Hello and welcome to NewsHour.
It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London.
I'm Tim Franks.
And we're beginning with Israel's plans to expand and to intensify its war in Gaza.
Plans which were announced at the end of last week by the Prime Minister, Bini Minneton-Yahu,
and which today have been the subject of intense scrutiny and intense criticism in two international arenas.
There was an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, about which we'll hear more in a moment.
But ahead of that, Mr Netanyahu chose, and this is a relative rarity for him,
he decided to give a news conference to foreign journalists in Jerusalem.
His aim?
To explain what was behind his order to the Israeli military to begin what he hopes will lead to total control of the Gaza Strip by emptying Gaza City of its current one million inhabitants.
There was, he said, a simple strategy here.
Five principles for concluding the war.
One, Hamas disarmed.
Second, all hostages freed.
Third, Gaza demilitarized.
Fourth, Israel has overriding security control.
And five, non-Israeli, peaceful civilian administration.
By that I mean a civilian administration that doesn't educate its children for terror.
doesn't pay terrorists and doesn't launch terrorist attacks against Israel.