Anna Foster
Reporting from the Israel-Lebanon border

As we travel along Israel’s winding border with Lebanon, the large troop build-up is clear to see.

In some areas there are rows and rows of armoured vehicles and soldiers setting up camp in tents. Other places have new checkpoints, asking drivers who they are and where they’re going.

Tensions are high here amid fears that cross-border exchanges of fire could escalate, and spark a bigger, regional war.

I meet soldier Itai Pomson at a road junction on a steep hillside. His reserve unit tell me they’re in a state of high alert.

“We've been trained in these situations and we know exactly where we need to go. We've had information about the terrible things that have been done. And we understand how important it is to stop that happening," he said.

Itai is 29, and originally from Hendon in the UK. He works in the tech industry now, and his wife is just weeks away from giving birth to their second child.

“We miss our families, but we know that we’re needed here, and they can manage without us. Our wives are stronger than we are”.

Dan Johnson
Reporting from southern Israel

As I reported earlier, volunteers Mose Melayev and Meir Barel have spent the last week looking for bodies at the site of the Nova music festival that was attacked by Hamas.

They have a huge area to cover and, working close to Gaza, they’re in an increasingly active military zone.

They stop every so often to let a tank cross their path. Their search has been paused as darkness falls, but they’ll be back at sunrise.

“The plan is to stay this week,” Melayev explains. “If we haven’t finished, we’ll probably keep going next week”.

“The families are broken,” Barel adds. “We can’t go to sleep if we have no answers for them."

Sean Coughlan
Reporting from London

Image source, Reuters

There was a sombre message from the senior Palestinian diplomat in the UK, as he reported the latest casualty figures of 2,850 Palestinians killed in Gaza and the West Bank.

Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, warned in a press briefing that the “real figure is much higher” as rescue teams have yet to reach all those trapped under rubble.

The casualties included 1,000 children, said Zomlot, with 50 families “completely wiped out”.

He called for an “immediate ceasefire” and the setting up of a humanitarian corridor.

How high is the risk of escalation of conflict in the Middle East? “Nine out of 10," he says.

Image source, Reuters

The World Health Organization says it needs urgent access to Gaza to deliver aid and medical supplies, as it warns of a long-term humanitarian crisis.

About half of the 2,800 Palestinians killed were women and children, officials from WHO said in a briefing reported by the news agency Reuters. Another 11,000 have been injured in Gaza since the start of Israel's retaliatory bombardments following Hamas's deadly attacks.

The UN agency is meeting with "decision-makers" today to open access to Gaza as soon as possible - there's currently no way in or out.

Officials further said there had been 115 attacks on healthcare facilities and the majority of hospitals in Gaza are not functioning, with water and electricity scarce.

"Concerns over dehydration and waterborne diseases are high given the collapse of water and sanitation services," the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said in a statement. "People will start dying without water."

A few reasons why a ground offensive hasn't happened yetpublished at 12:43 British Summer Time 17 October 2023

12:43 BST 17 October 2023

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, in southern Israel

Armies don’t announce a date to commence military operations - Israel won’t either.

Its spokesman even said today “we’re not saying what our plans are - they could be something different".

But Israel has made it clear that its forces have mobilised - and artillery and armour have moved into place along the Gaza border, on other borders too.

Their statements have even suggested an attack is imminent. Keeping a mobilised army waiting too long could affect their readiness and morale.

There may, or may not, be a delay. There’s been heavy rain in this region - and weather matters in war.

Intense diplomacy, including the arrival of US President Joe Biden, on the need to develop a plan to get aid into Gaza and get foreign nationals out, may be staying Israel’s command. There’s also the thorny issue of foreign hostages.

Once this war intensifies, Israel’s closest allies want to be sure they’ve done everything possible to protect civilians, and prevent this war from erupting into a much wider conflagration.

Image source, Reuters

The UN is again pleading for aid agencies to gain access to Gaza, and warning of possible war crimes.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, says the organisation is "concerned" that the Israeli military's demand that Palestinians move from northern Gaza to the south could amount to the "forcible transfer of civilians - in breach of international law".

If a country is believed to have committed a war crime during conflict, the case can be looked at by the International Criminal Court (ICC) - the Palestinians are members, but Israel is not.

In a statement, Shamdasani adds that attacks on civilians - while attempting to flee the necessary parts of Gaza - must be investigated independently.

She also appeals for the "immediate and unconditional" release of all Israeli hostages, with the latest Israeli reports indicating around 199 are being held.

Buildings across Gaza have been flattened by ongoing attacks.

This footage from Saturday shows the extent of the damage in the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the strip.

Last night, the southern city of Khan Younis and the Rafah border crossing faced strikes which killed more than 100 people.

Dan Johnson
Reporting from southern Israel

There is a mismatch between the number of people reported missing and the number of bodies discovered.

So, volunteers including Moshe Melayev and Meir Barel are driving slowly across fields around the Nova music festival, trying to check if anyone injured may have escaped and hidden from the attackers, but then died and not yet been found.

“We have more than 1,400 missing people and we’ve found just 1,000 bodies,” Meir tells me, stopping to search a patch of bushes.

“Hamas said they have almost 200 hostages – so we’re still missing around 150 people."

“People were hiding between the trees, and in holes, so we’re going to check those places," Moshe adds.

Their organisation, 360 National Rescue Unit, also ensures that bodies, and body parts, are collected in line with Jewish religious law which insists all the remains, including the victim’s blood, should be buried together.

“It’s a holy mission for us," Moshe explains, “to keep the bodies dignified”.

Some initial recovery work was done in the dark on the day of the attack and the fear is something may have been missed.

People in the south of Gaza are searching through the rubble again today after more strikes hit buildings in Khan Younis and Rafah last night.

UN agencies say the territory is barrelling towards catastrophe and supplies are dwindling fast. We've been having a look at some of the latest pictures from there.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Jessica Parker
Berlin correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Germany's chancellor is on his way to Israel today and then Egypt later in the week as he says "constant dialogue with everyone" is needed to stop the conflict escalating.

"It is important to me to also express my solidarity with Israel," Olaf Scholz said at a press conference in Jordan a little earlier.

Germany has an ongoing policy of “Staatsräson” or “reason of state” towards Israeli security, a stance rooted in its past and the horrors of the Holocaust. It means Berlin’s commitment to Israel is a fundamental cornerstone of its foreign policy

Mindful of the suffering in Gaza, however, Scholz also echoed calls for a safe route for humanitarian help.

By any measure, this conflict is very complicated and, understandably, plenty of you still have lots of questions.

We've gathered some key correspondents to answer more of your most-asked queries, live here on BBC News in the next few minutes.

Our correspondent in Jerusalem Tom Bateman, security correspondent Frank Gardner and Middle East analyst Sebastian Usher will share their insights and expertise.

Watch the video by tapping the play button at the top of this page.

Image source, Reuters

Earlier on BBC Radio 5 Live, we heard from Gili Roman whose sister Yarden, a dual Israeli-German national, is still missing after Hamas gunmen raided Kibbutz Be'eri.

He said he knows she attempted to flee her captors, but now believes she's been taken hostage and is in Gaza, though he has not been able to get this confirmed.

Roman said he was angry at what had happened, but also "absolutely" felt sympathy for civilians in Gaza.

"There is a general anger just to the mere fact that people can be so inhumane, so barbaric," he said.

"We have to protect ourselves from this threat and I understand the price [on those in Gaza] is very severe."

He previously told Reuters: "I feel the highest level of determination to bring my sister back, to bring all of the women, children, citizens, soldiers - all the Israelis back alive to reunite with us."

Image source, PA Media

In London, the Archbishop of Canterbury has brought together Muslim and Jewish community leaders in a bid to discourage "any form of hatred or violence" in the UK.

Here's what Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, a scholar and imam from Leicester, had to say:

He was followed by Jonathan Wittenberg, a senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism who was described by Mogra as a "dear friend". Wittenberg added:

Emir Nader
BBC Newsnight, reporting from Tel Aviv

An Israeli military spokesman has denied there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Since the deadly Hamas attacks on 7 October, Israel has blocked cross-border supplies of electricity, fuel, and water to the Gaza Strip, as well as carrying out air strikes.

This morning, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned that waterborne diseases could begin to spread as "most of Gaza" has no running water.

But in an interview with BBC Newsnight, Lt Col Richard Hecht insisted there was electricity and water in Gaza.

"We do not have the commitment to supply Hamas electricity," Hecht says. "People who attacked us, they’ve been in control for multiple years already in the Gaza Strip. They have electricity."

Watch the full clip below.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier this morning, BBC Radio 5 Live spoke to filmmaker Yousef Hammash, who is in Gaza. The phone connection wasn't strong enough to speak on air, but Hammash could send through a voice note describing his situation.

Hammash, who works for the Norwegian Refugee Council, moved his family south to the city of Khan Younis over the weekend.

He says every family is hosting another in their homes, but there are still many homeless people on the street - something he's never seen in Khan Younis before.

Every day, he says, there are queues outside bakeries of people hoping for food to feed their families.

"Every day it's a daily mission for everyone to go to find things to feed their children," he said, adding that everyone was suffering extreme stress and were existing in "survival mode".

Image source, .

The status of the Gaza Strip after Israel's planned assault will be a "global issue" up for international discussion, an Israeli military spokesman said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

"We've had all kinds of end games," Rear Adm Daniel Hagari told journalists during a news briefing, in response to a question about whether Israel would fully occupy the territory. "The cabinet is also discussing what that could look like... this is also a global issue, what the situation will look like in this region."

The Gaza Strip is part of the Palestinian territories, along with the occupied West Bank.

Rushdi Abualouf
Reporting from Gaza

Image source, Reuters

I'm in Khan Younis down in the south - it's the area where Israel asked about 1.1 million people who live in Gaza City and the north to come.

What happened overnight was a very worrying sign for those people who evacuated. The local authority here said Israel killed more than 100 people in three air strikes. Most of them are refugees from the north.

Many people told me this morning they were planning on packing up their stuff and going back to their home. One person said he's been sleeping in the street for the last couple of days, and would prefer to die in dignity than to die from thirst.

This is a very serious situation down in Khan Younis, a city that was already overwhelmed. It now has to accommodate and feed 600,000 more people.

Some water was brought in this morning from a store in Gaza City, which was risky because there is no co-ordination with Israelis and there is no guarantee the trucks are not going to be targeted.

But people take the risks because the situation is at the edge of catastrophe.

Image source, Reuters

Overnight, Hamas released a video of a 21-year-old Israeli-French woman, Maya Shem, who said she was one of those taken hostage by militants at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel on 7 October and brought back to Gaza.

Her family has just held a news conference in Tel Aviv, where they called for her immediate release.

Holding up a photo of Maya, her mother Keren Shem said: “I’m begging the world to bring my baby back home. She only went to a party, to a festival party, to have some fun. And now she’s in Gaza and she’s not the only one.

“There are many children who went to this party. There are babies and children and old people, Holocaust survivors, who were kidnapped. Their houses were burned.

“This is a crime against humanity and we should all gather and stop this terror, and bring everybody back home.”

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron also demanded Maya’s release and condemned Hamas for posting the video of her, saying it was “an ignominy to take innocent people hostage and put them on show in this odious way”.

Jessica Parker
Berlin correspondent

Image source, EPA

Jordan, which borders the West Bank and Israel and has a large Palestinian population, is watching the current conflict anxiously.

“The whole region is on the brink of falling into the abyss,” Jordan’s King Abdullah II warns on a visit to Berlin.

He’s been holding talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz before the German leader himself heads to Israel.

King Abdullah II, who has extensive powers as Jordan’s monarch, said the threat of the war expanding was “real”.

He also warned against trying to “push” Palestinian refugees into Egypt or Jordan. "That is a red line, because I think that is the plan by certain... usual suspects to try and create de facto issues on the ground.”

Image source, EPA

It's approaching midday in Israel and Gaza - if you're just joining us, or need a quick recap, here are the main things you need to know.

Biden in Israel: US President Joe Biden has confirmed he will visit Israel tomorrow, before going on to Jordan where he'll meet officials including Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas. The BBC's James Landale described it as a "significant" intervention.

Iran's warning: Iran's foreign minister has said Israel will not be allowed to act in the Gaza Strip without consequences - and warned of "pre-emptive action" in the coming hours.

Late-night strikes: More than 100 people were killed last night following strikes at homes in Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, local officials say. (Many Gaza residents have fled there after the Israeli government told them to move south.)

Many still in northern Gaza: In his daily update on the war, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus said around 600,000 people have so far fled northern Gaza - ahead of an expected ground offensive - but warned "a few hundred thousand" still remain. He urged them to do the "safe" thing and leave.

Gazan situation worsens: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is overwhelmed after moving its operations to a warehouse in southern Gaza, it has said. There have been hopes of opening Egypt’s Rafah crossing on Gaza’s southern border - to let lorry loads of aid in - but so far it hasn't happened.