Our colleagues on Radio 5 Live have been hearing from Gil Dickmann this morning. His aunt was killed by Hamas in the 7 October attacks and his cousin, Carmel Gat, is among the hostages still held in Gaza.

He says he does not want to see "blood or revenge" in Gaza, adding that he wants Israeli troops "to bring back life to Israel, to bring back the hostages".

He says he thinks a ceasefire is possible but that Israel "can't agree to a ceasefire without bringing the hostages back because that will mean we will never see them again".

Speaking about his cousin, he says: “It has been 150 days since [Carmel was taken], or even more, and we don’t really know whether she is above the ground or underground.

"Whether she is alone or with other hostages. We don’t even know if she’s dead or alive.”

In Tel Aviv this morning, Israelis gathered to mark six months since the Hamas attacks on 7 October which triggered the war in Gaza.

About 129 hostages remain unaccounted for after being kidnapped. At least 34 of them are presumed dead. Twelve bodies have been recovered by the IDF.

Last night, tens of thousands of Israelis rallied against their Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding a Gaza hostage deal.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Over on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this morning, UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden says the government is "engaging with Israel on a number of issues - making sure they are not targeting aid workers", referencing the Israeli air strike that killed seven aid staff earlier this week, including three Britons.

Speaking about the state of the war six months on, Dowden says Israel was "subject to the most appalling attack" but adds that more aid must get into Gaza.

Asked if Israel is acting within the law, Dowden says Israel is "conducting a legitimate campaign" but later adds, "we have concerns which we have raised with Israel".

Dowden says it is “all too easy” for the world to forget the horrors Israel has faced.

We first spoke to Tala Abu Nahla in November, when the Israeli offensive was just a few weeks old, as she and her family, including her disabled brother, made their third attempt to leave Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

She told us then: "We are trying to survive. We're not sure we're going to make it, but we're trying to do everything we can to survive, because I simply don't want to die at 24.

The family were finally allowed to enter Egypt in February but Tala told us that now her family is safe she struggles with feelings of guilt for those they left behind.

Nawara al-Najjar told the BBC about the night her husband, Abed-Alrahman, was killed during an Israeli special forces mission to rescue two hostages.

Nawara, who has six children and was six months pregnant at the time, awoke to the sound of shooting nearby before shrapnel ripped through their tent, killing Abed-Alrahman and injuring her children.

Weeping, she asked: "What was his sin? What was his children's sin? What's my sin? I became a widow at 27.”

Image source, Al-Najjar family

Now let's bring you some information on what's been happening today.

Israel says it has launched air strikes on the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, targeting what it says are Hezbollah infrastructure sites.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says fighter jets struck a military complex and other Hezbollah infrastructure sites. No casualties have been reported.

The IDF says the strikes were in retaliation to Hezbollah's downing of an Israeli drone that was flying over Lebanon on Saturday.

Cross-border exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified since the start of Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza in October.

Israeli shelling has reportedly killed more than 270 Hezbollah fighters and around 70 civilians in Lebanon, while tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border.

Kibbutz Be’eri is another community devastated on this day six months ago. At least 130 people were killed when Hamas gunmen stormed the farming community, killing women, including and Israeli-Canadian peace activist Vivian Silver, and children. Dozens of homes were also burnt down.

As Hamas gunmen began their day-long rampage through the kibbutz, roaming the neighbourhood, shooting residents dead and setting fire to homes, women in the community channelled their horror, disbelief and reassurances through a Whatsapp chat.

Hiding in their safe rooms these women - some huddled with their families - described the shouts and explosions they heard outside, told each other where gunmen were, shared tips on coping with smoke that filled their rooms, and repeatedly called for help. In some cases, that help never came.

Seven members of Gilad Korngold's family were taken hostage by Hamas. When the BBC’s Lucy Williamson visited what was left of the house from which they were taken, she saw machine-gun fire had gouged holes across the walls, rooms collapsed and gutted by fire, a lacework of the metal doors made by bullets.

Image source, Reuters

Kibbutz Kfar Aza, around 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the border with the Gaza Strip, was one of the communities worst affected. Around 70 gunmen stormed the kibbutz, killing more than 60 residents.

Some 18 people from the community were among those who were kidnapped and taken back to Gaza by Hamas and several are still being held.

Thirty kilometres away, Kibbutz Nir Oz suffered another devastating attack. The majority of the kibbutz's security team were killed or taken hostage while attempting to defend the community. Members of Hamas then spent several hours in the kibbutz, killing civilians, abducting hostages, and setting fires to homes.

It is thought that 180 of the roughly 400 residents were killed or taken hostage during the attack, with The Jerusalem Post estimating 80 abductions in Nir Oz.

Several people initially taken hostage from the kibbutz were later released, including the 85-year-old Yafa Adar who was taken to Gaza on a golf cart, and whose granddaughter Adva spoke to BBC News.

The deadliest day for the Jews since the Holocaust unfolded on the morning of 7 October.

Waves of Hamas gunmen stormed across Gaza's border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people. Hamas also launched more than 5,000 rockets across southern Israel.

Those killed included children, the elderly and 364 young people at a music festival. Hamas took 253 others to Gaza as hostages.

Of those taken, about 130 remain unaccounted for, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.

The surprise attacks on Israel took place on the Jewish Sabbath which coincided with the religious festival of Simchat Torah.

The Israel Defense Forces took hours to contain the attackers and did not give the all-clear until days afterwards. It is considered a catastrophic failing of the security and intelligence services, which Israel has pledged to thoroughly investigate.

In the next few posts we’ll look at some of the communities that were devastated on this day six months ago.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Let’s take a look at the latest developments from Gaza over the last week.

On Monday 1 April, seven people working for the food aid charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza. Israel has admitted its forces made a “grave mistake” and on Friday, following an inquiry into the incident, announced the sacking of two senior officers involved in the decision-making that led to the strike.

The inquiry found that the Israel Defense Forces unit involved believed the three WCK vehicles eventually targeted with missiles had been taken over by Hamas gunmen.

WCK has called for an independent commission to investigate the killings, saying Israel's apologies "represent cold comfort" for the victims' families.

Since the strike on Monday, WCK and some other aid agencies have paused their operations in Gaza, where the UN estimates 1.1 million people - half the population - are facing catastrophic hunger.

It comes after Israel said it had approved the opening the Erez crossing and Ashdod Port for humanitarian deliveries. It has not yet detailed how these routes will operate.

In their first call since the strike, US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that US support for Israel would depend on steps being taken to "address civilian harm" in Gaza.

And yesterday the Israeli army announced that the body of a hostage, 47-year-old Elad Katzir, had been recovered from Gaza and returned to Israel.

Image source, EPA/EFE-REX/Shutterstock

In a statement marking the six-month anniversary of the Hamas attacks, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he supports Israel’s right to defend itself but adds the UK has been “shocked” by the bloodshed of the war and the deaths of British aid workers.

“We continue to stand by Israel’s right to defeat the threat from Hamas terrorists and defend their security," he says.

“But the whole of the UK is shocked by the bloodshed, and appalled by the killing of brave British heroes who were bringing food to those in need."

“This terrible conflict must end. The hostages must be released. The aid – which we have been straining every sinew to deliver by land, air and sea – must be flooded in.

“The children of Gaza need a humanitarian pause immediately, leading to a long-term sustainable ceasefire. That is the fastest way to get hostages out and aid in and to stop the fighting and loss of life.

“For the good of both Israelis and Palestinians - who all deserve to live in peace, dignity and security - that is what we will keep working to achieve.”

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, in southern Israel

Image source, Reuters

The atrocities of 7 October shocked Israel to its core. Most still back their army’s operations with its stated aim to destroy Hamas. But six months on, this war is described as the deadliest, most destructive conflict in recent history.

Israel says it only targets the gunmen who brought terror to Israel. But Gaza now lies in ruin. Hamas has been weakened militarily, but not vanquished.

Israel’s staunchest allies, including the US and the UK, are now using their toughest language to call for an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians including aid workers who are also being killed in record numbers.

This longest Israel-Gaza war may be reaching a turning point. But Gazans reeling from hunger and overwhelming loss still can’t see a way out. And Israel’s agony over its hostages still held there is an open wound.

The statistics record the horrors of the past six months.

More than 33,000 Gazans, a majority of whom were civilians, have been killed, according to the Palestinian Hamas-run health ministry.

The ministry’s latest demographic breakdown from 5 April indicates that more than 70% of those killed were women and children.

According to Save the Children, 13,800 Palestinian children in Gaza have been killed and over 12,009 wounded. Unicef reports at least 1,000 children have had one or both legs amputated.

More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced, according to the United Nations.

Sebastian Usher
Middle East analyst, in Jerusalem

It's the bleakest of milestones, with little sign that after six months, the war is likely to end any time soon.

On the streets of Tel Aviv and other Israeli towns and cities on Saturday night, the anger and despair were palpable as tens of thousands once more demanded that their government do a deal to free the hostages.

Their pleas were made more urgent by the discovery by Israeli commandos in Gaza of the body of one of the hostages, Elad Katzir. His sister blamed his death on the failure to reach a second ceasefire deal.

Talks are once again expected to resume today in Cairo - delegations from Hamas and Israel are due to attend, while high-profile mediators, including the head of the CIA and Qatar's foreign minister, are there too.

But the positions of both sides still seem far apart.

Image source, EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, demanding a Gaza hostage deal.

Rallies in Tel Aviv and other cities came after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the body of hostage Elad Katzir.

Protesters chanted "elections now", and "Elad, we're sorry", local media reported.

Later, police forcibly dispersed the Tel Aviv crowd.

The protest in Tel Aviv had drawn 100,000 people, while other counts put attendance at around 45,000.

The demonstrations were the latest in a series of huge anti-government protests demanding that Prime Minister Netanyahu step down.

Alys Davies
Live reporter

In six months since the deadly Hamas attacks of 7 October in Israel, tens of thousands of lives have been lost as the conflict rages on.

Last October, hundreds of Hamas gunmen stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 others hostage.

The attack triggered the Israeli offensive in Gaza - Israel launched air strikes in the days that followed and expanded into a ground offensive three weeks later. Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated by the Israeli military since.

The grim anniversary comes as the war in Gaza continues - more than 33,137 people have been killed in Gaza, and tens of thousands injured by Israeli strikes since the start of the war, the Hamas-run health ministry says. It says most were women and children.

Israel is under growing pressure from the international community over the humanitarian situation in Gaza where the UN estimates 1.1 million people - half the population - are facing catastrophic hunger.

Stay with us as we bring you all the latest news lines and analysis on this story.