Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC 20240703

Massed on the southern border with gaza ahead of the expected Ground Incursion, which the Israeli Government says will be supported from the air and sea. Over 100 military targets were Hit Overnight and the idf said they have killed a Senior Commander involved in the attacks in israel last week. Meanwhile, hamas is continuing to fire rockets into israel, towards tel aviv and other areas in the south. The World Health Organization has has again called on israeli to rescind its Evacuation Order. The decision, they said, to force Hospital Patients to relocate would be a death sentence. President biden has spoken with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, and urged him to provide a Human Corridor South for those civilians seeking to escape the bombardment. Humanitarian corridor. A diplomatic push is continuing to try to prevent the violence from spreading. The us secretary of state, antony blinken, has arrived in cairo. Hes expected to press egyptian officials to open the Rafah Crossing to get aid into gaza. It is still tense on the northern border with lebanon, with further exchanges of fire today. The israelis have set up a four mile buffer zone on the border. The us is sending a second Aircraft Carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean. The Uss Eisenhower Willjoin the Gerald Ford Group that is already in the region as they seek to put pressure on iran and its proxy hezbollah. We spoke to our middle east correspondent Yolande Knell Injerusalem Who told us more about whats been going on in gaza. Well, earlier the Israeli Military said there were giving another three hour window for residents of the northern half of the gaza strip to make their way south along a route which it declared to be safe and we have seen in the past couple of days now hundreds of thousands of people making thatjourney. Some on foot with their belongings just in carrier bags or rucksacks, some people with carts with donkeys, others with cars, using up what little fuel they have left because of course gaza remains under this tight siege by israel with no food, water, electricity or fuel allowed in. Now there is growing concern about the humanitarian situation, particularly in the south of the strip where you have all of these people really in makeshift shelters, in un schools, places like that. They are extremely crowded and with no aid getting in, there is very limited means for the limited number of Emergency Workers in the gaza strip to be able to help them. Another complication here is the lack of internet, the lack of people with working phones. Communication becomes more and more difficult. We know the World Health Organization has been raising awareness of these 20 hospitals in the northern half of the gaza strip where it said the Evacuation Order given by israel was tantamount to a death sentence. There are very sick and injured people there and at the moment, there are still babies in incubators, things like that, and they are asking how these people are supposed to be moved. This is all complicating the israeli plans for a ground offensive. It wants as many people to leave the north of the gaza strip, particularly gaza city, which we expect to be a real focus, it wants that area cleared as much as possible before it goes in, saying it will tackle both the hamas military and governing capabilities. These are the live pictures from gaza, a hazy morning in the northern part of the gaza strip and we have seen a number of explosions in the last few hours with the israelis continuing their bombardment, trying to target some of these Rocket Installations that have been firing towards israel through the night, towards israel through the night, towards tel aviv. And under that bombardment, people are still trying to evacuate gaza city towards the south with the un saying it may be as many as a Million People in the southern half of the gaza strip within around 15 square kilometres. With me isjustin crump, military analyst and ceo, sibylline. Can we talk about the story we were focusing on it yesterday, the attack on the convoy heading south which concerns a lot of people . If civilians are fleeing, they have to be able to flee safely and we saw this awful attack on a Flatbed Truck with women and children sitting in a truck, picture is too gruesome to show our viewers but the idf said that they dont think it was one of their rockets and this was an explosion from the ground up. How would they know that . Would they know that . Looking at these images. Would they know that . Looking at these images, you would they know that . Looking at these images, you can would they know that . Looking at these images, you can tell would they know that . Looking at l these images, you can tell different varieties of explosion depending on the quality of footage or what you can see it afterwards with surveillance assets, how the crater around something was laid out, you can see the pattern of debris and that will tell you if something exploded in the air or on the ground and what we see on social media, there are pictures of incidents yesterday, and one of those, it was reported as an israeli strike but people are beginning to think it looks to be an explosion in the vehicle itself, potentially people carrying things like Propane Cylinders as they make a hasty move and the quality is not great so you can up incidents like that and of course in a panic situation, anything that happens can be blamed, it must have been strike, but sometimes explosions are Gas Explosions or other things. A lot of uncertainty around that but i find it very hard to believe that israel would target the safe routes, it absolutely destroys credibility. Whilst accidents can happen, we have seenin whilst accidents can happen, we have seen in ukraine, a service to air missiles can go off course and land somewhere, things do not hit their intended target or malfunction, that can happen but it doesnt seem particularly likely from what weve seen. Itsjust one particularly likely from what weve seen. Its just one example of the amount of misdirection and misinformation that will circulate around this with growing intensity. I suppose people on either side of the debate will decide and take the view, inevitably, whatever they want to believe. I suppose it is a reminder to us as reporters, trying to cover the war that you have to be very careful what you report and who you apportion blame to. And it is a cliche but the fog of war is such that you cannot possibly tell where these strikes are coming from. find these strikes are coming from. And we now have these strikes are coming from. And we now have a these strikes are coming from. fific we now have a social media these strikes are coming from. fific we now have a Social Media Landscape in a way we have not seen in previous conflicts, and already in this conflict is a leap beyond what we saw in ukraine which they leap beyond what we expected maintain the amount of footage we can see. But it is so easy to tweak and of course you have that spectre of Artificial Intelligence tampering with images, deep fakes and things like that. It is a very complicated issue for anyone looking at this and of course both sides are very aware of the external environment and this is almost the critical arena for both sides. Hamas is trying to get the world to turn against israel, particularly the arab world and leadership and muslims worldwide and israel knows i cannot concede moral ground in that environment so both sides are immensely active in pushing out messaging and branding and try to position themselves. Its almost the critical aspect of this operation of a strategic level, israel keeping the acceptance for its military operations and hamas trying to get them from sounding condemned. I trying to get them from sounding condemned condemned. I want to go to the lebanon border condemned. I want to go to the Lebanon Border Where condemned. I want to go to the Lebanon Border Where we condemned. I want to go to the Lebanon Border Where we have| condemned. I want to go to the Lebanon Border Where we have been watching more tension with tank rounds being fired into israel. Live now to our correspondent anna foster who is near the israel lebanon border. It seems a little calmer at the moment but what has it been like this morning . This moment but what has it been like this morning . Moment but what has it been like this mornin . ,. ,. , this morning . This morning we have seen once again this morning . This morning we have seen once again one this morning . This morning we have seen once again one of this morning . This morning we have seen once again one of these seen once again one of these exchanges that has been happening really every day over the last week orso really every day over the last week or so since those attacks happened in southern israel and we are seeing the regular exchanges of fire between palestinian militant groups, Palestinian Islamichhad in lebanon, and hezbollah as well who are backed by iran, they are a big ally of hamas and like them, they are a designated Terrorist Group by the us, eu, uk, and other countries. And what we are seeing is hezbollah basically sending normally anti tank missiles over the border towards. Im going to go, take cover. That aives ou im going to go, take cover. That gives you impression im going to go, take cover. That gives you impression of how dangerous it is covering that northern border. As anna foster was saying, anti tank missiles being fired towards Observation Points on that northern border. If you were reporting from there, we saw it tragically the other day, the poor reuters Cameraman Setting up his camera, and that to a Israeli Defence post looks like a mortar round and they dont take any chances. You have to be really careful when you are reporting their. ~ i, i, careful when you are reporting their. ,. , ~. , their. We have seen that, anna has relocated twice their. We have seen that, anna has relocated twice in their. We have seen that, anna has relocated twice in the their. We have seen that, anna has relocated twice in the time their. We have seen that, anna has relocated twice in the time we their. We have seen that, anna hasj relocated twice in the time we have had this conversation and the rate of incidents at the moment is not particular high but people are really concerned obviously but how far it could go and both hezbollah and iran, iran and qatar having met last night with hamas leadership, have announced that at some point israel needs to back down and they will not accept an invasion of gaza on this scale and it remains to be seen how serious that is or if it is a message designed to try to make israel a thing which i think will be unsuccessful. Probably more aimed at the israeli backers to raise the spectre of a regional conflict and lebanon increasing escalation, syria and potentially the persian gulf and one imagines the Knock On Effect of all prices, and messaging like that they hope will have an effect on israeli backers. There is definitely an uptick in incidents in the north, israel evacuating some of that northern area, four kilometres from the border so about the range of the smaller anti tank Weapons Systems up there better start claiming more of a security zone. And the risk of course is that it has bell increased its Rocket Activity and they have a Commando Force designed to infiltrate that border. Now its not very well positioned to do so because the israeli has markedly reinforced in north and obverse of this huge mobilisation of troops in a week to be able to reinforce and they are much more prepared for any infiltration from the north but that is something they are still concerned about, particularly when trying to fight what will be a long and complex operation in gaza. These are live pictures and complex operation in gaza. These are live pictures from and complex operation in gaza. These are live pictures from gaza and complex operation in gaza. These are live pictures from gaza city and complex operation in gaza. These are live pictures from gaza city at are live pictures from gaza city at the moment short of gaza city, some big explosions in the last few minutes, you can see the big clouds of smoke on the horizon. We are looking south towards, and trying to get my bearings, is that jabalia . Up in the north, jabalia is one of the most densely populated places on earth, one of the big refugee camps, so this is sort of Agricultural Land before you get to the built up areas. To a Military Planner like yourself, that would suggest they are doing a lot of work to soften up hamas in the areas they will roll across in the coming days and hours. What is happening at the moment within that huge network of Defence Infrastructure Hamas has built underground and in the urban environment, within gaza city and the whole area, the hamas fighters will be trying to shelter at the moment and of course israel, i think with the threat of the Ground Invasion forcing hamas to basically take up its defensive positions, thatis take up its defensive positions, that is the time israel can strike from the air using drones and can track where people are doing and build up that intelligence picture we talked about earlier to actually really start to plan their operations in detail. But as you can see the impression that the gaza strip is of course one entirely built up area is wrong that there are open areas and you can see the approach to the city as well and certainly for an enemy that has a certainly for an enemy that has a certain amount of anti tank weapons, anti aircraft weapons and things, closing with the city you can do yourself is the First Military challenge and then covering that advance to get in and start Finding Areas where the entries to the Tunnel Systems are, debunkers and rocket launch platforms, command control operators. You will be under fire all the time youre doing that, hit and run type actions from the insurgents in that terrain. This is just the start of the challenge the Israeli Military is looking at, crossing this land, closing with the urban areas and then the real fighting begins. fight urban areas and then the real fighting begins. Urban areas and then the real fighting begins. Urban areas and then the real fiaahtin beains. �. , fighting begins. And looking at the ma , ou fighting begins. And looking at the map. You have fighting begins. And looking at the map, you have about fighting begins. And looking at the map, you have about three fighting begins. And looking at the map, you have about three miles i fighting begins. And looking at the | map, you have about three miles of open land and then you are at jabalia which again is this very built up area, one of the original refugee camps, and then to gaza city. Just a word, if you were watching in the last few minutes, you will have heard the explosions in Northern Lebanon and our correspondent Anna Foster Running for cover, just to say that she is in a safe position, to reassure you that her and her team are taking cover at the moment. We can go to khan younis which is about halfway down the strip. I will correspond that has had to move with his family to the south. Our correspondent. I can see you are somewhere near the hospital but what can you tell us from the situation in khan younis at the moment and what are you seeing . The last minute, we have seen rockets being fired from the area here, and the Defence System was trying to intercept those rockets but this is a city in the south of gaza, the second largest city and it is having to accommodate i gaza, the second largest city and it is having to accommodatei Million People in overi Million People according to the local authorities. The original residents this area is 400000 and the original residents this area is aooooo and they have now received about 600,000 refugees, 400000 and they have now received about 600,000 refugees, 400,000 gaza from Northern Gaza according to the local authority and about 100,000 from the east of khan younis. The place which experienced Israeli Ground operation back in 2014, where a lot of people were killed and many houses were destroyed. The people here in the hospital, not only struggling to cope with the number of injuries and the shortage of essential medical kits, they are overwhelmed by the number of people who are taking to the hospital as refugees because everywhere in public spaces, in buildings, in the streets, in the schools, people are sleeping on the ground. It is a catastrophic situation here in khan younis, a city that overnight has to feed, treat and accommodate over double of its original population. The city itself, it was suffering even before, because it is part of the entire picture where israel, for nine days closing the border and not allowing any fuel or food or any water into gaza. There is a severe shortage of water here in the hospital and they only give every person 300 millilitres of water for the whole day, were talking about the whole day, were talking about the patients, not the healthy guy. But in the street i have been trying to find a bottle of water in many of the shops. Most of them are running out, they dont have water. It is essential, it is a serious issue here in gaza in khan younis and doctors are struggling not to give People Medicine but to give them water. I, People Medicine but to give them water. , People Medicine but to give them water. , ~ People Medicine but to give them water. , ~ i, water. I am always keen to remind our audience. Water. I am always keen to remind our audience, because water. I am always keen to remind our audience, because we water. I am always keen to remind our audience, because we have water. I am always keen to remind our audience, because we have worked together before in gaza, that you report but also lift the story so you are also thinking of your family and trying to find water and food you live story. What have you been able to take with you from your home . How much money do you have and food and waterfor the home . How much money do you have and food and water for the coming days . In a very simple way, i want to tell the audience what happened. About five oclock in the morning the day before yesterday, we received a warning from the israeli army, saying that you have to leave your area and head south to khan younis. And suddenly we had to deal with evacuation. Evacuation which we were planning but not this far and not this quick. So i left behind a lot of water in my house, a lot of food that i installed there because i thought we are going to be stuck in the house, not displaced. I managed to take some that could last for a couple of days. But i tried here to find any essential food or water. When we talk about a Million People, all of them are looking for the same thing that is not available and is not coming. It is extremely, extremely difficult. People share very small accommodation, 50 families are sharing one space. For me personally, i live with three or four other families me personally, i live with three or four otherfamilies in me personally, i live with three or four other families in the same flat thatis four other families in the same flat that is too small bedroom and a whole and me and my three children and my wife i have a space of two by two metre to accommodate me. And i am lucky to find it because other people are sleeping in the street so i was lucky enough to find a family to accommodate me. This is very serious situation. For me, being a reporter and always on the back of your head is your family. Reporter and always on the back of your head is yourfamily. fin reporter and always on the back of your head is your family. Reporter and always on the back of your head is your family. On that, i can hear the your head is your family. On that, i can hear the drones your head is your family. On that, i can hear the drones overhead your head is your family. On that, i can hear the drones overhead and l can hear the drones overhead and that has a psychological impact, i know, because you are always under the eye of the israelis and you dont know what you are living or standing next to so its always disconcerting that you are reporting for us, so how much contact do you keep with your wife and children and what hours are you working . Clearly their safety is paramount importance so how do you divide your time . Communication is extremely hard. We are trying to manage. I had to change the carrier i use all the time to another mobile carrier that has less user. Sometimes it takes me ten or 15 minutes to call my wife. Half an hour ago, we had a local radio here saying that air strike close to where my wife and family is and it took me 20 minutes to struggle to talk to my son and he said, yes, we heard the bang but we are safe. It is a very difficult situation. Ifeel that if are safe. It is a very difficult situation. I feel that if israel did not open a humanitarian corridor, for the First Time Ever as a reporterfor for the First Time Ever as a reporter for over a quarter of a century in this area, i never see people starving in this place. I never saw people who cant find water. I covered four wars, one of them, i came to khan younis, never before people were unable to find water, unable to make calls, unable to contact or communicate. Communication is extremely difficult, extremely difficult, for ordinary people who dont have any equipment like us, they are really struggling. Equipment like us, they are really stru culin. , equipment like us, they are really stru~lin~. , struggling. Have you thought ourself struggling. Have you thought yourself about struggling. Have you thought yourself about what struggling. Have you thought yourself about what you struggling. Have you thought yourself about what you willl struggling. Have you thought l yourself about what you will do struggling. Have you thought yourself about what you will do if they open the border at rafah . Would you seek to lead or the people you live with and the people in khan younis, would they start to stream out through southern gaza, given how difficult it is to survive there . That is why egypt is not opening the crossings because once egypt announces that the crossing is open, evenif announces that the crossing is open, even if it is just for the dual nationality people, i think we are going to see extremely chaotic situation. We are talking about over a Million People, they are 20 kilometres away from the border so they can walk, they can walk to the border and we have seen before, when israel squeezed them back in 2008 and cut everything, people destroyed the wall and they went to egypt and this is what makes egypt not open the crossing to. Officially they said it is open but technically they said it is open but technically they said it is not open. I have seen people yesterday with dual nationality waiting on the crossing since early in the morning until midnight, waiting and waiting and waiting and then they return to gaza. Egypt is worried about this, and imagine, when israel said to the people, leave from gaza to the south, i was among the people who did this journey and south, i was among the people who did thisjourney and i south, i was among the people who did this journey and i saw how chaotic the situation is. That was the longest queue of cars, the longest convoy i have ever seen in gaza. People were walking their dogs and cows and camel and sheep, people walking, riding motorcycle, any sort of transportation that could get them out of the area where israel is warning them. Imagine if israel say that khan younis and rafah is not safe, you have to go to the sign now to the sinai. I have never seen a situation in gaza deteriorating to this extent. Situation in gaza deteriorating to this extent situation in gaza deteriorating to this extent. , ~ , this extent. Rushdi, stay safe, keep our this extent. Rushdi, stay safe, keep your family this extent. Rushdi, stay safe, keep your family safe. This extent. Rushdi, stay safe, keep your family safe, stay this extent. Rushdi, stay safe, keep your family safe, stay in this extent. Rushdi, stay safe, keep your family safe, stay in contact, i your family safe, stay in contact, we send you our best. Rushdi abualouf in khan younis where the situation is pretty drastic. Back to the northern border because anna foster has managed to come back up after that explosion. Are you safe and well, and your team . We after that explosion. Are you safe and well, and your team . After that explosion. Are you safe and well, and your team . We are all fine. We and well, and your team . We are all fine we have and well, and your team . We are all fine. We have just and well, and your team . We are all fine. We have just moved, and well, and your team . We are all fine. We have just moved, you and well, and your team . We are all| fine. We havejust moved, you heard the explosion and it is always a bit of a challenge between wanting to give you a sense of place as to where we are and what you can see in the background and have been relatively calm for a period of time and in fact, you will still hear explosions in the background you can see we have taken a different position and we are a lot more in cover. But it illustrates perfectly what i was beginning to talk to you about, these regular exchanges of fire going on across the northern border. Hezbollah based in the north, the militant group very allied with hamas, and like them they are a proscribed Terrorist Organisation by various countries around the world. The big question is how much has been will decide to attack israel, really to make a show of solidarity with hamas. That is why the last few days we have seen these exchanges of fire across the border. This morning we saw as pillerfiring an border. This morning we saw as piller firing an anti tank missile towards a bill is cheap resort hezbollah firing. We know there was a fatality, and the person i spoke to said it looked like Construction Workers who had been working on building a house and they were struck by this has fuller anti tank missile. A lot of we are hearing, these explosions in response, or will almost certainly be the is run Defence Forces firing back on his has filler positioned on the other side of the border. At any time people, the way things are right now, its critically tense and it means a real increased concerns that a new front could open up in this war on the northern border. I exhort ou in a war on the northern border. I exhort you in a bunker war on the northern border. I exhort you in a bunker at war on the northern border. I exhort you in a bunker at the war on the northern border. I exhort you in a bunker at the other war on the northern border. I exhort you in a bunker at the other day you in a bunker at the other day with some of the women from one of the local villagers i saw you. What is the billing in the population in Northern Israel as these rockets come in . What is these rockets come in . What is the feeling. These rockets come in . What is the feeling the feeling. Those who cant have left. That the feeling. Those who cant have left that is the feeling. Those who cant have left. That is the the feeling. Those who cant have left. That is the story the feeling. Those who cant have left. That is the story we the feeling. Those who cant have left. That is the story we were left. That is the story we were covering that day, people leaving these communities and we had gone to see a woman who had her bags packed and was ready to go and it was when we arrived at her house that we had to take cover because we again heard these explosions and we had to go into their bunker and take shelter. People along this northern border, they have seen this sort of thing before, particularly the older they are, they have the incidents across the border between lebanon and israel before. But there is a particular sense of nervousness right now, nervousness because of what they have seen in the south, which has made people extremely concerned that they could see similar things happening in the north. But to be frank, anybody who can and has the ability has gathered up can and has the ability has gathered up their things, theirfamily can and has the ability has gathered up their things, their family and left, and what of the communities we are going to, because we are moving along the borderfrom are going to, because we are moving along the border from west to east and covering as much ground as we can and speaking to as many people as we can, a lot of these communities arejust as we can, a lot of these communities are just empty. You drive down the street, the shutters are down on houses, a lot of cars are down on houses, a lot of cars are missing and you can see people who are moving away from the areas and take families with them to find and take families with them to find a place that feels safer to them, particularly when we dont do what will happen next, wejust dont particularly when we dont do what will happen next, we just dont know how has filler will react and how iran will react. The Iranian Foreign minister was in lebanon a couple of days ago, talking to the lead has parler and they were saying that it has parler would be ready to at the correct time has. Itis. It is interesting what the us are doing, you will have seen that they have sent extra arms to israel but also moved that Carrier Strike group into the Eastern Mediterranean and a lot about it to do with the northern border, the threat of his cough has filler and how things grow here. And if a new front opens up, how it risks drawing in so much more of the middle east region. It would be problematic and that is why there is so much diplomatic work going on behind the scenes at the moment to try to calm the tensions we are seeing on the border. It sounds active behind seeing on the border. It sounds active behind you, seeing on the border. It sounds active behind you, good seeing on the border. It sounds active behind you, good to seeing on the border. It sounds active behind you, good to see | seeing on the border. It sounds. Active behind you, good to see you are safe and keep in touch but thank you for the moment. Those are the pictures in gaza, we have seen a paper in the last few minutes and also we have heard from jerusalem that they have been Air Raid Sirens in tel aviv so rockets are still outgoing. We should talk about the iron dome, which has proven time and time again to be saving lives, doing so much to protect israelis from these rockets coming in from the north and south. North and south. Absolutely extraordinarily north and south. Absolutely extraordinarily capable north and south. Absolutely i extraordinarily capable system north and south. Absolutely extraordinarily capable system and you can see why the people of ukraine would appreciate having something similar happened you watch the footage, particularly the long shots of the rockets coming in and 90 seconds time to gaza to gaza to Tel Aviv Airport which is the main target, as much as they can for those medium range rockets that they have relatively few are compared to the short range missiles they fire in the south towards ashkelon and places like that, extraordinary watching it in action, incredibly capable of system and of course the us working very hard to ensure that supplies of the Interceptor Missiles are maintained. It is supplies of the Interceptor Missiles are maintained. Are maintained. It is not infallible, are maintained. It is not infallible, is are maintained. It is not infallible, is it . Are maintained. It is not infallible, is it . I are maintained. It is not infallible, is it . I have i are maintained. It is not. Infallible, is it . I have seen are maintained. It is not infallible, is it . I have seen today house in ashkelon on fire so some get through. Ii house in ashkelon on fire so some get through house in ashkelon on fire so some i get through and get through. If you fire enough. And if ou fire get through. If you fire enough. And if you fire enough get through. If you fire enough. And if you fire enough towards get through. If you fire enough. And if you fire enough towards northern | if you fire enough towards Northern Israel, and we note that they are much better equipped than hamas, the system will come under strain put a tremendous strain but of course israel has planned for this contingency and they know the stockpile of rockets that can be brought against them but i think one of the reasons we have seen these intermittent strikes over the years and against assets in syria by the Israeli Air Force it to try to stop the flow of further rockets and supplies particularly to try to keep some limit on that at source. find supplies particularly to try to keep some limit on that at source. And of course one some limit on that at source. And of course one of some limit on that at source. And of course one of the some limit on that at source. And of course one of the other some limit on that at source. And of course one of the other things some limit on that at source. And of course one of the other things is course one of the other things is about having to continue is the effectiveness of some of the new iranian, cheap, Disposable Suicide Drone designs that have proved so capable in ukraine. They are easy to counter once you understand the trick which ironically is incredible passion and goes back to just high amounts of gunfire. But they add another dimension as well so i think israel will look carefully for an expansion of that sort of capability potentially coming in from syria from hezbollah in due course. But it is certainly one of the key areas that israel need support with, to give that Interceptor Rate going on as you said, some get through an is to keep Firing Barrage is. Hamas said Meat Rationing rockets enough to keep firing several barrage is a day to be enough to deter and disrupt israel and cause economic damage to the state of israel which causes being maintained every day as well as the. Taste causes being maintained every day as well as the. ~ i, causes being maintained every day as well as the. ~. ,. ,. , well as the. We are going to get hold of a doctor well as the. We are going to get hold of a doctor in well as the. We are going to get hold of a doctor in gaza, well as the. We are going to get. Hold of a doctor in gaza, struggling with the line at the moment but clearly we will keep trying and if we get him, ill break away. And thank you for coming up. You mightjust have had our interview with someone who is very experienced and has enormous resources who cannot find a bottle of water. Goodness knows what it is like in the hospitals. That testimony like in the hospitals. That testimony was like in the hospitals. That testimony was deeply like in the hospitals. T� Isgt Testimony was deeply powerful. What we hear from colleagues testimony was deeply powerful. What we hearfrom colleagues in the Palestine Red Crescent is the situation is really catastrophic. Most importantly fuel is almost not any more than. That means for those in the hospital in gaza city, they will have a view hours, possibly a day or so of electricity. I see you oxygen, incubators for babies will not work any more. This is absolutely concerning. The concern is the safety of the network as, civilians. Palestinian red crescent teams refused to leave the hospital, evenif teams refused to leave the hospital, even if they were asked to do so. Their answer was like, we cannot leave our patients behind. We do not have the means to bring this patient out of there, so we will stay. I had been in the out of there, so we will stay. I had been in the shifa out of there, so we will stay. I had been in the Shifa Hospital out of there, so we will stay. I had been in the Shifa Hospital in out of there, so we will stay. I had been in the Shifa Hospital in gaza city and they are some of the most experienced Trauma Injury Surgeons in the world. They take the Hippocratic Oath and they have a duty to their patients. However many leaflets are dropped, they are not going to leave. Is there any work going to leave. Is there any work going on in the background to de conflict in the areas around the hospitals . Can coordinates be given tojerusalem . Can any reassurance be given from the Israeli Defence force . ,. Force . There are closeddoor discussions force . There are closeddoor discussions at force . There are closeddoor discussions at Different Force . There are closeddoorl discussions at different levels. Force . There are closeddoor discussions at different levels. For sure, they are having this kind of discussion. All the un agencies are doing the same. At the end of the day, the clear emblem of protection is there already. It is not something you saw. Our policy since the beginning on saturday is to all parties to respect civilians and health care workers. This is not negotiable. This is International Humanitarian law. It is a legal obligation by the parties. Even then the darkest time, it is saying these places are sacred and no one should touch them. We hope this will happen also in this case. I touch them. We hope this will happen also in this case. Also in this case. I want to go to gaza city and also in this case. I want to go to gaza city and speak also in this case. I want to go to gaza city and speak to also in this case. I want to go to gaza city and speak to a also in this case. I want to go to gaza city and speak to a doctorl also in this case. I want to go to. Gaza city and speak to a doctor who is in one of the hospitals there. Tell me where you are stopping you are in rafah. Can you tell me about the situation where you are . I am in rafah in gaza the situation where you are . I am in rafah in gaza city. The situation where you are . I am in rafah in gaza city. The the situation where you are . I am in rafah in gaza city. The Military Rafah in gaza city. The Military Forces have asked us to evacuate the hospital. We have asked why we need to evacuate. We have been told they are preventing services for the Military Forces stop this is a civilian hospital and has been that way. Teen years. For 16 years. For women, for children, to old people, to all the patients, all the injured people who are exposed. This is their only private hospital. For these injured and harmed people. If we evacuate the hospital, there would be nowhere for injured people to go and get immediate emergency services. We have decided not to accurately hospital. These People Living in rafah are very cold. They cannot go to the hospital. If i did not evacuate, it would be as a result of this and we are working there because it was in two hours, there because it was in two hours, there would be an attack on the hospital. Why attack the hospital . It is a civilian hospital. We are receiving injured people and dead people and we are keeping that. How many patients people and we are keeping that. How many patients do have on life support the hospital . That many patients do have on life support the hospital . At shifa, we have more than support the hospital . At shifa, we have more than 10,000. Support the hospital . At shifa, we have more than 10,000. At support the hospital . At shifa, we have more than 10,000. At this i support the hospital . At shifa, we i have more than 10,000. At this point we need to. People are working in our hospital. What they can do, even the homes are not there and they cannot go. We had to present our work. Our medical message is for the people. Going to the assistance of patients who are injured. Patients who are inured. Giving eole patients who are inured. Giving people some h patients who are inured. Giving people some Idea Patients who are injured. Giving people some idea of patients who are injured. Giving people some idea of Where Patients who are injured. Giving people some idea of where we | patients who are injured. Giving i people some idea of where we are talking about, the northern part of gaza has been evacuated. You are on the southern border that borders egypt and the sinai in the queue to hospital. Do you know why they have told you to evacuate . In the past they have targeted the Tunnel System in rafah, how close are you to the wall we are looking out on our map . Number one, egyptian authorities have said no one can leave. This is number one. We are here. We cannot leave the hospital. We cannot leave sinai. We have borders. We cannot go there. There are nearby egyptian builders and we cannot leave because they are closed. We cannot go to another place. They are closed. We cannot go to another place they are closed. We cannot go to another place. You stay safe. Thank ou for another place. You stay safe. Thank you for coming another place. You stay safe. Thank you for coming up another place. You stay safe. Thank you for coming up and another place. You stay safe. Thank you for coming up and telling another place. You stay safe. Thank you for coming up and telling us you for coming up and telling us about the situation in the qa to hospital in rafah. Let me talk to justin, who is with me. I want to give our viewers who are listening to that, horrific to hear the situation they are meant when trying to give patients life care and lots of people on life support. Rafah does get hit because of course hammers are bringing things on the borderfrom the sinai. Hammers are bringing things on the border from the sinai. They have a relationship with the bedouin and a lot of equipment comes through. In an area where you have a build up of people trying to escape you also have military operations and that is why at times it can be very dangerous in rafah. Why at times it can be very dangerous in rafah. One of the bi est dangerous in rafah. One of the biggest questions dangerous in rafah. One of the biggest questions from dangerous in rafah. One of the biggest questions from the dangerous in rafah. One of the biggest questions from the security community, they are trying to get people out of israel and gaza at the moment. One of the biggest questions is what is the status of the Rafah Crossing . Egyptian authorities were saying it is open but it isnt because israel are striking the tunnel is nearby. Earlier in the programme there is cynicism within gaza that the egyptians have any desire to let anyone out through that route. There were pictures circulating yesterday they were not able to verify other additional concrete blocks being put into place at the crossing to stop a search through it is open. Egypt are only too happy to blame action around the. Ii too happy to blame action around the. ,. ,. ,. , too happy to blame action around the. I. ,. ,. , too happy to blame action around the. ,. ,. ,. , the. If you are going to evacuate atients the. If you are going to evacuate patients from the. If you are going to evacuate patients from rafah, the. If you are going to evacuate patients from rafah, it the. If you are going to evacuate patients from rafah, it is the. If you are going to evacuate patients from rafah, it is about | patients from rafah, it is about half an hour inside the sinai, there is an airstrip which i know the un meeting medical supplies too. If there were a willingness of egyptians we would be able to evacuate that hospital and get aid in. But we are three months from an election and he has a problem with the Muslim Brotherhood who are joined at the hip with hamas. They do not tend to support the palestinians. They speak with forked tongue many times. We palestinians. They speak with forked tongue many times. Palestinians. They speak with forked tongue many times. We heard from our own correspondent tongue many times. We heard from our own correspondent earlier. Tongue many times. We heard from our own correspondent earlier. He tongue many times. We heard from our own correspondent earlier. He was own correspondent earlier. He was very clearly cynical the egyptians would allow the border because they knew the risk of it being rushed. Egyptians did do a lot of work with closing tunnels on their side. The tunnels out of gaza used to be very dominant. The israelis did a lot to try to stop tunnelling underneath. The pictures show they are rudimentary. Tongue in cheek it is known as the gaza metro system because of the sheer sophistication of what is vital that there is a huge amount of activity around gaza to get things in and out. Hamas know that putting targets near the crossing makes it a bit more difficult for israel. It is right at the bottom of egypt. Imagine if israeli weapons and over the over the border, the level of chaos and confusion that would cause. Inside gaza, particularly around the crossing. Gaza, particularly around the crossinu. ~ , gaza, particularly around the crossina. ~ ,. , crossing. We will maybe come back to the tunnels because crossing. We will maybe come back to the tunnels because it crossing. We will maybe come back to the tunnels because it is crossing. We will maybe come back to the tunnels because it is really the tunnels because it is really interesting by the Tunnel System that goes Belly Gaza City and it has implications for the fighting with the Ground Incursion that will come. Lets speak to the Secretary General of the norwegian council. Thank you for coming on. Our own correspondent is trying to source water for his family. What are you hearing from your people . You have 50 people on the ground, what are you hearing from then . We the ground, what are you hearing from then . The ground, what are you hearing from then . ~. , ,. , from then . We have 53 people on the round. From then . We have 53 people on the ground many from then . We have 53 people on the ground many of from then . We have 53 people on the ground. Many of them from then . We have 53 people on the ground. Many of them had from then . We have 53 people on the ground. Many of them had to from then . We have 53 people on the ground. Many of them had to flee ground. Many of them had to flee from gaza city, where we had our headquarters. They went south. It is so horrific in the south where they were asked to flee. There was no place to stay, no safety, no nothing. Houses where there were 40, 50, 60 people. They are back in gaza city. Many say they would rather die in their own apartments here than follow this order. It could not be worse now in gaza. Follow this order. It could not be worse now in gaza. How difficult is it for ou worse now in gaza. How difficult is it for you to worse now in gaza. How difficult is it for you to communicate worse now in gaza. How difficult is it for you to communicate with worse now in gaza. How difficult is| it for you to communicate with your staff . , . Staff . Very difficult. The internet is basically staff . Very difficult. The internet is basically down staff . Very difficult. The internet is basically down and staff . Very difficult. The internet is basically down and out. Staff . Very difficult. The internet is basically down and out. There | staff . Very difficult. The internet. Is basically down and out. There is no electricity. How can you get your phone charged . There is no fuel. People cannot travel. This order two. Forcibly transfer more than a Million People from Northern Gaza south, which is impossible and illegal under International Law, will not and cannot happen. It is in a spiral now that was triggered by the hamas terror, no doubt about it. This spiral has made israel also do an infinite number of violations under International Law. The israelis would under International Law. The israelis would say under International Law. The israelis would say why all the focus on israel . The israelis are in bomb shelters living in fear. We have had an Air Raid Sirens in tel aviv. If they dont get civilians out of the way, if they hadnt given the order and then there is an incursion, we would be raising concerns about that. I would be raising concerns about that. ~ , , would be raising concerns about that. ~ ,. ,. , that. I think it is pretty basic and international that. I think it is pretty basic and International Law that. I think it is pretty basic and International Law and that. I think it is pretty basic and International Law and morality i that. I think it is pretty basic and i International Law and morality that one crime doesntjustify the next. Terror has been hit, hitting many societies. Grease and terror. I have never seen anywhere that people went smashing entire large communities, filled with children because they had suffered terror. I think israel is doing a tremendous strategic mistake. They relinquished completely the moral high ground. This become some kind of mud wrestling match. In a way that is what happened. Also the War On Terror from the United States side. It ended up with massive torture. It is not a way to have a common front against terror. Taste is not a way to have a common front against terror against terror. We are looking at Life Pictures against terror. We are looking at Life Pictures of against terror. We are looking at Life Pictures of the against terror. We are looking at Life Pictures of the situation against terror. We are looking at Life Pictures of the situation over gaza city. The data ground and another explosion in the city. We have not even had the Ground Incursion . Where do you think it ends . I incursion . Where do you think it ends . , incursion . Where do you think it ends . ,. , incursion . Where do you think it ends . ,. , ends . I really hope it will end by all of israels ends . I really hope it will end by all of israels allies ends . I really hope it will end by all of israels allies saying, ends . I really hope it will end by all of israels allies saying, stop| all of israels allies saying, stop it, it cannot continue like this. There are 2 million palestinian children already and thats together go after the terrace. These are grown men. They are now in our underground. I do not think there are many terrorist men suffering that much. Many who have organised this are abroad. It doesnt stop. It would be a bloodbath among children, the elderly, women, who have had nothing to do with all of this. I think the uk, the us, germany and the European Union, anyway they said it could be interpreted as we are behind whatever you do. Do it could be interpreted as we are behind whatever you do. It could be interpreted as we are behind whatever you do. Do you feel like ou behind whatever you do. Do you feel like you are behind whatever you do. Do you feel like you are crying behind whatever you do. Do you feel like you are crying in behind whatever you do. Do you feel like you are crying in the behind whatever you do. Do you feel like you are crying in the wind like you are crying in the wind here . I do not feel restrained from a british government, the American Government and the focus is on the hostages in gaza city and the terrible events of last weekend. It is a very different situation of 2000 2014, 2021. We are in a whole new era of conflict between hamas and israel. It does not seem to me there is too much space for humanitarian voices. Taste there is too much space for humanitarian voices. We try to do our best. Humanitarian voices. We try to do our best let humanitarian voices. We try to do our best. Let me humanitarian voices. We try to do our best. Let me again humanitarian voices. We try to do our best. Let me again stop humanitarian voices. We try to do our best. Let me again stop with l humanitarian voices. We try to do i our best. Let me again stop with we must recognise the israel i know well. I have been travelling there for 40 years. My brother was in bits. Israel was suffering the worst terror in its history. In eight qubits. Yes, i think the United States, United Kingdom and germany and European Union for that matter has an enormous moral responsibility to stop this. United states grenades here. This is going to be a bloodbath in a place that is sealed off. These People Cannot Travel to poland or to other parts of ukraine, which is also under bombardment. They cannot escape israel and i cannot escape into egypt. They are locked there. My mac i am thinking also of the doctors. I used to talk to your compatriot a lot. He also of the doctors. I used to talk to your compatriot a lot. Also of the doctors. I used to talk to your compatriot a lot. He was not much liked to your compatriot a lot. He was not much liked by to your compatriot a lot. He was not much liked by the to your compatriot a lot. He was not much liked by the israelis to your compatriot a lot. He was not much liked by the israelis because l much liked by the israelis because he is to tell it how it was. He was banned from going on. He is still going on in times of conflict and he used to work in the Operating Theatre while bombs were falling around the Shifa Hospital. There will be doctors saving lives under bombardment. Seems to me many will decide to stay. Bombardment. Seems to me many will decide to stay decide to stay. They are. A number of them will decide to stay. They are. A number of them will stay decide to stay. They are. A number of them will stay in decide to stay. They are. A number of them will stay in gaza decide to stay. They are. A number of them will stay in gaza city. Decide to stay. They are. A number of them will stay in gaza city. The | of them will stay in gaza city. The un staff stay with the 100,000 civilians, women and children in the schools where they are running out of water and food. Also no sewage and 100,000 people. So the suffering is at such a level it is not in the interests of israel to pursue this and it is in the interests of the allies of israel, all of us who believe in israel, to tell them to stop it. Believe in israel, to tell them to sto it. ~. ,. Believe in israel, to tell them to sto it. ,. ,. , believe in israel, to tell them to stoit. ,. ,. , stop it. What planet are you and our stop it. What planet are you and your fellow stop it. What planet are you and your fellow aid stop it. What planet are you and your fellow aid agencies, stop it. What planet are you and your fellow aid agencies, while i your fellow aid agencies, while planning are you putting in place in case the rafah border opens . What planning . Is stuff ready to go . Itruihat planning . Is stuff ready to go . What we have now planning . Is stuff ready to go . What we have now come planning . Is stuff ready to go . What we have now come at planning . Is stuff ready to go . What we have now come at a planning . Is stuff ready to go . Wisgt we have now come at a short term thing, we can hopefully still be able to provide some catch to those who can come to one of the 700 places where you can get a small amount of cash. If you are a widow with five children, a little bit of supply is still in gaza. It will take time to have the corridor established but it will come, i am confident of that. First from egypt. I hope israel will understand that to starve a million children will look very bad for israel in the history. We are. We are trying to find out how to organise the corridors over rafah into gaza and how to proceed and distribute supplies. Also to evacuate the wounded into neighbouring countries, the hospitals cannot take them. Aha, the hospitals cannot take them. A final word. Anthony binken hasjust arrived in cairo. Blinken. The arrived in cairo. Blinken. The messages arrived in cairo. Blinken. The messages you arrived in cairo. Blinken. The messages you have arrived in cairo. Blinken. Iia messages you have to arrived in cairo. Blinken. Tia messages you have to play arrived in cairo. Blinken. Ti2 messages you have to play a leadership role. I like the call for moral clarity. That is now to ask their ally israel to resend the forcible transfer of people from north to south, the border, and to stop the onslaught before it is too late. They should also have a Deacon Friction System established with the israeli army. The americans are good at Deacon Friction which means convoys, places, movements and so on can do this. They also should be able to help open the Border Crossings and have inspectors there because israel trust the United States, we trust the United States and they should be able to organise and they should be able to organise a lot. They have a big responsibility in this war. Always aood to responsibility in this war. Always good to talk responsibility in this war. Always good to talk to responsibility in this war. Always good to talk to you. Responsibility in this war. Always good to talk to you. Thank responsibility in this war. Always good to talk to you. Thank you i responsibility in this war. Always | good to talk to you. Thank you for coming onto the programme today. A couple of lines to bring you from the United States. The Sunday Morning Rounds but at the National Security adviser has just been speaking in the last few minutes. It says it cannot rule out that iran would get directly involved in this conflict and he has particular concerns about hezbollah. 19i thought was quite interesting, he said the terrorist men are not paying the price. Are the terrorist men in gaza paying the price . Ila. Men in gaza paying the price . No. Not at men in gaza paying the price . Tip. Not at the moment. They have this Extensive Network in and around the city. They have fortified locations and bunkers. They knew what was coming. You have to assume a lot of stockpiling was taking place. All the fuel and water, something the civilian population could have hasnt taken with them. One of the recent israel has cut of things is to try to deny hamer the opportunity to try to deny hamer the opportunity to have power to charge phones, devices, drones, to be able to communicate easily using phones and things like that. Again to have the fuel to charge generators, to have water to sustain themselves living in the city. This is very serious. The other thing israel is trying to do is put pressure on the civilian population of gaza. It all and now the population of gaza turned over hamas, accepted were being mounted on the hearth of hamas. Ultimately get the hostages released. If that were to happen and they were changing gaza, this would all stop. Lets be fair. That is not in the power of israel, it is in the power of the gazans. They used to pay, for example, if a house was destroyed by the israelis, hamas would pay the owners to continue to infiltrate themselves through Community Action with the community. You got a bit more if you had a hamas relative filter if he had a relative in hamas you got more money than someone who did not. It put a level of social control, exercised control. It makes it very hard to distinguish and is very hard for the population to get out from. We very hard for the population to get out from. ~. , ,. , out from. We are ust coming up to the to of out from. We are ust coming up to the top of the out from. We are just coming up to the top of the hour. Out from. We are just coming up to the top of the hour. Let out from. We are just coming up to the top of the hour. Let me out from. We are just coming up to the top of the hour. Let me show. Out from. We are just coming up to l the top of the hour. Let me show you some live pictures we are looking at. All the pictures of the area in the screens at the moment. This, i think, is gaza city. Clear at the moment. We have seen a number of explosions in the last few minutes but i think we can also show the picture from the northern border, from lebanon, looking. This is israel looking towards lebanon, which has also acquired at the moment as well. We will keep an eye. Do stay with us. Plenty more to come. Hello there. For the vast majority of the uk, we are looking at a fine and sunny afternoon. Mind you, it was a cold start to the day. In cumbria, shap, we had temperatures down at 4 earlier this morning but plenty of sunshine across the board now. On the Satellite Picture you can see that, really. The only exception is across parts of scotland where showers will continue to affect Western Areas and we have this Weather Front bringing a zone of more persistent rain just across the north of mainland scotland so it will be quite wet here through the course of the afternoon. There will be some showers for the Northern Isles where it will continue to be quite windy but not as windy as it was yesterday and temperatures across the board continuing to be below average for the time of year, about 11 or 12 celsius. It feels ok in the sunshine. Overnight tonight, we will keep the clear spells for a good part of the night and that will allow temperatures again to dip down just below freezing in the countryside, whereas many towns and cities will see temperatures just a degree or two above freezing. Tomorrow morning, they could be the odd patch of mist first thing but that should clear out of the way. There will be quite a bit of high cloud in the sky across Western Areas, making any sunshine rather hazy in the west but i think for most parts of the uk it is looking like another fine and dry day with some sunny spells coming through pretty widely and temperatures about 11 13 , so similar what we have got this afternoon. Onto tuesdays forecast, probably a few more mist and fog patches to start the day. Most of the uk again having a dry day with sunshine but we will start to see a band of rain working into south west england, perhaps reaching southern wales late in the day. That rain is tied in with an area of low pressure to our south and as we go through wednesday and thursday, that low pressure will bring wet and some windy weather northwards across the uk. It will also bring some pretty large rainfall totals. Midweek, we could see around 20 40 millimetres of rain, the wettest weather across england and wales then moving its way northwards into scotland and Northern Ireland by thursday. But the focus is on the heavy rain affecting england and wales on wednesday, the winds picking up across scotland, probably bringing quite a lot of cloud to eastern coastal areas, maybe a few patches of drizzle there and temperatures just coming up a few degrees, a bit closer to average, 12 15. But then we have that heavy rain pushing northwards into Northern Ireland and Scotland On Thursday and another area of low pressure to end the week will bring rain pretty widely. Live from london. This is bbc news. Israel continues its bombardment of the gaza strip, with Fighter Planes and drones striking targets across the territory. Thousands of palestinians living in northern Gaza Continue to flee by car or on foot. The uns aid agency tells the bbc that gaza is being pushed into an abyss. President biden speaks to the israeli and palestinian leaders as the us steps up efforts to contain the escalating conflict. And Britains Foreign Office tells british nationals in gaza to be ready to leave , in case the rafah Border Crossing into egypt is opened. Hello. You are watching bbc news. People in the northern half of gaza are continuing to flee the area ahead of an expected israeli incursion. Thousands of troops are already massed on the border with gaza. Air strikes have continued; the israelis say over a hundred military targets were Hit Overnight; among those killed are a Senior Commander involved in the attacks in israel last week