Helena Wilkinson
BBC News

I've been across a remote briefing by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor from the Metropolitan police.

He said tensions in London were high following the Hamas attack in Israel last Saturday.

As a result he said the force had put a "very significant policing operation" in place to support communities across the capital.

More than 1000 officers have been dedicated to this task.

The Met says thousands of people are expected at pro-Palestinian protests in London tomorrow.

Taylor made it clear that whilst people have the "right to protest, they do not have the right to incite violence".

When it comes to flags and banners, he said the law was very clear; that anyone waving a flag in support of Hamas or other proscribed organisations will be arrested.

He said anyone possessing or waving a Palestinian flag without any other context would not be committing any offence, but if it's associated with other actions they could be.

The Israel Defense Forces say an explosion caused "light damage" to a security fence on Israel's border with Lebanon, near the northern kibbutz of Hanita. Its troops are "responding with artillery fire toward Lebanese territory," the IDF said in a statement.

"Additionally, an alert was activated concerning the infiltration of terrorists into the community. IDF soldiers are currently searching the area."

There are fears a new front could open up in the war if Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah decides to get involved and attack Israel in support of its Palestinian allies.

Image source, Reuters

Alon Roman's sister was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri by Hamas last Saturday and has not been seen since.

Alon said that his sister's family were trying to escape the attack when his sister handed her baby to her husband as he could run faster. The husband hid into the woods for over 12 hours and only started walking back at dawn the next day.

"While my sister - we have no track of her since then," Alon said.

Alon said his sister had been "anxious" about the insecurity in the region and had decided to leave the area a month before. She and her family were back in the kibbutz for a visit when Hamas attacked.

Image source, Getty Images

Hamas continued to launch rocket strikes against Israel on Friday.

The group said it fired a missile at Safed, a city in the far north of Israel. Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that a launch from Gaza "toward the northern region" had been intercepted, without naming Safed.

Air raid sirens were triggered in Tel Aviv after Hamas targeted the coastal city.

Hamas also claimed to have fired more rockets at Ashkelon, Sderot and Be'eri, all towns in the south of Israel where Hamas militants killed 1,300 civilians in last Saturday's attack.

The militant group has fired thousands of rockets at civilian areas in Israel since it launched its retaliatory offensive.

Israel has announced that trains will continue to run tomorrow on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.

Israel Railways do not usually offer passenger service during Shabbat, which lasts for 25 hours from Friday evening until Saturday night. The practice has been long-standing after an agreement between the ultra-Orthodox community and Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion.

"As part of the preparations for providing a response... to the home front and security needs, trains will operate during Friday night and throughout Saturday," the statement from the railway company said.

Yesterday, Israel's El Al Airlines also announced it would break a more than 40-year policy of not flying on the Jewish Shabbat to bring Israeli reservists home from around the world to serve in the army.

Reuters reported that El Al had not flown on the Shabbat since 1982 but it had received permission from rabbis who had said that preservation of life overrode other religious laws. The flights will be free of charge and paid for by El Al and large financial institutions in the US.

People around the world have been holding rallies and vigils in support of Israel after the deadly attack by Hamas last Saturday.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Farah Abo Sedo was in Gaza City this morning and told the BBC's Newshour programme that she didn't know what to do after hearing the evacuation warning.

"I'm seeing people holding their bags like they want to run away but where should we go?

"It's a small city there's no escape, we're trying to save our lives.

"They bomb us every single night without any mercy, there's nothing left.

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Israel has long accused Hamas of using civilians as cover for its military operations. They say it puts Palestinian civilians at risk by storing ammunition and maintaining key military facilities in the middle of crowded population centres.

During Israel’s last major operation in Gaza, in 2021, the Israel Defense Forces released videos which it said showed Hamas rockets being fired from civilian areas.

An Israeli attack on the 11-storey al-Jalaa tower, home to the local offices of Al Jazeera and Associated Press, was defended by Israel, which said it housed Hamas offices and equipment.

Israel also points to a network of Hamas tunnels, which it dubs “the metro”, which are said to stretch under built up areas. It said it destroyed more than 100km of these tunnels during the 2021 operation.

Image source, .

Another long-standing Israeli assertion, never proven, is that Hamas occupies basements under Gaza’s main Shifa hospital. And this morning, the IDF said the roofs of homes were being used to launch attack drones.

It’s hard to verify many of Israel's specific allegations. The military wing of Hamas is highly secretive and civilians are reluctant to admit to the presence of fighters and their equipment, for fear of retribution.

But Hamas clearly does try to hide itself among civilians. In a densely populated area like Gaza, and facing an infinitely more powerful opponent, it would have ceased to exist a long time ago had it not done so.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. More than two million people live in an area of about 365 sq km.

So with about 5,700 people to each sq km, it's very similar to the density of population in London.

As the map below shows, in Gaza City, north of the Wadi Gaza, there are more than 9,000 people per sq km.

The commissioner general of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency has said that "Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse".

"The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza is bone-chilling," Philippe Lazzarini said.

Lazzarini appealed to all parties involved to give "immediate and unconditional" humanitarian access and protection to Gaza's civilians and uphold the laws of war.

He added that Israel's order that 1.1 million people leave northern Gaza was "horrendous“.

"This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into abyss," Lazzarini said.

The Israeli military has been dropping leaflets from the skies above Gaza City. The flyers warn residents to flee "immediately" to south Gaza.

Israel has been carrying out a heavy campaign of airstrikes in Gaza which have killed more than 1,500 people. It is poised for a widely-expected ground offensive to attack Hamas.

As we reported earlier, the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is in Israel and held a press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.

Together, they urged the people of Gaza to move south for their own safety:

• Austin said there was never any justification for terrorism, adding “this is no time for neutrality or for false equivalence, or for excuses for the inexcusable”
• He added the Pentagon was ready to send additional military assets to Israel
• Munitions, air defence capabilities and other equipment is already coming to Israel from the US
• "Democracies like ours are stronger and more secure when we uphold the laws of war," said Austin. "Terrorists like Hamas deliberately target civilians but democracies don't"
• Gallant said Israel would “never” shoot civilians on purpose and that is why they were asking all the civilians in Gaza City to go south

• He said Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas were an "axis of evil"
• He added that Hamas could not “live among civilised people” and that Israel was going to take them “out of Gaza and out of the earth”

The chair of the Football Association Faith Group has been speaking to the BBC about his decision to quit his role earlier today.

Rabbi Alex Goldberg says his resignation was over the need to "mark the massacre" and he couldn't see why Wembley Stadium couldn't be lit up to pay tribute to all the victims affected by the recent Hamas attacks.

It comes after the FA said in a statement on Thursday that it most likely wouldn't light the Wembley arch in the colours of the Israel flag because of fears of a backlash from some communities.

“This is an atrocity against civilians... rounding up people, kidnapping some of them, [murdering] many of them in horrific ways,” Rabbi Goldberg said.

The UK prime minister has condemned a "disgusting rise" in antisemitism in the UK, in comments to journalists made during a visit to Sweden.

"There's been a quite frankly disgusting rise in antisemitic incidents over the past few days, that's not right," Sunak said.

"We will absolutely not tolerate people inciting hatred or violence or racist activity, intimidating or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated. It will be met with the full force of the law."

It comes as the Metropolitan Police said it had seen a "massive increase" in the number of hate crimes in London, with 105 anti-semitic incidents and 75 antisemitic offences being reported from 30 September to 13 October. This is a huge rise on the same period last year.

Three Jewish schools in north London were closed on Friday as a safety precaution.

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from southern Lebanon

Rallies in support of Gaza have been organised across Lebanon today by Hezbollah - the country's most powerful military force, as Hamas called for solidarity across the Arab world.

In the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj al-Shemali, in southern Lebanon, people are preparing for one this afternoon. The camp is run by various Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad.

I've come here to meet the mother of one of the militants from that group, who crossed into Israel on Monday and was killed by the Israel Defense Forces. This was one of several incidents involving Israel and militants from Lebanon that have occurred along the border since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday.

Azab Mousa, 45, said she was “proud” of her son, 22-year-old Hamza, and that she had “encouraged him” to go ahead with the attack. “He told me what he was going to do... I stood by his side and made sure he wasn’t going to give up,” she said.

“If I had 10 sons, I’d send them all to do the same, because we need to reclaim our land.”

The family arrived in Lebanon from Syria in 2011, after the start of the civil war there, and have never been to the place they call Palestine.

Hamza’s brother, 20-year-old Mohammed, said he was not affiliated with any group but that he was willing to do something like what his brother had done. “Every man here is proud of him.”

The violence along the Lebanon-Israel border has, so far, been limited. But the fear here is that, if there was an escalation in the fighting, Lebanon could be dragged into this conflict.

Anna Foster
Reporting from Israel's northern border with Lebanon

As Israel’s northern border remains tense, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has visited neighbouring Lebanon and met with the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

He warned that what he called “ongoing war crimes” against Palestinians in Gaza would “undoubtedly trigger a collective response from the resistance axis”.

There are real fears a new front could open up in the war if Hezbollah decides to get involved and attack Israel in support of its Palestinian allies.

And just now, Hezbollah's deputy leader said they were "fully prepared" to join Hamas in the war against Israel - telling a rally in the suburbs of Beirut they will intervene "when the time comes".

Like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah has been designated a terror organisation by the UK, US and other countries. It’s a powerful player in Lebanon both militarily and politically and is close to Iran.

Image source, EPA

It's just gone 14:30 in Israel and Gaza. If you're just joining us, here are the latest developments:

Leaving home in north Gaza: People are fleeing to the south of the Gaza Strip after Israel told them to evacuate within 24 hours for their "safety and protection". The UN and the World Health Organization have both criticised the move, highlighting the potential humanitarian impact. The Israeli military said it understood the evacuation would take longer than its timeframe. Meanwhile, Hamas urged people to ignore the warning.

Rockets fired at Israel: Hamas continues to fire rockets from Gaza into southern Israel. A BBC team on the ground saw a strike targeting Ashkelon. Hamas's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, are claiming to have fired 150 rockets in one barrage this morning

Pro-Palestinian protests: Thousands of demonstrators have already gathered in Iraq, Jordan and Indonesia, and protests are also expected at the al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem after Friday prayers. It follows calls from senior Hamas and Hezbollah figures for rallies to take place.

Vigils for Israel: People around the world are holding vigils and rallies in support of Israel after the mass murders by Hamas at the weekend. Relatives continue to mourn the more than 1,300 people killed.

Diplomatic envoys: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan. He earlier visited Israel, where he promised America's country’s unwavering support. But he also told Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu that it “must operate by the rules of war” in its response to the Hamas attacks. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is now in Israel for talks and EU chiefs are also visiting.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is holding a press conference now with his Israeli counterpart. Watch live at the top of this page.

Rushdi Abualouf
Reporting from the Salah Ad Deen Road over the Wadi Gaza

Image source, Getty Images

On the way here we’ve seen hundreds of cars, motorcycles and trucks, heavily loaded with possessions, some cars with mattresses draped over them.

People are travelling with cows, camels, sheep and donkeys.

Lots of families on foot, they’ve already had to walk several kilometres.