second—largest city, kharkiv. the mayor says residential buildings and a children's nursery were struck. and in australia, more than 150 people are rescued from floods around sydney, as others prepare to leave their homes. welcome to our special coverage of the israel ghazal war as it approaches its six—month mark. during october seven�*s murderous assault in southern israel. the israeli military has recovered the body of a hostage in gaza during an overnight operation. it accused the islamichhad group of murdering the man, who's been identified as elad katzir. he was kidnapped from a kibbutz in the south of israel in attacks

led by hamas militants on october 7th. during that assault, his father was murdered, while his mother was abducted then later released. the israeli army said the body of elad katzir was retrieved from the khan younis area of southern gaza. it said its mission to search for hostages, and return them to israel, would continue. allison kaplan sommer is a journalist at israeli newspaper, haaretz. she said the news has been greeted with dismay by the families of israeli hostages. they want their hostages back. they want them alive. as many as still remain alive. and the mood was encapsulated by a facebook post from elad katzir�*s sister, she posted... basically, she was the one who announced as much as the israeli army announced that her brother's

body had been recovered and returned to israel. and she wrote on facebook, "you're going to hear from the army about their daring rescue operation "in which they got my brother's body and returned it to israel." and she said, "don't let anyone fool you. "this is not a rescue operation. "this is an incident of my brother having been abandoned to die. "the first abandonment took place when the military did not "move into the kibbutz from which he was kidnapped, in time, and he was kidnapped." and there were two videos released of her brother alive and in captivity. so they know that he did not die on october 7th, that he was killed by his captors, by islamichhad, who was handing him. and she said, "make no mistake, this is a failure of the israeli "government to have achieved a hostage deal that would have "brought my brother back alive and instead i'm getting his body." and you have to understand, this is a woman writing whose mother was taken hostage. she was returned in the first hostage deal and whose father was killed and murdered by hamas on the kibbutz on october 7th. so this is a family that was completely devastated by the attack. and she's been fighting for her brother's release for months. and now she gets the news that that she gets a body back

and not her brother back alive. so it's certainly not viewed as any kind of reason for celebration. we can now speak to gina abercrombie—winstanley, a former us ambassador who's now president of the middle east policy council. there have been daily protests. israelis are calling on the prime minister netanyahu to do much more to bring the hostages home before more than die in gaza. president biden recently has urged the prime minister to do much more to reach a deal with hamas. and also to achieve

an immediate ceasefire. the criticism coming from biden in recent days as the toughest yet. on thursday he had what is widely described as a very tense conversation by mr netanyahu. he warned if israel did not do more to protect its civilians in gaza, the united states would have to change its policy. that means a possible turning point in this war. we can now speak to gina abercrombie—winstanley, a former us ambassador who's now president of the middle east policy council. do you see the toughening stance of president biden and a letter from a0 congressional gun democrats until

there is a thorough investigation of there is a thorough investigation of the recent killing of seven aid workers as a possible turning? it is certainly an — workers as a possible turning? it 3 certainly an extraordinary response. we have not seen anything like this in decades of the close relationship between the united states and israel. there has not been questioning at senior levels of our arms relationship. this is a change that everyone can mark as significant and meaningful. the relationship is of course, there is a long pipeline for weapons sales so any urgent or immediate is something that would be very difficult to carry out. it is strong and something clearly the prime minister is heating. d0

something clearly the prime minister is heatinu. ,, ~ , is heating. do you think president biden will respond? _ is heating. do you think president biden will respond? many - is heating. do you think president biden will respond? many are - is heating. do you think president i biden will respond? many are asking would he take the step to suspend those, transfer those arms, israel absently depends on them, makes up 2000 weaponry that israel is using to fight this war.— to fight this war. what i would say is that the president _ to fight this war. what i would say is that the president clearly - is that the president clearly communicated with the prime minister that he meant business. president biden is known for his straight talk. which we understand was used during that. these calls from democratic members of congress strengthen his hand. this helps the prime minister understand this is notjust talk, there is support in the united states from long—time strong supporters of the government of israel, israel as a nation saying

enough is enough, changes are necessary. it is strengthening the present�*s hand and should get the changes united states is looking for that would mean the relationship does not have to alter in an appreciable way. fix, does not have to alter in an appreciable way.— does not have to alter in an appreciable way. a series of us presidents _ appreciable way. a series of us presidents have _ appreciable way. a series of us presidents have had _ appreciable way. a series of us presidents have had difficult. presidents have had difficult relations with prime minister netanyahu. he likes to boast he likes to say yes to his most important ally but he also sometimes has to say no. how do you read israel now? can netanyahu and those backing him continue to ignore the advice and the warnings from us? the prime advice and the warnings from us? tue: prime minister advice and the warnings from us? tte: prime minister has advice and the warnings from us? t'te: prime minister has for advice and the warnings from us? tte: prime minister has for proved himself a decades to be a highly skilled political bear. he has a

ballot from those on the right of his own views in the government. this is a case where the american government and israeli population are in agreement, hostages should come first. the reality is diplomatic negotiations in the not bombing of the gaza strip. the 32000 and growing people in the gaza strip, a high number of them have been women, children and civilians. putting the safety of health workers, ahead of in this comic bombing as president biden described it. i believe that the combination of the president using straight talk, members of congress and the american people because polling

shows a majority of americans are not satisfied with how this war is going, the high number of civilian casualties along with the israeli people saying bring our people home, i believe that this is something the prime minister cannot ignore. thank ou. thank prime minister cannot ignore. thank yon thank you _ prime minister cannot ignore. thank you. thank you for _ prime minister cannot ignore. thank you. thank you forjoining _ prime minister cannot ignore. thank you. thank you forjoining us - prime minister cannot ignore. thank you. thank you forjoining us at - you. thank you forjoining us at this important point in the war as it reaches its six—month mark. across this region other allies have repeated the calls for the us to do more. i've been speaking tojordan's foreign minister, ayman safadi. i asked him if washington's angry reaction, to the killing of seven aid workers this week, could spell a turning

point in the conflict? let's hope it is at least, because for the last six months we've seen nothing but an israeli government that is defying the will of the whole international community, proceeding with a massacre that has produced nothing but death and destruction and suffering to the palestinians. six months into this massacre, the world has to act more assertively to ensure that israel complies with international law, international humanitarian law. not only stop killing palestinians through this war, but also stop the starvation, which is claiming more lives day in, day out. so it is way past time that israel is held responsible for what it has done and stop this massacre and allow all of us then to come together and see how we can get beyond this misery and work towards a future that will ensure peace and security for palestinians and israelis. israel has announced new steps to get desperately needed aid into gaza, including opening a northern crossing, an israeli port,

and expanding the capacity through jordan. will that make a difference? we've heard those promises before, we'll believe them when we see them. thus far, in the last six months, only an average of 100 trucks a day have entered gaza, compared to what the un estimated was 800 trucks needed on a daily basis. so the amount of humanitarian aid entering into gaza is completely insignificant as of yet. we wait and see if israel really does take any action to allow more aid in. and also to allow humanitarian agencies into gaza, because without the un being there, in charge of those operations, without ngos being able to work, without the threat of being bombed and killed, the issue of distribution will also be a major problem. so what's needed now is opening all land crossings into gaza and allowing the un and other ngos

full access and full ability to receive the aid and to distribute the aid. there's a growing debate in britain, in the united states, about whether arms sales to israel should be suspended. is that a move that you and your arab colleagues would welcome? the reality is, for the past six months, israel has ignored every call by the international community to do what's right and stop violating international law and stop this war. we've seen un security council resolutions, we've seen two sets of provisional measures by the icj and israel has done nothing. so i think it is time israel faced consequences and real consequences for what this government is doing. israel has not listened, now the israeli government has to face consequences for its actions and instead of sending weapons to israel, i think the world should be sending aid and should be sending political delegations to make sure

we get over this catastrophe. so, yes, we do support ending arms sales to israel, among other sanctions. it must be tough, being an arab foreign minister, you're shouting as loudly as possible, including to your friends the united states, it doesn't seem to be having much impact. pressure is growing in your own street, saying you're not doing enough. absolutely, the whole world is not doing enough. that's the perception and the belief and that's reality. the fact is, we have an israeli government dominated by radical racist extremists who are defying the will of the whole international community, who are killing with impunity, who are starving people, using food as a weapon. and despite calls by all members of the international community, almost, including, for instance, the support of israel, this israeli government has not listened. so, yes, it is frustrating, people are outraged, we are outraged and the anger that you refer to demonstrated by people in the streets ofjordan is an anger that represents notjust ofjordan,

it represents a growing number of people across the world. so, yes, there is tremendous anger and tremendous frustration, notjust with what israel is doing, but also with the inability of the international community to impose international law and to have this israeli government stop the massacre that it is allowing or leading or enabling in gaza. and in one word, are you now more hopeful that the end of this war will be coming soon? unfortunately, no. you hear statements coming from the israeli government, they're talking about a ground invasion into rafah, despite warnings by the us, europe, everybody, the directors from israeli politician saying that they are willing to go in. that they are going to go in. and if they go into rafah, that will be another massacre and that should not be allowed to happen. so now we are at a point where,

do we allow an israeli government dominated by radicals to continue with this massacre and determine and doom the future of the region to more conflict and suffering, or does the international community to take the necessary action to stop that and impose compliance with international law? thank you. thejordan the jordan prime minister emphasising thejordan prime minister emphasising much more should be done. israel says it is doing all it can to limit civilian casualties and get aid into gaza and the significant us pressure it is stepping up its deliveries of aid, stepping up its deliveries of aid, stepping up its deliveries of aid, stepping up the way in which the gaza situation can be addressed. the us says it will wait to see results. we will follow developments here. back to rajini in london. now it's time for a look at today's sport with olly foster. hello from the bbc sport centre.

manchester city are level on points with leaders liverpool in the premier league. they beat crystal palace a—2 at selhurst park in the lunchtime kick—off. they went behind inside five minutes but kevin de bruyne, who was rested against aston villa in midweek, marked his return with two goals — his 99th and 100th for the club. rico lewis and erling haaland also scored. their attention will now turn to the champions league quarterfinal against real madrid and also see how their title rivals arsenal and liverpool get on this weekend, and the manager certainly seemed happy to see de bruyne back on form and bringing up that century of goals. today, kevin. you know? kevin won the game. his first goal and the assist. the other one, the third, the fourth, and the team were in the game and yes, difficult place to come, it always has been here but we did it.

you know, it just you know, itjust means i have been on time, _ you know, itjust means i have been on time, there have been met many good _ on time, there have been met many good memories and it is a nascent milestone — good memories and it is a nascent milestone to score that many for the club, _ milestone to score that many for the club, just— milestone to score that many for the club, just means i have been there lon- club, just means i have been there long time — club, just means i have been there lona time. , ., , , long time. nine years, kevin de bru ne. five more matches under way and into the second half. everton welcome fellow strugglers burnley, while luton take on bournemouth and brentford are away at aston villa. elsewhere, fulham host newcastle and wolves play west ham. in the late match, arsenal will return to the top if they beat brighton away, as this year's title race goes down to the wire. the gunners boss mikel arteta thinks

they can tap into last season's disappointment when their challenge faded. i hope it is helping, i think. we learn a lot from the past, especially from difficult moments or from lessons you take in. - it is a different situation, - we are in a different moment. we have gone through that already. i think that experience servesl a lot, and we are trying to use it in the right way. big game coming up in spain. athletic bilbao take on mallorca in the copa del rey final which is again being held in seville. athletic are looking for a first major trophy in a0 years. mallorca, who won the cup in 2003, will come into this one as the underdogs. when you go into the game with the same mentality and the right mentality to try and win the game, we know it is an important game for everybody, and everyone isjust preparing. bilbao have quality players too, we are preparing for them and making

sure that we bring our best. busy day in the european champions cup round of 16, including an all—english clash between exeter chiefs and bath. exeter 7—15 bath. stormers 16—7 la rochelle. bulls beat lyon 59—19. saracens will play harlequins in the quarter finals if they beat bordeaux later leicester tigers are away at leinster. red bull have locked out the front row for sunday's formula one japanese grand prix. max verstappen is on pole, maintaining his perfect qualifying record this season. the world champion failed to finish the last race in australia but topped the time sheets in all three sessions. his red bull team mate sergio perez

will line up alongside him on the grid at suzuka. britain's lando norris was third quickest, but was more than a quarter of a second slower than verstappen. another goal in the premier league. aston villa's top four place could slip because brentford have equalised. brian mweb more at villa park, 2—2. we'll be back back next hour. and that's all the sport for now. an investigation's underway after two passenger planes collided on the ground at heathrow airport. the wing of a virgin atlantic plane collided with a stationary british airways aircraft. the virgin boeing was being towed at the time. virgin has launched an investigation. a heathrow spokesperson says no passenger injuries have been reported, and they are not expecting any impact on airport operations. the mayor of ukraine's

second—largest city, kharkiv, says there's been a second russian attack, killing one person. six people were killed in a drone attackjust hours earlier. the mayor says iranian—made drones in that first attack hit several buildings, including a residential blocks of flats, early on saturday morning. 11 people were injured. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford gave us this update from kyiv. there are constant strikes on kharkiv at the moment. it is becoming increasingly regular to hear of missile and drone attacks against ukraine's second city up in the north—east of the country. certainly we know that seven people were killed early this morning. so, the first missile struck sometime after midnight. two s—300 russian missiles, according to ukrainian authorities, fired at kharkiv, killing residents in a residential areas of the city and wounding other people there.

they then talk about a wave of drones launched by russia again at kharkiv city centre. they say those were shot down by ukraine's air defences and of course when that happens it means fragments fault of the ground, they explode, more people are injured and more buildings are damaged. we know about nine residential buildings, blocks of flats, that have been badly damaged in this latest attack on kharkiv, but it is the latest of many. certainly, we don't know exactly what the russians were targeting. they say it was a military target. we do know, though, in recent days and weeks, the energy system in kharkiv has come under direct and sustained attack and that that city is now living with blackouts, rolling blackouts, people without power for at least six hours every day. this is also significant because of the geography. kharkiv is relatively close to russia and as you say, the second largest city. it is. it is a strategically

important city. it is a bit of a pearl for russia. there have been rumours recently about a possible military push towards kharkiv by russian soldiers. we don't believe there is any intelligence to suggest that is imminent but there is a lot of talk in the russian media about that happening. people here in ukraine warning against psychological warfare about these rumours being spread deliberately to scare people. but i was in kharkiv a few days ago and people are worried, they are nervous. i was speaking to students in one of the central squares who said they were definitely considering leaving kharkiv again. and, remember, this is a city which was under direct and awful shelling at the beginning of this war. many people evacuated, left as refugees, but then they started to come back, things got calmer, they felt a little bit more safe. that safety, i think, has been rocked by these recent missile and drone attacks. i think people these days are very worried, very nervous there. opposition forces in myanmar have taken control of the busiest border crossing into thailand, through which much of myanmar�*s trade passes. in the latest setback to the junta,

several hundred troops in the town of myawaddy are negotiating the terms of their surrender. hundreds of others gave themselves up in a nearby town on friday. for months, the soldiers have been under attack by insurgents who are fighting to overthrow the military, which took power in a coup three years ago. the authorities in myanmar have also lost control along parts of the border with india and china. mexico has suspended relations with ecuador. it's in protest against a police raid on its embassy in quito. officers arrested former ecuadorean vice presidentjorge glas. he'd been sheltering in the compound since december but was wanted on corruption charges. mexico says it had granted glas political asylum but ecuador authority called the action illegal. glas's lawyer said he was innocent. to australia next. more than 150 people have been rescued from floods in and around sydney. other people have been told to be prepared to leave their homes because of the rising floodwaters.

the region's main reservoir, which supplies most of the city's drinking water, is overflowing. there've been three days of torrential rainfall across much of eastern australia. people living in parts of new south wales have been told to stay indoors. stay with us here on bbc news. good afternoon. storm kathleen dominated weather headlines in recent days. the storm arrived last night and yes, it's bringing gale force gusts of winds in the far northwest. it's also tapping in to some very warm air indeed. now, so far today, we have seen a gust of wind in excess of 90 mile an hour on the tops of cairngorm. yes, but even at lower levels through northern ireland, down to the isles of scilly, we've had gusts in excess of 60, close to 70 mile an hour.

so the storm is anchored way out to the west of the uk and that's allowing this south—westerly wind to push up some very warm airfrom africa. and so temperatures really quite a dramatic difference, particularly in scotland where just a few days ago we were seeing a maximum of five degrees, not that much in the way of rain around for the rest of the day. sunny spells and scattered showers. there will be quite a lot of cloud around from time to time and it will stay windy. so inland we're looking at around a5 mile an hour plus winds out through the irish sea. we could see 65, close to 70 mile an hour wind gusts still continuing, but the temperatures will be way above where they should be for this time of year. anywhere above 20 degrees will make it the hottest day of the year so far. and we could see a high of 22 across east anglia, a pulse of wetter weather, some sharper showers moving their way north and east through the night. we keep quite a lot of cloud around as well and it will stay mild through the night. double figures perhaps across the south east. so we start off tomorrow morning with a spell of wetter weather and we could see some showers just funnelling together in a fairly organised line through the south west coming up through the bristol channel towards the midlands. and here, the wind gusts could be

a little bit stronger tomorrow, over 50 miles an hour at times. it'll still be mild for the time of year. we're looking at 10 to 17 degrees, the overall high. now, as we move into monday, there's another low that could bring yet more wet and windy weather in a similar track to kathleen. so we're keeping an eye on that. a brief lull behind before another low continues to push in from the atlantic. so the weather pattern stays the same. we're looking at it staying pretty unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain. temperatures will come down just a touch. so if you are planning to spend some time outside, this is the story. rain or showers, lighter winds, temperatures about average.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the israeli military confirms it's recovered the body of hostage elad katzirfrom khan younis nearly six months after being abducted by hamas. president biden is facing growing pressure from within his own party to pause arms sales to israel, following the israeli air strike that killed seven aid workers. about a0 democratic members of congress have signed an open letter expressing outrage at the deaths. seven people die in russian drone

attacks on ukraine's second—largest city, kharkiv. the mayor says residential buildings and a children's nursery were struck. police in the uk investigate reports several mps were sent explicit messages and images, in a suspected parliamentary honeytrap. and in australia, more than 150 people are rescued from floods around sydney, as others prepare to leave their homes. now on bbc news, scandalous: phone hacking on trial, episode one. i wanted to expose the criminality that runs through the heart of this corporation. they very nearly ruined my life.