Palestinians sheltering there. Our correspondent, anna foster is injerusalem. I asked her about increasing pressure on hamas to reach a deal. Yeah. Were at the same stage samantha where an israeli deal has been put on the table. It was described at the start of the week by the us Secretary Of State, antony blinken, as extraordinarily generous. And it seems to be that in this latest iteration of the deal, there had been some movement in terms of potentially agreeing to talk about a permanent ceasefire. Now, from israels point of view, of course, its priority at the moment is trying to ensure the release of all the remaining hostages that are being held in gaza. One of hamas� s key priorities is to try and get some sort of agreement towards a permanent ceasefire rather than a temporary one. So while it seems that the two sides are moving closer together, there is still a disconnect, i think, on that point. And i think also on the number of hostages to be released. Now, originally we were told the number that was being talked about was around 40, then the briefings were that that had come down to around 33. These are people who are in whats considered the humanitarian category women, the elderly, and people who are suffering from particular medical conditions. Of course, the question is how many of those Hostages Hamas actually has access to in gaza and how many of them are still alive . Equally, the number of Palestinian Prisoners who would be freed from israeli jails, that number sounds like its still being discussed as well. So while these proposals are on the table, while they were being welcomed at the start of the week as a step closer, the fact that the talks are going on is positive. I think the fact that william burns, the head of the cia, is in cairo again, is potentially a positive move because he, i think, is there to try and facilitate and iron out those last few details. But its worth saying weve been in the last few months at this point before when when things are looking good, when the sides are looking like they might agree and things crumble at the last minute. So that hope is always, i think, always a cautious hope rather than than one without sort of thinking about what could happen and how close things can get before they fall at the final hurdle. And anna, what more can you tell us about these us media reports that israel has given hamas a week to agree to a proposal or it will begin its long threatened offensive in rafah . Long threatened is absolutely right. The president , benjamin netanyahu, has been talking about the Rafah Offensive for months now. But even though we heard in the media several weeks ago that it had a date attached, that date has never been publicly confirmed. And there are questions really about whether or not that is a date or whether, of course, this continues to be part of israels leverage with the International Community when it comes to actually reaching a deal. What we know is that the us government, in particular israels biggest military and diplomatic partner, is not wholly supportive of that Rafah Offensive. Israel says its essential if theyre going to remove the last of hamas from gaza. But the us points to the fact that there are still around 1. 4 million displaced people in rafah. In terms of timings, could it be a week . Well, there are two things that need to happen. They need to move a large number of those people out of the way back further north in the strip before they can start an offensive. And the idf, the Israel Defense forces, would also need to move their brigades back into position inside gaza for another ground offensive. So while we hear these reports of timings, i think until it actually starts, its always incredibly hard to tell. I am joined by mehran kamrava, who is a professor of government, Georgetown University in qatar. Thanks for being with us. As anna says, weve been here before several times in the past few months when it looks like a negotiation could reach a breakthrough. What is your sense of where they are now and how hopeful all parties are that it could lead to some conclusion here . The correspondence is absolutely right. Weve been here before, but it appears that this time the situation is different. Hamas is desperate for a ceasefire because of the inordinate number of palestinians who have been killed. Benjamin netanyahu was under tremendous pressure to bring the hostages home, and the americans are under pressure because of the protests in the United States and the Democratic Base appears to be abandoning president biden. So everyone at this point would like to see tangible progress in the negotiations. See tangible progress in the neuotiations. ,,. ,. , negotiations. The us Secretary Of State sa s negotiations. The us Secretary Of State says accepting negotiations. The us Secretary Of State says accepting a negotiations. The us Secretary Of State says accepting a deal negotiations. The us Secretary Of State says accepting a deal with l state says accepting a deal with israel should be a no brainerfor hamas and says the motivations of hamas remain elusive. What do you think they are . Hamas remain elusive. What do you think they are . Well, hamas, at this oint, ou think they are . Well, hamas, at this point. You just think they are . Well, hamas, at this point, you just wants think they are . Well, hamas, at this point, you just wants to think they are . Well, hamas, at this point, you just wants to survive. Point, you just wants to survive. Once a withdrawal of israeli troops from the gaza strip it once. In some sort of concession in terms of the day after. The destruction of gazais the day after. The destruction of gaza is not something that hamas or the Palestinian Authority or israel for that matter could repair at this point. For that matter could repair at this oint. � � ~. ,. , point. And c blinken said hamas is the only party point. And c blinken said hamas is the only Party Standing point. And c blinken said hamas is the only Party Standing on point. And c blinken said hamas is the only Party Standing on the point. And c blinken said hamas is the only Party Standing on the way| the only Party Standing on the way of a deal. What will it take, do you think . They say they travel to cairo in good spirits. What will it take for them to Reach Agreement . Indie in good spirits. What will it take for them to Reach Agreement . We have seen hepeful for them to Reach Agreement . We have seen hopeful language for them to Reach Agreement . We have seen hopeful language from seen hopeful language from the israelis in terms of not necessarily a permanent ceasefire stability and an ability for the displaced people of gaza to return home in the north. So it appears that hamas, it might get its way, and there might be a measure of victory for all parties. The leadership of hamas is based there. How much influence does the qatari government have over them . I think the influence was considerable at the beginning of the conflict. October, november, but as the number of palestinian deaths mounts, i think that influence has declined significantly. Because the qataris dont have much leveraged over hamas for the number of hostages it has, and now that the qataris and americans have agreed to let hamas leave doha, that leverages considerably less today than it was in the months before. In the months before. Hamas, as you sa , once in the months before. Hamas, as you say. Once to in the months before. Hamas, as you say, once to survive in the months before. Hamas, as you say, once to survive above in the months before. Hamas, as you say, once to survive above all in the months before. Hamas, as you say, once to survive above all else, l say, once to survive above all else, and we know that israel since the attack on October The 7th in which more than 1200 people were killed, they have vowed to wipe them out. So where does the two things sit . Hamas are refusing to go and refusing to lay down their arms and withdraw their calls for the destruction of israel and israel says for future security, hamas has to go . So what does it mean for the future of gaza . Thats a really good question and one to which there isnt a clear answer. We are Back To The Future in many ways. Where we started, except that more than 311,000 palestinians have died and gaza has become practically unlivable. What is really clear is that hamas cannot survive in its present form. Once the dust has settled, hamas needs to answer to the palestinians for the destruction that it has brought to their lives, so i think in its present form, the hamas leadership has an awful lot to answer for after the conflict ends. Has an awful lot to answer for after the conflict ends. Thank you so much for oininu the conflict ends. Thank you so much forjoining us uk Prime Minister rishi sunak has insisted the conservatives have Everything To Fight For despite the party losing nearly half the seats contested in local elections in england. With results expected in several mayoral races today, the tories will be hoping that andy street can cling on as mayor in the West Midlands. Having already won key councils and a decisive by election, labours expected to hold on to most of the regional mayors up for grabs. Our political correspondent, harry farley, has the story. Not many smiles around for the conservatives. The party is set for its worst local elections result in years. One result did bring some cheerfor rishi sunak. You are re elected mayor of teesside. Ben houchen winning the tees valley mayor. People knew that they couldnt be taken for granted. They knew that it was ben and the conservatives that delivered for them and they stuck with you in this election. And i know that come the General Election, theyre going to stick with us too. The conservatives hope to win the West Midlands mayoral race when the results are out later today. Another possible ray of hope in an otherwise bleak picture. But for now at least, rishi sunak looks to have avoided the major rebellion he feared from his own mps. And three miles from the Prime Ministers house in yorkshire, look who showed up. Sir keir starmer here celebrating a labour mayor in york and north yorkshire, where parts of the county are usually solidly tory. To the villages and the towns of north yorkshire, people have voted for change. They voted for labour. Webb, christopher paul, commonly known as chris, labour party, 10,825. There was a red pattern across this patchwork of elections in the parliamentary seat of Blackpool South, a massive 26 swing to labour in the by election. But for councils, it wasnt the size of labours win as much as where they won. From places with big brexit votes, like hartlepool, to the Military Town of aldershot and rushmoor and the south coast where they won ader for the first time. It wasnt all good news for sir keir starmer. In oldham, independent candidates opposed to labours stance on gaza meant they lost control of the council. The Liberal Democrats had big gains to win dorset and tunbridge wells. And picked up seats in other conservative facing towns in the south, like winchester. Lets make this conservative government history. Where ed davey tried to argue the tories were like dinosaurs. This is disaster for the conservatives and in so many parts of the country, itll be conservative mps worried about Liberal Democrats. People know that if you want to get rid of this awful conservative government and make them history, they should vote liberal democrat. Back at the Blackpool South by election, just 117 votes separated second place conservatives and third place reform uk, the successor to the brexit party. Were becoming the real opposition to the labour party in the north, in the midlands, in wales. Were on the way up and its quite clear that the tories are on the way down. The greens also gained seats, particularly in places like bristol, which they are targeting come a General Election. They recognised the choice they have in bristol is between a likely Labour Government, where it is 100 labour and where keir starmer can continue to u turn on policies every few weeks or a Labour Government with a handful of greens to hold them account. For the conservatives, this was an equal record low for them on their share of the vote and for rishi sunak there are obvious questions about what he can do to turn their fortunes around. And for labour, the results were good. But if sir keir starmer wants to come back here after a General Election with a majority of seats, its not yet clear if they were good enough. There are more results to count today, including and for labour, the results were good. There are more results to count today, including the mayors of london, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. Harry farley, bbc news. Lets go to birmingham and my colleague rajini vaidyanathan. Good to see you. When do we expect a result . Indie good to see you. When do we expect a result . ~. , good to see you. When do we expect a result . ~. ,. , result . We are expecting the result ofthe result . We are expecting the result of the mayoral result . We are expecting the result of the mayoral contest result . We are expecting the result of the mayoral contest in result . We are expecting the result of the mayoral contest in the result . We are expecting the result of the mayoral contest in the westl of the mayoral contest in the West Midlands some this afternoon. We dont know when exactly, but what we dont know when exactly, but what we do know is that it could be a really close result. The incumbent mayor, the conservative, andy street, is hoping for a third term in the job, and throughout the campaign, Richard Parker of labour has been pushing really hard for a long time and the labour party was hopeful it might take this seat from the conservatives. Of course, we dont know what the result will be until the counting behind me has concluded but we do know its going to be very close, but some Labour Sources have indicated that they may think they might be closer than they think and may even lose to the conservatives partly because as harry was mentioning in his report of sir keir starmer� s position when it comes to the ongoing conflict in gaza, and thatis the ongoing conflict in gaza, and that is also because one of the independent candidates for the mayor here has been very, very firm in his position on the war in gaza, using that as his platform and there are some who believe he could take votes away from the labour party and in the end that could leave andy street as the winner but its worth pointing out that when it comes to the mayoral races its also about figurehead and personality and andy street has been a big face in the West Midlands and one that has been quite popular. In many ways the Anti Politician and was the head of john lewis before he took over as the mayor here but to discuss all of this in a bit more detail i am joined by the Political Editor of the West Midlands, a very appropriate name for the day we are on, rob mayor. Lets talk about the news overnight, a bit of controversy with labour having to apologise for a sauce making some comments about the way they think the vote will go. It was you that spoke to the labour source, so can you explain exactly what happened with that . This was the sto i what happened with that . This was the story i broke what happened with that . This was the story i broke yesterday what happened with that . This was | the story i broke yesterday morning on labour the story i broke yesterday morning on Labour Sources were telling us early on Labour Sources were telling us early yesterday that they thought they had lost this contest and putting they had lost this contest and putting the blame firmly on the party putting the blame firmly on the Party Position on gaza and there was a quote Party Position on gaza and there was a quote from the source who said it was the a quote from the source who said it was the middle east that would win the race was the middle east that would win the race for andy street, not the west the race for andy street, not the West Midlands. Once again, hamas are the villains West Midlands. Once again, hamas are the villains is what this quote said the villains is what this quote said it the villains is what this quote said. It was pretty quickly slapped down said. It was pretty quickly slapped down by said. It was pretty quickly slapped down by the labour party who described it as a racist comment and they said described it as a racist comment and they said this person doesnt share they said this person doesnt share the values they