We've just been getting some pictures from Deir al-Balah, which shows smoke billowing into the air after Israeli air strikes.

The ground incursion in the central Gazan city marks a change in stance from the Israeli military, as it has been largely spared from a major ground operation in the 21 months of war against Hamas.

There are more buildings still standing than in other parts of the strip and there have been functioning medical points, drinking water from the desalination plant and waste disposal systems.

Below are some of the latest images:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

On a near daily basis, we see desperate Palestinians getting killed while they are trying to get food for themselves and for their families.

Yesterday in the north of the Gaza Strip, a large crowd of people waiting for UN's food aid lorries to come in managed to stop one of those lorries and make off with flour.

Witnesses say they held their hands in the air when Israeli soldiers started firing at them, but the fire continued.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says snipers and tank fire were involved.

But the Israeli military disputes these accounts. It says its forces felt an immediate threat and fired warning shots. It has shared some footage that showed its soldiers standing by while a big crowd of Palestinians appeared to be surrounding an aid lorry that had been stripped of its supplies.

According to the WFP, nearly one in three people in the Gaza Strip are now going for days at a time without getting any food.

The Gazan health ministry, run by Hamas, has said that at least 19 people, including children, have died from hunger in the past day.

The grim scenes we saw yesterday followed on from the ones we saw a day earlier, when more than 30 people were killed close to a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site in southern Gaza.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Deir al-Balah is one of the few parts of Gaza where Israel has not conducted a major ground operation in 21-months of war against Hamas.

Because of that, tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have remained crammed in the city, alongside locals.

There are more buildings still standing than in other parts of the strip and there have been functioning medical points, drinking water from the desalination plant and waste disposal systems.

The UN and other humanitarian agencies relocated key parts of their operations to Deir al-Balah from Rafah after Israeli forces entered the very south of the Gaza Strip over a year ago.

One of the reasons why Israeli sources say there was not previously an army incursion of Deir al-Balah was because of concerns about the presence of Israeli hostages held there by Hamas.

It is not clear what might have changed the military’s thinking.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a British charity, says the intensity of challenges in Gaza are "beyond description".

The charity's communications officer says the situation in Deir al-Balah is "extremely critical" and shelling is taking place all around their office.

Military vehicles, Mai Elawawda says, "are just 400 metres away from our colleagues and their families, who endured a harrowing night after relocating there".

Everyone is evacuating, Elawawda explains, adding that most people are unsure where they should go next.

"One colleague shared that the area is filled with shelling and quadcopter strikes, and there’s growing fear about both staying and attempting to leave," she says.

While we've been reporting Israel's ground assault in Deir al-Balah, the IDF is also continuing to strike other areas of Gaza.

These images show the moment a building was hit this morning in Gaza City, the major city in the north of the Strip.

Image source, BBC/Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

Local residents are describing what they say is the worst famine in Gaza’s history, with most markets closed due to the acute shortage of food.

"My children cry from hunger all night," Mohammad Emad al-Din, a father of two who works as a barber in Gaza, tells the BBC.

"They’ve had only a small plate of lentils over the past three days. There’s no bread. A kilo of flour was $80 (£59) a week ago. I had to stop working after my salon’s solar panels were damaged in an air strike."

Residents blame the worsening situation on Israeli restrictions, saying not enough food supplies are being allowed into the territory, deepening the humanitarian crisis.

Figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef show alarming levels of child malnutrition.

In May alone, over 5,000 children under the age of five were treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 600 with severe acute malnutrition a life-threatening condition.

The World Food Programme (WFP) warned last week that Gaza is facing famine-like conditions across the entire territory, citing critical access restrictions, food shortages, and market collapse.

Image source, Reuters

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

At least 19 Palestinians have died from hunger in the past 24 hours in Gaza, according to an official from the Hamas-run health ministry

Dr Khalil al-Daqran, spokesperson for al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, tells the BBC that the situation in Gaza’s hospitals has become critical.

"Nineteen people, including children, have died of hunger," he says.

"Hospitals can no longer provide food for patients or staff, many of whom are physically unable to continue working due to extreme hunger."

He adds that even basic items like infant formula are no longer available.

"Hospitals cannot provide a single bottle of milk to children suffering from hunger, because all baby formula has run out from the market."

Image source, Getty Images

The UN's under-secretary-general for its humanitarian office, Ocha, says the head of the branch's Palestinian Territories arm is in Deir al-Balah and intends to stay there.

"Just spoken to Jonathan Whittall," Tom Fletcher wrote on X late on Sunday night, external. "He’s in Deir el Balah, Gaza, with Israeli air strikes intensifying."

He said Whittall was "surrounded by our team, and civilians we stay to help," while praising the "exceptional courage and integrity" of the Ocha team. "They are best of UN. And all of us."

Image source, Getty Images

As we've reported, the Israeli military yesterday issued evacuation orders for Deir al-Balah, where it has not launched a ground offensive during its 21 months of war against Hamas.

The IDF said people should evacuate immediately and move towards al-Mawasi on the Mediterranean coast.

The military's Arabic language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said Israel was "expanding its activities" in Deir al-Balah, including "in an area where it has not operated before".

Pictures showed hundreds of people fleeing with their belongings.

Image source, Getty Images

The UN's humanitarian office, Ocha, said the displacement order issued by the Israeli military on Sunday - before today's assault began - was "yet another devastating blow" to humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

It said there were dozens of important resources such as humanitarian warehouses, medical clinics and critical water infrastructure in Deir al-Balah.

"Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences," it warned.

The new order "cuts through Deir al-Balah... further splintering the Strip," Ocha said, adding that it will limit the ability of its humanitarian teams to move safely and effectively in Gaza.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

The Israeli military's evacuation order on Sunday caused widespread panic among tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The affected neighbourhoods of Deir al-Balah are crowded with displaced people living in tents.

The order also alarmed the families of Israeli hostages – with a number of those still held captive by Hamas assumed to be in the area.

They fear that an Israeli attack could endanger their loved ones.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

Israeli forces have launched a ground and air assault on the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, prompting fresh waves of displacement among civilians already uprooted by the ongoing conflict.

The operation began early on Monday, just hours after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings to residents of six residential blocks in the south-western part of the city.

The area is currently packed with thousands of displaced people from Rafah and Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Local journalists told the BBC that Israeli tanks and military vehicles pushed into the city from the Kisufim checkpoint under heavy artillery and air cover.

Dozens of shells reportedly struck the Abu al-‘Ajin and Hikr al-Jami’ neighbourhoods, as ground forces moved in.

Footage shared on social media showed flashes of explosions and the sound of sustained gunfire as Israeli troops advanced.

Thousands of residents fled the city overnight towards the coastal area of al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis, which has become one of the few remaining zones of relative refuge in southern Gaza.

There are growing fears among local residents that the latest military push could be part of an effort to carve out a new corridor that would isolate Deir al-Balah from the surrounding central Gaza region.

If confirmed, this would be the third such axis, following the establishment of Israeli military routes through the Netzarim corridor in southern Gaza City and the Morag axis in Rafah.

The BBC has asked the Israeli military for comment.