UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) director of communications Juliet Touma has been talking to our TV colleagues.

Touma says people in Gaza are "terrified" and worried for their safety - as well as that of their children and families.

Asked how much harder it will be to get aid into Gaza since a "complete siege" was ordered by Israel, Touma says it is more of the same: "Gaza has been under blockade for the past 16 years, which is why the number of people who rely on UNWRA has increased massively in recent years."

"We worry that further tightening will make a situation that is already bad far far worse," she says, adding 1.2 million people rely on the agency for food assistance - a significant number of those being women and children.

Lucy Manning
BBC News Special Correspondent

Some prayed, others chanted, some stood in tears, others in quiet thought. Across the political and religious spectrum, British Jews, Israelis and supporters, united outside Downing Street.

Almost everyone here has relatives or friends affected. Emotions very high about the killings and the kidnappings with whole families wiped out.

Scared, helpless and anxious, the trauma is a collective one.

One Israeli who attended the candle-lit vigil was Hanna Wine. She was supposed to be back in Israel today.

“I'm currently stuck here. My flight got cancelled. I have a close friend who's missing, she's probably been taken into Gaza, I don't know what's happening to her."

The Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was partially closed earlier following an Israeli strike nearby, Egyptian security sources have told the Reuters news agency.

Rafah is the only crossing for Gaza residents in and out of the strip after Israel shut its border crossings.

The crossing has since reopened, but only for humanitarian cases.

A blockade by Egypt and Israel has long placed severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people in Gaza.

The Red Crescent has delivered some medical aid to Gaza through the Rafah crossing since Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on Saturday.

We reported a rise in the number of people killed in Israel a little earlier - and now we've got news of the latest figure from the Palestinian side.

The death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza has risen to almost 690 - including 140 children and 105 women, a spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry said.

In a news conference, reported by some international news agencies, the spokesman added that an additional 3,700 people had been wounded.

We are hearing more from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During his speech, he said that air strikes in Gaza were "just the beginning" and added that they would do "everything for Israelis held captive in Gaza".

He also called on the opposition parties to form a broad coalition government, after an attempt by the two biggest opposition party leaders failed on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says "a number of Palestinian gunmen are still inside Israel".

Israeli media report that at least 100 bodies recovered from Kibbutz Be'eri, citing rescue workers.

Be'eri is about 10 miles (20 km) from the Gaza border and it was one of the first places Hamas militants entered and took Israelis hostage on Saturday.

The clashes between Hamas militants and Israeli army have been continuing in the community.

This morning, an IDF spokesperson said that between 70 and 100 gunmen had been killed in the Be'eri area since Saturday.

Nick Johnson
Reporting from Israeli Embassy in London

Image source, Getty Images

Thousands of people have gathered outside the gates of the Israeli Embassy in West London.

Protests by pro-Palestinian groups here are nothing new, but this time, they’re happening against the backdrop of what many have described as one of Israel’s worst days in its history.

While speakers have taken to the stage accompanied by the all-too familiar chants, which jar with the magnitude of recent events, each have been at pains to point out that violence and intimidation are never the answer.

If you're just joining us, here's the latest news on the conflict.

• The death toll continues to rise in Israel since Saturday's surprise attack by Hamas fighters - with 900 killed, including 260 people massacred by gunmen at a music festival
• Since Israel began striking Gaza in response, nearly 600 people have been killed there
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke earlier from southern Israel and has warned the country will use "enormous force" against the Hamas militant group

• Israel's defence minister earlier ordered a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip, cutting off food, fuel, electricity and water supplies
• The armed wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam brigades, has announced it will "begin executing an Israeli civilian captive in return for any new Israeli bombing of civilians houses without pre-warning"
• Nine US citizens are now confirmed dead in Israel, while more than 10 Britons are feared dead, or missing
• Dozens of people are being held hostage by Hamas and their families are desperately searching for information

An Israeli embassy spokesperson has told US News network CBS that the number of people killed in the attacks on Israel is now 900.

The armed wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam brigades, has announced it will "begin executing an Israeli civilian captive in return for any new Israeli bombing of civilian houses without pre-warning".

Al Qassam spokesman Abu Obaida, in a post on Telegram, blamed the move on "Israel's stepped-up bombing and killing of children, women, and the elderly inside their homes".

He added that "the ball is in their [Israel's] court from now on."

The Israeli government believes dozens of Israelis are being held captive in Gaza after Hamas fighters infiltrated the country on Saturday.

Israel sends alerts warning Palestinians if they are in an area due to be targeted in an attack.

Since Israel began striking Gaza in response to the large-scale attacks by Hamas, nearly 600 people have died.

Sofia Bettiza
Reporting from Brussels

The European Commission has announced that it’s suspending all its longer-term development funding to the Palestinian territories.

The EU is the largest donor to the Palestinians, spending about €691m (£600m; $728m) in aid.

Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said all payments are immediately suspended, all projects put under review, and all new budget proposals postponed.

"The scale of terror and brutality against Israel and its people is a turning point," Varhelyi said. “Incitement to hatred, violence and glorification of terror have poisoned the minds of too many. We need action and we need it now."

These are quite strong words from the European Commission – an institution that usually opts for more diplomatic language and prefers to leave tough political statements to individual member states.

The speed of such a move is also significant: decisions like this normally take longer for the EU institutions, as they represent 27 different countries with a wide variety of political views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Later on Monday Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner responsible for emergency aid, clarified the EU would continue emergency humanitarian aid to the Palestinians ‘as long as needed’ in response to the conflict and said ‘it is imperative to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian law’.

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has said that British Jews "are at one" with the people of Israel.

Speaking during a vigil outside Downing Street, he said "we stand shoulder to shoulder with you at this time."

Image source, PA Media

As we reported earlier, mourners were forced to take cover during the funeral of British man Nathanel Young.

His sister was interrupted as she gave her eulogy by loud sirens which meant hundreds of people had to fall to the ground.

The 20-year-old soldier from London began serving with the Israeli military two years ago.

His funeral was taking place in Jerusalem when loud bangs could be heard overhead.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has just given a statement, where he condemned attacks on civilians and hostage-taking and also called for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.

In his statement, Guterres:

• Repeated condemnation of "abhorrent" attacks on Israeli towns and villages by Hamas militants
• Called for all attacks on civilians to cease, as well as hostages held in Gaza to be released

• Confirmed more than 800 Israelis have been killed and warned this was likely to rise
• Said he was "deeply alarmed" by the 500 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, which is also rising by the minute as Israeli strikes continue
• Called on Israel to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure when carrying out its military operations
• Said he was "deeply distressed" by Israel's complete siege" of Gaza, including stopping supplies of food, fuel and electricity

• Warned an "extremely dire" humanitarian situation in Gaza would only "deteriorate exponentially"
• Urged all sides to allow UN access to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to trapped civilians in Gaza

Fingers point at Iran, but they deny involvementpublished at 17:40 British Summer Time 9 October 2023

17:40 BST 9 October 2023

Paul Adams
World Affairs Correspondent

Iran has a long, intimate relationship with Hamas.

For years, it has funded and supplied weapons to the organisation. In the wake of Saturday’s brutal but highly complex operation, people are asking: did Iran order it?

The Wall Street Journal newspaper, quoting unnamed Hamas sources, says Iran gave the green light at a meeting in Beirut a week ago. Tehran has denied any involvement.

The White House says it has not yet seen evidence to suggest Iran was behind the attack.

Haim Tomer, a former senior officer with Israel’s foreign intelligence service Mossad, said the timing suited Iran because it threatened to derail - for the time being at least - a possible rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

But he said the decision to act was largely down to Hamas.

Raz Zimmt, an Iran expert at Tel Aviv University, said Hamas had acted according to its own interests and had not needed Iranian permission.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he expects to discuss the conflict in the Middle East with his counterparts from the UK, France and the US on Monday evening.

Scholz was speaking at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of a joint meeting of their countries' cabinets in Hamburg.

Image source, Reuters

The Israeli Air Force has carried out one of the "largest ever air strikes against Hamas in Gaza", Israel's military has said.

In a post on social media, external, the Israel Defense Forces said it struck at least 2,400 Hamas targets today alone.

This was more than double the number hit between Saturday and this morning - and included weapons storage and manufacturing sites and command and control centres, the IDF added.

The BBC is not been able to independently verify these claims.

Yolande Knell
BBC Middle East correspondent, reporting from Tel Aviv

For Ido Dan, the horror of Saturday’s events played out on his family’s WhatsApp group.

His cousin, Hadas, who lives in Nir Oz, a kibbutz next to Gaza, had been updating her family from within an air raid shelter. Earlier that morning, she had written that she could hear gunmen shouting in Arabic.

“Something scary is going on here,” she told the group, describing the screaming of other kibbutz members.

She said it was “like a Holocaust here – they are killing everyone,” says Ido.

“And then at 9am she got disconnected. Her battery ran out.”

Hadas did survive – by wedging the door of her hideout closed.

But by nightfall it was clear that five members of the family were missing from their homes in the kibbutz. Two of Hadas’s children and her ex-husband - their father, as well as her niece and her 80-year-old mother, Ido’s aunt, Carmella.

Later a disturbing video surfaced on social media. It appeared to show Erez, Hadas’s 12-year-old son being taken by gunmen into Gaza.

Image source, Family handout

“There is hope to believe they’re alive,” says Ido, who lives near Tel Aviv. But he is deeply fearful for what might happen next.

With reports of hostage negotiations being brokered by Qatar, Ido has a message for Hamas about his family:

“Just get them out of this confrontation, it’s not for kids, it’s not for older people,” he says.

“Even war has rules and ethics and limits.”

Florence Dixon
BBC Monitoring

The leading Arabic news outlets have given the events in Israel and Gaza wall-to-wall coverage since Saturday, reflecting the changing regional dynamics at play ahead of the attacks.

Saudi pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat said the timing of the Hamas operation was “suspicious” due to the ongoing US-mediated initiative to establish ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“Iran does not want to see real peace, specifically Saudi-Israel peace, because [it] will change the face of the region,” it said.

By contrast, Arabic TV station Al Jazeera said the attack indicated Hamas had “the competence, the ability, and the resources" to confront the Israeli army.

Israeli media have highlighted what they called disastrous failures of intelligence and military preparedness in the Hamas attack on southern Israel.

Commentators compared the "collapse" to the surprise attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria in the 1973 Yom Kippur war.

A TV reviewer criticised what he said was sanitised coverage by Israeli channels, which carried few of the images circulating on social media of Israeli army casualties and civilians taken hostage to Gaza.