Alice Cuddy
Reporting from southern Israel

I’ve just been speaking to 23-year-old Alon next to the checkpoint on the road into the restricted areas in southern Israel.

Since Saturday, Alon says he has been dropping supplies to civilians and soldiers, and has now made the journey eight times.

"I’m bringing everything they need - food, clothes, toilet paper, blankets, pillows, mattresses. Everything," he says as he opens up boxes loaded into the back of a truck.

"I love my country so much that I don’t want to speak about [what I’ve seen beyond the checkpoint]. It’s really hard," he says.

"There are a lot of cars on fire at the side of the streets. Yesterday you could see corpses. I have two very close friends who were at the party and we haven’t found them. We’re searching everywhere. It’s hard."

Alon says he will continue transporting the supplies, donated by people in his community, until he is called up by the military.

"I have my bag packed ready to go," he says.

Ground invasion of Gaza is no silver bullet against Hamas threatpublished at 09:56 British Summer Time 10 October 2023

09:56 BST 10 October 2023

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

There is an assumption in some quarters that the threat to Israel from Hamas can somehow be eliminated once and for all with a full-scale invasion on the ground.

History would suggest this is unlikely to be the silver bullet some are hoping for.

When Israel invaded Gaza in 2014, more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed, with each funeral generating ever more radicalised young men.

Since then, Hamas has continued to fire rockets across the border.

Its armed wing is believed to number around 30,000 fighters, most of them fanatical in their determination to defend Palestinian land. They know their tunnels, cellars, bunkers and backstreets better than the invaders.

Such a densely populated piece of territory is no place for tanks, which would be highly vulnerable to ambush.

From a purely military standpoint, a ground assault could result in short-term success, eliminating most of Hamas’s commanders.

But in the absence of a lasting peace deal, Hamas would likely regenerate itself, calling up a new generation of angry, radicalised young fighters.

More now from the supreme leader of Iran's first televised speech since the attack on Saturday.

"This destructive earthquake has destroyed some critical structures [in Israel] which will not be repaired easily," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. "The Zionist regime's own actions are to blame for this disaster."

As we reported earlier, Khamenei denied Iranian involvement in the attack by Hamas fighters, who murdered hundreds of Israeli civilians after breaching the border on Saturday.

Iran funds and equips Hamas militants - read more on the relationship from our correspondent Paul Adams here.

Image source, Reuters

Away from Gaza, 17 Palestinians have died in clashes with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since Saturday, according to the UN.

Among the dead are four children, with 295 people also injured.

The West Bank is separate from Gaza and is not controlled by Hamas.

Most of the injuries were as a result of clashes with security forces, but 23 people were hurt following attacks by Israeli settlers, acompanied by forces, the UN says.

Image source, .

Image source, EPA

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denied Iranian involvement in the deadly attacks launched by Hamas on Saturday.

But - according to a translation by Reuters - he said: "We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime."

As a reminder, Iran is known to fund Hamas, and supply training and weapons to the militants.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, says "between 100 and 150" hostages are being held in Gaza, after being kidnapped from Israel.

Previous estimates have put the figure at "dozens" and around 100.

This morning, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the families of 50 hostages have been notified by the military.

More families will be contacted as the military verifies information, he said.

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

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from southern Israel

There is an uneasy quiet on the main highway heading south towards Gaza this morning after the Israeli military said it had secured the border fence that militants swarmed through on Saturday.

We're about 6km from Gaza, standing next to a checkpoint marking the beginning of the restricted military zone.

A body that was lying in the centre of the road yesterday has now gone. We've heard some explosions but not the level of incoming rocket fire seen yesterday.

Occasional military and police vehicles cross back and forth, as well as ambulances. And a large number of armoured army vehicles are parked in the field next to us.

Earlier, a bus full of what looked like reservists passed us and returned empty.

What Israel might do next has not been made clear, but all eyes are on whether a ground operation into Gaza will be launched. In the meantime, Israel is continuing to bomb the enclave.

Rushdi Abu Alouf
BBC News, Gaza City

The death toll in Gaza is now above 700 people, the health ministry says.

They said over 100 children and over 100 women were among those killed in Israeli air strikes.

Yesterday saw the biggest number of people killed here in a single day for a long time - about 300. The health ministry this morning said two-thirds were civilians.

One significant strike hit a refugee market - with Israel saying they were targeting a house belonging to Hamas commander.

But when they hit the house, many people in the street and in nearby houses were killed.

Rushdi Abu Alouf
BBC News, Gaza City

The border with Egypt is not entirely closed, but only 400 people a day are allowed in and out - with a very long waiting list.

Routes out of Gaza for ordinary people have not been easy for a very long time, especially since Israel started this retaliation.

The only options for people are the UN-run schools. The UN says these makeshift shelters are already at 90% capacity and can't accommodate many more people.

So it's very hard for people to flee. Some will choose to go in their house basement, but they then become trapped if the building falls on them.

People have been calling local media appealing for help. About 30 families were trapped in one basement last night.

There are very limited options for civilians.

Air raid sirens are again sounding in several towns and cities in the south of Israel, the Israeli military says.

Thousands of rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since this wave of attacks began on Saturday.

Rushdi Abu Alouf
BBC News, Gaza City

Image source, Reuters

Overnight there were massive air strikes. I was in an area of Gaza City where most buildings were destroyed.

There were terrifying sounds of explosions, blasts in the sky, and a barrage of smoke and flames through the night.

I live in a residential building with about 20 families. The kids were screaming throughout the night and nobody had a moment's sleep.

In 20 years of covering this area, last night was the toughest I have witnessed.

This morning I managed to get out. I was driving through rubble everywhere.

Buildings are collapsing in the street and entire neighbourhoods have been flattened.

Government and university buildings, infrastructure, a mosque and a police station have been destroyed.

Some of the buildings I recognise. But some you can't recognise from the scale of the destruction in this neighbourhood.

An update now from the United Nations agency, external that works with Palestinian refugees:

• More than 187,000 people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip - and the number is expected to increase
• There are 137,500 sheltering in 83 UN schools
• The UNRWA field office in Gaza has "suffered collateral damage due to airstrikes"
• Almost half a million people in Gaza have not been able to get UN food rations this week as distribution centres have been closed

The Sneider family live in Holon, a city south of Tel Aviv. They have not heard from their family in the south of Israel since Saturday’s attack.

“We woke up at 06:00 on Saturday morning to the sound of alarms, one after the other. I started to text my family to see if they were OK. Nobody answered,” Yossi Sneider tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Around four hours later, he saw a picture online of his cousin holding her two children - one four-year-old and a nine-month-old - surrounded by members of Hamas.

“I was completely shocked…I didn’t know what to do,” he says.

“They have taken them without food, nappies, everything. We only hope they haven’t separated them from their mother."

His cousin is a kindergarten teacher. "She doesn’t deserve this experience. She’s so gentle, so kind…I have no words to describe this."

Image source, Reuters

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has discussed support for Israel with the country's foreign minister, Eli Cohen.

Blinken "reaffirmed our efforts to secure the immediate release of all hostages", a statement about the call between the two diplomats said.

On Monday, President Joe Biden confirmed at least 11 US citizens had been killed in Hamas attacks - and said he would "continue to make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself and its people".

Image source, EPA

IDF spokesman Richard Hecht says the military is "building infrastructure for future operations" and that 35 battalions are deployed at the border with Gaza.

A battalion is generally made up of hundreds of troops.

Israel is expected to launch a major ground operation in Gaza, in response to Saturday's deadly attacks.

Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrikes on Gaza were "just the beginning".

We're just getting images of Gazans assessing the damage from Israeli aistrikes overnight.

The Israeli Air Force says it hit 200 militant targets overnight.

Almost 700 people in Gaza have died in the air strikes since Saturday, local authorities say.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

It's almost 09:30 in Israel, and 07:30 in London. Here's the latest:

• Israel has finally sealed the border with Gaza, three days after large numbers of Hamas militants broke through on Saturday to launch their waves of deadly attacks
• The Israeli Air Force says it hit 200 targets overnight in the Gaza Strip
• On Monday evening, Hamas warned it would kill hostages it took from Israel if air strikes continued without warning
• The Israeli military advised people in Gaza to leave via the one crossing controlled by Egypt - but later said the crossing was closed
• Unicef has called for a humanitarian corridor into and out of Gaza, as Israel has cut supplies of fuel, electricity, and water
• Israel says it has found the bodies of 1,500 militants since the attacks began on Saturday morning

The Israel Defense Forces has changed its advice to Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza.

It earlier said people should leave by the one crossing controlled by Egypt.

It now says that crossing is actually closed.

The Israeli military says the bodies of 1,500 Hamas militants have been found in Israel and around the Gaza Strip.

Hecht added that the evacuation of all the Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip was nearly complete.

The border fence is not the only way militants can crosspublished at 07:03 British Summer Time 10 October 2023

07:03 BST 10 October 2023

Anna Foster
Reporting from a military checkpoint in Ashkelon

Israel says it has retaken control of the border fence with Gaza, and managed to block off the holes that Hamas militants tore in it.

But talking to people here yesterday, there are concerns that the fence is not the only way through to this part of southern Israel.

On Saturday morning members of Hamas infiltrated by sea and with paragliders. Even though those methods would be difficult to use again, the possibility of entering via tunnels is still an issue.

It’s hard for Israeli forces to pinpoint where those underground routes are. Rumours spread here yesterday that an infiltrator had entered a nearby kibbutz through a tunnel.

We don’t know whether that’s true. But stories like that show you the nervousness, concern and fear here that not all Hamas militants who’ve entered southern Israel have yet been caught.