Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Cairo

Image source, Getty Images

Let's turn our attention briefly to Gaza, where witnesses and medics say Israeli forces have killed 23 Palestinians after opening fire on crowds who had gathered near an aid distribution site.

Tanks and drones fired at thousands of people near an aid centre run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in central Gaza, the witnesses and medics said.

A spokesperson for a hospital in Nuseirat says they received 23 bodies and more than 100 wounded people.

There's been no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

In a separate attack, a medic with the Palestinian Red Crescent said 11 Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a home in the al-Ma'sar area west of Deir al-Balah.

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, reporting from Geneva

President Trump has said he wants to give negotiations a chance. There is only one negotiating track that counts.

Diplomatic sources close to the talks in Geneva say European ministers who sit down with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today will focus on the US proposal for a new nuclear deal to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment.

They'll convey a "clear message" from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff about what’s expected.

"It's all about a road to zero," is how one source put it.

For Iran, stopping all of its nuclear enrichment has been a red line. It's currently enriching uranium to 60% - far beyond what’s needed for a civilian nuclear programme.

It has also previously rejected a proposal to create a regional consortium to enrich uranium outside Iran.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told me yesterday they had been "on the verge of reaching an agreement" when Israel unleashed its military attacks. Iran believes the aim was to destroy diplomacy.

"The moment this aggression stops, of course diplomacy is the first option," Khatibzadeh emphasised.

That will be at the top of Tehran's demands today as both sides try to find a way to end the confrontation.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Image source, Reuters

Iranian state TV and affiliated outlets are continuing to hail Iran's missile and drone strikes on Israel as "successful" and "effective".

At the same time, they have largely ignored the impact of Israeli attacks on everyday Iranians and the deaths of senior commanders.

Instead, Iran's authorities are trying to promote the message of unity among people against Israel.

Arrests of alleged Israeli "spies" persist, alongside tighter media controls and warnings against spreading "enemy propaganda".

Meanwhile, Iranians face major disruption with internet blackouts and cyberattacks, which authorities blame on Israel.

VPNs, used to circumvent the ban on major foreign internet platforms, are largely inaccessible, and banks have been targeted too.

Daily life in Iran has been affected by payment issues, fuel and cash shortages, and limited access to vital information.

If you're just joining us, here's a recap of what's happened so far on the eighth day of conflict between Israel and Iran:

• Israel's military said more than 60 of its warplanes hit dozens of targets around Tehran and other sites, including the headquarters of Iran's nuclear research agency
• An Iranian missile struck a technology park in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, damaging several buildings near an earlier strike. No one was killed, but seven people were taken to hospital for their injuries
• Top diplomats from the UK, the EU, Germany and France will meet Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva. It's Iran's first face-to-face talks with the West since the conflict began last week
• The Geneva talks, if they go ahead as planned, would mark the most significant European involvement in this crisis to date, writes our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet
• Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi says his country won't enter negotiations with the US until Israeli strikes stop, state media reports

The maps below show where strikes have landed in both Israel and Iran in the latest 24-hour period.

There is also a closer look at the Iranian capital Tehran, which was hit more than 100 times, according to data from the ISW and AEI's critical threats project.

The UK's foreign secretary David Lammy has arrived in Geneva ahead of talks scheduled today between European foreign ministers and their Iranian counterpart.

Earlier, he alluded to the urgency of the talks. "A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution," he said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump has given a two-week deadline to decide whether the US will join the Israeli attacks on Iran.

European leaders hope an escalation can be avoided by finding a diplomatic solution before then.

Image source, EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Western governments hope talks scheduled today in Geneva between top European diplomats and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will help to ease the Israel-Iran conflict.

So who is Araghchi, and what role does he play in any potential negotiations?

Abbas Araghchi has been Iran's foreign minister since August last year, after a career in Iran's foreign service beginning in 1989.

He went on to become Iran's ambassador to Finland and Japan.

He is best known, however, as Iran's chief negotiator during talks with members of the UN Security Council and Germany that eventually led to the signing of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Under the deal, Iran agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. Donald Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018.

Image source, Reuters

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi says his country won't enter negotiations with the US until Israeli strikes stop, state media reports.

"The Americans want negotiations and have sent messages several times, but we have clearly said that there is no room for dialogue until the [aggression stops]," IRNA quotes Araghchi as saying.

"We have no talks with America as a partner in this crime."

Araghchi is expected to meet European foreign ministers in Geneva today in the first face-to-face talks with Western governments since Israel started the latest conflict last week.

Health officials in Israel have given an update, and are now saying seven people were injured in the Iranian missile strike on Beersheba overnight.

A spokesperson for the Soroka medical centre says all seven have been evacuated for treatment.

"Injuries [were] sustained while running to protected areas and as a result of the impact," the spokesperson said.

"All are being treated by the team at the emergency medical services, which continues to respond to urgent cases in a protected area."

Image source, EPA-EFE

UK minister Lisa Nandy says diplomacy is the only way through the Iran-Israel conflict.

Asked on BBC 5Live if the UK would join the US if it decides to join Israeli attacks on Iran, Nandy reiterates that de-escalation was key.

"While we work the US very closely, they're our single closest defence and security partner, the only route through this is de-escalation and diplomacy," she says.

Nandy says the situation in the Middle East has never been as "precarious" as this in her lifetime, citing Iran being a "destabilising regime" and the "desperate" humanitarian aid situation in Gaza.

"We've got multiple challenges and there is only one route through that will protect people and support people – and that is diplomacy," she says.

Image source, Getty Images

We've heard from Yassamin Ansari, the youngest female member of the US Congress - who is a Democrat and also of Iranian descent. She says she is "extremely concerned" about how President Donald Trump has been handling the conflict.

"We have a president who changes his mind on a daily basis," she tells the BBC's Newsday programme, adding that: "Nobody believes what he says."

She cited the Iraq war, saying the US doesn't have a good or "successful" history in the region and should not risk intervention.

Ansari says that it's important to remember Iranians are not the regime, and the vast majority oppose the Islamic Republic which has held them "hostage" since 1979. "They don't deserve to have bombardment in their country."

She urged for Trump to focus on a diplomatic way around the conflict and not down a path that would lead to the "unnecessary loss of life" of American soldiers.

Image source, Reuters

The global nuclear watchdog confirms an Israeli attack on an Iranian nuclear site under construction near the city of Arak caused damage to "key buildings".

Israeli warplanes bombed the Arak heavy water reactor on Thursday, though the IAEA said the facility contained no nuclear material.

Heavy water reactors use a chemically distinct type of water as a coolant.

Reactors like Arak facility, 250km southwest of Tehran, can be used for scientific purposes, but as a byproduct create plutonium, which can used to make nuclear weapons.

In a statement, the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, says while there has been no "major radiological incident" as a result of Israeli strikes, there is still risk of a "radiological accident".

"Amid theses challenging and complex circumstances," the statement says, "it is crucial that the IAEA receives timely and regular technical information about the nuclear facilities."

Image source, EPA

As we've been reporting, Israel and Iran have traded more strikes overnight.

The southern Israeli city of Beersheba was hit again, after yesterday's attack, which injured at least 71 people, according to Israel's health ministry.

Five people are reported injured from the overnight strikes into Friday and have been taken to hospital, Israeli emergency services said. We have just received photos showing the damage to residential buildings in the city.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Dan Johnson
Reporting from Jerusalem

President Donald Trump may have announced a two-week window for peace negotiations between Israel and Iran, but in the meantime, the exchange of fire continues.

Israel's army said there were about 60 Israeli jets in the air above Iran, hitting targets around the capital Tehran and different sites linked to the Iranian nuclear programme. The headquarters of Iran's nuclear research agency was struck, according to the IDF.

Israel also says it has also been taking out more of Iranian missile sites.

In turn, there has been another Iranian barrage aimed at the southern Israeli city Beersheba, which was hit yesterday, was struck again. The target appeared to be a technology park, close to the hospital that was hit.

It shows how effective Iran can still be in getting past Israel's Iron Dome air defence.

In other parts of the country it was much quieter, than the nights before.

There were no air raid sirens in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, last night.

Stuart Hughes
Senior world affairs producer

Image source, Reuters

The UK Foreign Office says David Lammy will reiterate "the UK's longstanding concerns about Iran's nuclear programme" and press for a diplomatic solution in his meetings in Geneva today.

Lammy and the foreign ministers of France and Germany will meet with their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, as well as the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

He arrives in Switzerland on an overnight flight from Washington, where he met the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.

In a statement, Lammy says the situation in the Middle East remains "perilous".

"We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon," he says. "A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution."

As the conflict between Israel and Iran rolls into its eighth day, the world has been watching President Donald Trump to see what he will do next:

• The president said he will make a decision on whether to get involved in Israel's war against Iran in the next two weeks
• In a statement read out by the White House press secretary (Karoline Leavitt), Trump said there was a "substantial chance of negotiations" with Iran
• Trump has approved plans to attack Iran but has not decided whether to go through with them or not, sources have told the BBC's US partner CBS news
• He is reportedly weighing an attack on Iran's underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, according to CBS. Only the US is considered to have a bomb that might be large enough to destroy the underground complex

Image source, KEN CEDENO/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The conflict between Israel and Iran features prominently on some of the newspaper front pages this morning.

President Trump "appears to be softening his position", reports the Telegraph after he said he would make a decision about the US launching strikes within a fortnight, delaying a move while there is a chance of talks.

The Financial Times says the two-week window raises the prospect of US talks with Iran.

While the Times describes Trump's two-week "reprieve" as a "step back from the brink". The paper says the US president is looking for an "off ramp" after advisers became concerned at Iran's ability to target US bases in the Middle East.

We've been telling you about a strike in Beersheba, southern Israel. We can now bring you a video showing cars on fire. Israeli emergency services are saying five people were injured.

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, reporting from Geneva

Today in Geneva, European foreign ministers are set to meet their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, to try to de-escalate the crisis between Iran and Israel.

If the meetings go as planned, they’ll be the first face-to-face talks between Tehran and Western governments since Israel attacked Iran one week ago.

They would also mark the most significant European involvement in this crisis. President Trump’s unexpected two-week delay in making his decision on whether to intervene militarily gives these discussions in Geneva greater weight – he says he still wants to give negotiations a chance.

Before this conflict erupted, the US had been pursuing its own bilateral talks with Iran for a new nuclear deal, sidelining Europe which had played a vital role in the 2015 agreement President Trump pulled out of in his first term.

European ministers are expected to urge Iran to return to the negotiating table – Iran says it wants to but not while it's under attack.

And, for the moment, neither Israel, nor Iran is backing down.

Dan Johnson
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Israel Firefighters

Pictures shows fires burning close to Microsoft’s offices in Beersheba, southern Israel, and there is damage to residential buildings.

Firefighters and paramedics are responding at the scene. Five people are reported injured and have been taken to hospital, according to Israeli emergency services.

It appears Iran was again targeting the Gav-Yam advanced technology park, which Iranian officials said they were aiming at yesterday morning when the nearby Soroka hospital was hit.