West Bank

Theoretical physiscist and writer Carlo Rovelli tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy about his search for ‘white holes’ and how science can bridge different global narratives in the geopolitical arena, in this episode of Ways to Change the World.

In the United States, President Biden has been speaking about the situation in Israel.

We spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner of the Israel Defence Forces. We began by asking him for his response to criticisms by Israelis of the IDF’s slow response time – in some cases up to ten hours – following Saturday’s attacks.

We’ve been speaking to the American-Israeli family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of those who’s been taken.

We spoke to Osama Hamdan, he is a spokesman based in Beirut for Hamas, which is a designated terrorist organisation according to the UK government.

We spoke to British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who is currently working at a hospital in Gaza.

The Gazan health ministry says 830 Palestinians have already been killed in the bombardment – while the UN human rights chief said Israeli strikes had hit residential buildings and schools.

We can’t get inside Gaza to report on what is going on, but our colleague – filmmaker Yousef Hammash – lives there. 

Earlier, the Israeli military said it had secured the border with Gaza, which is now under the heaviest bombardment in its history

Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely joined us live.

We look at the reaction here in the UK to the shocking events in Israel and Gaza.

Our International Editor Lindsey Hilsum reacts to the events in Israel and Gaza, and what it means for the wider Middle Eastern region

We speak to Ahmad Muna, who’s from a prominent Arab family in East Jerusalem, and helps run his family business, the Educational Bookshop.

He told us that the failure to see the assault coming was down to the arrogance of the current government.

Israel is no stranger to crises on its streets. Apart from the wars of 1967 and 1973 there were the bus bombs during the second intifada, and what seemed like the constant spectre of terror.