While the death tolls in Gaza and Israel grow, up to 150 hostages are being held captive by Hamas while their families live in hope and fear.

The Palestinian militant group says it has hidden them in "safe places and tunnels" within Gaza but has threatened to kill them if civilian homes are bombed by Israel without warning.

Among them are Maya Regev, 21, and her brother Itay, 18, from Herzliya.

They had attended the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. On the morning of the attack, Maya's father got a call from his daughter who screamed "Dad they're shooting at me!".

The family said they later spotted Itay in handcuffs in the back of a vehicle in a video released by Hamas.

Doron Asher, mother of two girls, Raz and Aviv, was taken captive while staying with relatives near the Gaza boundary. Husband Yoni saw a video of his wife and daughters, aged five and three, being loaded onto a truck with other hostages.

Here are the stories of people confirmed by the BBC, or credibly reported, to have been taken hostage by Hamas from Israel. They include 13 children and at least eight over-60s

Rushdi Abu Alouf
BBC News, Nasser Hospital, Khan Yunis

After Israel ordered evacuation of the northern part of the Gaza Strip, I had to take my family from Gaza City to Khan Younis.

We joined people using cars, trucks or walking 5-6 kms to the main road. There were hundreds of cars, motorcycles, camels and sheep. It was chaotic. There was a convoy 10km (6 miles) long. For me to drive 10km it took me about three hours. It normally takes 15 minutes.

The scenes in Khan Younis I have witnessed are really tragic. People are sleeping in public spaces, hundreds of thousands of people in schools and hundreds of thousands of people went to hospitals to take refuge.

Even though it is the second largest city in Gaza, Khan Younis is a small city with 400,000 people. More than a million more have taken refuge here.

The city was already struggling after one week of Israel's blockade without water, electricity and internet. This city was already exhausted.

Doctors here told me that medicine is running out, they are trying to manage with very little fuel left and a very small amount of life-saving kits.

It is not only the newcomers. I talked to a man at the hospital today. Back in 2014, his house was destroyed by the Israeli strikes and he managed to rebuild it. Now it is damaged again and he is taking refuge in the hospital.

Image source, Getty Images

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stopped off at the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi during his diplomatic tour of the Middle East.

The complex contains a mosque, a synagogue and a church. During his visit, Blinken signed a tile, reading "light in the darkness".

The veteran diplomat has been visiting countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan to meet leaders and prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spreading and seeking protection for civilians.

We will have more on this US diplomacy for you shortly.

Image source, State Dept Radio Pool

Lebanon is submitting a formal complaint to the UN Security Council over what it says is "Israel's deliberate killing" of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, who is also a Lebanese citizen.

Abdallah was killed in southern Lebanon on Friday when missiles fired from the direction of Israel struck a group of journalists, witnesses at the scene have said, according to a report published by Reuters.

Abdallah was working close to the Lebanese-Israeli border, where clashes between militants and the Israeli military have intensified.

Six other journalists, including from Reuters, Al Jazeera and Agency France-Presse, were wounded.

An Israeli army spokesperson later said that the army was “deeply regretful for the incident” and that it was “actively investigating it”.

Image source, PA Media

Pro-Palestinian protests are taking place in Glasgow and a number of English cities in response to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

BBC reporters in Manchester say at least 2,000 people are attending a march, though more were expected to join along the way. Flanked by a heavy police presence, shouts of “Palestine will be free” were heard as activists arrived in Platt Fields Park, where the protest began.

Meanwhile, police say a demonstration organised by the Stop the War Coalition in Cambridge has attracted around 300 people. Those marching were seen holding placards, saying: "Stop the Genocide" and "Human Rights?"

Hundreds more have turned out for a protest in Liverpool, joined by 100 in Exeter and around 60 in Plymouth.

There was also a march by Palestinian supporters in Glasgow, attended by thousands according to BBC reporters. The speakers called for a free Palestine and criticised the media - including the BBC - for its coverage of the crisis. One woman said the events left her heartbroken.

Image source, X / netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a video on X, external, showing him visiting and talking to the Israeli army soldiers.

In the post he writes: "With the soldiers on the frontline with Gaza. We are all ready."

A separate statement by his office said Netanyahu told Israeli infantrymen outside the Gaza Strip: "Are you ready for the next stage? The next stage is coming."

Mohamed Madi
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Some reporting now from the Rafah crossing which, as we were just explaining, is the focus for some dual nationals trying to leave Gaza.

Palestinian content creator, Mohamed Aborjelaa, has spent the day at the crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

He says around 500 people holding foreign passports have been trying to get out, with no success.

“The border crossing itself isn’t safe, there’s bombing and there’s no shelter. People got messages telling them to be there from 12 to 3pm local time but at no time during that window was the crossing open” he told the BBC.

Nationalities at the border included American, British, French, Chinese, Swiss and Swedish passport holders. The vast majority were dual nationals also holding a Palestinian passport.

“Some of them are in touch with their embassies, who told them to return to their homes. But some of them don’t have homes to go back to. It’s impossible”.

On his Instagram page, he posted an interview with a young girl holding a British passport.

“I am scared of dying. There’s no water, electricity, internet” she says. “There’s bombing everywhere, and I just don’t know where to go. Where should I go?”

The US government is encouraging its citizens in Gaza to move south toward the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

The only crossing in and out of Gaza that is not controlled by Israel has closed because of Israeli strikes on the Gazan side of the gate.

US State Department says that its citizens should be ready at the crossing for its possible reopening amid the humanitarian crisis, especially after Israel ordered the evacuation of the northern part of the Strip.

"We have informed US citizens in Gaza with whom we are in contact that if they assess it to be safe, they may wish to move closer to the Rafah border crossing," a State Department spokesperson said.

"There may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time."

It's now a week since the Hamas attack on Israel.

A WhatsApp group of 200 mums, living in southern Israel, has revealed the terror they and their families faced as Hamas militants stormed through their kibbutz seven days ago.

The BBC has viewed the extraordinary minute-by-minute account of the women as they hid from the attack - and grew increasingly desperate when the Israeli state failed to materialise for hours.

Alice Cuddy spoke to three of the women about that day in October when their lives changed forever. Read the full story here.

We were just giving you an account from a British Palestinian doctor describing the conditions in his Gaza hospital.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 28 medical staff have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict last Saturday.

It also said two hospitals in the Strip (Beit Hanoun and Al Dura hospital for children) are out of service, and 15 other medical centers have been damaged.

The BBC has not verified this figure.

Yolande Knell
BBC Middle East correspondent, Jerusalem

British-Palestinian Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah has been updating BBC News on the deteriorating medical situation in the Gaza Strip this week.

He is now back at the Palestinian territory’s biggest hospital, Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

“Impending public health catastrophe at Shifa Hospital. Tens of thousands of internally displaced people are seeking refuge on the grounds, corridors, in the wards. Everywhere. Hundreds of patients with wounds who are in need of surgery are unable to get into the operating room. Huge back-log,” he writes on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In voice messages, he told colleagues in the UK: “We are no longer able to do anything but the most life-saving surgeries. Not only are the supplies been exhausted, but the staff have also been exhausted. A lot of them have either been killed or they have had family members killed, or they're trying to secure their families."

Another plastic surgeon whom he knew at Shifa Hospital, Dr Medhat Saidam is among those killed, reportedly along with many relatives in their home.

The doctor helped evacuate al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia in northern Gaza and says that Israeli evacuation orders were also given to other medical centres including Muhammad Al-Durrah Paediatric Hospital, which had a neo-natal intensive care unit.

US President Joe Biden says his country is working with Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the United Nations to provide humanitarian support for Gaza as Israel's military continues to attack what it says are targets connected to the Hamas militants.

Without giving further details, Biden wrote on X, external that the US was working to "create conditions needed to resume the flow of assistance and advocate for the upholding of the law of war".

If you're just joining us, here is a round-up of the latest developments in Israel and Gaza.

• At least 12 people, including young children, have been killed after a convoy of vehicles heading toward southern Gaza was hit. The Palestinian Health Ministry has blamed Israel for the attack. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) says it is investigating.
• A deadline for Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza has passed. Israeli authorities revised the deadline, giving people until 13:00 GMT (16:00 local time) to flee. More than one million people have been told to leave using two safe corridors ahead of an expected Israeli ground assault against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.
• More than 1,300 people were killed after Hamas launched an attack on Israel seven days ago.
• More than 2,200 people have been killed following Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Lucy Manning
BBC News Special Correspondent

David Barr is a Leeds-born Israeli and member of Israel’s Leeds United Supporters Group. He lived on Kibbutz Alumim, which was attacked last weekend.

In the photo, David holds his Leeds United flag with his sister-in-law Naomi Shitrit. She was murdered by Hamas gunmen while on her regular Saturday morning jog.

In tears, David said: “Naomi was always for fun and always for life. She was loved by her family and she’ll be missed by all of us.

"This is just one story out of 1,300. We’re finding it hard to mourn for our own because we’re mourning for everybody.”

The kibbutz security guards battled the Hamas fighters who had come only to kill civilians.

“They slaughtered the 16 foreign workers from Thailand. They were friends of mine…It was just shooting, missiles, shooting," David says.

"As we left the gates there were just bodies, cars riddled with bullets, bodies everywhere. I said to my wife ‘Don’t look, just don’t look'."

David couldn’t stop the tears as he worried for his children’s future, some of whom are in the army.

He also has a son in London. “He phoned me and said ‘Daddy, I’m coming home.’ I said to him ‘don’t come, not now.”

Also living in the kibbutz were Palestinian workers who David called friends. He distinguishes between the murderous Hamas and ordinary Palestinians.

“The Palestinian people are people. Every person is made in an image of God. My heart goes out for them as well. They are hostages like we are.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has used a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to ask for Bejing’s help in ensuring the Israel-Hamas conflict does not extend to other countries in the Middle East.

In turn, Wang said Washington should "play a constructive and responsible role":

"When dealing with international hot-spot issues, major countries must adhere to objectivity and fairness, maintain calmness and restraint, and take the lead in abiding by international law," said Wang.

The Chinese foreign minister also added that Beijing has called for an "international peace meeting" as soon as possible.

China's official statements on the conflict have not specifically named Hamas in their condemnations of violence, instead urging an immediate ceasefire, condemning the "indiscriminate use of force", and calling for an end to the "collective punishment of the people in Gaza".

Image source, Getty Images

A former Hamas leader has said that what the militants did last Saturday was "an attempt to end the Israeli occupation" and that he is "proud" of them.

Speaking to Turkey's Haberturk TV, Hamas's head of foreign affairs Khalid Meshal added the conflict did not start last week, but in 1948.

"Israel has been saying that their army was the strongest and undefeatable. When we saw that they were defeated in a few hours, we were surprised, too," he said.

When asked about Hamas murdering civilians, children and the elderly, he said: "We kept telling them not to do that. But in war times, these incidents can happen. Isn't it what Israel always says, that they didn't do it [kill civilians] on purpose?"

Asked whether Hamas has done the same as it accuses Israel of doing, Meshal said there was a "big difference":

"We are the owners of this land. When the enemy comes from outside, either soldiers or civilians, they are all enemies. Whoever comes to my land [to occupy] is enemy, and guilty."

Strike on civilian convoy fleeing Gaza: What the video showspublished at 14:04 British Summer Time 14 October 2023

14:04 BST 14 October 2023

Warning: This post contains details some people may find distressing.

Many people have died - at least 12 - in a strike on a civilian convoy fleeing northern Gaza along one of the evacuation routes.

As we reported earlier, we have verified footage from the aftermath of the strike - but here's more detail about what it shows.

The video is a vision of near unimaginable carnage, and sadly, just the latest of many brought about by this conflict.

It shows a group of men running towards a lorry. Some climb aboard while others film the scene.

They yell prayers and lamentations for the victims into the smoke-filled air, their voices occasionally drowned out by the howl of car alarms.

As the camera approaches the lorry, the full horror of the strike begins to emerge.

Several bodies, contorted by the force of the blast, are strewn across the flatbed. Pools of blood litter the surroundings.

As the view switches to the other side of the lorry, the body of a small child - clearly no more than four years old - shifts into view.

Other footage filmed before the strike showed that lorries similar to these were crammed with as many as 30 people journeying south, in search of safety. Some will have been thrown from the vehicle, others may have survived and left the area.

As the camera moves past the lorries we see two more battered and burning vehicles - likely with victims still inside.

Image source, bbc

Video shows civilian convoy with more than 30 people near to strikepublished at 13:51 British Summer Time 14 October 2023

13:51 BST 14 October 2023

We have verified a video of a Palestinian convoy fleeing northern Gaza, filmed close to a location where a strike killed at least 12 people, including young children.

We estimate that more than 30 people are on board the vehicle in the video. It was filmed before the strike we've been reporting on. We do not know for sure if this truck was the exact one hit in the footage we have seen from the strike.

The video started circulating on Twitter early this morning. Online software which analyses the angle of shadows tells us the video was likely filmed between 15:30 and 17:20 local time yesterday.

We know it was filmed on Salah-al-Din street, which is a major road connecting north to south Gaza.

The width and partition in the road shows it must be a major road, as the wide truck shown wouldn’t fit down a residential street.

Using satellite imagery, we were able to verify the vehicle’s exact location using the position of nearby buildings and trees, and analysing the shadows cast by residential buildings.

We also know that the attack took place south of this location. This video was filmed north-east of the attack, which is likely where the convoy would have been in the hours before it was hit.

Nick Beake
Reporting from Sderot

This is the picture south of the city of Sderot where an Israeli mobile artillery unit is firing towards Gaza.

The sound of the outgoing rounds is sporadic.

We'll see if that changes in the coming hours as the window in which Israelis have given Palestinians in Gaza to move from the north to the south of the territory - along two designated roads - is supposed to close.

A short time ago, Israeli troops us moved from our previous position where other units were setting up.

As for that bigger deadline Israel imposed - 24 hours for more than a million people to leave their homes - that has now passed.

Israeli says it's been carrying out small incursions into Gaza, to target Hamas positions and also to gain information on the estimated up to 120 hostages still being held.