in gaza monday. i'm carl nasman. the israel defense forces have now fired two senior officers after an internal investigation called the attack a "grave accident," saying the idf believed the aid convoy was carrying hamas gunmen. that convoy belonged to the world central kitchen. the aid group has dismissed the report, calling it "cold comfort for the aid workers�* families," and is urging an independent investigation. our middle east correspondent lucy williamson has more. israel says hamas gunmen often pose as aid workers. not this time. its army today said the killing of seven aid workers in air strikes this week was a grave mistake due to mistaken identification, errors in decision—making and a serious violation of army procedures. the convoy, belonging

to the charity world central kitchen, was struck in central gaza late on monday night, survivors running between the remaining vehicles before being hit again and then again. the army said its forces had mistaken the bag one passenger was carrying for a gun after spotting gunmen at the warehouse earlier. it was a visual confirmation of a gunman, first of all, on one of the trucks that then conducted shooting from one of the trucks. and when they, indeed, reached the hangars, there were more gunmen identified on the location and it led, basically, to the entire miscalculation, misidentification and the failure of what should've happened. israel's army said the aid was picked up by lorry at 10pm. the armed figure was then spotted firing from one of the trucks before the convoy moved on with other vehicles to an inland warehouse, where drone footage showed more

gunmen getting out of one car. that vehicle later moved north to another warehouse while the three cars from world central kitchen turned back to the coast, where they were hit in separate air strikes minutes apart. the army has fired two senior officers who approved the strikes, but world central kitchen has called for an independent inquiry, saying the idf cannot credibly investigate its own failure and that systemic change was needed. other aid agencies say this was not a one—off mistake. this is notjust an incident. this is a series, a pattern of incidents that have been going on for months and months now. we're now up to the stage of having 200 humanitarian workers killed. we are operating in an environment of complete impunity. it is a deliberate choice to allow these attacks to continue to happen. one former major general

pointed out that israeli forces have also killed their own compatriots in gaza. it was a huge mistake. unfortunately, many, many other mistakes were made — for instance, israel killed three israeli hostages that managed to release themselves and, nevertheless, they were killed by israeli soldiers — and, of course, no—one believed that we killed them deliberately. the difficulties of getting aid to gaza was already deepening rifts with israel's allies. the killing of british and american nationals has shifted the debate. the port of ashdod is less than 30 miles from gaza but, for the past six months, it's remained closed to aid. now, this port and the nearby erez crossing point have been prised open by a stinging us demand that israel find new routes to get aid safely into northern gaza or risk losing american support. israel says its war is with hamas, not gaza's

civilians, that it's fighting one and feeding the other. but aid workers accuse israel of seeing them as targets and aid as a weapon of war. lucy williamson, bbc news, ashdod. here in the us, there's growing pressure on presidentjoe biden over his handling of the conflict. some democrats criticise him for his unwavering support of israel. others on the left say he isn't doing enough to address the humanitarian crisis in gaza. most republicans, meanwhile, are more favourable toward sending military aid to israel. in a call thursday, president biden told the israeli prime minister he needed to do more to protect civilians or could face a shift in us policy. meanwhile, in the uk, pressure is growing on the government to stop weapons sales to israel, including from scotland's first minister humza yousaf. members of his wife's family live in gaza and at the beginning of the war, her parents were stuck there for several weeks. he spoke to the bbc�*s hardtalk.

i think the uk government has to israel. —— i think the uk government has to stop arms sales to israel. why? well, let'sjust look at the events of the last couple of days. aid workers killed by an israeli strike. if the uk continues to provide arms to a government that has killed women and children, has killed aid workers, has bombed schools, bombed refugee camps bombed un facilities then, in my eyes, that makes the uk government complicit. you can watch the full interview on hardtalk monday and tuesday on bbc news. earlier, i spoke to tal heinrich, a spokesperson for israel's prime minister. we thank you for taking the time to join us. presidentjoe biden in the us has warned that the country could change its support for israel

if changes are not made to limit humanitarian suffering in gaza. there has been international calls now, including from the un, to suspend weapon sales to israel. the scottish first minister told the bbc directly that he thinks the uk should stop arms sales to israel. what's the prime minister's response to that, and how concerned is mr netanyahu about losing support from israel's allies? thank you for having me on, carl, today. washington and jerusalem, we do see eye to eye in the big game of things. we want to eliminate the terror organisation hamas. this terrorist group can be no more. israelis do not deserve to live next door to this terrorist enclave. we want to make sure that gaza will never pose a terrorist threat to us and we want to make sure that are still in people, the hostages will come back home. while we are working on achieving these objectives as we define them, both of us,

both sides, we want to see the minimal civilian suffering, minimal collateral damage and civilian casualties, which is what hamas is trying to maximise. that's what their entire strategy is based upon. it does sound like there is some severe disagreement, stopping weapon sales to israel and biden with a very forceful warning to netanyahu — does that change the game at all, change relationships between israel and its allies? not at all. israel and united states, we are best allies, these are our best friends in washington, we take advice and share concerns. we don't have to agree on every small detail but, in the big scheme of things, we do because we share the same values at the end of the day. it's important to mention here that we all want the same things and following that phone call between the president and prime minister, ourwar cabinet convened last night and a few decisions in regards to humanitarian aid were made.

we decided to open another border crossing for the insertion of aid, that's the erez crossing in the northern part of the gaza strip. the maritime port of ashdod, which is something we have not done before, will also facilitate the entry of aid and humanitarian aid from there will be transferred for further inspection, and jordanian from the kerem shalom border crossings will be increased. when it comes to those crossings, in speaking with aid organisations that because concern is the number of trucks allowed through those routes. can you confirm how many trucks may be allowed through the new crossings? we are talking about a couple of hundreds every day. i think the number was, over the past 2a hours, about 240. there was 266 also, i think, the day before. so, we're talking about a couple of hundred per day. carl, more food trucks — and it's important to mention — are going into gaza daily

than before october seven. i know that some outlets reported a wrong number because when you consider food trucks, the number that entered before the war started, there were food trucks with cement, with certain materials that went right into building these terror tunnels and terror infrastructure. so, when we talk about food alone, double the amount of food trucks that entered gaza before october seven... i have to mention the un and several other aid organisations, the numbers now say 1.1 million people, half the population, in fact, of gaza are at risk of starvation. so, that is important to mention. i want to turn to the idf internal investigation into the incident where seven aid workers were killed by strikes by the israeli military. two senior officers have been dismissed. will there be any broader changes to the way israel's military operates so something that will not happen like this again? before i address your question,

just the starvation active action, there is no immediate starvation in gaza... this is what aid agencies are telling us time and time again and we speak with several organisations and members of the un, they tell us that starvation is imminent. unicef. children have already died from starvation. i can tell you that there are 3000 calories per day per person entering gaza daily. even if hamas kills half of that. we acknowledge that there is a challenge with distribution of aid. for which israel is not responsible. nevertheless, we want to make it a smoother mechanism. but addressing your other question because i know we are short on time. there is an investigation — i believe maybe you saw the preliminary findings — but there is an investigation of this very tragic incident under way. we should make sure that this will never reoccur. for that reason, we also set up a situation room to better the co—ordination between the aid groups and idf. again, it's a tragedy that should not have happened

and was a mistake following misidentification of these three vehicles. i want to ask you about domestic support within israel. we've seen growing protest against the prime minister, calling to bring the hostages home. they are now calls for new elections. does prime minister netanyahu have the domestic mandate right now to continue to lead israel? we are a democracy, there are protests but if you see the images they are minimal. also it is not something, because most most people are not engaged in politics right now. we put the notion of a united front against the brutal enemy called hamas way before politics. they will be time for an election and to discuss politics but right now, the overwhelming majority of israelis are united behind the war objectives as we have defined them following the october seven massacre and we have a unity government in place. our soldiers are not dealing with politics right now as they fight.

some of them paid the ultimate price to defend us so that i will be able to sit here and talk with you right now. and we owe this to them because they are not talking about politics. they want us to be united against this brutal enemy so this is what we're doing, most of us. tal heinrich, spokesperson for the israeli prime minister's office, thank you so much. thank you. that attack earlier this week on aid workers has further complicated the humanitarian situation in gaza. according to the united nations, at least 180 aid workers have died since the war began in october and since the strike that killed members of the world central kitchen, the group has paused its operations in gaza. the us charity anera also suspended work there. collectively, the two were serving two million meals per week in the territory. the attack on aid workers

has further complicated the humanitarian situation in gaza. earlier, i spoke with adam ramadan, deputy director of rebuilding alliances, a non—profit that operates severalfood kitchens in gaza. thank you for being here. i want to ask you — we heard in that interview from the spokesperson for prime minister benjamin netanyahu who said there's no immediate starvation in gaza. what is your reaction to that? it's very devastating to hear. we hearfirst—hand from our partners on the ground that due to the halt of operations from the world central kitchen and anera, we have seen an increase of almost 20% of more families searching forfood. they're desperate to feed their children. the situation has not gotten better. 200 trucks entering into gaza is not enough. we need to push for more land borders to open and aid to come into gaza. simply, 200 trucks a day is not enough. yeah, we really need more.

and just to be clear — the word �*starvation,’ what have you seen on the ground? what have your group seen? are people starving there? we are seeing reports in the north that people — children, specifically — are dying of malnutrition and starvation. our partners in the north find it very difficult to find any food commodities or even trying to purchase anything in the market is hard to come across, especially in the north. in the south, with our partners with the world food programme, we are getting food commodities and are able to source our kitchens and provide hot meals daily but we need to push for more food convoys to enter the north. the situation in the north is very dire and we are seeing reports of children dying of starvation. one of those newly opened aid routes into gaza is in the north. will these new routes make a difference?

what kind of impact do you think that would have? it will have a huge impact. we will be able to ramp up and open new kitchens in the north. our partners are more than ever dedicated to providing meals to the families of gaza. you know, to give back to the community — no—one wants to see their own people suffer of starvation. despite the huge security risks, we are continuing our operations, we are doing whatever we can to continue cooking on a daily basis. so, the fact we are able to bring more food commodities to the north and open more kitchens, we can definitely reduce the risk of starvation in the north. your group actually operates across gaza but i believe that one of your kitchens is very close to where this strike on seven aid workers took place. i want to ask you how does rebuilding alliance co—ordinate with the idf and how do you ensure the safety of the workers on the ground? yeah, first, rebuilding alliances wants to express our deepest condolences

for the tragic loss of the team members that lost their lives from the world central kitchen. it's such an unfortunate event that after taking the safety precautions and closely collaborating with the idf that they was still targeted and it's such an unfortunate event that happened — attack, actually — i don't want to call it an event. luckily, our partners at the world food programme bring commodities to our warehouses so that we are not directly in contact with the idf. we ensure our partners safety that are on the ground, cooking and operating in kitchens. we work closely. we monitor their safety concerns daily. we are doing whatever we can and securing our warehouses and securing their locations and any possible move or invasion of rafah, we have a plan to move them out safely. president biden taking

a much harsher tone with prime minister netanyahu, speaking by phone and pressuring israel to do something about the humanitarian situation in gaza. what did you make of the tougher tone from the white house? yeah, the government of israel must respect international humanitarian law at the end of the day. it prohibits the targeting of humanitarian personnel. the role of aid workers is to alleviate the suffering of the people in crisis and, along with the safety of the aid workers, the safety of civilians they are feeding. that is huge. israel must comply with international law — there is no doubt behind that. adam ramadan, deputy director with rebuilding alliances, operating a couple of dozen food kitchens in gaza, along with the world food programme, thank you forjoining us. thank you. as we've discussed, israel's military is under scrutiny. for a military perspective, i spoke to brigadier general mark kimmitt. he's a former us assistant secretary of state for political—military affairs,

as well as a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for middle east policy. i just want to ask you about the finding of israel's investigation into this deadly strike on aid workers. what did you make of that? what might it tell us about the idf and the way that it is operating this war? from what i saw, it looks like this was a very random incident. if you look at the number of attacks happening throughout the entire war, this one incident was quite tragic it clearly was done by human error. i was glad to see the idf did a quick investigation and they pinpointed the error and fired the people involved. a random event and yet, not an isolated incident. we are hearing up to 200 aid workers have been killed during this conflict.

well, i cannot talk about that — that could be collateral damage — but we are talking about the specific issue of this one attack. and this is not unique to gaza. the british army have the same experiences in both iraq and afghanistan, as did the american army. this is a difficult situation and clearance of fire is especially difficult in wartime conditions. when you look at the numbers, they are striking — more than 30,000 palestinians dead in this war. the red crescent societies has said 1000 children in gaza have lost one or both of their legs during this conflict. in your assessment, is the idf doing enough to limit civilian casualties? it's interesting — i did some research on this and talked to some israelis about this as well. if you take a look at the typical ratio between collateral damage, civilian casualties in war

and military casualties, it's normally in the 1:4 ratio — four civilians killed for every soldier killed. it is 1:1 in the case of gaza right now. now, listen — the death of every and any civilian is a tragedy and it is an unfortunate situation in wartime but there will never be a clean war, especially when you're fighting an organisation like hamas that intentionally uses civilians as human shields in these operations. speaking of this strong warning from joe biden to benjamin netanyahu, what do you think that might mean for a potential offensive in the city of rafah, 1.1 million people currently sheltering there — do you think that that invasion will go ahead, as benjamin netanyahu insisted it will? from everything we have seen, he will not be affected by whatjoe biden decides or does not decide. whether it happens, it will be the decision

of netanyahu alone and his war cabinet. so, i appreciate the fact that president biden is sending some stern warnings but up to this point, it does not appear as though this administration is actually willing to do anything significant to hold back the type of tactics that are being used by prime minister netanyahu. there is a growing chorus now internationally — several countries, the un, wejust heard from the first minister of scotland — calling to suspend or end military aid to israel. what might that mean for israel? how reliant is israel on foreign military aid? and if weapons shipments were to be cut off, how would that affect the country and its war efforts? i think that's an important question. we are seeing that concern expressed by the united states senate as well, that the human rights violations that are being alleged of

the israeli government to trigger a law, the lahey law, that would prevent militarily, that has a significant effect, specifically with precision weapons. they are not unlimited and if you are to hold back on the precision weapons for the israeli military, that would severely hobble their ability to run a relatively clean campaign inside of rafah and can actually backfire because they may resort to dumb bombs instead which would, in fact, create more collateral damage than if we provided precision weapons. interesting stuff. mark kimmitt, former secretary of state for political military affairs and former deputy defence, we thank you very much for your insights. thank you. as war rages in the middle east, at least one grassroots movement in israel is focused on an end to the conflict. it's called standing together and it aims to bring jewish and palestinian citizens towards a common goal of peace. i spoke with two of its leaders, rula daood and itamar avneri, and i asked

them about how progress can be made. we should be talking about steps and the first step, the first one right now, is to have a ceasefire agreement. we need to save lives. right now, thousands are dying, people are starving, also the hostages are starving. our government, the israeli government looks like she doesn't care about the hostages, and what in what case they are right now. so, we need to have that first step. but we also must understand that we do not just want a ceasefire, we do not want anything that is temporary. we need to look for solutions that can give people living in israel and palestine real safety, real equality, and that can come and happen only by political agreements that can ensure everybody living back home will equal palestinian—israeli peace.

what would that look like, the peace between two sides that have not really seen peace for decades? in our movement, we will not advocate for one specific solution because that is not the problem. there are solutions, there are formulas. the problem right now is that even if we'll change the israeli government, the policy is not going to change. so, we recognise that ourjob, our mission is to build the political power and political will inside the israeli society, so we will be able to demand our leadership to achieve a just peace and will accept any kind of agreement as long as you the guarantee to all of us on the land, what we all deserve, which is independence what we all deserve — which is independence and justice and freedom and safety and the ability to dream and then plan and then build a future. it's impossible right now for millions of people in israel and palestine. so, we're not advocating for one specific solution but those are the things we demand from our leadership to achieve.

that's all for our special coverage on the israel—hamas war. remember, you can stay up to date on the latest developments in gaza by following us on social media, checking out our website bbcnews.com, or the bbc news app. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. storm kathleen will dominate our weather through this weekend. a deep area of low pressure passing well to the west of the uk but close enough to bring gales in northern and western parts. one other consequence, though — some very warm air being drawn up from the south. here's how the storm developed during friday. a strong and powerfuljet stream really energising this area of low pressure, this curl of cloud developing here. wherever you see a weather system spinning up into a curl

like this, well, it shows that it really will mean business. this deep low passing to the west of ireland, lots of isobars squeezing together, so some very strong winds but also some very warm air. northern scotland far warmer than it has been over recent days. parts of eastern england could get to 21 or 22 degrees. some rain to start off across the northern half of scotland — heavy rain at that. it will pull away northwards and then, essentially, it is a sunshine and showers day. some of those showers could be on the heavy side but it is going to be windy for all, particularly around these western coasts. gusts of 50, 60, 70 miles per hour in exposed spots, so that could cause some disruption, certainly some very rough seas as well. but with those winds coming from the south, yes, it is going to be warm with temperatures peaking at 21 or maybe 22 degrees in eastern england. now, through saturday evening, this weak cold front will exit the east of england, so that will leave some slightly fresher air into the early hours of sunday morning. still windy, still with quite a few showers. not as mild to start sunday morning but still very mild

for an april morning. and then into sunday, well, it's another sunshine and showers day, the showers likely to join together into bands, so some places could see quite a few of those heavy and possibly thundery showers. windy again. strongest winds this time in the north—west of scotland. gales or severe gales are likely. still warm, but not as warm — temperatures north to south between ten and 16 or 17 degrees. but then, as we head into the start of the new week, we're watching this area of low pressure. now, there's still a bit of uncertainty about this but this could bring another bout of wet and very windy weather to southern parts of the uk as we head through monday and into tuesday. we'll keep you posted on that one. whichever way you slice it, an unsettled week of weather lies ahead. that's all for me. bye for now.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. i wanted to expose the criminality that runs

through the heart of this corporation. they very nearly ruined my life. i have certainly seen how they have ruined the lives of others. it's really difficult for me to sit here and talk about this because the whole point of fighting these newspapers is because i was so keen to have my privacy. i feel a sense of duty to expose them, as they've exposed us. prince harry and sir eltonjohn have launched legal action against the publishers of the daily mail. action is being taken- against the sun newspaper. legal action against the mirror group over allegations of phone hacking. who did you hack? it would be quicker to say- who i didn't hack, wouldn't it? it'd be easier. celebrities, politicians... i was living in this sort of super highway of illicit information.