Image source, Reuters

We're now pausing our live coverage of the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict - many thanks for staying with us.

To recap, here are the key developments from the past 24 hours:

• On the 10th day of the conflict, the death toll from fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants has reached 227 in Gaza and 12 in Israel
• Israel's military said its artillery had also attacked "a number of targets in Lebanese territory" in response to rocket fire from within the country
• Four rockets were launched, Israel's military added, reporting that one was intercepted and the rest landed in uninhabited areas. Several militant groups operate in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006
• US President Joe Biden spoke over the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the fourth time since this latest conflict began, telling him he expected a "significant de-escalation today"
• But Netanyahu responded by saying he was "determined to carry on" until "calm and security are restored to Israeli citizens"

• Meanwhile, the latest bid for a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, launched by France, failed when the US said it could "undermine efforts to de-escalate" the conflict

Contributing to today's live page were David Gritten, Joshua Cheetham, Yaroslav Lukov, Gareth Evans, Thomas Spender, Alix Kroeger, Joshua Nevett and Mal Siret

Image source, EPA

At least 227 people have been killed in Gaza since fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the enclave began, according to health officials.

Gaza's health ministry said 64 children, 38 women, and 17 elderly people were among the dead, while 1,620 people were wounded.

Israel's military says it has killed more than 100 Palestinian militants in Gaza. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs the territory, does not give casualty figures for fighters.

In Israel at least 12 people, including two children, have been killed, its medical authorities say.

The violence in Gaza and Israel is the worst since 2014. Despite the best efforts of world leaders, there is currently no sign of a ceasefire.

Image source, EPA

Democratic lawmakers in the US have launched a last-minute push to block the sale of weapons to Israel as they call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Several progressive lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives have backed a resolution to stop the $735m (£520m) sale.

But the resolution is expected to fail, because Democratic leaders in the legislative chamber have expressed support for the sale.

The resolution is seen as a symbolic move to put pressure on US President Joe Biden, who told Israel's prime minister to move towards de-escalation earlier today.

As the conflict has intensified, Biden has been confronted with growing disquiet among Democratic and Republican lawmakers over his position towards Israel.

On the Democratic side, members of Congress have become more critical of Israel as they express concern for human rights in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Republicans have accused Biden of not offering enough support to Israel in the face of rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

Image source, Reuters

Israel's army says it has targeted the head of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif, during the ongoing strikes on Gaza.

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Brig Gen Hidai Zilberman, said Israel had tried to assassinate Deif, the head of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Deif, who has been on the Israeli army's most-wanted list for over two decades, has survived repeated attempts on his life over the years, including in the last major conflict in 2014.

Israeli news website Ynet reported that in one of the operations, Deif had been in his bunker when Israel hit the location.

He tends to stay in the background and his whereabouts remain unknown.

Hamas has not confirmed the reports.

Image source, Reuters

Israel has accused a United Nations relief agency of "cynical misrepresentation" for suggesting it was preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday the aid agency for Palestinians, known as UNRWA, called on Israel to enable access to Gaza for humanitarian supplies and its staff., external

The agency said Israel had not approved such access and was therefore failing to meet its obligations under international law.

But Israel's foreign ministry denied this in a statement on Wednesday.

It said rocket fire from Palestinian militants in Gaza, not Israel, had halted the transfer of humanitarian aid on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“UNRWA’s claim that Israel is preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza is a cynical misrepresentation and simply a lie,” the statement said.

"Israel will continue its efforts to co-ordinate the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza, taking into account security considerations.”

As the fighting enters its 10th day, and air strikes and rocket fire continue, let's take a look at what triggered the latest violence.

It was sparked by days of escalating clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at a holy hilltop compound in East Jerusalem earlier this month. The site is revered by both Muslims, who call it the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), and Jews, for whom it is known as the Temple Mount.

Hamas demanded Israel remove police from there and the nearby predominantly Arab district of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face eviction by Jewish settlers. Hamas launched rockets when its ultimatum went unheeded.

Palestinian anger was further fuelled by Israel's annual celebration of its capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, known as Jerusalem Day. The fate of the city, with its deep religious and national significance to both sides, lies at the heart of the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Image source, PA Media

Now let's turn to the UK, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned a spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the country since the Israel-Gaza conflict began.

Johnson was asked what he would do to support Jewish communities in the UK during questioning by opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer in parliament.

"I share his horror at the outbreak of anti-Semitic incidents and the government has conveyed that message loud and clear to those who are responsible for enforcing the law against hate crime," Johnson said.

He said anti-Semitism must be called out "at every stage", adding: "We will not let it take root, we will not allow it to grow and fester."

His comments came after 116 anti-Semitic incidents were reported over 11 days from 8 May in the UK - a five-fold increase on the previous period.

Those incidents were recorded by the Community Security Trust (CST), which offers safety advice to the Jewish community in the UK.

Recent incidents dealt with by the police include an attack on Rabbi Rafi Goodwin near his synagogue in north London.

Image source, Sepah News/Handout

The head of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has said that Iran backs the Palestinians against what it calls the "Zionist regime" (Israel).

In a televised address, Hossein Salami said the conflict showed that "Palestinians have emerged as a missile-equipped nation."

Iran is a major supporter of Hamas, which it backs financially and militarily. The two sides fell out after Hamas refused to support Iran's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Syria's civil war. But the two sides have since reconciled.

Image source, Getty Images

An escalation of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians has led the United Nations to warn of a "full-scale war".

The latest violence followed weeks of rising tensions in Jerusalem, though the conflict has gone on for decades.

Here's our explainer, looking at the key issues.

Image source, Getty Images

Following news of Joe Biden's call for a "de-escalation", a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Hazem Qassem, has told reporters that Israel has been refusing to engage with diplomatic efforts to end the violence.

"There are no specific dates for the issue of the ceasefire, because all the international efforts that are being made, as well as the Egyptian efforts, are met with an Israeli position that refuses to deal with ceasefire initiatives," he said.

He told Reuters news agency that if Israel ended its "bombardment on Gaza... there can be room to talk about arrangements to restore calm".

Image source, Reuters

Israeli's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue his government's operation against Palestinian militants in a video statement posted to Twitter a short time ago, external.

His comments came shortly after a phone call with US President Joe Biden, who told him to move towards de-escalation.

While Netanyahu did not comment on the call, he said he appreciated Biden’s support of Israel’s right to defend itself.

However, he added: "I am determined to continue this operation until its goal is achieved - to bring back peace and security to you, the citizens of Israel."

Diplomatic calls for a ceasefire have so far proved fruitless.

BBC OS

Image source, Reuters

Each day this week, we've been speaking to the different communities affected by the Israel-Gaza conflict.

On Wednesday, we heard from friends Khadija and Adrieh, two Israeli Arab women..

Israeli Arabs are people who live in Israel but strongly identify with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Both young mums, Khadija and Adrieh grew up together in Jaffa, a city with mixed communities of people with Palestinian and Jewish backgrounds.

Since the fighting began, there have been flare-ups of intercommunal violence between Israeli Arabs and Jews across Israel.

Khadija told the BBC she was afraid to go out and live her life as usual.

"It’s not new to be afraid to be an Arab woman here in Israel, but it’s very new to me to be afraid to walk in my neighbourhood," she said.

"If you can’t feel safe in your country, you can’t feel like you belong to this country."

You can hear more from Khadija and Adrieh by listening to BBC OS programme on World Service radio.

The US has again said it will not back a French-proposed UN Security Council draft resolution calling for a ceasefire, stressing that it could undermine efforts to de-escalate the crisis, the AFP news agency reports.

"We've been clear and consistent that we are focused on intensive diplomatic efforts under way to bring an end to the violence and that we will not support actions that we believe undermine efforts to de-escalate," a US spokesperson at the UN told the news agency.

The US is one of the five permanent UN Security Council members with a veto power.

Earlier on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden told Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone conversation that he expected "a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire".

Dr Natalie Thurtle from medical NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been telling the BBC how her organisation has been struggling to provide medical care on the ground amid the continuing violence.

“The border to Gaza is closed and no humanitarian corridor has been negotiated,” she said, calling for an end to the fighting.

Palestinians in Gaza, meanwhile, are "frightened, their children are frightened, they are hiding in the basement every night", she says.

Barbara Plett Usher
BBC News, Wilmington

This is the first time that US President Joe Biden has directly and publicly pressed Israel for a ceasefire - or spoken with such urgency.

Until now, he had been stressing Israel’s right to defend itself and insisting that Hamas stop its rocket fire.

Today he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that this has to be the beginning of the end, to significantly wind down the Israeli operation on the way to a ceasefire.

He linked his comments to what he said was progress in degrading Hamas' capabilities, and to the state of affairs in Gaza, which is facing a deepening humanitarian crisis.

There's been increasing political and international pressure on Mr Biden to intervene more forcefully to push for an end to the violence. With another UN Security Council meeting set for tomorrow, he seems to be indicating that the US is becoming less willing to give Israel diplomatic cover.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining our coverage of the renewed fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, here are the latest developments:

• Israel's military says its artillery attacked "a number of targets in Lebanese territory" in response to rocket fire from within the country
• Four rockets were launched, Israel's military adds, reporting that one was intercepted and the rest landed in uninhabited areas. Several militant groups operate in Lebanon, including Hezbollah which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006
• US President Joe Biden has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone, telling him he expected a "significant de-escalation today". It was the fourth call between the two since the latest conflict started
• But Netanyahu has responded by saying he was "determined to carry on" until "calm and security are restored to Israeli citizens"
• Earlier Netanyahu said there were "only two ways that you can deal with" Hamas, which controls Gaza. "You can either conquer them... or you can deter them... I have to say we don't rule out anything"
• Meanwhile, the latest bid for a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, launched by France, failed when the US said it could "undermine efforts to de-escalate" the conflict

Image source, AL-KAWLAK FAMILY/DCIP/NRC

Of the 219 people killed in Gaza at least 63 are children, according to its health ministry, while of the 10 people killed in Israel, two children are among the dead, the country's medical service says.

Among the children killed in Gaza were sisters Yara, 9, and Rula, 5 from the al-Kawalek family. Both had been receiving treatment for trauma from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

The al-Kawaleks were polite girls who always did their homework on time, one of their teachers, who did not want be named, told the BBC.

Image source, Twitter

The youngest victim on the Israeli side is thought to be Ido Avigal, a five-year-old boy killed last Wednesday in the southern town of Sderot.

Ido was killed inside a fortified room in what the Israeli military described as an "incredibly rare" incident.

Rocket shrapnel pierced the protective metal plating used to cover the window of the room he was in, also injuring his mother and seven-year-old sister. He died of his injuries hours later.

Ibrahim al-Masry was playing with his siblings in the front yard of their home in a northern neighbourhood of Gaza last week, when a strike hit, according to reports.

"We were laughing and having fun, when suddenly they began to bomb us, everything around us caught fire," his brother told the AFP news agency, external.

You can read more about the children who have died in the fighting here.

John Dugard, a former United Nations Special Rapporteur to the UNHCR, has told the BBC that he believes the US is "not an honest broker" in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

"First of all there's the evidence provided by the failure of United States to support a [UN Security Council] resolution at this stage," Mr Dugard said. "Secondly there's the fact that the US continues to operate its embassy from Jerusalem, which is contrary to international law."

The US has called for a ceasefire, but it has been blocking attempts by the UN Security Council to issue a joint statement, saying this would not help with the de-escalation of hostilities.

We reported yesterday that two men from Thailand working at a packaging factory in southern Israel had been killed by Palestinian rocket-fire.

The two men, who were employed at the Obad farming estate in Eshkol town, have been named as Sikharin Sangamram, 24, and Weerawat Karanborirak, 44.

Israel's Kan News tweeted images of the two men.

At least eight other Thai workers were wounded in yesterday's rocket attack, Thailand's foreign ministry said.

It's not unusual for citizens of Thailand to seek work in Israel, and the two countries have a good relationship.

A senior Thai diplomat in Israel told the BBC that around 4,000 of the country's citizens had been working in southern Israel when the latest conflict erupted, but that some were relocated to safer areas over the weekend.

Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent, Jerusalem

As we reported earlier, US President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone, telling him he expected a "significant de-escalation today".

The tone of that call suggests the US is losing patience with Israel’s military attacks.

With another UN Security Council meeting looming on Thursday, the White House is indicating that it may be less willing to offer diplomatic cover to Israel, one of its closest allies.

Speaking to foreign ambassadors this morning, Netanyahu said it was not possible to set a timeframe on the operation in Gaza.

Last night, local reports in Israel suggested a ceasefire could be announced as early as Thursday morning. But these reports have not been confirmed.