minister says there will be no temporary truce until all the hostages are released. israel says its troops are involved in face—to—face fighting with hamas as they completely surround gaza city. scottish first minister's mother and father—in—law are among the british nationals to leave gaza today but the rafah crossing into egypt. in other news, heavy rain and flooding directly linked to the storm caused more than 13 deaths in western europe. in the so—called crypto king sam bankman—fried is facing decades in prison after being found guilty of fraud and money laundering. dozens of british and foreign nationals are expected to leave gaza today through the rafah crossing to egypt. among those british nationals who were on the list to leave, were the mother and father—in law of scotland's first minister humza yousaf. and we've heard they have managed to cross into egypt earlier. this is elizabeth and maged el—nakla, from dundee. they had travelled to gaza to visit family before the hamas attacks on israel on the seventh of october. in a statement, mr yousaf and his wife, nadia el—nakla, said: "we are grateful to all of those who have assisted our parents over the last few weeks. these last four weeks have been a living nightmare for ourfamily, we are so thankful for all of the messages of comfort and prayers that we have received from across the world." however, the bbc is aware of at least 19 british people on the list who cannot leave gaza today for safety reasons. joining me now is omar mofeed, an irish—palestinian here in london, who's brother, ahmed and pregnant british wife and kids, aged 2, 6 and 8 are in gaza. they've been sheltering at al—shifa hospital since the war broke out. they're on the list to return home, but didn't travel south to the rafah crossing. thank you so much for being here on the programme. when was the last time you spoke to your brother and what did he say to you? 50. what did he say to you? 50, yesterday — what did he say to you? 50, yesterday night, _ what did he say to you? so, yesterday night, at - what did he say to you? sr, yesterday night, at midnight, 12 hours ago, the british foreign ministry contacted me as i am the contact person for my family and gaza. they said, your brother, his family are on the list to leave gaza. i explained to them that my brother is in gaza city and they cannot leave because israel does not allow anyone to go from gaza city to the rafah crossing. they said the british foreign ministry or army doesn't have a presence in gaza therefore we cannot help you. i told them, every second means my family could lose their life. at the british foreign ministry have said we can do nothing for your family. so they are stuck?— we can do nothing for your family. so they are stuck? yes. my brother is the only — so they are stuck? yes. my brother is the only plastic _ so they are stuck? yes. my brother is the only plastic surgeon - so they are stuck? yes. my brother is the only plastic surgeon in - so they are stuck? yes. my brother is the only plastic surgeon in gaza. | is the only plastic surgeon in gaza. he was working here in london and decided to move to gaza to start the first plastic surgery department at the biggest hospital. he says he does not want to leave but he wants his pregnant wife, his two daughters, one son, to leave gaza so he can work in the hospital without having the stress that his family might be killed at any time. so we contacted the british foreign ministry that he wants his family to leave but he said, if i am not in gaza right now i would be coming to help people as i am a doctor and i am doing humanitarian work. the issue we have is that he and his family are inside a hospital for 27 days because there is no where safe in gaza. we decided to take them with him to the hospital so you can imagine, 27 days, a two—year—old baby, six—year—old commedia old, pregnant women staying in the hospital, looking at their dead people, seeing the people crying and seeing the horrible scene in the hospital, they did not have any meal. they did not have any meat, any chicken, any fish, any hot food. they werejust taking any chicken, any fish, any hot food. they were just taking vitamins and cans and you can imagine, they did not have a shower, a single shower for 27 days and they are saying now, people are taking the hospital as a shelter. inside the operations room you have people who are sheltering in the hospital. over 50,000 people are sheltering in the hospital. there is bad news. just have an hour ago israel has bombed the entrance of a hospital. we did not have any communication with my brother since yesterday night. i don't know if you're still alive. if he any bad news happened to him and his family. we have immediately spoken with the british foreign ministry that my brother is inside that hospital. the hospital has been bombed. they said, we can do nothing for you. and i am so surprised that the british foreign ministry have done a lot for the british nationals in sudan, ukraine, and afghanistan. they have sent medical aeroplanes, ships, to evacuate these people. but with gaza, they said we cannot do anything and we will do nothing. and this is something i am surprised. i don't know what to do. so this is why i think, yeah, hopefully the british foreign minister can reply to this. what are they going to do to this. what are they going to do to help people inside gaza right now? . , , ., ., to help people inside gaza right now? . , ., now? that is the question that you want answering. _ now? that is the question that you want answering. in _ now? that is the question that you want answering. in terms - now? that is the question that you want answering. in terms of- now? that is the question that you want answering. in terms of what. now? that is the question that you i want answering. in terms of what you are describing at the hospital, we, too, have seen reports but reports of perhaps strikes close to the hospital rather than the hospital itself. but we are waiting for verification to find out more details but you spoke there of your brother's children. two, six and eight. what is he saying to you about the impact on the dam of seeing all of this? the about the impact on the dam of seeing all of this?— about the impact on the dam of seeing all of this? the impact is, like, ou seeing all of this? the impact is, like. you know. _ seeing all of this? the impact is, like, you know, they _ seeing all of this? the impact is, like, you know, they are - seeing all of this? the impact is, like, you know, they are crying. l like, you know, they are crying. they called me, they call their father saying, when the border is open are you coming with us, father? so they are in a very bad situation. they have been living here in london. they left school. they have lots of change of the for, like, you know, since they moved in february 2023, they have lots of trouble to engage with the schools. now it feels like their life is at risk. they start sending us voice notes, send this to our friends in they start sending us voice notes, send this to ourfriends in london. they feel their life is at risk and the asters, like, you know, we feel useless. we can do nothing. nicholas, like, saying are you coming,, and is the border opening? we tell them, yes, it will be open but we know that no one is doing anything to protect them. let but we know that no one is doing anything to protect them. let me ask ou a anything to protect them. let me ask you a question _ anything to protect them. let me ask you a question about _ anything to protect them. let me ask you a question about trying _ anything to protect them. let me ask you a question about trying to - anything to protect them. let me ask you a question about trying to get - you a question about trying to get to that rafah crossing point because we have seen a number of britons get out today. some of your family on that list. if they get there, there is the prospect of getting out. what are they saying about the dangers of making thatjourney are they saying about the dangers of making that journey from are they saying about the dangers of making thatjourney from the hospital to the rafah crossing? the british hospital to the rafah crossing? tue: british foreign hospital to the rafah crossing? tte: british foreign ministry hospital to the rafah crossing? t'te: british foreign ministry saying hospital to the rafah crossing? tte: british foreign ministry saying we do not encourage you to travel. we do not encourage you to travel. we do not encourage you to travel. we do not take any responsibility for your travel. we can ensure your safety once you leave the rafah crossing. the british government is saying, we can have no influence or no protection for any british citizen who is inside gaza. sure. but in terms _ citizen who is inside gaza. sure. but in terms of _ citizen who is inside gaza. sure. but in terms of what _ citizen who is inside gaza. sure. but in terms of what your - citizen who is inside gaza. sure. l but in terms of what your brother are saying about the dangers of the family making thatjourney. i understand that the british government and other governments won't give any sort of protection is on ground but in terms of making the journey themselves, what are they hearing aboutjust how dangerous, how possible or impossible that actually is?— actually is? yes. the tanks are not... there _ actually is? yes. the tanks are not... there is _ actually is? yes. the tanks are not... there is one, _ actually is? yes. the tanks are not... there is one, we - actually is? yes. the tanks are not... there is one, we call- actually is? yes. the tanks are not... there is one, we call it. actually is? yes. the tanks are i not... there is one, we call it the sea road, which cuts gaza from the north to the south. so there is no israeli tanks stopping people from travelling but any car passed this virtual line between north and south gaza, they have been bombed. so we are seeing pictures. this morning, people were trying to travel and they were bombed. let me say, just one more example. we have other friends who live in london here next to us enacting. they are british nationals. he has five sons and daughters in gaza. two of them are disabled. they are in gaza city. they have contacted the british red cross, the international red cross, the british government, that these children cannot be in any car. they need a specially equipped car. and nobody said. so there is an international red cross but they are not on the ground. they said this safety of our staff is not protected so we ask our staff to stay home. so there is a real, real problem here where we have pregnant women, where we have disabled children and no one is doing any action. so we have seen the british foreign minister visiting israel. the british prime minister visiting and they can tell the israelis that these are our people and we need them back. they can send whatever is needed to protect these people because now we are saying we don't know the news about my brother and his family. maybe i will appear on bbc tomorrow, like, you know, with bad news about my family. so we are all scared. we can do nothing. the british government is not helping us. thank ou for government is not helping us. thank you for taking _ government is not helping us. thank you for taking time _ government is not helping us. thank you for taking time for _ government is not helping us. thank you for taking time for speaking to us and the good luck in terms of making contact again with your family and in the days ahead. thanks so much for your time.— the bbc has launched an emergency radio service for gaza today, in response to the conflict in the region. gaza daily will broadcast daily to the people of gaza, providing listeners the latest information and developments as well as safety advice. we spoke earlier with tarik kafala, controller of languages, bbc world service on the new service now in gaza. so, the first edition finished about five minutes ago. for the next week, we'llll be doing one daily edition, about half an hour or slightly less. and then, after a week, we will ramp it up to two daily editions. one in the afternoon or evening time for gaza and its population and one early in the morning. we will be broadcasting on medium wave from cyprus. obviously, the programme is a lifeline programme so it will include news updates and so on but the main purpose will be to give information to the population of gaza that will help them make good decisions about how to stay safe, how to access water, health care and food that they need in this desperate situation. and how will you get that sort of information to pass on to people? yeah, we have correspondents in gaza who will give us information. that is obviously a primary source for us. but we will be working with the un, with aid agencies. medecins sans frontieres have more than 100 people operating in gaza. so we will be depending on a network of humanitarian and aid agencies working in the territory and obviously our contacts and our correspondents. those are the primary sources. we will also be in contact with organisations to work at de—mining and advice on how to deal with unexploded ordinance and all that sort of thing, so it is not just about the security situation. it is about a sort of more wraparound view of how to stay safe and well. obviously a huge challenge for everyone and this is, you know... our lifeline services in previous crises in sudan and the middle east, haiti and so on, they have been a key source of sort of reliable information on that. it has the obvious dangers, as you alluded to, because it is an incredible responsibility, isn't it? if you are trying to direct people to where you think is safe and, of course, the obvious, which is whether it is actually safe? yes, we will have to source things very, very carefully. information that we pass on, we'll have to be caveat in the right kind of way. obviously, people on the ground will know what their immediate environment is like. going to be dealing with information in a more general level and sort of the trends in the information rather than that up—to—date information in a war zone, which is what we're dealing with, essentially, the situation changes very, very quickly. we won't be giving advice on that. we will be giving advice on broader issues and broader information which is about how to access services that people need. let me roll in a few thoughts, finally. there are obviously concerns about communications blackouts over the last few weeks. there is that issue. you mention sudan. this has been done with afghanistan, with ukraine, but potentially, here, this could be a very, very long conflict, couldn't it? indeed, it could be a very long conflated obviously, we know there are shortages or a complete cut in some areas. radio is a sort of, you know, it is a very minimal requirement in terms of power, sort of battery—powered devices can get short wave, a good quality and reliable way. we have direct evidence, it is anecdotal evidence, really, from individuals, people in gaza who were in the recent blackout where electricity and the internet and telecommunications were cut entirely. they were still receiving the radio. and that is what we had to rely on. obviously, we are not going to be able to reach everyone at all times by any means but to reach a certain number of people, we hope can still be very useful. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. zachis zach is one of 50 meals on wheels volunteers known as delivery angels. delivering 150 hot meals a day into the community. and with or without a tractor delivery, they say the service is more important than ever. is a great help. and the meals are absolutely fantastic. t is a great help. and the meals are absolutely fantastic.— absolutely fantastic. i thought, well, this is — absolutely fantastic. i thought, well, this is an _ absolutely fantastic. i thought, well, this is an unusual- absolutely fantastic. i thought, well, this is an unusualthing, l absolutely fantastic. i thought, i well, this is an unusualthing, the well, this is an unusual thing, the food _ well, this is an unusual thing, the food angels are always so happy if you want — food angels are always so happy if you want the cattle filling with watch — you want the cattle filling with watch is — you want the cattle filling with water. , ,., , ., ., you want the cattle filling with water. , ., ., ., , water. is the population ages, demand for — water. is the population ages, demand for services _ water. is the population ages, demand for services like - water. is the population ages, demand for services like this | water. is the population ages, | demand for services like this is growing. taste demand for services like this is curowin. ~ ., demand for services like this is curowin. . ., ., demand for services like this is curowin. ~ . ., , growing. we are living longer but it is the cuts so _ growing. we are living longer but it is the cuts so the _ growing. we are living longer but it is the cuts so the services - growing. we are living longer but it is the cuts so the services are - is the cuts so the services are very. — is the cuts so the services are very. very— is the cuts so the services are very, very important. - is the cuts so the services are very, very important. last- is the cuts so the services are. very, very important. last year is the cuts so the services are - very, very important. last year we thought, _ very, very important. last year we thought, what— very, very important. last year we thought, what can _ very, very important. last year we thought, what can we _ very, very important. last year we thought, what can we come - very, very important. last year we thought, what can we come up - very, very important. last year wel thought, what can we come up with that is_ thought, what can we come up with that is a _ thought, what can we come up with that is a little — thought, what can we come up with that is a little bit— thought, what can we come up with that is a little bit different? 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