Beth Timmins
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

People are sleeping on the streets after Israeli air strikes on the Gazan city of Khan Yunis last night, a civil engineer in Gaza tells the BBC.

Musheir El-Farra, who also lives in Sheffield in the UK, says a "massive blitz" on the area "shook our house sideways" last night.

"It's a scene of devastation, people are confused, it was an attack without any warning whatsoever."

El-Farra says 10 people, including three children, were killed in a local shopping area 75 metres (250ft) from his home. More bodies are being recovered from the rubble, he says.

Two of his distant relatives were killed last night, he adds. He also lost 11 family members to an air strike in 2014.

Two foreign workers have been killed and another seriously injured in a rocket attack in the Eskhol region that borders Gaza, Israel's emergency services have just said.

The Israel Defense Forces has just said rocket sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv and across Israel.

Hamas has threatened specifically to attack the Israeli city of Ashkelon in response to Israel's attacks on Gaza.

In a post on Telegram, Hamas said the residents of the city, just to the north of the Gaza Strip, have until 17:00 local time (15:00 BST) to leave.

More than 4,500 rockets have already been fired from Gaza into Israel since Saturday, the Israeli military says.

We've been reporting all day on the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt - which was the only route out of the blockaded territory.

Egypt has now closed the crossing due to Israeli air strikes in the area, local authorities say.

It's worth remembering that although the crossing was open, people had to already have their names on a list to cross - and there was a long waiting list.

Our reporter Rushdi Abualouf recorded this footage while driving around Gaza after Israeli air strikes.

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting from southern Israel

Until this morning, fighting was still going on in the Kibbutz Kfar Azza, one of the Israeli communities along the border with Gaza.

That’s why only now are they collecting the bodies of Israelis who were killed when Hamas broke through the border wire from Gaza.

As we approached Kfar Azza, Israeli combat soldiers were still deployed in the fields around the kibbutz.

Bursts of fire from automatic weapons were directed across the border into Gaza. They said they were clearing a building after spotting some movement on the second floor.

The soldiers were mostly from reserve units. An officer who said he was a father of six acknowledged Israelis had deep political divisions - but insisted they were united now they were under attack.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, says there are between 100 to 150 people being held captive in Gaza, having been kidnapped from Israel on Saturday.

The Israeli military says it has spoken to the families of 50 of those hostages and will contact more as the military verifies information.

Last night, Hamas said it would kill hostages if Israel launched air strikes without warning.

The BBC has spoken to some people whose relatives have been kidnapped from Israel, which you can read here.

Image source, Reuters

A Gaza City mother has described escaping with her children in the middle of last night as her area was bombed by Israeli jets.

Najla Shawa, who works for Oxfam, told the BBC she thought she was in a “safer” part of the city.

“People had fled to our home and we had 18 people staying with us since noon yesterday,” she said.

But she was woken at around 01:00 by screams as people fled the area.

After managing to find refuge in a restaurant overnight, Najla said she returned home to see the building opposite “flattened” and her windows shattered.

Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, says the group will not negotiate with Israel about the hostages it has captured until the fighting is over.

"We have informed all parties that contacted us regarding the enemy’s prisoners held by the resistance that this file will not be opened before the end of the battle," he says. "And it will only be at a price that the resistance will accept."

As we reported earlier, Israel estimates Hamas is holding between 100 and 150 people who were kidnapped from southern Israel on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces say they are continuing to attack Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

Overnight, the Israeli Air Force said 200 targets were hit in Gaza.

The Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, currently the only way out of the blockaded territory, has been operating this morning - but only for those who had their names listed before the recent fighting.

To cross into Egypt from Gaza, Palestinians have to go to their interior minister at least two days before to get their name on a list.

So anyone who is not approved cannot cross, the Facebook page about the crossing states clearly in several posts today.

As all government buildings in Gaza, including the interior ministry, are currently closed or destroyed, no one can currently be added to the list.

Sameer Hashmi
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Dubai

Image source, Reuters

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman - has spoken to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the phone.

Bin Salman said that his country will continue "to stand by the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights to a decent life, achieve their hopes and aspirations, and achieve just and lasting peace," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

He also told Abbas that he was working with all international and regional parties to prevent "an expansion" of the conflict.

It’s worth remembering that Abbas and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, are political rivals. Abbas heads the Fatah movement, which controls the West Bank. He is also the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

But Saudi Arabia’s support for the Palestinians is significant, as it comes against the backdrop of the three-way negotiations that were ongoing between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the US to normalise relations between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.

Analysts say that the escalating conflict has dealt a heavy blow to the normalisation talks.

In a statement released on Saturday after the Hamas attack, Saudi Arabia held Israel responsible for the escalation.

It said that it had issued "repeated warnings of the dangers of the explosion of the situation as a result of the continued occupation, and deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations against its sanctities".

Since Saturday, footage shared online has shown gunfights and rocket attacks in Israel and missile strikes and their aftermath in Gaza.

France has confirmed the death of two more citizens in Israel, taking the number of French nationals killed in the Hamas attacks to four.

The French authorities also say they have no news of 13 French nationals "whose situation is considered very worrying, some of whom have very probably been kidnapped".

Meanwhile, President Macron has condemned Hamas's threat to kill hostages, if Israel carries out air strikes without warning.

"The blackmail by Hamas after its terrorist acts is odious and unacceptable," he said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says 770 people have now been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its retaliatory air strikes on Saturday. Around 4,100 have been injured.

Following Israel cutting off supplies of fuel, electricity and water to the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization has joined Unicef in calling for a humanitarian corridor into the territory.

And the UN human rights chief Volker Türk - while condemning the Hamas attacks - said that Israel's siege is illegal under international law.

Davide Ghiglione
Reporting from Rome

A married couple with Italian-Israeli citizenship are missing after the Hamas attack on southern Israel, says Italy's foreign minister and deputy PM Antonio Tajani.

"They may have been taken hostage," he told Rai TV last night, although he emphasised there was still uncertainty.

The couple were living in Kibbutz Be'eri, where more than 100 bodies have been found since Hamas targeted their community early on Saturday, shooting dead kibbutniks and taking an unknown number hostage.

The Italian foreign minister says the couple have not been responding to calls from their family, and Italy is working with Israel to address the situation.

"We are hopeful for their safe return, but as of now, we lack any further updates," Tajani said.

Hamas is a Palestinian militant group which runs the Gaza Strip. It is sworn to Israel's destruction and wants to replace it with an Islamic state.

Hamas as a whole, or in some cases its military wing, is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union and the UK, as well as other powers.

It’s backed by Iran – which provides funding, weapons and training to the group.

The Gaza Strip is a 41km (25-mile) long and 10km-wide territory between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

It is home to about 2.3 million people and has one of the highest population densities in the world.

Israel controls the air space over Gaza and its shoreline and restricts who and what goods are allowed in and out through its border crossings. Since Saturday's attack, it has announced a siege of Gaza, stopping electricity, fuel, and water from Israel.

Similarly, Egypt controls who passes in and out through its border with Gaza - and, as we reported earlier, there is a waiting list to get out via that one crossing.

Read more here: What is Hamas, what is happening in Israel and Gaza Strip, and other questions

Or listen to our 5 Questions On podcast, from former BBC correspondent Kevin Connolly, here.

Image source, .

Adva Adar's 85-year-old year old grandmother lived in a kibbutz, or community, close to the border with Gaza.

Having lost contact with her on Saturday, Adva says she attempted to find Hamas videos which might reveal her grandmother's whereabouts.

Eventually, she came across footage of her being kidnapped to Gaza, surrounded by four armed men.

"It's heartbreaking. It hurts in every part of our bodies," she says.

"We're crazy worried about her. My grandmother is ill, she takes medicine every day - we don't know how long she can survive without it."

"We just pray that she will be back home with us."