Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

We’ve been continuing to stay in touch with the mother of baby Siwar Ashour, who has been the focus of reporting by my colleague Fergal Keane in recent days.

At five months old, Siwar is acutely malnourished. She cannot absorb regular formula milk and doctors say the Israeli blockade means that supplies of the food she needs are scarce.

Speaking over the phone from Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, her mother Najwa tells us that Siwar is still suffering from severe diarrhoea because of the milk formula she is currently being given.

Doctors have been unable to check her weight today because the scale has broken, and there is no spare available, Najwa says.

They have managed to source a different formula from elsewhere in Gaza, which they will now try.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Earlier this year, we spoke to people returning to their homes in northern Gaza during the ceasefire. Among them was 31-year-old graphic designer Adham al-Batrawi.

He went back to the once affluent city of al-Zahra and was living in and around the remains of his family’s villa, lighting fires to cook and keep warm.

“I was excited to return but then I saw the house - half of it was destroyed. I got sad,” he said at the time.

The family hoped to rebuild, but once the ceasefire ended, it became too dangerous to stay, so they fled again.

“This was the seventh time of being evacuated. Maybe even more. I’ve lost count,” he tells me by video message from a displacement camp in central Gaza.

“With each displacement life becomes more tragic than before. We really hope it will be soon because we simply don’t have the energy left to survive another displacement.”

Today, he says life is “very difficult” – there’s “no fuel, no food and no income, and if anything is available it is extremely expensive”.

As you can see in our coverage today, our reports have been relying heavily on official sources and local witness accounts.

That's because Israel has been restricting media access to Gaza.

The Israeli military controls the entire land border and all entry points to Gaza. International journalists are not permitted entry. Previously, some have been allowed in on highly controlled visits accompanying Israeli forces in the territory.

Many Palestinian journalists remain on the ground and are able to report on the situation, but more than 200 have been killed in Israeli attacks while doing their work.

Israel denies targeting journalists and says it always tries to limit civilian casualties, but has also accused Hamas of using people in Gaza as human shields and accused some journalists of working with or having direct lines to the group.

But some aid workers and medical professionals are allowed in to do humanitarian work assisting Palestinians, which is how we can hear first-hand accounts of what is going on in Gaza from people not from there.

However, these aid workers are also concentrated in southern Gaza, as the north has been under intense attack and is considered too dangerous to work in for foreign volunteers, so reliable information about what is going on there is even more limited.

A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence agency says nearly 100 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in less than 12 hours.

In a post on Telegram, Mahmoud Basal describes the situation in north Gaza as a "bloody and difficult day".

Image source, Reuters

Here’s a quick recap of what’s been happening in northern Gaza today:

• Palestinians in the north say Israel launched a large-scale ground, air and sea assault early this morning
• The Hamas-run civil defence agency says at least 50 people have been killed
• The Israel Defense Forces say their operation in Gaza continues, with ground troops attacking “terrorists'” facilities in the north
• Although the attack is reportedly large in scale, our correspondent says it does not yet appear to be Israel’s threatened major military offensive
• Israel has pledged to step up operations in Gaza and reoccupy the entire strip indefinitely if Hamas does not accept a proposal for a temporary ceasefire and the return of remaining hostages by the end of President Trump’s regional trip
• Donald Trump has already boarded his flight home. He says “a lot of people are starving” in Gaza, and the US needs to “help out the Palestinians”, but doesn’t give further details

Stay with us as we bring you the latest from today, along with stories we’re hearing from our contacts in the Gaza Strip.

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump has just spoken to journalists on his flight home from the Middle East.

Asked if he supports Israel’s plan to expand its offensive in Gaza, the US president says, "we'll see what happens".

He adds that he thinks "a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month" in Gaza, but doesn’t give any more details.

Trump also says the US needs to "help out the Palestinians" and acknowledges "a lot of people are starving".

When our North America editor Anthony Zurcher asks about a potential plan for Hamas to give up power, Trump says: "We're going to look at everything, but we want to get the hostages back."

Image source, IDF

We've just had an update from the Israeli military about their operations in Gaza.

They say forces are continuing to strike "terror targets" based on intelligence.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say troops are "dismantling terrorist infrastructure sites" and "eliminating terrorists", and that 150 targets have been hit by air strikes in the past 24 hours.

The Israeli Air Force attacks have been carried out on "anti-tank missile posts, terrorist cells, military structures, and operational centers in which terrorists were operating in order to carry out terrorist attacks against IDF troops", the update adds.

In north Gaza, ground troops "eliminated several terrorists who were operating in an observation compound", the military says.

Operations are also ongoing in south Gaza, where the IDF say soldiers have "dismantled terrorist infrastructure, including structures and [tunnel] shafts" used by Hamas and killed "several terrorists who planned to plant an explosive device in the area".

Verifying footage emerging from northern Gazapublished at 11:51 British Summer Time 16 May

11:51 BST 16 May

Image source, Anas al Sharif

By Richard Irvine-Brown

BBC Verify has been looking at more than a dozen videos circulating on social media following overnight strikes in northern Gaza around Beit Lahia and Jabalia.

The footage we're seeing has been posted online by Palestinian journalists, previously verified by BBC Verify as being on the ground in Gaza, filming at the scene shortly after the attacks.

Footage of the actual moment of impact is rare, particularly at night, and the videos that emerge typically capture the immediate aftermath. These clips are often dark and difficult to geolocate.

Much of the footage is graphic and distressing. The videos we are verifying show men in civil defence and Palestine Red Crescent Society uniforms carrying people, one of them a young girl, into hospitals. Some bodies are wrapped in blankets.

In one clip, men assist a woman into the hospital. Footage inside the hospital shows a chaotic scene, with men, women and children on stretchers and hospital beds receiving treatment.

The IDF hasn't yet commented on the reported assault.

This morning, our colleagues spoke to a British medical consultant working at a field hospital in Gaza, run by a humanitarian charity.

Iain Lennon told Radio 4's Today programme that the hospital is running low on basics like bandages, dressings, and medicines needed to treat people wounded in attacks or suffering from other medical conditions.

"While we haven't run out yet, it will not be more than a few days, I think, before we start to have significant problems," he says.

He adds that Palestinians are trying to live as normal a life as possible, but there is a severe lack of food.

A recent report says the whole Gaza population – some 2.1 million people – is now at critical risk of famine. But the Israeli government says there is "no shortage" of food.

Lennon calls on the international community to put pressure on Israel to get resources into Gaza, so they can care for people there.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

We’ve just spoken to a man who fled Beit Lahia in northern Gaza after an Israeli assault he says killed several members of his family.

Basheer al-Ghandour says people were sleeping when “suddenly an intense bombing happened” overnight.

“It came from all sides - air strikes and warships. My brother’s house collapsed. There were 25 people inside,” he says.

Basheer says there was tank fire nearby, but not directly on his neighbourhood.

He and others tried to rescue relatives from the rubble.

“Eleven were injured and five were killed [in the family]. My brother’s wife is still under the rubble - we didn’t manage to rescue her. Because of how intense the bombing was, we had to flee,” he says.

“We didn’t take anything with us - no furniture, no food, no flour. We even left in bare feet.”

He says his nieces, aged five and 18, and a 15-year-old nephew were among those killed.

Basheer is now in Jabalia in northern Gaza, but expects he will have to move again soon.

The BBC has asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

Image source, Reuters

Adnan El-Bursh
BBC Arabic Gaza reporter

Image source, EPA

Two journalists were killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip on Thursday, bringing the total number of journalists killed since the war began to 217, according to Hamas-run local authorities.

The war in Gaza has become one of the deadliest conflict ever for media workers, with at least one journalist killed every month.

Despite this, many of my colleagues are still on the ground, reporting daily on Israeli attacks.

Israel does not allow international journalists, including those from the BBC, into Gaza. Most media organisations now rely on local journalists.

Yesterday I spoke to independent journalist Shu’aib Yousef, who is still reporting from Gaza. He told me journalists there no longer feel protected.

“Despite wearing helmets and sticking ‘Press’ signs on our vehicles in multiple languages, we are being targeted,” he said.

Shu’aib urged rights organisations to work with Israeli authorities to stop attacks on media workers.

Israel denied deliberately targeting journalists and said it tried to avoid harming civilians.

Northern Gaza overnight strikes do not appear to be Israel's threatened major offensivepublished at 10:42 British Summer Time 16 May

10:42 BST 16 May

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

Footage shows that there were powerful overnight strikes in the far north of Gaza.

Residents of southern Israel and Gaza City have told me they felt the tremors.

The reported new advance by ground troops west of Beit Lahia is also significant.

However, this does not yet look like Israel’s threatened major military offensive.

Israel’s government has pledged to intensify operations in Gaza and indefinitely reoccupy the entire strip, if Hamas does not accept a proposal for a temporary ceasefire and the return of remaining hostages by the end of President Trump’s regional trip.

While there has been no sign of a breakthrough with negotiating teams still in Doha, local media say that Arab mediators have been pushing for more time to give talks a chance.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Families of the hostages say they are worried about the "increased attacks in Gaza" and the "imminent conclusion of President Trump's visit" to the Middle East.

The Hostage Families Forum, which represents relatives of those held captive in Gaza, has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal to secure the release of the 58 remaining hostages. It’s believed up to 23 of those held are still alive.

There’s hope that Trump’s visit to the region could help secure a deal for the hostages’ release. “Missing this historic opportunity for a deal to bring the hostages home would be a resounding failure that will be remembered in infamy forever,” the group says.

Israel has said it will launch a major military offensive and reoccupy all of Gaza if there’s no deal by the end of Trump's trip.

So far, there’s no sign of a breakthrough in the talks.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

US President Donald Trump has just spoken about Gaza, saying that "a lot of people are starving" there.

Speaking from the United Arab Emirates as part of the final leg of a Middle East tour, he says the US will make sure the situation is "taken care of", but hasn't explained what that means or mentioned the Israeli offensive or the ongoing blockade.

As we've been reporting, Gaza has been under a full Israeli blockade of food and other humanitarian supplies for 10 weeks.

A recent report says the whole population – some 2.1 million people – is now at critical risk of famine. But the Israeli government says there is "no shortage" of food.

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent, reporting from Antalya

Image source, Reuters

Yesterday in Turkey, I put the scale of the recent Israeli attacks in Gaza and the bombing of hospitals to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

I asked if the Trump administration remained fully behind the nature of the military action. It comes amid recent reports of a rift between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and as some hostage families accuse him of prolonging the war for his own political survival - a point I put to Rubio.

He said he had spoken to Netanyahu on the phone on Thursday and that Trump also did this week.

Rubio said the “elimination” of Hamas would bring peace but added that the administration was “troubled” by the humanitarian situation.

This is rare language for Rubio, who has previously tended to answer any questions about Palestinian civilian casualties from Israeli strikes by outright blaming Hamas for everything.

Even though the question was about military strikes, his comment was a reference, amid the Israeli blockade of UN aid, to a controversial Israeli-American proposal to use private providers to set up aid collection points in Gaza.

The UN has rejected that plan, saying it is unethical and unworkable.

Rubio once again called on Hamas to surrender and release the hostages and said there could be no peace so long as the group exists.

“That said, we're not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of the people of Gaza, and I know that there's opportunities here to provide aid for them,” he said.

Rushdi Abualouf
BBC News Gaza correspondent

A survivor, Yousif Salem, has described a harrowing escape with his family.

“We just escaped death. An airstrike hit our neighbours’ home—none of them survived.

"Then artillery shells began hitting near our house while we were trapped inside. When I tried to leave the first time, a quadcopter drone opened fire on us. I returned home. I made a second attempt under heavy shelling,” he told reporters at the hospital where he arrived.

“All roads were blocked, a shell landed ten metres from our car, engulfing us in dust. The car crashed into debris and got stuck between shelling from both directions. I was certain it was the end. But somehow, we found an unfamiliar side road.

"My children Mohammed, Nour, and Sham and I saw death a hundred times today. We escaped only minutes before Israeli tanks encircled the area.”

This is the largest ground assault on northern Gaza since Israel resumed its offensive in early March.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent

Here’s more on the reported Israeli offensive in northern Gaza.

Earlier, the spokesperson for the Hamas-run civil defence agency in northern Gaza said their main operations centre had received dozens of distress calls from residents trapped inside their homes.

He also confirmed that at least nine homes and tents housing civilians were bombed.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent

Palestinians in northern Gaza report that the Israeli military launched a large-scale ground, air, and sea assault early on Friday, on the town of Beit Lahia in the far north-western corner of the Gaza Strip.

According to local residents, the assault began with smoke bomb barrages followed by intense artillery shelling from nearby Israeli positions.

Tanks then began advancing toward the Al-Salateen neighbourhood in western Beit Lahia.

Witnesses reported that Israeli armored vehicles surrounded a school sheltering hundreds of displaced civilians.

We'll bring you more details on this shortly.

Image source, Reuters

We're restarting our live coverage of the war in Gaza, as Israel continues its strikes there overnight. The Hamas-run civil defence agency says at least another 50 people have been killed, after more than 120 were killed yesterday.

Meanwhile, the dire situation in Gaza continues, with Israel preventing food, medication and other aid from entering the area since mid-March.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration is "troubled" by the humanitarian situation. This is an unusual comment, as in the past he has only responded to questions about Palestinian civilian casualties by calling on Hamas to surrender.

We’ll continue to bring you all the latest developments from today, along with testimony from those living under Israel's aid blockade in Gaza.

Stay with us.

Image source, Getty Images

The BBC has been hearing from people in Gaza throughout the day describing the severe impact of Israel's 10-week blockade on all food, medicine and other humanitarian aid, as well as continued deadly air strikes.

At least 114 people were killed in the strikes since dawn, health officials and rescuers say.

Over the course of the day we heard from the mother of Ismail Abu Odeh, a six-year-old boy who pushed through crowds at a food distribution point to collect food for his family, only to come away empty handed.

Parents also told us how their children cry at the sound of bombing, and how they’re struggling to find milk formula to feed severely malnourished babies.

Another family told us they only have enough food for one daily meal.

BBC Verify heard accounts from 10 different aid organisations based in Gaza, who say the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating because of Israel’s blockade.

The Israeli government doubled down on its insistence that there is “no shortage” of food in Gaza and that the “real crisis is Hamas looting and selling aid”.

David Mencer, a spokesman for the office of the Israeli prime minister, rejected repeated claims from UN organisations that Israel was restricting aid and food as “leverage, part of a military strategy”.

That’s despite assertions from various UN bodies, and international aid organisations on the ground in Gaza, that its population of 2.1 million people are at “critical risk of famine” and that rising rates of malnutrition could have an impact on an entire generation.

We're now pausing our live coverage but will resume it on Friday.