More now from that video update from IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi.

He says Israel's objectives for the war "require a ground operation".

"In order to expose and destroy the enemy, there is no other way than to enter its territory with force," he says.

Halevi goes on to mention the hostages being held by Hamas - thought to be 229 - saying returning them is a "supreme national effort".

Halevi ends his statement saying: "We will win".

The Israel Defense Forces chief of general staff Herzi Halevi has delivered a four-minute video update where he has said that Israel is moving on to the next stage of the war.

"Our forces are currently operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip," he says, adding that they are being supported by "precise and heavy fire".

Halevi goes on to say that Israel's "best soldiers and commanders" are now in Gaza and that over the past few days, the IDF has "continued to target and eliminate commanders of the Hamas terrorist organisation".

Rushdi Abualouf
Reporting from Khan Younis, Gaza

We understand the the Indonesian Hospital in Bait Lahia was struck and out of service for some time during last night's air strikes. There were also strikes on roads near the Shifa hospital in Gaza city, the largest in the territory, according to people in the area.

Rushdi Abualouf
Reporting from Khan Younis, Gaza

There have been hundreds of Israeli air strikes since last night and throughout the day across the Gaza Strip.

We are in Khan Younis, in the south, where there were about 20 airstrikes today.

But shelling was most intense in the north, west and east of the Strip. We understand that tanks were as deep as 2km in the north-west of Gaza, close to the sea.

Communication has been very, very difficult for the last 24 hours. The two main mobile carriers and internet lines are not functioning. Those who have international sim cards and are close to the border can connect with the outside world using roaming and Israeli mobile networks.

One radio station still able to broadcast spoke to their correspondent in the north. He described what happened last night as the largest ever strikes targeting the area, saying it was "like an earthquake".

Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has posted on X , externalsaying he has ordered Israeli diplomats to leave Turkey after what he called the "harsh statements" from Istanbul.

As we reported in our previous post, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today called Israel’s strikes in Gaza a “massacre".

Victoria Craig
Reporting from Istanbul

To a passionate crowd in Istanbul, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called Israel’s strikes in Gaza a “massacre,” and said the nation’s western allies were “the main culprit” behind what he called war crimes by Israel.

"Israel, we will declare you as a war criminal to the world. We are preparing for this and we will introduce Israel to the world as a war criminal."

Erdogan has also continued his stance that he does not consider Hamas a "terrorist organisation". It is proscribed as such in the US, UK and elsewhere.

The president spoke from a large stage to what he said was a crowd of 1.5 million people .

Those in attendance waved both Turkish and Palestinian flags. The event, called the Great Palestine Rally, was held at the disused Ataturk Airport, where Erdogan has previously held such rallies.

On Saturday, he reiterated his criticism of the West and its refusal to as yet call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and called for unity in the Muslim world.

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

As Israel has relentlessly ratcheted up its military operation, its closest allies have signalled their continued support.

John Kirby, the national security spokesperson in the Biden White House, told CBS News Israel had “every right and responsibility to defend itself and take the fight to Hamas and its leaders” who he said were “sheltering behind civilians in Gaza,” words echoed this morning by the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

Kirby was explicit that the US would continue to make sure Israel had “the tools and capabilities” to prosecute its war against Hamas.

Both men said they were in favour of a “pause” for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.

But the fears for what’s happening to civilians in Gaza mean international responses are starting to diverge.

The UN General Assembly last night adopted a non-binding resolution calling for “an immediate, durable, and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.” 120 nations backed it, including countries like France, Spain, Ireland and Belgium.

The US and 13 other countries opposed the resolution which did not mention Hamas. Israel voiced outrage calling it “infamy”.

The vote has no legal force. But it’s a sign of the way views in the international community could polarise as the situation for civilians in Gaza worsens.

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from southern Lebanon

A shell has landed inside the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping mission (Unifil) in southern Lebanon, a UN spokesman says, amid rising tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border.

The shell did not explode, and no-one was hurt, but the base in Naqoura was damaged.

Unifil is working to verify the origin of the attack.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Israeli military have frequently exchanged fire along the border in the last three weeks.

Ashitha Nagesh
Community affairs correspondent

Lalah Ali Faten, from Manchester, has been relying on daily WhatsApp messages from her daughter Zaynab, who’s in Gaza.

The texts - however brief - had been providing some reassurance.

“She's never experienced anything like this before,” Lalah told me earlier this week. “She is quite distressed. But she’s putting on a brave face, especially when she speaks to us and sends us messages.”

But since we spoke, Israel launched its intense overnight bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Friday, and all communication lines - including mobile phone services and internet - went down.

Today, Lalah is constantly checking her phone. She's still not heard from Zaynab, who is sheltering near Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, with her husband. They had travelled to Gaza for a family wedding, arriving just two days before the war broke out.

The wedding never happened.

Image source, Lalah Abu Faten

The last few weeks have been unbearable for Lalah.

“I feel powerless. I feel as much as I can do, it's not enough,” she said.

Israeli media is reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with the representatives of the families of the 229 hostages being held by Hamas tonight, citing Netanyahu’s office.

Earlier today, Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant said that he would be meeting the families on Sunday.

Relatives of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas have held a vigil in Tel Aviv.

Tom Bateman
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

I’ve just managed to make contact with Shehab Younis, a photographer in Gaza who has posted on his Instagram using a very patchy mobile phone signal he’s picked up.

“Situation now is catastrophic,” Shehab tells me in a WhatsApp voice note after I tried repeatedly to call him but the line kept dropping out. “We have lost contact with people who have been targeted or injured”.

It appears people remain unable to call ambulances for those wounded in airstrikes after communications were cut to Gaza’s 2.5 million residents.

Shehab posted onto his social media this morning a video of a badly wounded man being rushed out of a building. The men are shouting out saying they need an ambulance. In the end they race the man into the back of a truck.

“When there is bombardment of houses, the situation has becomes really very hard because of the lack of communications, of internet services,” says Shehab.

“All this is negativity impacting a large number of medical facilities and public service buildings when there are bombings in their areas,” he says.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

We’ve just received a voice note from someone in the city of Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza.

“Last night suddenly all connection was lost… everything dropped,” he says.

“People were carrying their phones and trying to search for any connection. It was very, very weird.”

As he speaks, an explosion can be heard in the background.

“Now there is a strike. The situation is very dangerous. People here are very tense. People are searching for their families, their loved ones,” he tells us.

“I’m getting messages from people asking me to find their relatives. The situation is very tense.”

The Gaza resident tells us that people there are not receiving any information about what is happening in the north of the territory, which was hit hardest by Israel's overnight strikes. He is only able to reach us because he has an Israeli eSIM.

“Gaza is disconnected from the planet,” he says.

Earlier, we brought you photos from the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza, which has been heavily damaged by Israeli strikes.

We now have video from inside the camp. It shows smoke rising from some of the destroyed buildings as people try to clear the streets with the help of a heavy vehicle.

Israel's bombing of Gaza last night was its most intense yet - and was concentrated on the north. We do not yet know how many people died in the camps.

The camp, which is usually home to more than 90,000 people, has been hit several times in the past few weeks in Israel's retaliatory strikes, following Hamas's attack on 7 October.

As we've been reporting, a communications blackout across Gaza has made it difficult for civilians, aid agencies and journalists to contact the outside world, with some reports attributing the outage to Israeli authorities.

The BBC's Today programme asked Mark Regev, senior advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu, if cutting the lines was an acceptable practice.

“In military operations conducted by the British army, the American army often it is standard behaviour to disrupt the communications of your enemy," Regev said.

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".

He added that he was waiting for a "full briefing" from the IDF to be able to answer why lines were down.

Tom Symonds
Home affairs correspondent, reporting from Waterloo

Image source, PA Media

This very large demonstration is working its way through the Waterloo area of central London, with a very low-key police presence.

The Metropolitan Police says it will take a proactive approach to signs and chanting which could breach terrorism laws by supporting Hamas.

Some in the crowd are chanting “from the river to the sea”, referring to the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean - a chant Home Secretary Suella Braverman had previously urged police chiefs to consider interpreting as an "expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world". Israel and most Jewish groups agree.

The Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and other activists contest this, saying the slogan refers to “the right of all Palestinians to freedom, equality and justice”.

So far, I've seen no obvious signs calling for “jihad” - ahead of today's demonstrations, the Metropolitan Police had said officers would be expected to intervene if protesters used the word in chants.

Some have let off fireworks and flares, risking possible police attention, but the protest is peaceful and noisy.

• You can read more about the protest here

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant says the country's military has "shifted phases in the war" and that its operation will continue "until further notice".

"Tonight the earth in Gaza shook," he told Israeli television channel Kan 11.

"We attacked above the ground and under it. We attacked terrorist operatives from all levels everywhere. The directives to the forces are clear: the operation will continue until further notice."

About an hour ago, the Telegram account of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, said it had shelled Israeli vehicles in north-west Gaza.

This follows earlier comments from the Israeli military that troops and tanks had entered Gaza overnight and were "still in the field". The military has not said where exactly it entered Gaza.

We have not yet been able to verify the location of footage released by Israel's military earlier today, which it said showed its tanks and other vehicles inside Gaza. It said last night its ground troops were "expanding operations".

Image source, JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant will meet representatives of the families of people held hostage by Hamas tomorrow.

The meeting has been arranged after families of some of the 229 hostages appealed for a meeting with Gallant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the war cabinet over the safety of their loved ones.

Last night the families released a statement calling the intense bombing on Friday "the worst of all nights", due to the uncertainty of the safety of their loved ones during IDF strikes.

Speaking at a protest in Tel Aviv today, Noam Ben Nun, a friend of one of the hostages, said that everyone was afraid for the hostages: "We want to bring them back alive".

He added that people had been protesting in Tel Aviv for 21 days and "have had no communication from the government".

"No one is answering questions, no one is explaining anything, we are hopeless".

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

We’ve finally made contact with a journalist in Gaza City, who described the bombing overnight as “brutal”.

“We didn’t expect that we would see morning,” he said.

He added that there had been heavy bombing “in the streets, governmental buildings, open fields, the beach”.

“We are in the city centre, but more of the bombing was to the west and north. My house is there.”

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

The IDF has told the BBC a variety of methods has been used to relay its latest warning to the people of Gaza, including dropping leaflets from the air, radio, the internet and what are described as “additional methods we cannot elaborate about.”