the us secretary of state landed in the west bank the other palestinian territory ruled by hamas�*s opponent. he is resisting calls for a cease—fire arguing that hamas could regroup. but is pushing for short—term pauses in the fighting. as it grinds on, the injured keep coming. the hospitals that have not closed, or overwhelmed. each seen a microcosm of gaza�*s nightmare. it is repeated over and over. joining me now is our diplomatic correspondent paul adams. it seems this was another day where no one got through. no critically injured through the rafah crossing to egypt, none of the dual nationals desperate to get out. it seems to centre on a dispute over how to get critically injured out? yes. centre on a dispute over how to get critically injured out?— critically in'ured out? yes, i think that is critically injured out? yes, i think that is exactly — critically injured out? yes, i think that is exactly what _ critically injured out? yes, i think that is exactly what it _ critically injured out? yes, i think that is exactly what it is. - critically injured out? yes, i think that is exactly what it is. hamasl that is exactly what it is. hamas has been saying we have to get injured people in evidence is out. i suspect, i don�*t know this for a fact, that the israelis believe that those eminences might well be ferrying hamas fighters. —— those ambulances. for one reason or another and there was a point today that there was going to be some compromise, that seems to have fallen apart. we are going to see this steady trickle of foreign passport holders there are thought to be as many as 7000 from 40 or more countries. you will see them leaving, i think, more countries. you will see them leaving, ithink, but more countries. you will see them leaving, i think, but they are caught up in the politics and negotiations about what hamas wants and what israel wants in terms of security. and what israel wants in terms of securi . ., and what israel wants in terms of securi . . , ., , security. there are reports in the last 15 minutes _ security. there are reports in the last 15 minutes that _ security. there are reports in the last 15 minutes that there - security. there are reports in the last 15 minutes that there have . security. there are reports in the i last 15 minutes that there have been loud blasts in gaza city, we can show the skyline i think coming from the view from southern israel very close to the gaza border. this comes of course as it is intensifying the ground offensive by israeli forces. while all these conversations are going on about foreign passport holders getting out and foreign aid, he rang around gaza city and the refugee camps by israel is getting tighter and tighter. we have seen in the last day or so really intense street battles going on. the israeli military closing in on what they regard as the hamas heartland, the real stronghold where the tunnels and the command centres are all in the area. the problem they have is that again, the pictures show this, there are still hundreds of thousands of civilians. are they there because hamas are preventing them from leaving? are they there because they have decided that they cannot leave their homes? for one reason or another, there are so many people still there and that is why we are seeing the israeli calls for people to leave getting more and more urgent and today they were describing to the foreign press the various means that they are using. 1.5 million flyers dropped from the air. millions of recorded phone messages sent to people saying get out now while you can. for some reason, that message is not getting through to enough people and that presents the israeli military with a really difficult problem of how you fight this battle and tried to minimise civilian casualties? the palestinians would argue that israelis are not trying hard enough. paul adams, thank you very much for that latest update. particularly in the north of gaza where there are growing calls by the israeli authorities to leave that area. palestinians have been telling us that they will not leave, they can�*t leave, they have nowhere to go. we will keep an eye on that situation. let�*s take a look now at the rafah crossing. as we been reporting, as far as we understand no critically injured has crossed into egypt and none of the dual nationals. there were movements in the early days including many new foreign nationals. and among them were 300 us residents and their families. they are now in egypt and moving on words. that is according to the white house. evacuations of foreign passport holders and injured gazans through the rafah border crossing to egypt have been suspended since saturday. nun went through yesterday or today. egyptian security sources said that was due to an israeli strike on friday on an ambulance being used to transport injured people. let�*s get an update now to see whether there has been any movement at all within the past hour. joining me now is abdulbassir hassan bbc arabic corrresspondant in cairo, who is following the latest on rafah crossing. what have you been hearing in the last hour? any movement at all? yes. last hour? any movement at all? yes, i've been following _ last hour? any movement at all? yes, i've been following the _ last hour? any movement at all? ye: i've been following the situation i�*ve been following the situation with sources there. the same sources who said earlier that there were expectations of having ambulances coming and some foreign nationals might arrive. now they are saying there could be some behind the scenes complications. i�*ve been told that there is no hope at the moment of having foreigners come to the egyptian side tonight because it is too dark now. the foreign staff of the foreign embassies who�*ve been waiting have already left the rafah crossing. a very few number of them are staying from eastern embassies. but western embassies left earlier like two or three hours ago. that was a sign they are not expecting any arrival of foreign nationals from the palestinian side. the connection between having the injured coming together with the foreign nationals is now becoming true. we have statements from the palestinian minister of health stating that they cannot the ambulances to egypt because there are fears of the ambulances being targeted by israel and they have asked for the international committee of the red cross to join the ambulances to go to the rafah crossing. i think there needs to be a new mechanism. finally there is an agreement... a new mechanism. finally there is an agreement- - -— agreement... yes, we will have to... i'm so agreement... yes, we will have to... i'm so sorry- — agreement... yes, we will have to... i'm so sorry- i'm _ agreement. .. yes, we will have to... i'm so sorry. i'm sorry— agreement... yes, we will have to... i'm so sorry. i'm sorry to _ i�*m so sorry. i�*m sorry to interrupt, we are coming to the end of the programme. thank you for that update from cairo. we will continue to provide all the developments on this war. stay with us here on bbc news. we are live from jerusalem. hello there. a little while ago, there were still over 30 flood warnings in england, mainly focused on the far south. through the week ahead, it doesn�*t look as wet as it has been. it�*s not really looking stormy either. it�*s going to be a case for the most part, the week ahead of sunshine and showers. and that�*s what we�*ve seen today. and if you are heading out to see the fireworks this evening, the showers will mainly still be across western areas. it will be turning chilly, though, underneath those clearer skies. there�*s the showers that we�*ve got as we head into this evening. one or two heavy ones. 0vernight some of them will drift their way into eastern parts of england. we could see some heavy showers clipping kent and sussex where we�*ve got those flood warnings. clearer skies, though, in scotland. temperatures could be just dipping below freezing in aberdeenshire. and here we saw the northern lights last night. we�*ve got a good chance of seeing them tonight in northern scotland with clearer skies than we had last night. and we could start quite sunny across eastern scotland, many eastern parts of england in the morning. and most of these areas will stay dry as well. we�*ve got those showers out towards the west. they will get blown further inland through the midlands and onto the pennines in the afternoon. temperatures similar to what we had today, so, around about 11 to 13 degrees. we�*ve still got low pressure bringing in the showers at the moment. that low pressure there, what�*s left of old storm ciaran from a few days ago. much, much weaker now, of course, and continuing to just fade away. the winds easing down through the day, the showers that will see moving into england and wales tending to fade away as well during the afternoon, leaving quite a bit of sunshine around. and those temperatures, 11, 12 degrees are near normal, really, for this time of the year. turns chilly during the evening before we see this rain and cloud coming in from the atlantic in time for wednesday. it will be accompanied by some stronger winds, particularly through the irish sea and the heaviest of the rain likely to be in western scotland and northwest england. about an inch of rain or so. good news is it does move through fairly quickly and there shouldn�*t be as much rain in the south east of england. and then following that rain, we�*re going to find some sunshine and a few showers coming into the west, mainly for northern ireland and over the irish sea. temperatures could be a little bit lower in scotland, only eight or nine degrees because of that rain. there�*s also some cooler air coming our way. that low pressure will get a bit closer on thursday, bringing in the cooler air. and in that cooler air, there could be some heavy showers with some hail. this is bbc news. the headlines... the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has held talks with the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas in the occupied west bank city of ramallah. mr abbas repeated calls for a ceasefire in gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has again rejected calls for a ceasefire in gaza until all of the 240 hostages captured by hamas are returned.