the group's ceasefire terms. iraq says a us drone strike that killed a leader of an iran—backed militia in baghdad is a threat to regional security. and donald trump sets his sights on thursday's nevada caucuses where he is running unopposed after nikki haley's stinging defeat in the state's republican primary. hello. thank you forjoining us. we begin in the middle east, where israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, rejected hamas�*s proposed ceasefire terms on wednesday, saying "total victory" in gaza is possible within months. mr netanyahu added that negotiations with the group were "not going anywhere" and described their terms as "bizarre". hamas laid out a process to release israeli hostages in several phases in exchange for palestinian prisoners and a period of calm

to allow a dramatic increase in aid to gaza. but hamas also said any truce had to guarantee a permanent ceasefire, something israel has rejected. a senior hamas official says a delegation will head to cairo for peace talks with egypt and qatar. mr netanyahu's remarks are a blow to a sustained push by the us to reach an agreement. something the country's top diplomat, antony blinken says there is still room for as negotiations continue. while there are some clear nonstarter is in hamas�*s response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there. while the war continues in gaza, there are other potential flashpoints for a wider conflict, including on israel's border with lebanon, from where our international editorjeremy bowen sends this report. israel's border with lebanon feels isolated and empty. in metula, israel's most northerly community,

the only residents left are mobilised army reservists. here, they're surrounded on three sides by hezbollah, iran's powerful ally in lebanon. one of the men, who didn't want his face shown, pointed to hezbollah�*s positions. and then to the north is half a mile, the border with lebanon. in the east of us, it is half a mile. definitely can turn into a big war, and a big war with hezbollah is not like hamas — a real army, very trained, greatly equipped, great intelligence and they have a lot of experience, real experience in syria. israel released video of their attacks on what they said were hezbollah positions. tens of thousands of civilians on either side of the border have been evacuated. the war there is intensifying. haven't seen you in a long time.

yeah, a few weeks. but more urgent for antony blinken is a ceasefire in gaza. but prime minister netanyahu doubled down, calling for total victory and dismissing the hamas response to the us ceasefire proposal. the us secretary of state still believes a deal is possible, and at the hq of the rivals of hamas, the palestinian authority, he repeated to president mahmoud abbas that america wants a palestinian state, which israel's leader opposes. he reminded israelis later that their suffering was no justification for killing palestinian civilians. that cannot be a licence to dehumanise others. the overwhelming majority of people in gaza had nothing to do with the attacks of october 7. the families in gaza whose survival depends on deliveries of aid from israel are just like our families. they are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. gaza is the key to

stabilising the middle east. this is the occupied golan heights, another potential flashpoint, where the borders of israel, lebanon and syria meet. over on the syrian side, you can see ruins from previous wars. antony blinken warns this is the most dangerous moment for the middle east since 1973. without a ceasefire in gaza, the risks that a wider war will intensify remain very real. israel has heavily reinforced its northern border lands. this is a former syrian base occupied by the israelis since 1967. inside the ruin, the head of the regional council, a retired colonel, was preparing for the worst. if we...go, to where are we going? to haifa? then they bomb us in haifa. then we go to tel aviv, then they bomb us in tel aviv. people prefer to move by night

on the most exposed roads in northern israel, in places shielded by blastproof concrete walls. don't think of this war on the lebanese border as a sideshow to gaza. it could become even worse. this is the most dangerous, the most unstable frontier in the middle east at the moment. what started as a low—level war back in october has been intensifying. but all sides know how much worse it could get — not just causing great destruction in israel and in lebanon, but it's also got the capacity to ignite the region. the fate of the whole middle east, notjust israel's empty, evacuated northern towns, depends on breaking through the shock and hatred of war. so far, the diplomats are fighting a losing battle. jeremy bowen, bbc news, in israel. for more on israel's position in these talks,

my colleague caitriona perry spoke to tal heinrich, spokesperson for israeli prime minister netanyahu. when the prime minister says today that there is no other solution other than total re—, does that mean a complete rejection now of these talks aimed at agreeing some sort of truce to get the israeli hostages home?- truce to get the israeli hostages home? truce to get the israeli hostaaes home? ., ., ., hostages home? 0h, not at all. we believe _ hostages home? 0h, not at all. we believe that _ hostages home? 0h, not at all. we believe that these _ hostages home? 0h, not at all. we believe that these two - hostages home? 0h, not at all. | we believe that these two goals that we have defined for the operation in gaza after we were dragged into this war following the seventh of october mexico, which is a release of hostages and also the elimination of hamas, they are not contradictory. they go hand—in—hand. we believe that the military pressure, heavy military pressure that we are exerting on the ground in gaza what created the conditions for example back in november to reach a diplomatic framework by which we saw the release of some of the hostages. now, we want our stolen people back,

there are 136 hostages in gaza, we believe that about 100 of them are still alive and we want all of them back. we will continue to hit hamas terrorist on the ground in gaza very, very hard, and we continue to pursue the diplomatic avenue as the secretary of state antony blinken just referred to. just blinken 'ust referred to. just to blinken just referred to. just to “um blinken just referred to. just to jump in — blinken just referred to. just to jump in their, _ blinken just referred to. just tojump in their, because we to jump in their, because we don't have much time and i want to cover these points. the secretary of state antony blinken talked about there being space for these negotiations to continue. out does that align with what the prime minister said, or where is that space for those negotiations?- is that space for those negotiations? is that space for those neuotiations? ., , negotiations? we don't really discuss the _ negotiations? we don't really discuss the nature _ negotiations? we don't really discuss the nature of - negotiations? we don't really discuss the nature of these i discuss the nature of these talks going on behind the scenes or the terms that are being discussed because human lives hang in the balance, but the prime minister did articulate a few redlines, things that are simply unacceptable. for instance, we

will not pull all of our forces out of gaza as part of a potential hostage deal. we will accomplish the goals of the war as we have defined, the release of hostages, making sure that will never go terror threat to israel again and the full elimination of hamas as an organised war machine. and we will achieve that. also, there will achieve that. also, there will not be a release of thousands of terrorists in exchange. thousands of terrorists in exchange-— thousands of terrorists in exchange. thousands of terrorists in exchanae. �* ., ., exchange. but what about the issues, exchange. but what about the issues. for — exchange. but what about the issues, for example, - exchange. but what about the issues, for example, allowing j issues, for example, allowing humanitarian aid in? the secretary of state antony blinken again saying israel has been dehumanised by the attacks, the hostages have been dehumanised but that does not give israel the license to dehumanise the people of gaza, most of whom, the majority of whom, he said, have nothing to do with hamas? we whom, he said, have nothing to do with hamas?— do with hamas? we are not dehumanising _ do with hamas? we are not dehumanising the - do with hamas? we are not dehumanising the people i do with hamas? we are notj dehumanising the people of gaza. on the contrary. the ones doing it are hamas but they... israel has taken unprecedented

steps in counterterrorism urban warfare to minimise civilian suffering in gaza and civilian casualties in gaza. hamas is doing everything to maximise them. , doing everything to maximise them, , ., doing everything to maximise them. , ., , them. sorry to interrupt there are. nevertheless, _ them. sorry to interrupt there are. nevertheless, more- them. sorry to interrupt there are. nevertheless, more thanj are. nevertheless, more than 28,000 people according to the hamas that health ministry, have been killed, almost 2 million people have been displaced, thousands have been injured, we see the extent of the humanitarian crisis there, the humanitarian crisis there, the starvation, the threat of famine, etc stop repertory state lincoln �*s they would israel be prepared to open the crossing to let more aid into the north? is something you might consider? irate the north? is something you might consider?— might consider? we are examining _ might consider? we are examining these - might consider? we are i examining these options, might consider? we are - examining these options, but we have opened more border crossings for inspections. israel's mission in what pertains to the humanitarian aid entering gaza is to examine the trucks that are coming in so we can make sure that they

will not pose a threat to us and don't contain any kind of ammunition as they go into the street. we have accessed capacity to examine these trucks, more trucks that are actually coming in, but the problem is, if you will listen carefully to what the prime minister has said today, that our estimation is that about 60% of the aid coming in to gazais 60% of the aid coming in to gaza is being stolen by hamas, and the backlog is not on our end, not on israel's end, but rather the organisations are distributing this aid. so we want to see more humanitarian aid, as much as possible reaching the palestinian civilians in gaza, and we place no limitations on water, food supplies, medicalsupplies supplies, medical supplies entering the supplies, medicalsupplies entering the gaza strip since the very beginning of this war. 0k, the very beginning of this war. ok, that is a point that will be disputed by many of the aid agencies who say there are restrictions there, but we have to leave it there as we are out of time. the spokesperson for the israeli by minister benjamin netanyahu, thank you forjoining us on bbc news.

live now to omar shakir, he's the israel—palestine director for human rights watch. thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news tonight. we heard antony blinken has said negotiations for a ceasefire will continue. what will this mean for both civilians on the ground in gaza and the hostages who are still being held?- who are still being held? look, the reason _ who are still being held? look, the reason why _ who are still being held? look, the reason why so _ who are still being held? look, the reason why so many - who are still being held? look, the reason why so many are i the reason why so many are calling for a ceasefire is the catastrophic situation we have today in the gaza strip. you have a reality in which you have a reality in which you have the majority of the population displaced, the majority of homes that have been damaged or destroyed, you have 400,000 people starving, classified at the heart —— highest levels by aid organisations, and this is not some humanitarian disaster, it is a man—made policy of the israeli government, to use starvation as a weapon of force, you have scores of bodies of palestinians piling up bodies of palestinians piling up by bodies of palestinians piling up by the day, every day that

passes more than 100 palestinians on average are being killed. you have hostages that remain held for more than 100... nearly five months, and so every day that goes by, the human toll continues to grow, and that is why there have been so many calls for a ceasefire the longer this continues, the more you push the people of gaza who are facing relentless bombardment, starvation, deprivation of, in many cases, there are homes, basic... i want tojump in there are homes, basic... i want to jump in there there are homes, basic... i want tojump in there on there are homes, basic... i want to jump in there on the point that you said that this is israel's policy of creating the starvation. we did of course speak to the spokesperson for the israeli prime minister who said the israelis are doing what they can to protect civilians. it is hamas that is actually putting civilians at risk by embedding themselves in the population. what is your response to that? it is flat—out false. the reality is here even if every single truck that entered gaza reached the recipients, it

wouldn't meet a fraction of the needs of the population. according to the united nations, the vast majority of aid missions are not reaching northern gaza which is where you have the most catastrophic situation of hunger. the israeli government, let's not forget, turned off the taps of water, shutdown electricity. it has been almost five months. they are obstructing the entry of aid, not letting aid reach different parts of gaza, they are deliberately destroying agricultural land as we have documented through satellite imagery, destroying objects like bakeries and granaries necessary for human survival stop and of course when it comes to air strikes we have seen heavy bombs in densely populated areas, schools, hospitals, camps of displaced people, 27,000 people according to local authorities, the majority... if to local authorities, the majority- - -_ to local authorities, the majority. . . to local authorities, the ma'ori , majority... ifi could “ump in there. speaking _ majority... ifi could “ump in there. speaking to h majority... ifi couldjump in there. speaking to israeli i there. speaking to israeli authorities, they say clearly their goal is to make sure hamas is eradicated and what happened on the seventh of october can never happen again.

given that position of course some of the negotiations we have seen over a ceasefire, are you confident that we are going to see some sort of long pause in fighting to get that daily today you are describing into gaza? fist today you are describing into gaza? �* ., ._ gaza? at the end of the day, ceasefire _ gaza? at the end of the day, ceasefire or _ gaza? at the end of the day, ceasefire or not, _ gaza? at the end of the day, ceasefire or not, unlawful. ceasefire or not, unlawful attacks must stop, hostages should be unconditionally immediately released, humanitarian aid should be allowed into gaza, human beings are not bargaining chips and it is unfortunate that we are negotiating what are basic intervals of international law. these are nonnegotiable. they should be provided today. the reality is parties cannot use the life of a ceasefire to continue to commit war crimes. we all follow the press reports, obviously there is hope that there can be an agreement, but really, pressure needs to be put on the parties are in their abuses today because, ultimately, we are talking about human beings that are nothing to do in gaza with

the seventh of october attacks that are paying the price. october seven involve heinous war crimes, perpetrators should be held to account, the israeli government is looking for and appears to be pursuing a policy for revenge, the people of gaza paying the price. these are war crimes that are being committed. they must end, perpetrators must be held to account. ~ . ., ., account. we have about a minute left, but account. we have about a minute left. but given — account. we have about a minute left, but given the _ account. we have about a minute left, but given the situation - left, but given the situation in northern gaza, can you tell us what is most needed on the ground right now by civilians? really, everything. the reality is starvation is rampant, we have a looming famine as aid agencies warned about. there is an urgent need for food to get in but it is also water. you have basically all of gaza not only going days without food and water, but really aren't able to get clean water, and affects the operations of health facilities, half of gaza's population in rafah and southern gaza where you have disease spreading, an urgent

need, hospitals, the majority of them are not functioning so there is a need for the basic necessities of life, food, clean water, medicines to get in, but ultimately, so long as unlawful attacks continue, people are struggling to survive so there needs to be an opportunity for the people of gaza to return to their homes, and that requires ending unlawful attacks and letting aid in. . ~ unlawful attacks and letting aid in. . unlawful attacks and letting aidin. . . unlawful attacks and letting aidin. .mg . ., aid in. thank you so much for “oininu aid in. thank you so much for joining us _ aid in. thank you so much for joining us tonight _ aid in. thank you so much for joining us tonight on - aid in. thank you so much for joining us tonight on bbc - aid in. thank you so much for i joining us tonight on bbc news. thank you. as tensions in the middle east continue to escalate, a us drone strike killed a senior kata'ib hezbollah commander in baghdad on wednesday. iraqi security sources say the attack — in the east of the iraqi capital — killed three people in total, including a senior commander of kata'ib hezbollah, the iranian—supported militia us officials say was behind recent attacks on us bases in iraq and syria. one of the victims has been identified as abu baqir al—saadi, a senior commander in the group. it comes days after other us air strikes targeted militia positions in iraq and syria. around the world and across

the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a top story in the uk. britain's prince of wales has thanked the public in his first comments since his father, king charles, was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer. prince william returned to formal duties on wednesday. he had taken a break while his wife catherine recuperates from abdominal surgery. one of his first events was a black—tie fundraiser for the london air ambulance, where he met with staff, and socialised with the likes of actor tom cruise. from the stage, he thanked the crowd. i'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you also for the kind messages of support for catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. it means a great deal to us all. it's fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather medicalfocus, so i thought i'd come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all. laughter meanwhile, prince harry has been seen at heathrow airport, seemingly on his return to the us after meeting his father.

it's been reported that the two spoke for about 45 minutes. prince harry did not meet with his brother, prince william, during his visit to the uk. you're live with bbc news. polls have opened in pakistan's general election after a campaign marred by violence. 128 million voters will choose members for the national assembly and a prime minister. on the eve of the election, two bomb explosions killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens more. the islamic state group has claimed responsibility. our pakistan correspondent caroline davies reports. these are the images the pakistan government didn't want to have in the public mind before the election. two explosions at two election offices the day before the polls open. isis has now claimed responsibility for one of them. pakistan has seen an increase in militant attacks, and that comes on top

of economic problems and political instability. but the question that's hung over these elections is whether they are free and fair. former prime minister imran khan is disqualified and injail, sentenced to 14 years. on may 9 last year, his arrest led to violent protests. since then, his party say they've seen a sustained campaign of harassment against them. key leadership have left, many supporters are in jail. but the party has kept going. like yasmin rashid, now running her campaign from prison, charged with inciting violence on may 9 that she denies. her husband of 55 years visits her most days. it's nine months now. it's...not easy, i tell you, especially for our children who are not in pakistan. for them, it's a torture. her brother—in—law has been organising her campaign. you know, our people have been sometimes removed

from the scene, sometimes at night their houses are being raided. we are not being provided a fair level playing field. the authorities deny any campaign against the party, calling the allegations baseless and absurd. many see a repeat pattern in pakistan's politics. ms rashid is running to win a seat from the three—time prime minister nawaz sharif. his party is now seen to be the one in favour. he was in prison last election when khan won. on the eve of the elections, pakistan is facing questions about its future. many fear the result will still not answer them. caroline davis, bbc news, lahore. turning now to the race for the white house and the nevada primary elections. a day after president biden clinched another win on the democrat ballot, one of his long—shot rivals, author marianne williamson, has announced she's suspended her presidential campaign.

meanwhile on the republican side, presidential candidate nikki haley suffered a stinging defeat in nevada. ms haley won just 31% in tuesday's contest, well behind the 63% of the ballots cast for "none of these candidates", which observers saw as a symbolic vote for donald trump, whose name did not appear on the ballot. the former president — and current frontrunner for the republican nomination — will instead be running unchallenged in thursday's caucus. regardless of the result, the nevada gop has chosen not to recognise the primary, and will instead award all 26 of its delegates at the state's upcoming caucus. take a listen to one nevada voter who explained his choice in tuesday's primary. i actually voted for none of the above here because the primary here didn't include all of the people, and i'll be going thursday for the caucus to vote for donald trump.

following nikki haley's loss in nevada, the former south carolina governor vowed to forge ahead with her campaign. haley took to x — formerly twitter — to criticise her party, saying, "republicans keep doing "the same thing and getting the same result — chaos. "that's the definition of insanity. "a vote for trump is a vote for even more chaos." joining me live now is our north america correspondent anthony zurcher. he is in nevada for us covering the story. very good to see you. is this a big low for nikki haley essentially losing to none of the above on the ballot? ~ .,, ., ., ballot? well, losing two none ofthe ballot? well, losing two none of the above _ ballot? well, losing two none of the above is _ ballot? well, losing two none of the above is certainly - ballot? well, losing two none of the above is certainly not l ballot? well, losing two none of the above is certainly not a good look. it is going to be a challenge for nikki haley to put this behind her. she hasn't been spending a lot of time in nevada, she didn't commit a lot of resources here. she is focusing on her home state of south carolina in two weeks and i think that will be the real battleground, although polls show that even there she is losing to donald trump by a significant margin. tomorrow is the caucus —

explain how this works and what we can expect to see? the caucus is run here in nevada from about 530 pm to 930 at night and registered republicans will show up at their specific caucus site and cast a secret ballot for the candidate of their choice. we only have two choices, donald trump or the taxis passer ryan binkley who is also there. they can then go home. it is not an elaborate caucus like you see among the democrats. it would be basically like a primary but a much smaller time for them to vote. the efficacy donald trump when and to take all the nearly 50 delegates to the republican national convention that are at stake here in nevada.— stake here in nevada. looking u . stake here in nevada. looking u- more stake here in nevada. looking up more delegates. _ stake here in nevada. looking up more delegates. at - stake here in nevada. looking up more delegates. at this - up more delegates. at this point, looking ahead to south carolina, imagine a big lead for donald trump. what chance does nikki haley have at this point to win

the nomination? i think she is hoping that there is something that shakes up there is something that shakes up this contest, and that is a big question of what would do it? everything that has happened over the past year, nothing has really affected donald trump's standing within the party. she is banking on may be some sort of a surprise, some sort of change. that doesn't seem to be on the cards but south carolina is her home state. she was governor there. she was an underdog when she ran for governor, she proved a lot of people wrong in that case and she is hoping for it again this time but it is a tall task.— again this time but it is a tall task. ,, ., tall task. indeed. something that might — tall task. indeed. something that might get _ tall task. indeed. something that might get in _ tall task. indeed. something that might get in the - tall task. indeed. something that might get in the way, i that might get in the way, donald trump's legal troubles. we saw the dc appeals court safe is not immune from prosecution. could we now see him in federal court after all this spring? that federal trial, the sixth of january trial was pushed back from as early march start date and we don't have the scheduled point yet but if the

supreme court decides to let that court opinion stand, yes, the trial could be moved back on the calendar and we might be able to see it start sometime in the spring, although not early much like we were expecting. early much like we were “petting-— early much like we were expecting. early much like we were exectina. . ., expecting. anthony, great to see yon _ expecting. anthony, great to see you. thank _ expecting. anthony, great to see you. thank you. - before we go, some footage to show you from japan. officials injapan say a pod of around a dozen killer whales trapped by drift ice in waters off the country's northern island appears to have successfully escaped. the stranded orcas were spotted by a fisherman earlier this week. drone footage showed the animals packed closely together off the island of hokkaido, gasping for air. that sparked an official response, with experts monitoring the whales. good news there, it sounds like they managed to escape. that is our show at this hour. thank you so much for watching bbc news. we will be back at the top of the next hour. hello there. there is some snow in the forecast over the next couple of days, but it's

certainly not going to be everywhere. most of the snow — the disruptive and heavy snow — will be mainly for northern parts of the uk and particularly over the hills, where there'll be some drifting as the easterly wind picks up. and that's going to bring some travel disruption, particularly for transpennine routes. now, we're seeing colder air move across most of the uk, but things are a bit milder towards the south and southwest, and where we've got that boundary, we've got this weather front here, and that's bringing wet weather up from the southwest, and as it hits the colder air, so this is where we're going to see it turning to sleet and snow. and the coldest air early on thursday morning is certainly going to be in scotland. we'll have a frost for a while in northern ireland and northern england. and we've got this amber snow and ice warning from the met office for thursday covering north wales, northwestern parts of shropshire, also the peak district and the southern pennines. and you can see, it's mainly over the hills, but there could be a lot of snow over the higher ground. it's going to be more likely

rain as you head further south across wales, the midlands and southern england. but as you move that wetter weather into the colder air, so we've got the threat of some snow mainly over the hills of northern england and also northern ireland, perhaps heading into the far south of scotland by the end of the day. could be some sunshine for the rest of scotland. chilly day, of course, with that wet weather, although it does turn much milder across the south as that first band of wet weather moves through, briefly turning drier, but more rain coming into the south and more snow over the northern hills of england into southern scotland as well. now, this area of low pressure is bringing all the wet weather. it is pushing milder air northwards, but we've still got the cold conditions on friday in scotland. so this is where we're more likely to have some sleet and snow. there'll be a cold easterly wind picking up. could still be some snow over the northern pennines, but on the whole, across the rest of the uk, it's going to be too warm for snow. we're more likely to have some rain from time to time as temperatures are starting to rise. but it's still cold in scotland. but even here, temperatures are going to be rising on saturday.

the colder air is really only in the far north of scotland, so there could be some sleet and snow here. otherwise there may well be some sunshine, may well be some showers. these are more likely to be of rain. temperatures are rising in scotland and reaching double figures across much of england and wales and also northern ireland.

prices continue to drop in china. what does it say about the state of the world's second largest economy? plus — disney's cost cutting strategy pays off. the house of mouse unveils its quarterly results and the biggest move yet in the gaming sector. hello and welcome to asia business report. we begin in china where prices have continued to fall for the fourth month in january. the consumer price index dropped to 0.8% last month from a year earlier. producer prices also slipped 2.5%. asia specialist olivier d'assier told me the latest price data from the world's second largest economy is looking rather grim. i think they're much worse than expected, right. so almost twice as bad as expected and probably explains why we have some trading restrictions put on the market three days ago. we had a situation already

where sentiment has been weakening since about mid—january on the lack