Aaron David Miller, a former US State Department official specialising in the Middle East, says that Israel is operating under several constraints, including "their own indecision now with respect to the ambitiousness of their objectives".

For the past three weeks Israel has talked about ending Hamas's entire existence.

This has created a situation in which Hamas merely must continue to exist in order to have won the latest round of fighting in this decades-long conflict.

"All Hamas has to do is to survive this. All Hamas has to do is when the fighting is over is to demonstrate that it still operates in Gaza.

"And that's the dilemma that Israel has created for itself."

You can listen to more of Miller's analysis in the video below.

An update now from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which says it has hit more than 250 targets in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.

Posting on X, external, formerly Twitter, the IDF says the targets included tunnels, dozens of Hamas fighters and operational headquarters.

The IDF also says it killed Medkhat Mabasher, a Hamas commander in Khan Younis, accusing him of taking part in attacks on IDF forces and Israeli settlements.

The IDF goes on to say that an aircraft crashed in the Gaza Strip due to a technical malfunction, which it says is being investigated.

International leaders should do “everything within their power” to bring back hostages, Sharone Lifschitz, the daughter of two peace activists taken hostage by Hamas told the BBC.

"This is a world heritage site of atrocity, we need these people back home now," Lifschitz said. Her mother was freed earlier this week, but her father remains in captivity.

Asked whether Benjamin Netanyahu should negotiate more to help secure the release of the hostages, Lifschitz had a strong response.

"Everything should be done. These people were failed, these people had to fend for themselves for nine hours. There was no fighting in my Kibbutz because we were slaughtered and nobody came for nine hours,” Lifschitz said.

Bringing hostages back to their communities is “the absolute minimum,” Lifschitz added.

Asked what her hopes were for the future, Lifschitz said she hoped "things don't get worse."

"I hope that people can learn from my mum and her attitude to find a way to work toward something that is pro-life."

Sharone Lifschitz, the daughter of 85-year-old Yocheved Lifschitz who was taken hostage by Hamas from the Nir Oz Kibbutz on October 7 and released earlier this week, told the BBC her mother had her ups and downs but that she was strong and resilient.

She said her mother, a peace activist, told her "my heart is still in Gaza, with the people in those cellars" and that she was only starting to realise where she was and what had happened, which was all "too much to comprehend".

But she also says her mother wants to "bring hope" to the families of the other hostages, telling them that as hostages they were "looked after" and that their injuries were being tended to by medical personnel and that they were not being tortured.

Her mother's "phenomenal" positivity is what carried her through this ordeal, Lifschitz says.

Lifschitz's father, who is still being held captive by Hamas, spent his entire life in the peace camp she says.

"He fought for the possibility of both nations living peacefully side by side. He believed you do peace with your enemies," she says, adding she hopes he is okay and able to use his Arabic to speak to the people there and that he is medically treated.

Image source, EPA

Despite tough rhetoric, Israel still hesitant to launch ground offensivepublished at 10:37 British Summer Time 27 October 2023

10:37 BST 27 October 2023

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, in southern Israel

Image source, Reuters

There has been another incursion into Gaza by the Israeli army overnight.

For the past hour, where we are based in southern Israel - around 10km from Gaza, we have been able to hear heavy sounds of war, thundering across the sea.

The noise of heavy artillery or tank fire, Israeli war planes in the sky and a great pall of smoke drifting from Gaza's direction is a testimony to what is going on there this morning.

Historically, the impulse of the Israelis - their military philosophy - is to dive in, deal with things as they arise, move fast and break things.

But this time there is hesitation. That’s partly down to the character of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, despite his tough rhetoric, has never led Israel into war.

He has always been very cautious and worried about fallout - and he fears he might face political oblivion, especially if military action goes badly wrong.

Netanyahu is already on trial for serious corruption charges, which could even land him in jail, so there is a self-preservation factor in his head, and that will feed into his habitual sense of self-preservation.

In addition, there are the 229 hostages complicating matters.

Israelis have had time to think about it - and with very strong voices from the families and others saying troops shouldn’t be going into Gaza and putting them at risk, that is undoubtedly a factor in delaying the ground offensive.

Tom Bateman
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

I’ve just been at the news conference, held by UNRWA (the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees) boss Philippe Lazzarini, which we covered in our last few posts.

Among other things, he said the UN desperately wants to see fuel flowing into Gaza to power basic services. Israel, though, has claimed that Hamas has stolen fuel from UNRWA and holds up to 500,000 litres of supplies. The Israeli army said earlier this week that UNRWA should “ask Hamas if you can have some".

I pushed Lazzarini on whether this is true. He said he had read media reports about Hamas having up to six weeks' worth of fuel but said he had "absolutely no idea" about it. "I don't know what Hamas has or doesn't have in Gaza," he told me.

He said that, within Gaza, there are fuel reserves of up to 400,000 litres in a depot that remains from a previous deal between Qatar and Israel to bring fuel into the territory (from before this conflict began on 7 October).

Lazzarini said to get access to the fuel, UNRWA needs “deconfliction” agreements with Israel - meaning the UN needs a guarantee from the Israelis that the area is safe for its staff and would not be bombed. He said over the last few days, UNRWA was able to retrieve “some fuel” from this store following such an agreement. But he suggested more remained and it was up to Israel to agree access.

Asked again if Hamas had stolen UN fuel, Lazzarini simply said “no”.

Following his statement to the press, the commissioner general for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, is asked about the casualty numbers in Gaza, and whether the numbers shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry are credible.

He explains that in the past figures coming from the Gaza Strip were considered credible and "no one ever really challenged these figures".

Lazzarini explains that a correlation made by the UN compared the number of staff they have in Gaza and the number of staff killed within the population, and the total population.

Their analysis concluded, he adds, that "we have more or less the same percentage".

On Wednesday, President Biden said he had "no confidence" in the figures released by the Gaza officials.

In the closing remarks of his statement to the press, Lazzarini says at least 57 of his UNRWA colleagues have been killed in Gaza.

"These are mothers and fathers" who had "dedicated themselves" to Gaza, he says.

Lazzarini goes on to tell the story of one colleague who was killed in a strike while going to the bakery to buy bread.

"He left six children behind," he adds.

"My colleagues are the face of humanity during what I would describe as one of the darkest hours," Lazzarini says. "People are turning their despair to UNRWA."

In the face of shortages, Lazzarini says he is unsure how long UNRWA "can last", but adds it is "certainly no more than a few days".

Lazzarini continued with a plea for more aid to be allowed into Gaza.

"Gaza is being strangled" and its people "feel shunned, alienated and abandoned", he told the press.

Lazzarini said that despite there being intense negotiations to open new humanitarian supply lines, only a "handful of aid convoys" have been allowed in.

"Many of us saw in these trucks a glimmer of hope," but they were "a distraction - nothing more than crumbs", he adds.

He says the current system is "geared to fail" and to succeed a humanitarian ceasefire is needed.

"This should not be too much to ask," Lazzerini said.

It "pains me that humanitarian aid is constantly questioned while despair is livestreamed," he adds.

"UNRWA does not and will not divert any humanitarian aid into the wrong hands."

Image source, UNRWA

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of UNRWA (the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees), has just given a press conference, where he spoke about the situation on the ground in Gaza and the urgent need for more humanitarian aid to be let into the territory.

"As we speak, people in Gaza are dying, basic services are crumbling," he tells the journalists present. He adds that food and water are running out, while the streets have started "overflowing with sewage".

"Gaza is on the brink of a massive health hazard and the risk of diseases are looming," Lazzarini says.

"A few days ago, I warned that we would not be able to continue our humanitarian operation if we do not get fuel supplies. My warning still stands."

He says in the last few days UNWRA has "drastically limited" its consumption of fuel.

"But this came at a cost. Our team had to make tough decisions that no humanitarian workers should do."

Image source, EPA

A negotiator who worked to secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity in 2011 has told the BBC that there was 'still hope' for a resolution to the hostage crisis while the invasion has not begun.

"I’m trying to put together the pieces that could be a ceasefire and the release of the women, the children, the aged, wounded and the sick as soon as possible," said Gershon Baskin, the Middle East director of the International Communities Organisation, an NGO dedicated to the protection of human rights.

He told Newsday that people "shouldn't be held as hostages - it's against Islam, it's against the Quran - it's supposed to be against what they [Hamas] believe in".

Baskin believes the Israeli government would agree to a ceasefire in exchange for the release of those held “as long as it doesn’t include other things".

But Hamas, proscribed a terrorist organisation in the UK, US and the EU, as well as other countries, "keeps changing what they’re demanding", said Baskin.

He says there is "still hope" for a resolution to the hostage crisis while the ground invasion has not begun.

"The fact that Israel is waiting means that they’re exhausting every possibility to find a solution to at least get the civilian hostages out of Gaza before the massive amount of troops and tanks and artillery goes into Gaza. And that's a positive sign.”

The number of people that Israel believes are being held by Hamas, in Gaza, has been updated a few times since they were captured on 7 October - the same has happened this morning.

Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), says the estimated figure is now 229.

As we said in our earlier post, four hostages have been released by Hamas so far.

You can read more about the people kidnapped by Hamas here.

Image source, .

The US state department spokesperson has told the BBC that the US does not support a ceasefire that would allow Hamas to "rest and refit, and continue launching terrorist operations against Israel".

Matthew Miller added that in addition to 7 October attacks on Israel, "Hamas has launched rockets every day, they launch rockets today, they launched them yesterday, targeting innocent civilians in Israel".

"We would be opposed to any kind of ceasefire that would allow them to continue those operations", he added.

"I would say we do support and do think that the parties ought to consider humanitarian pauses that would allow the delivery of aid. So we worked very hard to open Rafah gate in southern Gaza," Miller added, referencing the agreement brokered by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a visit to Israel last week.

When asked about reports that around 50 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza had been killed during the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Miller refused to confirm if any US citizens were among the hostages allegedly killed.

The BBC is unable to independently verify Hamas's claims about hostage deaths.

"We don't know status of hostages on the ground," Miller told the BBC, adding that Qatar had done "important work" to secure release of two Americans this week.

A member of a Hamas delegation visiting Moscow says hostages taken from Israel, during Hamas's surprise attack on on 7 October, can't be freed until a ceasefire is agreed, local media reports.

Russian newspaper Kommersant cites Abu Hamid as saying Hamas needed time to locate all of those who had been seized.

"They seized dozens of people, most of them civilians, and we need time to find them in the Gaza Strip and then release them," Hamid is quoted as saying.

So far four hostages have been released by Hamas - all for so-called "humanitarian reasons". Mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan were the first to be freed, on 20 October, followed by 85-year-old Yocheved Lifschitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper on Monday.

Frank Gardner
BBC News, Security Correspondent

The US is at great pains to say that the overnight action in eastern Syria is not in connection with what is going on in Gaza, that it was not done in any coordination with Israel, and it is a completely separate action of self-defence.

The remote US base on the border between Syria and Iraq has been attacked 19 times in the last few days by Iranian-backed militias, the Pentagon says.

It is trying to distance its action, carried out by a pair of F-16 US air force fighters hitting ammunition depots used by Iranian-backed militias, and tell Iran to back off.

Despite what the Pentagon says, it will be seen as connected and part of US actions in the region that are seen as supportive of Israel. What we don't yet know is whether there are any casualties.

The US is already perceived in much of the Arab world as a close ally of Israel, so US bases are on quite a high alert.

One of the reasons why the US has asked Israel to pause any ground incursion into Gaza is because it needs a bit more time to get its air defences into bases, in anticipation of any Iranian-backed militia attacks.

The US has several air bases in the Middle East, in pretty much all the Gulf States, and those are on quite a heightened state of alert expecting these attacks by proxies. There are quite a lot of moving parts here.

A British-Israeli journalist tells the BBC that if elections in Israel had been held on the eve of the war, Netanyahu would have been voted out.

Anshel Pfeffer has been speaking to the Today programme about the state of Israeli politics prior to the war.

Asked about corruption charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pfeffer says they have been going on for "five or six years" and Israelis went on to re-elect Netanyahu.

But one factor weakening public support for the prime minister, Pfeffer explains, has been his government's decision to weaken the powers of Israel's supreme court - which led to protests during most of 2023, with many taking place "until just a few weeks ago".

On Thursday, families of Israelis being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza held a protest demanding their government do more to bring their loved ones home.

Good morning from the team in London as we take over the live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. If you are just joining us now, here are the latest lines:

• The Israeli military said it had killed a senior Hamas commander, who helped plan the 7 October attacks
• The IDF also said it struck dozens of Hamas targets in the past 24 hours, as it conducted targeted raids in the central area of the Gaza Strip
• UN shelters in Gaza are now at three times their intended capacity, the UNRWA said as the UN's humanitarian chief warned that aid "is barely trickling in"
• The US said it struck two facilities in eastern Syria, claiming they were used by Iranian forces and affiliated groups but stressed the strikes were "separate and distinct" from the conflict in Gaza and there had been no coordination with Israel
• The US also took the rare step of sending Iran's Supreme Leader a direct message, after US troops in the region were attacked at least 16 times in the past week
• EU leaders agreed to call for "humanitarian corridors and pauses" to get urgently needed aid into Gaza
• The UN General Assembly will vote on Friday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The draft resolution calls for unrestricted humanitarian aid and compliance with international humanitarian law

Wire news agencies have just filed these pictures showing injured people rushed to a hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.

These come amid reports of another round of overnight Israeli airstrikes on the city.

The Israeli military had called on civilians to flee the north of the Strip to the south for their safety. But airstrikes and raids have continued throughout the enclave, including the south.

Warning: Some readers may find the following images distressing.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

In the past 24 hours Israeli forces conducted targeted raids in the central area of the Gaza Strip and struck dozens of Hamas targets, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement , externalposted just a few minutes ago.

Ground forces accompanied by fighter jets and drones struck targets in the Shuja'iyya area. Other sites throughout the Gaza Strip were also hit, the statement said.

The targets included anti-tank missile launch sites, military command and control centres, as well as Hamas fighters, said the IDF.

It added that troops exited the area at the end of the activity and no Israeli injuries were reported.

Image source, Getty Images

Back on the ground in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says about 629,000 refugees are now sheltering in 150 UN sites across the Gaza Strip.

This means these shelters have reached nearly three times their intended capacity.

"The current overcrowding conditions remain of concern and represent a health and protection risk," the agency said in a recent update.

It also said three schools in Gaza sustained damage from nearby airstrikes. One person was killed and another 15 were injured.

One more UNRWA staff member was also killed, bringing their staff's death toll to 39 since the conflict began.

More than 5,000 Gazans who had been living in Israel have since been relocated to the West Bank and are also facing food security, shelter, and cash assistance needs, the aid agency added.