Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service.

We're coming to you live from London.

I'm James Menendez.

And our top story today takes us to the Middle East.

And two major developments that put broadly call into question the prospect of what's known as the two-state solution,

that cornerstone of Western policy that envisages an Israeli

and a Palestinian state coexisting side by side. In a moment, we'll hear about a plan for a new

Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank that ironically both supporters and its many

opponents actually agree on. They all agree that it dramatically diminishes the prospect of that two-state solution.

For first of what's happening in the other Palestinian territory, Gaza, and Israel's plan to expand its military operations against Hamas there.

Plans that have drawn widespread condemnation both because of the immediate risk to civilians

and because of the added

destruction it'll cause in a place where so much has already been obliterated. Well, that plan is

already, it seems, entrained today with fighting on the outskirts of Gaza City as well as heavy

bombardment and the Israeli government's announcement that it's calling up 60,000 more Israeli reservists.

Our correspondent, Emia Nader, is following developments from Jerusalem.

This announcement from the Israeli government that the operation to invade Gaza City has indeed begun

is more of an acknowledgement that for essentially the past week, Palestinians,

especially those living in the

outer neighbourhoods of Gaza City, will have felt like the operation has well and truly begun.

In reality, days ago, there's been relentless bombardment of certain outer neighborhoods,

such as Zaytun, which is the largest district. That's come under heavy attack and Sabra. There've been

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