Plus: Aid trucks wait outside Gaza, and the haunting history behind Scorseseâs latest film.
| | | | | | | Hello. Fresh from visiting Jerusalem, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Our live page has the latest on their discussions to prevent an escalation of the Israel-Gaza war. Watching for a broadening of the conflict are Israeli soldiers at the Lebanese border - and our correspondent Anna Foster has been inside their heavily fortified base. With aid agencies warning that food and medicine are running low in Gaza, we explain what’s needed - and why it’s taking so long. Away from the Middle East, we have details of an operation to rescue trafficked animals in Spain, and claims of an audacious theft in Poland. |
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| | | | | | AT THE SCENE | Northern Israel | | Inside an Israeli 'war room' | | | | The unit monitors for activity from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement. Credit: IDF | | Almost every day since Hamas attacked southern Israel, the Hezbollah group has fired anti-tank missiles from Lebanon into the country’s north. High in the mountains, in a “war room” protected by blast walls, Israeli soldiers monitor the border. | | | | Anna Foster, Middle East correspondent |
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| There are no windows, and before you can pass through the solid door you have to leave behind mobile phones and smart watches - anything that could give away this secret location. Inside are banks of monitors. Around the clock, a team of soldiers are gazing at them intently. Each shows grainy black-and-white images from cameras constantly trained on more than 100km (62 miles) of Lebanese border. Captain "S" commands the all-female company. "We are the eyes of the soldiers… of the entire border." she tells me.
Sergeant "I" was on duty, watching her monitor, when the images on it suddenly changed. As shadowy figures approached the border wall… she called in an air strike. "I recognised a group of terrorists on the screens and understood that something was wrong. It's scary, and it's stressful, but I have to keep it cool." Young female soldiers doing exactly the same job in the south were targeted by Hamas. "My heart goes out to them. I personally know a lot of people who were abducted or murdered." |
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| | Questions Answered | | Aid is close but Gaza still waits | | | | Israel has agreed to allow in food, water and medical supplies – but not fuel. Credit: EPA |
| | About 20 trucks carrying much-needed aid may be allowed to enter Gaza in the coming days, bringing some relief to its 2.2 million residents. But humanitarian organisations warn it won't be enough for a population beleaguered by the ongoing siege and bombing from Israel. | | | | Antoinette Radford, BBC News |
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| | How much aid is needed? | | "The UN has reported that a minimum of 100 trucks of humanitarian assistance are needed,” Shaina Low, of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told the BBC. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said that before the war about 500 trucks a day would enter Gaza with aid, fuel and other commodities. | | How much help is available? | | Mohsen Sarhan from the Egyptian Food Bank said 120 lorries were ready to deliver aid and were waiting at the border for safe passage. "We're very angry because we know people over there have run out of water. They have even run out of body bags. They have run out of everything." | | Why isn’t the crossing already open? | | Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the crossing had been subject to four aerial bombardments, and that there had been no authorisation for the safe passage of lorries and trucks into Gaza. "I would hope there would be a determination as to why the crossing is being bombarded and by whom,” he said. The road on the Rafah crossing also requires repairs before any trucks are able enter. | | | | • | Gaza in maps: Our graphics explain what life is like for those who live there. | | • | Hospital blast: My colleagues at BBC Verify are continuing to examine what caused the blast that's feared to have killed hundreds of people at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday. Watch their video analysis. |
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| | The big picture | | Rough trade | | | | The animals are thought to have been illegally imported into Spain from eastern Europe, via Andorra. Credit: Spanish police |
| | These cute creatures were among 400 animals rescued from a trafficking network in Spain. They're now receiving care from vets. And police have released infrared footage of the night-time raid that set them free - leading to 13 arrests. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Haunting history | | Martin Scorsese’s new film is based on the true story of forgotten murders. | | |
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| | And finally... in Poland | | A man has been charged with burglary and theft, having been accused of posing as a mannequin so he could raid a shop after closing time. Police in Warsaw said staff failed to notice the 22-year-old among the shop dummies in the window. See how the suspect posed with a bag. |
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| | | | | | | | Future Planet | | Explore the wonders of our amazing planet. | | |
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