Israel's allies condemn a parliamentary vote effectively banning the main UN agency for Palestinians. We hear from the UK’s minister for the middle east – but what are the chances the Israeli government will listen? And who is Naim Qassem, long-time deputy to Hassan Nasrallah and now leader of Hezbollah? Also in the programme: Iran executes a German-Iranian activist - we hear from another Iranian dissident; and how a researcher browsing the internet unearthed an entire lost Mayan city in Mexico. (IMAGE: A sign at the entrance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) offices in Jerusalem, 29 October 2024 / CREDIT: Abir Sultan / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock)
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Hello, and welcome to NewsHour.
It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in London.
I'm Tim Franks and we're leading the program with a potentially huge story out of the Middle East.
And the key lies in that word, potentially, because maybe strangely, it stems from a vote in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, which the Israeli newspapers are today barely covering, perhaps because there was such an overwhelming consensus in Parliament about the move, the move to, in effect, Ban Unwra, the UN's main relief agency for the Palestinians.
So why call it potentially huge?
Because of the impact some say it could have on an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.
And because of the questions now for Israel's allies over this move.
Are they going to do any more than continue to express their concern?
And because of the questions for Israel about its responsibilities.
We'll try and get into all of that today.
Middle east regional editor Sebastian Usher is in our Jerusalem bureau.
Before we get on to unrwa, what about this Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza that the Hamas run health ministry there said has killed almost 100?
Yes, we've been getting reports about this, seeing videos, seeing the images of the dead, the wounded, for several hours now.