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anchor: hello, i am ben brown, and you're watching "the context." >> the floating dock is intending to supplement aid into rafah. it is not meant to replace any crossings. >> even if this new route reaches full capacity, we are still only talking about roughly a 150 lorries a day. that is a small proportion of what is required. >> what we are really seeing is not a moment of celebration. it indicates a failure to provide humanitarian assistance that is needed in gaza. it's anchor: tonight, we will

have the very latest on a day of significant devepments in the middle east. the israeli army says it has recovered the bodies of three hostages from gaza. also today, the first shipments of aid were unloaded from a u.s. built pier. we have a special interview with a palestinian ambassador to the united nations. we will be asking him what a postwar gaza might look like. plus, russia's president vladimir putin says his troops are not trying to capture the ukrainian city of kharkiv, but is hbluffing? and a mystery thousands of years in the making. we will be speaking with the author of a new study about how the egyptian pyramids were built. the israeli army says it has recovered the bodies of three more hostages from gaza killed by hamas during the attack on the supernova music festival on october 7 before their corpses

were taken into the territory of gaza. the israeli defense forces say the bodies of shani louk, amit buskila, and itzhak gelerenter were recovered in an operation overnight. meanwhile, aid deliveries have begun arriving in a temporary floating pier built by the united states off the gaza strip. now, israel has come under growing pressure to do more to allow in more relief supplies. u.k. prime minister rishi sunak said this first delivery of aid via the pier was, and his words, the culmination of a herculean joint international effort. from jerusalem, our correspondent lucy williamson. correspondent: itzhak gelerenter , shani louk, and amit buskila, three israeli hostages killed at the supernova music festival on 7 october. their bodies brought back home this week by israeli forces. >> according to the credible

information we have gathered, shani louk, amit buskila and itzhak gelerenter were murdered by hamas when escaping the nova music festival on october 7, and their bodies were taken into gaza. correspondent: israel's army is fighting in areas to the south and center of gaza, and jabalia to the north, where it says it found this hamas arsenal with its stockpile of heavy weapons. this hamas video released today, weeks after israel said the area was cleared. in the south, aid took gaza has been largely blocked by israel's operation in rafah. the u.n. says half a million people have fled, seeking safety, shelter, and food. today, the first test of a new pier and modular causeway built by u.s. and british forces to get aid in. a lifeline for gaza to relieve

the pressure of local populations and distant politicians. u.n. lorries waited on gaza's sure to receive the shipment. temporary kits from the u.k., alongside aid from the u.s. and united arab emirates. >> we hope it can be effectively scaled up, but it is no substitute for a proper opening of borders. it is expensive and it is inefficient, but we hope it will work. correspondent: but the new pier was little comfort for some of those watching from the shore. >> they want to bring us food? they should bring us back to our homes. they should stop the bloodshed. they should come and see how we are living on the streets. correspondent: israel's allies are taking on gaza's growing humanitarian crisis, with a $300 million response that will salve , not solve.

anchor: that is the latest from the middle east, but what does the future of gaza look like in the short and longer term? i have been talking to the palestinian ambassador to the united nations and asked him how he sees the political future of a postwar gaza. how do you see the future of gaza? this war will have to end one day. what is the political future of gaza when the war is overcome, in your view? -- is over, in your view? >> the top priority of the arabs, the muslims, all peaceloving people, is to stop this carnage and this aggression and this war against our people, to save lives, to send food and medicine and water and humanitarian assistance, as

suggested by the secretary-general of the u.n., and to stop the crime against humanity of the forced transfer and israeli occupying forces to withdraw from gaza. once we have these things put in place, we will be able to devote our thinking and our energies into what need to be done to rebuild gaza and put life back together in the gaza strip. anchor: surely you need to be thinking about that now, that future for gaza. we know you, the palestinian authority, have had talks with hamas in moscow about a kind of unified approach. would you work in government with hamas, despite what they did on october 7? >> our government declared from the beginning of this aggression that we have one government that

is responsible for the affairs of the palestinian people in the occupied part of the state of palestine, including the gaza strip, the west bank, and eastern jerusalem. in fact, a significant portion of the budget of the palestinian national authori is being spent all the time by the employees of the authorities in the gaza strip. it never stopped and it continued to take place, including during these seven months of aggression against our people. that is in terms of the responsibility. in terms of the details, it is very difficult to put anything in place as long as there is israeli occupying forces still

in the occupied gaza strip. they need to be removed. we need to assess and evaluate the massive amount of damage to the infrastructure and to the life of our people in the gaza strip, and to see how we can mobilize resources in order to be able to implement the monumental task of the government, which was announced in a speech as to the plan of the new government of the state of palestine as it relates to the gaza strip. anchor: can i ask you about that extraordinary moment we had at the united nations of few days ago when the un's general assembly voted to support the palestinian bid to become a full u.n. member, which would effectively recognize ultimately a palestinian state? israel reacted with fury. its ambassador said the u.n. charter had just been shredded

and that winston churchill would be turning in his grave. what did you think of that moment, and what was it significance, do you think? >> lists in church hill -- winston churchill would be so upset by the arrogance of an individual presenting a government that is committing genocide against the palestinian people and insulting the charter. the charter of the united nations was created by humanity after the horrors of world war ii,nd it is the obligation of all member states to honor it and respect it and not to shred it as you did, and an insult to everyone in the chamber, including the government of the u.k. when he addressed all of us as being the enemy of the jewish people, or. against thejewish people . such behavior should not be tolerated, and those who utter these words are in essence telling us that they do not

belong to secure a seat in the general assembly. all of these issues will come in time if that behavior continues. the united nations and the general assembly was responsible for the creation of the state of israel itself, and they should be grateful for that behavior, not to come and insult everyone and shredded to pieces the charter of the u.n. this is despicable behavior. and those who commit such behavior should be held accountable. anchor: you just alleged that israel is committing genocide. israel has denied that emphatically. it says that claim is morally repugnant. it's lawyer at the iernational court of justice says there is a tragic war but no genocide, and that claim is completely divorced from the facts. that is what israel says. >> israel says many things, that it is divorced fr the facts and totally isolated as we see

it in the security council and the general assembly. as to the subject of genocide, the icj is deliberating on these issues, and it was not an accident for the icj to order six provisional measures to be put in place, and that is mandatory in accordance with all those who belong to the convention in stopping genocide and against genocide. if israel did not implement these provisional measures. as we speak, the icj is listening to south africa and israel with regard to revisiting the issue of genocide. i believe the icj will put in place a new set of provisional measures, and israel has to abide byhem. and the new measures would have to be related to, among other

things, to stop israel from storming rafah and committing genocide against the palestinian civilian population that city. anchor: that was riyad mansour, the palestinian ambassador to the united nations. i was speaking to him a little earlier on. in other news, a man who attacked the husband of the former speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, nancy pelosi, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. just a warning, these are the images leading up to that attack. police bodycam video of the incident shows david tdepape breaking into the pelosi home and striking paul pelosi with a hammer. mr. pelosi is now 84 years old, suffered a fractured skull and other injuries. let's get the latest on this from our north america correspondent, who joins us now.

just remind us of the background of this horrific attack. correspondent: as you mentioned, this happened in october 2022. david depape broke into the pelosis' home. he was looking for nancy pelosi, who at the time was the house, very powerful, high-profile democrat, second in line to the presidency. but during the trial, we heard it was nancy pelosi's husband who he found. misses is pelosi was not there at the time -- mrs. pelosi was out there at the time. and he woke up to david depape, who had a hammer and zip ties, asking, where is nancy? his intention was to kidnap nancy pelosi, interrogate her, and post the video online. during the trial, david depape took to the stand in his own defense and talked openly about how he promoted far right conspiracy theories, including how he believed the election was

stolen in 2020 by joe biden, how he believed the u.s. government was being run by a cabal of pedophiles and so forth. so, we got a full picture of who he was during that trial. the prosecutors actually were looking for 40 years. they believe he should have been sentenced to 40 years in jail. today, that sentence has been passed down, and he will serve 30. anchor: what has nancy pelosi herself said about this? correspondent: a head of the sentencing, paul pelosi did write a letter to the judge in which he talked about the injuries he had suffered, injuries he says he still suffers from today. he still deeply feels the effects of them. nancy pelosi had also written to the judge, urging the judge to give david depape a very long punishment. anchor: thank you very much for that update. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news.

anchor: russia's president vladimir putin has said there are no plans for russian troops to capture ukraine's second city of kharkiv, at least for now. instead, he's had his forces are carving out a buffer zone in the area after their recent land offensive. while russian forces have been advancing in the northeast near kharkiv and fierce fighting has been taking place there, the yellow represents new gains claimed by russia. our defense correspondent jonathan beale has sent us this special report from the frontline. correspondent: near the village of lipsi, the russians are closing in. fire from a russian rocket attack near the position. we are told to immediately head to a bunker.

taking shelter, recently arrived ukraine reinforcements. a week ago, they were fighting elsewhere on the front. andriy tells me the situation is dynamic and tense. from a drone feed, they are nervously watching and waiting for another attack. he says it is time to leave. they just spotted enemy forces advancing. this is where they are directing artillery fire. they have told us to get out. they said this area is under threat, and we are going to go. [beeping] at a field hospital further, medics are tricking viktor. he lost his fingers in a mortar explosion. he said he and his men were fending off wave after wave of

russian attacks. they were outnumbered and also outgunned. >> they have everything, whatever they want, and we have nothing to fight with, but we do what we can. anchor: the president -- president zelenskyy says the shortage is now being addressed. at an artillery line outside the town of vovchansk, they have just received another batch of shells. but they are all soviet era. ukraine is just about holding the front here in the kharkiv region, but the russians have launched this fresh assault. but only by pulling units like this from elsewhere on the front in places where the russians have been advancing. these guys have just been given a new target. but they're frustrated, too.

the russians were so easily able to cross the border. >> we could have built some kind of fortifications and lost less human lives, fewer villages. now we have to fight for it again. we will need to use more sources. we could have used logs and concrete. now we have to use shells and people to take this land back. correspondent: kharkiv was fortified, but these defenses were built well away from the border, beyond the range of russian artillery, too far to make a difference. further east where the russians are also gaining ground, ukraine is building more defenses. a recognition it may have to pull back here, too. but digging so close to russian lines is dangerous and difficult, as we are about to find out. >> johnny, johnny. get down.

correspondent: we are told to to cover. as a russian armed drone hovers right above us, scanning for potential targets. there is palpable relief when it passes. this is a war in which it is getting harder to hide, where the enemy is watching your every move. >> let's go. rrespondent: jonathan beale, bbc news, kharkiv. anchor: a snapshot of life on the frontline. go to lviv and to speak to a security expert. maria, how worried are you that russia seems to be making quite quick gains in that part of northeastern ukraine? >> i have just been to kharkiv

yesterday and several days before, so the mood in the city is quite grim because of the russian advance. but people in kharkiv believe that ukrainian armed forces will be able to defend the city itself. the biggest concern is that the russian artillery fire will be to close to the city and russia will be able to smash residential areas, as they already did in the first days and months of this invasion, especially in the border areas of kharkiv. you already can see the glow of the artillery fire and hear the shells in the distance. the best situation is for people in vovchansk. they are desperately trying to escape. they have already gone through russian occupation and they know what it brings, so these people are trying to get out.

but as russian troops are advancing, it gets more and more difficult and dangerous for the evacuation teams to get them out. it was only police who were allowed in the town to try to get people who are still waiting to be evacuated. anchor: we just saw in that report from the frontline that the ukrainian troops are saying they have not had enough ammunition, they have not had enough weapons, they have not had enough troops to fight off these russian advances. >> absolutely, and to add to this, ukrainian troops were prohibited from using western supplied weapons to hit russian forces. what happened is ukrainian army on the front line near the border, they saw a russian troops concentrated on the others and they were not allowed to fight back and shoot at them

with western supplied weapons because it wasn't allowed for them to do so, so they were watching as russia was preparing to attack. anchor: we have heard from president putin today, who has been in china, saying it is not the immediate aim of russian troops to take the city of ukraine's second city.is do you believe him? >> i don't believe anything that putin says. this is one thing, but the other thing is that russia will not be able to take kharkiv. they were not able to do it at the beginning of the invasion and the territory was liberated in and around kharkiv, and they won't be able to do it again. the main goal for the russian army now is to capture vovchansk , and the situation there is difficult, but ukrainian troops are fighting back quite effectively.

so, this is a small city on the border with russia. so, there is no chance russian troops will be able to capture kharkiv because it is too big for them. this is why putin is saying they are not aiming, just because they don't have enough manpower or enough resources for that. anchor: we know there was that delay in getting the military aid package from the united states, because it was stuck in the u.s. congress for months. has this been an example of what happens when ukraine doesn't get the weapons and the ammunition that it needs? >> absolutely. i heard the soldiers saying that they were not able to defend the lines of defense near the border because they were open to russian artillery fire and did not have anything to fight back. so, they did not have enough ammunition, so they were not covered with ammunition and

artillery fire. thiss why they were digging in with shovels, which of course is not something you will do to build a really strong defense line. this has forced a situation when the defense lines are built too close to the city. this is a good example of what happens and what will happen if ukraine will have shortages of ammunition in the upcoming months, because this help has to continue coming. it is not just one package. ukraine is in a critical need of this western support and western aid. anchor: very good to talk to you. that is maria avdeeva, who is a security expert at the european experts association in lviv. thank you for your analysis of where the war is going in that part of ukraine in particular near kharkiv in the northeast of the country.

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