Image source, AFP

Israel has closed the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings into Gaza just hours after opening them to allow in humanitarian aid.

It said it closed the crossings in response to a barrage of mortar shells fired by Palestinian militants into southern Israel, including at both the crossings into Gaza.

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said it was "critical" that aid workers are able to get into Gaza.

"In days to come, humanitarian access into and out of Gaza for staff and goods must be sustained and appropriate measures taken to continue movements within Gaza," Laerke said.

Reality Check

Image source, Reuters

US President Joe Biden is facing questions from some within his Democratic party about the amount of foreign aid America sends to Israel.

Senator Bernie Sanders has said: "We must take a hard look at nearly $4bn (£2.8bn) a year in military aid to Israel."

In 2020, the US gave $3.8bn worth of aid to Israel - part of a long-term yearly commitment made by the Obama administration, which will run until 2028.

The vast majority of this aid is for military assistance, according to the Congressional Research Service. , external

The money has helped Israel develop one of the most advanced militaries in the world.

Israel has used the grants to buy F-35 aircraft, and in 2020, the US provided $500m for missile defence, including investments in Israel's Iron Dome system, which intercepts rockets.

Since 2011, the US has provided $1.6bn for the Iron Dome.

Since World War Two, Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid.

Meanwhile, President Biden has restored some funding ($235m) for the UN agency which helps Palestinian refugees - this funding was cut by the Trump administration in 2018.

Israeli media report that the two men who were killed by Palestinian rocket-fire earlier were from Thailand.

The United Hatzalah volunteer rescue service was cited as saying a rocket hit a packaging factory where they worked in the Eshkol region, near the Gaza border.

Radio Darom posted a video showing what it said was the aftermath of the attack.

Last week, another Thai man who worked in southern Israel was injured by rocket-fire. Afterwards, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he was deeply concerned by the violence.

More than 25,000 Thai migrant workers provide the vast majority of the labour for Israel’s agriculture industry.

In 2004, a Thai farm worker was killed during a war between Israel and militants in Gaza.

Image source, Reuters

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has "thousands more attack targets" on its radar in Gaza, Israel's Defence Minister Benny Gantz says.

"The IDF has many plans to continue striking Hamas and the fighting won't stop until we bring about complete and long-term calm, external," Gantz has said, according to the Times of Israel.

Gantz added: "The IDF is deployed and ready on all the borders and will thwart any attempt by foreign elements to harm the citizens of Israel or its sovereignty."

Image source, Reuters

Egypt says it is providing $500m (£352m) in aid to help rebuilding efforts in Gaza following the destruction of infrastructure in the territory.

The Egyptian presidency said that it would also make companies available to help with the rebuilding operations.

The statement comes following talks between Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

An update on the news we brought you a short time ago on the rocket attacks on southern Israel - two men, thought to be foreign workers, are now known to have died, according to Israeli medics.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says, external the men, who are in their 30s, succumbed to their wounds after being hit by shrapnel.

Another seven people were injured in the attack and are being treated at a hospital in the city of Beersheba. Israeli media reported that one of them was in a serious condition.

As we reported earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron has also been involved in efforts to secure a truce.

Macron hosted Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi for talks at the Elysée palace in Paris - and the pair were joined online by the King Abdullah of Jordan.

"Like you two, I am extremely preoccupied by the development of the situation in Israel and in the Palestinian territories," Macron said as the talks got under way.

Image source, EPA

Ten people have been injured, four of them seriously, in a rocket attack in the Eshkol region of southern Israel, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says, external.

The Haaretz newspaper said 50 rockets were fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza towards the area, with one rocket damaging a barn and another falling near a residential area.

Earlier, medics treated an Israeli soldier who was lightly injured by a mortar shell at the Erez crossing with Gaza. The Israeli military said militants fired the mortar as the crossing was opened to allow lorries to deliver humanitarian aid.

A London police officer is being investigated after video emerged of her chanting "Free Palestine" during a demonstration.

The officer, who has not been identified, features in several clips posted on Twitter earlier today.

"While officers are encouraged to positively engage with those attending demonstrations, they know they are not to actively participate or adopt political positions," a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said.

"The Directorate of Professional Standards has been informed and are investigating the full circumstances of this incident and to determine what further action is appropriate," it added.

Striking images have captured the human cost of the conflict over the past few days, as air strikes and rocket attacks turn homes and possessions into rubble and force people to rush for shelter.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

You can see more images from the conflict here.

Image source, Reuters

Gazan Kamal Hirzallah, 55, saw his home damaged when a nearby building was shelled in the early hours of the morning.

His daughters, brothers, nieces, nephews and his mother were all at his home "seeking refuge" when they were told to evacuate immediately, he says.

"We all got out, not knowing what to do... we sat in the street and received another call asking us not to return until we were notified to do so - and the building was then shelled.

"We then returned, but when we entered our house it was unrecognisable for us. It looks nothing like our house - it's all damaged, it has no doors or windows... all six apartments were damaged, all the commercial stores were also damaged. There's nothing left."

Image source, EPA

Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian man who they say tried to attack them with a gun and explosives in the West Bank city of Hebron.

An Israeli army spokesperson said no Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident earlier today.

Israeli media report that the man's gun failed, and a firebomb detonated in his hand.

A witness from Reuters news agency said that journalists trying to document the incident were pushed and beaten by the Israeli army.

Image source, Reuters

Here are some of the latest developments as fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants continues:

• The Israeli military carried out further airstrikes early on Tuesday, destroying two buildings in Gaza City shortly after dawn and, the military says, destroying more Hamas tunnels
• Health officials in Gaza say that they've had no reports of Palestinians killed in the latest strikes
• Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel later in the day. The barrage set off warning sirens in cities in the south, after what Israel's military said had been "six hours of silence"
• Meanwhile, international calls for a ceasefire are continuing to mount. The European Union is expected to join the US, Egypt and other countries later in calling for an agreed pause in the fighting
• French President Emmanuel Macron is holding talks with Egypt and Jordan in an effort to secure a truce. We'll bring you updates from these talks and other developments throughout the day

Image source, EPA

A general strike backed by the Palestinian Authority and Israeli Arab leaders to protest against Israel’s air campaign in Gaza and its actions elsewhere is under way in the occupied West Bank and Arab neighbourhoods of Israel, with public services and businesses shut.

“We want to send a clear message that we stand together in saying enough to the aggression on Gaza,” said Essam Bakr, one of the organisers, told the New York Times on Monday, external. “But we are also saying enough to the attacks on the al-Aqsa mosque, enough to the occupation and settlement building and enough to the unjust treatment of Palestinians.”

Demonstrations are also taking place as part of a “day of rage” called by Hamas and the rival Fatah movement, which is led by West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The fighting in Gaza began after weeks of rising Israeli-Palestinian tension in occupied East Jerusalem that culminated in clashes on the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews. Hamas began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, triggering retaliatory air strikes.

There has also been communal violence in Israeli cities and towns with mixed Jewish-Arab populations.

Image source, Reuters

The Israel Defense Forces says they have hit the homes of 12 Hamas commanders in Gaza over the past day, including three this morning.

According to the Israeli military, the militants were using their homes as command and operations centres.

Those targeted this morning were the deputy commander for the northern brigade in Gaza City, a company commander in Khan Younis, and one other company commander.

Yesterday, a senior commander in the Islamic Jihad group was reported to be among the Palestinian militants killed.

Image source, Reuters

The European Union is going to call for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians at an emergency virtual meeting later today, joining world leaders including US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in supporting an end to hostilities.

Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, earlier criticised the “unacceptable number of civilian casualties” in the fighting.

But the bloc is internally divided on the issue, with many member states supporting the Israeli government.

Diplomats say this division means the EU's role in bringing the conflict to an end will be marginal.

Emmanuel Macron is going to hold talks with the Egyptian president and Jordanian king, the office of the French president has announced.

The talks are expected to discuss ways of mediating a ceasefire after eight days of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden voiced his support for a ceasefire. Mr Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US was working with Egypt and other countries on halting hostilities.

On Monday, however, the US again blocked a UN Security Council statement calling for a cessation of violence.

Image source, EPA

Palestinians say the overnight Israeli air strikes hit civilian buildings and infrastructure across the Gaza Strip.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reports, external that warplanes targeted a civilian institution and some roads near the al-Katiba mosque in the west of Gaza City, a house in the northern al-Nasr district, and also attacked the al-Tuffah and Shujaiya districts.

Wafa’s report also said there were more than 50 strikes on homes and civilian facilities in the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, causing what it described as “massive damage”.

No casualties were reported by health officials following the raids.

Israeli strikes late on Monday knocked out Gaza’s only Covid-19 testing laboratory and damaged the office of the Qatari Red Crescent, according to AFP news agency.

Israel says it targeted Hamas tunnels, militant commanders and rocket launchers.

The Israeli military reports that sirens are now sounding in parts of Israel after what it describes as "six hours of silence".

Warning sirens were set off in towns and cities including Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz, and Zimrat near the northern Gaza Strip, sending people running to shelters.

The sirens warn residents of rockets being launched towards Israel from Gaza.

Image source, Reuters

Israel’s military has been giving details to Israeli media about its overnight strikes.

Spokesman Brig Gen Hidai Zilberman said 60 warplanes targeted another part of what he called the militant group Hamas’s “Metro” underground network, destroying 10 to 15km of tunnels.

“We know the grid of the network underground and every entry shaft,” the Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted him as saying, external, adding that Hamas militants were being forced to operate above ground.

Multi-barrel rocket launchers and the homes of several Hamas commanders were also targeted.

Brig Gen Zilberman also said that more than 150 Hamas Islamic Jihad militants had been killed since the start of the fighting eight days ago. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said 212 people, including 61 children and 36 women, have been killed.

In a radio interview with Kan public radio, Brig Gen Zilberman warned top Hamas leaders in Gaza that they were also in the military’s “sights”.

“We are trying to strike them and when the operational conditions come to fruition I hope that we’ll succeed,” he said, according to the Times of Israel, external.