It's just gone 9.30 in Israel and Gaza. Here's a recap of the latest lines if you are just joining us:

• Phone and internet connectivity is being restored in Gaza after an outage that lasted for more than 24 hours.
• Israel's military operations in Gaza continued overnight, while Palestinian armed factions in Gaza fired more rockets into Israel
• Netanyahu said in a televised address on Saturday that additional Israeli ground forces had gone into what he called "that stronghold of evil" - referring to Gaza - adding that commanders were now deployed "all over the Gaza Strip"
• He said that recovering the hostages was an "integral" part of the military's goals but that its top priority was to "abolish" Hamas
• The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for an immediate de-escalation of the conflict, deploring the loss of life and what it said was an "intolerable level of suffering"

• Israel has been bombing Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people and saw 229 people kidnapped as hostages. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,000 people have been killed by Israel's retaliatory attacks

Three Palestinians were killed overnight by Israeli forces in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Violence in the Israeli-occupied territory has surged since Hamas's deadly attacks on 7 October and Israel's retaliation in Gaza.

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in recent weeks by Israeli forces or settlers. On Saturday, a 40-year-old man was shot and killed by an Israeli settler in a village near the city of Nablus, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Facebook, external.

Yolande Knell
Reporting from Jerusalem

Details of what happened overnight are still pretty sketchy when it comes to Israel’s military operation and the effects that it had on the ground, but we did see some large explosions from Israeli airstrikes over Gaza.

We do know there were rockets fired overnight and early this morning into southern Israel by Palestinian armed factions in Gaza.

What should help to make things clearer now is that we’re hearing more and more, that after that day-and-a-half of near-total blackout on communications in Gaza, that the internet and telephone services are coming back.

The outage had led to warnings from international human rights groups about what its effects could be on the ground – aid agencies couldn’t reach their staff, you had ambulance workers who couldn’t respond to emergencies, and ordinary people who couldn’t get in touch with their loved ones and check that they’re still alive.

Yesterday Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was saying very much that this was going to be a long and difficult war, that it’s now in a new phase - the second phase - and he’s expecting that there will be more ground, air and sea operations. He cast this very much as a war for Israel’s survival, for its existence, and said that Israel would be victorious in the end.

While connectivity is being restored across Gaza, people are still struggling to reach their loved ones in the Strip.

Jehad Abusalim, a Palestinian PhD student in New York, told the BBC he had not been able to reach his parents and brothers in Gaza since communications went down in the enclave on Friday evening.

"The deafening silence at the end of every phone call and every text message is definitely scary," Abusalim said.

"Every minute that passes, not knowing if they're dead or alive, if they're well or unwell, if they're home or had to evacuate or go somewhere else. It's just painful," he added.

The world "has been witnessing the mass destruction of the Gaza Strip and the killing of thousands of civilians," said Abusalim, who is also executive director of The Jerusalem Fund, an NGO supporting Palestinians.

"What we have witnessed so far has been so brutal, so bloody and so destructive. Hearing that there will be a new phase of that is just so terrifying, and it should push everyone to push for a ceasefire before it's too late," he said.

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

I woke up about half an hour ago at 06:45 local time (04:45 GMT) in my hotel in Ashkelon, the town in southern Israel that is about 10km from the nearest part of Gaza.

From my windows I can see the streets are empty. Many, if not most of the residents have left.

A continuous drumbeat of heavy shelling is coming from Israeli artillery batteries firing on Gaza and has not stopped since I woke up. I just counted six deep rumbles in a minute.

Image source, Reuters

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi says Israel's moves have "crossed the red lines, which may force everyone to take action".

Writing on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Raisi added, external: "Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel. The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield."

The "axis of resistance" refers to a network of Iran-backed forces across the Middle East, of which Hamas is a part.

US authorities have been warning Iran to stay out of the Israel-Hamas war as they are keen to stop a wider regional conflict.

The Hezbollah group, which is based in Lebanon and also supported by Iran, has been exchanging fire with Israel in recent weeks,

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

The Israeli military has posted images showing its soldiers preparing for ground activity in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address on Saturday that Israel has entered into the second stage of its war with Hamas, and has deployed soldiers and commanders "all over" the Gaza Strip.

He says "this will be a long and difficult war", adding: "We will win. We will prevail."

"We will fight and we will not surrender. We will not withdraw. Overground and underground," he added.

The photos appeared on the Israel Defense Forces' official account on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

Landline, mobile, and internet services are gradually being restored in the Gaza Strip, the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel) said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Our technical teams are diligently addressing the damage to the internal network infrastructure under challenging conditions," the main Palestinian telecom provider added.

This follows earlier reports from Palestinian media agencies, as well as the Internet monitoring group NetBlocks

Image source, Getty Images

It's just past 6am in Israel and Gaza. As the Israel-Hamas war enters its 24th day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that this next stage of war will be "long and difficult".

Here's what else we have been covering:

• Phone and internet connectivity is being restored in Gaza. Communication networks went down on Friday evening, leaving it almost entirely cut off from the outside world amid the heaviest airstrikes of the war so far
• Netanyahu said in a televised address that additional Israeli ground forces have gone into what he called "that stronghold of evil" - referring to Gaza - adding that commanders are now deployed "all over the Gaza Strip"
• He said that recovering the hostages was an "integral" part of the military's goals but that its top priority is to "abolish" Hamas
• The Israel Defense Forces said Egypt and the United States "will be expanding" aid to Gaza on Sunday, but did not elaborate. Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross has called for an immediate de-escalation of the conflict, deploring the loss of life and what it said was an intolerable level of suffering
• Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of war crimes. Netanyahu responded by pulling diplomats out of the country
• Israel has been bombing Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people and saw 229 people kidnapped as hostages. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,000 people have been killed by Israel's retaliatory attacks

Image source, Getty Images

Israel is probably looking at a long and slow invasion of Gaza that could unfold over weeks, or even months, Shashank Joshi, defence editor at The Economist, told the BBC's Newshour programme.

While Israel's extensive aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip will make it "somewhat easier" for troops on the ground to fight, they themselves will encounter some difficulty navigating amid the devastation, he said.

"When you turn large neighborhoods to rubble as the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has done, you also make it difficult for your own vehicles to maneuver over streets," he said.

The vast network of underground tunnels that Hamas uses for its operations are also "very difficult" obstacles, Joshi said, as the presence of Israeli troops and hostages held inside the tunnels make them "very vulnerable to ambush and attack".

He added that the cutting off of communications in Gaza could be a tactic that forces Hamas fighters to rely more on radio communication or other systems that the IDF can intercept.

Real-time network data shows that internet connectivity is being restored in the Gaza Strip, Internet monitoring group NetBlocks, external said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Some journalists in Gaza also tweeted that they were able to make phone calls and access social media.

Communication networks in Gaza went down on Friday evening, leaving it almost entirely cut off from the outside world as Israel announced it had begun the second stage of a "long and difficult war with Hamas".

On Saturday, senior advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu Mark Regev told the BBC's Today programme that it was "standard behaviour" to disrupt the communications of the enemy.

Asked directly by the BBC if Israel had deliberately cut the communications to Gaza, Regev replied: "I didn't say that. I just said that it is normal practise for Western, democratic armies to do".

The Israeli ground operation in Gaza that began yesterday has complicated efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, the Qatar government has said.

“This escalation makes it considerably more difficult,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.

Israel Pime Minister Benjamin Netanyau earlier said that there was “no contradiction” between militarily defeating Hamas and bringing the hostages home.

Israel has confirmed that 229 people have been taken as hostages by Hamas.

Telephone and internet communications are gradually being restored in the Gaza Strip, reported the Safa press agency and the Hamas-affiliated Shehab news agency.

Hadas Calderon, whose two children and ex-husband were taken by Hamas on 7 October, is pleading with Israeli authorities to make the safe return of hostages their top priority.

"Our children's lives are in their hands. I am asking them not to forget our children. They must make a ceasefire and [agree to a] prisoner exchange," she told BBC Newshour from Tel Aviv.

Calderon was among hundreds of people who gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand the release of their relatives who have been taken hostage.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his military's top priority is to "completely eliminate" the Hamas group although he said speaking to the families of the hostages broke his heart.

Calderon also appealed to Hamas.

"I am begging them, take care of our children and make sure they are safe... They are innocent. This is not their war."

Her son had turned 12 after his abduction and Calderon said the family held a "surrealistic" birthday party without him.

"We [bought] a big bike because he loves to mountain bike... That's still waiting for him to come and pick it. I want him and I want my girl, my sweet girl, and their father also - I want them back. And immediately."

Egypt and the United States "will be expanding" humanitarian aid to Gaza on Sunday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said today in a video statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.

He did not elaborate further.

In the same video, Hagari accused Hamas of firing from among Gazan civilians and using them as "human shields".

"Hamas terrorists operate inside and under civilian buildings, precisely because they know the IDF distinguishes between terrorists and civilians," he added.

Relatives of people taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October have called for their return after meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier.

Image source, Getty Images

We've entered the early hours of Sunday morning in Israel and Gaza. Here's a re-cap for those just joining us:

• Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country's ground operation in Gaza marks the "second stage" of what he says will be a "long and difficult" war with Hamas
• In a televised address, he said that additional Israeli ground forces have gone into what he called "that stronghold of evil" - meaning Gaza - stating that commanders are deployed "all over the Gaza Strip"
• Netanyahu met families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas, who have expressed concern about the intensifying attacks on Gaza
• He said said that recovering the hostages was an "integral" part of the military's goals

• Leaflets have been dropped over Gaza City warning residents the area is now a "battlefield" and they must leave for the south
• Civilians in Gaza remain cut off from the outside world because phone lines and the internet are down for most people
• Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of war crimes. Netanyahu responded angrily by pulling out diplomats of the country and saying the Israel Defense Forces were a "moral army"
• Israel has been bombing Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people and saw 229 people kidnapped as hostages
• The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,000 people have been killed since Israel's retaliatory bombing began

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the death toll in the territory has now passed 8,000.

Israel has been bombing Gaza following the 7 October Hamas attack that killed 1,400 people and saw 229 people kidnapped as hostages.

Multiple explosions could be seen in Gaza from southern Israel on Saturday night after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said his country's ground operation marked the "second stage" of a "long and difficult" war with Hamas.

Civilians in Gaza remain cut off from the outside world, with phone lines and internet down for most people.