hours after the israeli military stepped up its bombing of the south of the territory. the israeli bombardment of southern gaza continued overnight after israel's seizure of the vital rafah crossing with egypt. palestinian medical staff say seven members of a family were killed in one airstrike. israel says it's reopened one of the main crossing points for aid. kerem shalom was closed last week following a hamas rocket attack. humanitarian workers say there are also concerns about food shortages. from jerusalem, our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, reports. you may find some of her report distressing. the panic and confusion as rescuers pull the wounded from the rubble after an overnight israeli airstrike in rafah. and today, another all too familiar scene in gaza,

a mother struggling with unbearable loss. after israel seized control of the key crossing with egypt, it says it's continuing a limited offensive in gaza's southernmost city, battling hamas gunmen in the east of their last stronghold. but for hundreds of thousands of palestinians who fled to rafah to escape the fighting elsewhere, there's renewed fear. translation: last time i they told us to go to rafah, saying there's aid and it's a safe place, and look, they came into rafah. for now, i won't go anywhere. i'll stay here. it's enough. we're tired of being displaced, and i don't know where i want to go. world powers have warned israel against a full assault here, saying it would be a humanitarian catastrophe. israel argues its operation is pressuring hamas to make concessions in talks on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. and this is a critical moment in those indirect negotiations now taking place in cairo. the us says it believes a deal is achievable,

but israel clearly has issues about the wording of the draft texts, referring to a return to sustainable calm. it simply doesn't want the war in gaza to end before it can say it's dismantled hamas. but there are signs of growing strain with israel's closest allies. for the first time in this war, the us has halted a shipment of powerful bombs, an official says, worried about how they'd be used. the israeli military insists relations with washington remain strong. translation: the aid is unprecedented. - the operational partnership is significant. when there are disputes, they are being resolved in closed rooms, in a matter of fact way. in line with a promise to president biden, today, israel said it was reopening the biggest crossing for aid into gaza. kerem shalom was closed on sunday after hamas rockets killed four israeli soldiers nearby. but a un agency says no

supplies have yet entered. the desperate situation in rafah could yet get worse. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. the chinese president, xijinping, and his serbian counterpart, aleksandar vucic, have stressed the warmth of relations between their countries during talks in belgrade. mr vucic told thousands of supporters, many waving chinese flags, that the government in beijing was a sincere friend. mr xi applauded as the serbian leader backed china's claim to sovereignty over taiwan. china has invested heavily in serbia in recent years. the final stage of mr xi's european tour takes him to hungary. our balkans correspondent, guy de launey, told me more from belgrade. very warm words and a warm occasion. they spent all morning and lunchtime over there in the palace of serbia

and they have been basically taking and they have been basically taking a lot of trouble to make deals between the two countries for strip 28 separate agreements between serbia and china, according to the local information here. president xi jinping said he felt comfortable and cosy in belgrade. considered himself true friend of serbia and both sides have been talking about what they call the ironclad friendship between the two countries, which has now been upgraded from a strategic partnership to a common future, which implies much deeper relations from here on in.— from here on in. president xi is visitin: from here on in. president xi is visiting three _ from here on in. president xi is visiting three european - from here on in. president xi is i visiting three european countries, has been to france, heading to hungary tomorrow and many might be asking, why serbia? {reef hungary tomorrow and many might be asking, why serbia?— asking, why serbia? crew serbia has asking, why serbia? crew serbia has a number of — asking, why serbia? crew serbia has a number of attractions _ asking, why serbia? crew serbia has a number of attractions for - a number of attractions for president xi. this was where china was embassy was bombed in 1999 by nato. 25 years to the day prior to

his arrival last night. there is an opportunity for president xi to voice his criticism of nato, writing an editorial in a serbian newspaper saying, we will never forget, the chinese people cherish peace but we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself, and the serbian people are not too keen on nato either because of those air strikes in 1999, so a sympathetic audience was guaranteed. it's a way for both leaders to show that they have got a strong partnership and that serbia, which often feels bullied by brussels when it comes to things like recognising kosovan independence and the situation in bosnia and herzegovina, can turn round and say, we have a strong ally in china that puts a lot of money in, a lot of time and will give us a lot of backing in the un, as president xi said today to dip that is a reminder to the eu that, if it's not going to show commitment to a country like serbia, then china

certainly will. you're watching bbc news. prince harry is in the uk to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of his invictus games. we are going straight to st paul's cathedral, where prince harry has just arrived for the thanksgiving service. keep an eye on the pictures. i believe our correspondent, sarah campbell, is there. sarah, to cut through why prince harry is there. —— take us through. pa, prince harry is there. -- take us throu~h. �* , . ., , through. a brief arrival. he is celebrating — through. a brief arrival. he is celebrating ten _ through. a brief arrival. he is celebrating ten years - through. a brief arrival. he is celebrating ten years of- through. a brief arrival. he is celebrating ten years of the l celebrating ten years of the invictus games, which is the paralympic style invictus games, which is the pa ralympic style event invictus games, which is the paralympic style event that was very much his initiative, the first one was held in london in 2014 and there

have been several sense. this is a celebration today of what has been achieved in the last ten years. i'm going to stand up for you here for the when prince harry arrived, we had to duck down. there was a crowd of people that have been gradually gathering over the course of the afternoon. there happy helicopters wearing overhead. people wear some sort of vip was going to be arriving. this is due to last about an hourfor the prince harry is going to do a reading. damien lewis the actor is going to read a poem and, as i say, the service is about members of the invictus family coming together and remembering what they have been through and how the invictus games has helped them overcome their considerable mental and physical injuries. as you will be aware, there has been a lot of speculation as to whether prince

harry, who was on a rare visit to the uk, whether he would meet with his father or whether members of his family. spokespeople have made it known that the duke hopes to meet his father soon but this time round, due to the king referral programme, that isn't possible to just across london, in the garden of buckingham palace, the king is hosting a garden party the first of the season, today, and so prince harry won't be meeting his father on this visit. he will attend here and then head to nigeria, along with meghan, because nigeria, along with meghan, because nigeria is one of the newest invested nations and they will be talking to leaders there about the invictus games and how it can help the wounded servicemen and women of nigeria. as i say, prince harry has gonein nigeria. as i say, prince harry has gone in and the service will be under way shortly and i should take roughly an hour. you under way shortly and i should take roughly an hour-— roughly an hour. you talked about his wife, meghan, _ roughly an hour. you talked about his wife, meghan, joining - roughly an hour. you talked about his wife, meghan, joining him - roughly an hour. you talked about his wife, meghan, joining him onl his wife, meghan, joining him on another invictus games event.

questions will no doubt be asked as to why she hasn't come to london for this one. ,, , ., , ., ., , , this one. questions no doubt will be asked, as this one. questions no doubt will be asked. as they _ this one. questions no doubt will be asked, as they always _ this one. questions no doubt will be asked, as they always are. - this one. questions no doubt will be asked, as they always are. meghan | asked, as they always are. meghan hasn't been in the country for a while now. no comment has been given from harry's spokespeople as to why meghan didn't accompany him on this visit. she has been to most of the invictus games events. the first time we saw her, i remember being in toronto in 2017 when harry introduced his new girlfriend to the world at the invictus games in toronto stop so she has been very much part of the invictus family fizzed up perhaps one could say one reason might be harry's ongoing legal issues with the uk government. they mill to provide automatic security as they would have done when he was a working royal to stop that has been an ongoing issue between him and to the government and that might perhaps explain why

meghan markle isn't here, but we haven't had any official reason as to why she isn't here but she will him at some point in the next step on their tour is to visit nigeria one of two countries which recently joined the invictus nations.- joined the invictus nations. thank ou, joined the invictus nations. thank you. sarah- _ joined the invictus nations. thank you, sarah. prince _ joined the invictus nations. thank you, sarah. prince harry - joined the invictus nations. thank you, sarah. prince harry has - joined the invictus nations. thank. you, sarah. prince harry has arrived at st paul's cathedral for the thanksgiving service to mark ten years of the invictus games. time for a check on the weather. hello there. it's been another pretty decent day up and down the country but weather fronts have brought some rain to the north and west of scotland, more of a breeze here, as well. that's what we will see into tomorrow, though much of the country should continue to stay dry and settled. for the rest of the week, we'll continue with these early morning mist and fog patches which could be quite dense but very quickly the strong may sunshine will burn it away and most places will see sunshine throughout the afternoon. so the rain continues to splash into the north and west of scotland

through the overnight period. it will tend to become more confined to the north of scotland by the end of the night. much of northern ireland, england and wales will be largely dry. there's a few clear spells around but also some patchy cloud, low cloud, at that, some mist and fog developing too. those temperatures, 8—11 degrees. so this is the picture for thursday, high pressure sitting pretty much on top of the uk. this weather front continues to push northwards to bring more rain to northern scotland but once again, tomorrow morning we could see some dense mist and fog patches first thing. but very quickly, the strong may sunshine will melt it away, we should start to see widespread sunshine for england and wales, northern ireland, central and southern scotland. it looks like the rain will become confined to the far north highlands and the northern isles through the day, so turning drier there. could see up to 20 degrees or so in central and southern scotland, 19 or 20 for belfast, 22 or 23 in the warmer spots for england and wales. as we move through thursday night, it looks like it will stay dry once again. light winds, a bit of mist and fog developing here and there. still a few spits and spots of rain for the north of scotland as that weather front loiters around. it could be a little milder as well

to start friday, 9—12 degrees. friday, anotherfine looking day, plenty of sunshine around. a bit more cloud across scotland but even here, it should be dry, including the north of scotland. light southerly breezes, those temperatures reaching the mid 20s for the warmest spots in england and wales, up to 21 degrees for the central belt of scotland, 20 there for belfast. high pressure continues to bring fine weather into the weekend but as it pulls away to the east, it starts to allow low pressure and weather fronts to gang up on us from the south and from the west, so it will start to turn more unsettled gradually. could see some heavy showers across scotland on saturday, warm and sunny elsewhere. it could be very warm in the south on sunday — increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms, though, later on sunday.

live from london, this is bbc news. fighting intensifies around rafah in southern gaza, where the world health organization has warned hospitals are running dangerously low on fuel. rishi sunak�*s troubles continue, as another mps defects from the conservatives to labour, saying the prime minister has let britain down. scotland's new first minister, john swinney, is officially sworn in at the court of session in edinburgh. prince harry marks the tenth anniversary of his invictus games for wounded military veterans with a special service in london. harry is inside a st paul's with his

and victor's family, members of his mother's family are also in their — but not members of the royal family. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. the israeli military has conducted what it called "targeted raids" in rafah, as negotiations to halt the seven—month war resumed in cairo. israel's operations are in defiance of international calls not to attack the southern city, which is crowded with palestinian civilians sheltering near the egyptian border. fighting has intensified following israel's seizure of the vital rafah crossing with egypt. israel says it's reopened one of the main crossing points for aid — kerem shalom was closed last week following a hamas rocket attack. the world health organization has warned hospitals are running dangerously low on fuel. negotiators from israel and hamas are at the ceasefire talks in cairo, along with egyptian and qatari mediators. on monday, israel rejected a three—phase proposal that had

been accepted by hamas.