israel has carried out fresh strikes on several parts of gaza — as it tells palestinians to leave part of the southern city of rafah. the foreign office is investigating a hamas claim that british—israeli hostage nadav popplewell has been killed in gaza. the un says more than 300 people have died in flooding in northern afghanistan — as relief efforts are stepped up. voting is under way in catalonia where pro—independence supporters wanting to break away from spain are hoping to maintain their majority in the regional parliament. and after one of the most controversial eurovision song contests — switzerland are crowned this year's winners.

hello and welcome. israel has continued its air strikes on several parts of the gaza strip even as it continues issuing controversial evacuation orders to palestinians. the israeli military said its troops had found many tunnels used by hamas at the rafah crossing into egypt. the israel defense forces have declared a narrow coastal strip at al—mawasi to be a safe humanitarian zone, but the un says it has no running water or proper sanitation. israel says that since monday, about 300 thousand palestinians have already fled rafah. the us is still urging israel not to mount a full—scale assault on the city. and in the north — there are evacuations in the city of jabalia as the idf says that it has been carrying out air strikes. it says hamas fighters are regrouping there. meanwhile, a top eu official, charles michel, has condemned israel's evacuation orders, saying people are being directed

towards unsafe areas. the uk foreign office is investigating claims by hamas that a british—israeli hostage has died in gaza. nadav popplewell was seized with his mother on october 7th from the nirim kibbutz in southern israel. hamas claims that mr popplewell died of wounds sustained in an israeli air strike more than a month ago. the israeli military is yet to comment. the uk foreign secretary, lord cameron, was asked about the claim on sunday with laura kuenssberg. like everyone else, i watched the video on twitter, x, last night, put out by hamas of nadav answering a question as to who he was. and i watched the video and you just think, what, you know, callous people they are to do that. to play with the family's emotions in that way. i met nadav�*s family, his sister, and i know the heartbreak they have been going through for over 200 days. and when you see what hamas

are prepared to do you just realise the terrible, dreadful, inhuman people, frankly, that we are dealing with. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, paul adams, is injerusalem. these were claims that emerged yesterday when hamas, as it has done repeatedly throughout this crisis, released a video in which they said that nadav popplewell, who's 51, was killed in an israeli air strike. now, we have absolutely no way of verifying that. we don't know when the video that they released yesterday was shot. we need to be extremely careful about any assertions that hamas is making about the circumstances surrounding his death or indeed whether indeed nadav popplewell is dead. but that is what hamas said. we know that his brother was killed on october the seventh. they were both attacked

on october the seventh. their mother was also abducted, but she was released later in the first of the ceasefire hostage negotiations. the foreign office, as you say, is looking into this. but this is this kind of goes to the heart of one of the issues that still divides israel and hamas during these torturous negotiations aimed at getting a ceasefire organised, which is how many israeli hostages and dual national hostages are there, how many are still alive, how many are dead? over the months, tragically, the number of dead hostages has risen, while the expectations for the number of live hostages has diminished somewhat. and this is a very live issue because the israelis want much more clarity about what they can expect from hamas in terms of the release of hostages alive and dead in return

for a ceasefire deal. paul we'll await any more comments from or any comments from the uk foreign office as it investigates those hamas claims about the british israeli hostage. just in terms of the evacuations itself, of course, flyers are being dropped. where are palestinians being told to move to? they're consistently being told to go west northwest to the al—mawasi area, which is an area along the coast, an area that the israelis identified right at the beginning of this campaign as a safe, secure humanitarian zone. and some of them are going further north to some of the middle areas of the gaza strip. either way, they are going to places that are profoundly unsuitable for human habitation. there are no provisions for them when they get there. no one is setting up tent encampments for them. there is no water, no sanitation.

getting food and other aid to them is increasingly difficult. we now estimate that, or at least following the israeli announcement last night, that 300,000 people have heeded the israeli warnings to leave, that i would say something close to a quarter of the population that have been crammed into rafah in recent months are now on the move. and that is just adding to the enormous pressure on those areas. al—mawasi and the middle part of the gaza strip, with parts of rafah now becoming something of a ghost town. so many people went down from the northern part and then from khan younis to rafah. over the months, huge tent cities sprang up along the rafah border with egypt. some of those tent encampments are now emptying and emptying fast as people who have moved three, four or five times already feel that

they're going to have to move again soon. and they're not waiting for the israeli military to arrive. they're packing up and they're leaving because they've seen it all before. let's speak to isabella cipirska who is a humanitarian media specialist at actionaid uk. isabella, i know your organisation is supporting people in rafah. just talk it through what people who have been leaving rafah have been telling your people on the ground there. ella, thank you for having me. yes, right now in rafah there is just absolute fear and confusion and panic on the ground. hundreds of thousands of people have already fled, these are people who have had to flee carrying their belongings under a scorching hot sun, not knowing where they can go that is safe, that they can start a new life

for themselves, and remember most of these people have had to flee multiple times. we are talking 5—7 times already. 0ur teams on the ground have spoken to some people who have arrived in deir al balah, which is one of the so—called safe zones, they have described absolutely horrendous journeys, travelling by bus while bombardments took place all around them or stop they have talked about arriving in deir al balah and having more scenes of chaos greeting them, basically. none of the essential is that they need. one man told us that he was trying to build a tent for him and himself and his disabled mother, and he was unable to source the materials he needed because they were so limited in supply, and the prices had gone up so much. really the situation is utterly, utterly dire right now. there is so much uncertainty. 50 dire right now. there is so much uncertainty-— dire right now. there is so much uncertain , ., .,

uncertainty. so these areas that you describe, uncertainty. so these areas that you describe. one. _ uncertainty. so these areas that you describe, one, deir— uncertainty. so these areas that you describe, one, deir al— uncertainty. so these areas that you describe, one, deir al balah, - uncertainty. so these areas that you describe, one, deir al balah, of- describe, one, deiral balah, of course al—mawasi and khan younis, they have been described as humanitarian zones but in your opinion they don't account for that? absolutely not. these are places that were already, before these latest evacuations began, already completely overcrowded. al—mawasi which is a tiny strip land which is basically sand dunes was home to 400,000 people. there isjust not the infrastructure to accommodate all of these new arrivals. there is no one to meet them, no one... there is nothing basically to give them. it is absolutely dire.— it is absolutely dire. isabella, in terms of actionaid, _ it is absolutely dire. isabella, in terms of actionaid, your - terms of actionaid, your organisation, how does it operate under these circumstances on the ground where there is so much need? as always we are doing everything we can but there isjust as always we are doing everything we can but there is just such difficult circumstances, and things are changing day to day. we have had some of our colleagues and partners already having to flee back, so even in the past few days the situation

has changed so quickly. right now the situation with getting and distributing aid is just incredibly difficult. in rafah right now, rafah remember is the main area through which aid arrives to the made —— two of the main aid crossings are located in rafah. 0ne of the main aid crossings are located in rafah. one of these, the rafah crossing, is still closed. the other, kerem shalom, has opened but it is not able to be delivered through that crossing because of the intensity of the fighting. it is so dangerous right now. so the humanitarian situation in rafah, which was already incredibly on a knife edge, isjust which was already incredibly on a knife edge, is just deteriorating which was already incredibly on a knife edge, isjust deteriorating by the minute, really. the health care system is all but collapsed. 0ne the minute, really. the health care system is all but collapsed. one of the main hospitals in rafah had to evacuate earlier this week. that leaves just two smaller hospitals and a few other medical facilities which are warning that they are running out of fuel. due to the

sustained lack of age, people in rafah are starving, they are hungry, they don't have enough water, 10% of children under the age of two are acutely malnourished, it really is an incredibly dire situation. aid organisations like ours are doing everything they can but it is incredibly difficult. isabella, thank you — incredibly difficult. isabella, thank you very _ incredibly difficult. isabella, thank you very much - incredibly difficult. isabella, thank you very much for - incredibly difficult. isabella, | thank you very much forjust outlining the conditions that your team are operating bare across gaza for actionaid. thank you very much. for more on that story,and further coverage of the israel—gaza war — you can visit the bbc news app, or go to the website for updates. we will continue to report as israel intensifies its operations in southern gaza and of thousands more estonians are leaving rafah.

the taliban say 315 people have now died in devastating flash floods in the north of afghanistan. a spokesman for the interior ministry told the bbc that for the interior ministry told the bbc that most of the casualties were in the province of baghlan. emergency teams have been sent to rescue those stranded by the floodwaters. on friday, a massive torrent of water swept away hundreds of houses in several villages. dozens of people are still missing. 0ur south asia editor anbarasan ethirajan has more. emergency teams have intensified their efforts to bring relief to thousands of people who have been displaced by these calamitous floods. on friday, rivers carrying water, mud and stone tore through many villages, sweeping away houses, livestock and vital infrastructure. and aid agencies estimate that nearly half a million people have been severely affected, and dozens are still missing. and pictures on social media showed

how desperate the situation was, where people were totally drenched in mud, they were rescued, women and children, rescued from these flood waters, at the same time people crying after seeing their entire houses wiped away. 0ne resident in baghlan province said his wife and four children were swept away by this torrent while he was watching helplessly from the other side of the river. so there have been very tragic stories, and all coming at a time in afghanistan where the economy is in tatters after the taliban took over in august 2021, so this repeated disaster has put the entire northern afghanistan in a very, very difficult situation. voting is under way in catalonia where pro—independence supporters wanting to break away from spain are hoping to maintain their majority in the regional parliament. catalonia made a failed attempt to break away from spain in 2017, and the election comes

as the parliament in madrid is expected to approve a controversial amnesty law for separatist catalans facing legal action. 0ur correspondent, guy hedgeco, is in madrid. i asked him what choices the voters have in these regional elections. well, catalonia has quite an unusual political landscape because you have a division between the left and the right, which you see across the rest of the country. but it also has that division between those who want independence and those who don't. so, for example, the party of prime minister, spanish prime minister pedro sanchez. the socialist party, which looks like it could win this election, is opposed to independence and self—determination. so that could mean that it makes it very difficult for it to form a new government after the election. even if it wins. there are two major pro—independence parties vying to be the main nationalist party in the region.

but the big question is whether, together with those parties, together along with other smaller nationalist parties, whether they can hang on to that pro—independence majority, which pro—independence parties have had for about a decade and a half. just talk us through, in your opinion, how much appetite is there for independence for the region? well, certainly support for independence is lower than it was back in 2017. you mentioned that failed attempt for independence back then, led by carles puigdemont. around that time, support for independence was close to 50%. recent polls suggest it's more like 41, 42%. so there is less support for it. and we've seen that reflected in a way on the campaign trail. independence has been talked about to a certain extent by the nationalist parties and that the territorial issue. but there have been other issues which have sort of muscled in on the campaign agenda. there's a very serious drought in catalonia,

the most serious drought the region has ever had. and that has been an important issue which the parties have had to talk about. also, there's a housing crisis in catalonia, the same as a housing crisis across the rest of spain. and the issue of education has been talked about a lot as well, because their concerns about catalonia's performance in education. so other issues have been muscling in on the campaign trail and that has pushed independence to one side slightly. so it's still there, but it's really not a not the dominant issue. 0k. and when it comes to carles puigdemont, he of course, you mentioned after that ill fated attempt back in 2017, he had to leave spain. where's he watching the results from? well, he's been based in belgium ever since 2017. but just for the last few weeks, he has been campaigning as a candidate for his together for catalonia party from just across the border in france, in the south of france.

he's been holding campaign rallies there pretty much every day for supporters who've been bussed over from catalonia, from spanish, catalonia into france to see him talk. so he's been there and he's hoping that this amnesty, which were expected to be approved by the spanish parliament quite soon, will allow him to return to spain. and he's hoping he'll perform well enough in this election to not just be able to return, but also to become the next president of catalonia. and when do we find out whether that's been achieved? because, of course, polls have onlyjust opened. well, that's right. we've got voting throughout the day, closes at 8:00 tonight. we may not have a clear result until quite late on tonight. and because of the fragmented nature of catalan politics, it could be quite some time before we know exactly who will form the next government. and it is possible that there could be some kind of impasse because the parties can't agree

on the formation of a new government. if that were the case, then we would have new elections. and i'm sure catalans don't want to see that, but it is seen as quite a real possibility. guy will keep us up—to—date when the results start coming in. now it's time for a look at today's sport. lots of excitement about the winning's fa cup final. we will talk about that in a moment because we will get first—time winners, either manchester united or tottenham. just one game in the english premier league today — and it's one arsenal have to win if they're to go back to the top of the table. manchester city lead the way after their 4—0 victory at fulham which means if they win their final two games they will be champions again. so arsenal go to manchester united this afternoon knowing a win at old trafford is crucial, and their manager is feeling optimistic. my brain is always talking

to the players, we are lifting the premier league. that is my brain is going at the moment, i follow my brain are my gut and this is how i feel and this is how i want everybody to think and hopefully we can achieve it. 0ne one of the best teams, probably the best team _ one of the best teams, probably the best team in the uk. a city the best team _ best team in the uk. a city the best team is_ best team in the uk. a city the best team is arsenal at this moment are the best_ team is arsenal at this moment are the best team? they are very ball secure _ the best team? they are very ball secure. very good touches. we have to play— secure. very good touches. we have to play to _ secure. very good touches. we have to play to absolutely our maximum levels _ to play to absolutely our maximum levels to _ to play to absolutely our maximum levels to get the result in, but we are capable of it. manchester united and tottenham hotspur will go head to head at a sold—out wembley later in the final of the women's fa cup. neither club's won the competition before, so we're guaranteed a new name on the trophy. it's the biggest game in spurs history whilst united were beaten by chelsea in the final last season. their manager marc skinner's

hoping his side can learn from that defeat to get over the line this time around. we have to use it as, "remember, remember, bring "back those feelings, and give more, and give more, and give more." and look, there is nobody guaranteed to win this final, we have been very clear on that, but what we have to do is we have to give everything in order to make sure the performance is worthy of it. and if we do that and use those experiences, the feelings of it, to drive us forward, then hopefully that will give us a little edge, and that is what you need to win the game. the players are nowjust actually understanding that we can compete and beat manchester united, so it is not a question any more, we know that we can do that and we actually know that we have a good chance to win on sunday. and you can see that, you can feel that, actually. everybody is actually going for the win, we are not just happy to be there. you can tell that we have a good chance to beat manchester united, but we have enormous respect for them because they were there last year. they are a great team, but it is a final. it is going to be a top game. and lauren price has become wales'

first female world champion boxer after beating america'sjessica mccaskill. price is an olympic champion, a former kickboxing world champion and former international footballer. this — just her seventh professional fight. an accidental clash of heads in the fifth round saw mccaskill unable to continue beyond the eighth. as a result the judges awarded price the wba, ibo and ring magazine welterweight titles on points. i was an eight—year—old girl once and kelly inspired me for the olympics. if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything. i said i had a great camp but this is years of dedication and hard work but if you put it in, you can achieve your dreams and achieve anything. and rory mcilroy is just one shot off the lead heading into the final round at the wells fargo championship in north carolina. the northern irishman is a three—time champion at the tournament and was four shots behind leader xander schauffele after the second round — but a bogey—free, four—under—par, 67, leaves him right in contention

ahead of today's final round. you will be able to keep across that on the _ you will be able to keep across that on the bbc— you will be able to keep across that on the bbc sport website. and you will be able to keep across that on the bbc sport website.— on the bbc sport website. and you can follow that _ on the bbc sport website. and you can follow that women's _ on the bbc sport website. and you can follow that women's fa - on the bbc sport website. and you can follow that women's fa cup . on the bbc sport website. and you i can follow that women's fa cup final later on sunday there too. matthew later on sunday there too. matthew later but that is all of the spot for now. yes, completely sold out that fa cup final. at the eurovision song contest final pro—palestinian protesters have clashed with police over israel's participation — and the israeli entrant, eden golan, was booed at the malmo arena in sweden. the build—up to the show also saw the dutch entry disqualified for a backstage incident. but ultimately, switzerland were crowned the winners of this year's competition — one of the most controversial song contests of recent times. 0ur arts correspondent, david sillito, reports from malmo. scott bryan is a tv critic and broadcaster. i asked him has there even been such a controversial, and politicised eurovision before.

ina in a revision that may be the ebu will be looking back and are probably thinking to themselves, my word. ifeel that i've probably thinking to themselves, my word. i feel that i've course in the lead up to eight and in the weeks running up to eight israel's participation has of course had protests and calls for boycotts, whilst there have been many people thinking that the country should remain within the contrast too. in the last 24 hours we have spoke to people leaving the competition, not representing their country, a disqualification in regards to one of the acts, also taking place. and of the acts, also taking place. and of course booze for the person who runs the ebu, towards the end of the ceremony. i think it has been obviously a very difficult contest for them. obviously a very difficult contest forthem. i obviously a very difficult contest for them. i think though as a piece of tv it was rather smooth sailing. there were no interruptions, it went pretty smoothly, and of course i think at the end of it it ended up with having a very sort of standout

winner. i think it became about the music towards the last part of the contest. it will be interesting, of course. this shows to me that a eurovision song contest has been through the wringer and i think as we look ahead to next year you wonder how it will be reflected in that by the time we go to switzerland.— that by the time we go to switzerland. , ., ., , ,., switzerland. there is going to be so much post-analysis, _ switzerland. there is going to be so much post-analysis, isn't— switzerland. there is going to be so much post-analysis, isn't there? in| much post—analysis, isn't there? in terms of focusing on the music, switzerland very much the worthy winner, the code is?— winner, the code is? yes, real performance _ winner, the code is? yes, real performance by _ winner, the code is? yes, real performance by their - winner, the code is? yes, real performance by their act. - winner, the code is? yes, real. performance by their act. having winner, the code is? yes, real- performance by their act. having a really high score too, narrowly ahead of croatia. i think the song had fantastic staging, it had a great residence. the meaning behind the song is about the artist really embracing becoming non—binary, realising that they are non—binary. and i think it had a real heart to it. it really stood out in a very crowded field. of course with the uk, a bit of a surprise with having

zero points from the public. 0verall coming 18th i think is not bad. i think 0llie alexander was a bit of a wild card in the mix. we weren't entirely sure where we would be placed but obviously a bit of disappointment because of the big established star participating in it. questions about which direction we take it next.— we take it next. lots of questions. our thanks — we take it next. lots of questions. our thanks to _ we take it next. lots of questions. our thanks to scott _ we take it next. lots of questions. our thanks to scott brian - we take it next. lots of questions. our thanks to scott brian there. i newly—released body camera footage shows the shock and confusion among police officers as they watched the collapse of a major bridge in the us city of baltimore. the 1.6 mile long francis scott key bridge fell into the river after being hit by a container ship in march. six construction workers who were repairing potholes on it at the time, were killed in the incident. as always, lots more on our website from me and the team.

hello again. we started this morning with a bit of mist and fog, but that's largely clearing away. and for many of us today, it's not looking too bad again, there will be some sunny spells, but there are some changes that will come into western areas with some thunderstorms. but that was the scene this morning in 0xfordshire through yesterday. it was the warmest day of the year so far for all four nations of the uk. but we've got to 26 degrees celsius in the south east of england and the far north of scotland. there'll be some sunshine continuing for much of the day towards eastern areas of england today. but look at these showers around the the west of scotland, northern ireland, wales, south west england, some of these could be heavy torrential showers with some thunderstorms mixed in. some sunny spells in between. temperatures down by a few degrees in the west but in the east with the sunshine again, we could see temperatures approaching 27 degrees celsius. so potentially the warmest day of the year so far again. now through tonight, we've got some clouds

and those showers continuing across the midlands into northeast england, up into scotland. there's a chance of seeing the aurora again tonight, but the cloud cover may scupper that slightly geomagnetic levels are expected to increase a little bit through tonight. 0vernight, temperatures down to about nine to 13 degrees. but for the week ahead, it's going to be much more unsettled than the weather we've had over the last few days. not quite as warm. temperatures coming down into the mid to the high teens for many of us. and on monday, we've got this area of low pressure moving in, bringing some rain towards the southwest and that will gradually push its way north and eastward. for much of the day across scotland, looking like a dry one or two showers here, mostly dry, too, for northern england, the midlands into eastern england with some warm sunshine. but that rain, you can see moving its way in through parts of the southwest. and as a result of that, with that rain, temperatures will be lower at about 15 or 16 degrees. but as i said, pleasantly warm in the east, 20 to 23 degrees.

this area of low pressure sticks around a little bit as we go through the week, just drifting southward and it's going to continue to bring us some unsettled weather. so that means there'll be some showers, perhaps some longer spells of rain, particularly on tuesday, turning a little bit drier as the week goes on. maximum temperatures there about 15 to 20 degrees celsius. that's it for me. bye bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: israel has carried out fresh strikes on several parts of gaza — as it tells palestinians to leave parts of the southern city of rafah. that comes as britain says restricting arms supplies to israel would not be a wise move and would only play into hamas's hand. meanwhile, the foreign office is investigating a hamas claim that british—israeli hostage, nadav popplewell, has been killed in gaza. relief workers are struggling to deliver aid to those hit hard by devastating flash floods in northern afghanistan. the un says more than 300 people have died and thousands more have been injured after rivers of water and mud swept away houses. it is switzerland! cheering. after one of the most controversial eurovision song contests — switzerland are crowned this year's winners. now on bbc news, unspun world withjohn simpson.