Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari has issued an "urgent plea" to the citizens of northern Gaza and Gaza city to move south "immediately".

In a post on X, external, Hagari says they will be able to return to their homes when once the "intense hostilities end".

He adds that Hamas puts their lives in danger by placing weapons in civilian areas, and that Israel will not forget the group's brutal 7 October attacks.

"Your window to act is closing," Hagari warns. "Move south for your own safety."

Image source, .

Gaza is a small strip of land surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Israel and Egypt. It has a population of around 2.3 million people and is one of the most densely populated places in the world.

Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 war and stayed until 2005.

Hamas won the Palestinians' last elections in 2006, and seized control of Gaza the following year by ousting the rival Fatah movement of West Bank-based President Mahmoud Abbas.

Since 2007, Gaza has been under the control of Hamas, an Islamist group committed to the destruction of Israel.

Hamas have fought several wars with Israel, which along with Egypt has maintained a partial blockade on the strip to isolate Hamas and try to stop attacks, particularly the indiscriminate firing of rockets towards Israeli cities.

Palestinians in Gaza say Israel's restrictions and its air strikes on heavily populated areas amount to collective punishment.

Israel says Hamas has build a secret labyrinth of tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip which it uses to fire rockets at Israel and plan operations.

To learn more about life in Gaza under siege, click here.

Image source, .

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting from southern Israel

I’m in Sderot, the Israeli border town overlooking Gaza. Continuous heavy artillery fire into Gaza continues. The Israeli battery near here is firing several times a minute.

The town itself is almost deserted. Most civilians have either left or been evacuated. Israel’s army spokespeople say their operation continues, and they claim to have killed a leading Hamas commander.

Israel’s push on the ground is certain also to be killing Palestinian civilians.

The more Palestinians they kill the greater the outrage elsewhere in the Middle East, in countries friendly to Israel as well as its enemies.

That doesn’t guarantee the war will spread - but it increases volatility and uncertainty in a region that is already fragile.

More and more photos are beginning to come out of Gaza following Israel's intense overnight bombing.

The latest set of images come from Gaza City. This is in the north of the Strip - where Israel's overnight airstrikes were at a scale and intensity that people have “never seen before”, according to our reporter in Gaza.

These images, taken by a photographer by the AFP news agency, are from near the Al-Shati camp. They show destroyed buildings and huge piles of rubble, which some people are shown trying to clear.

In one image, which is too graphic to show here, a man carries the body of a toddler.

We want to reflect the gravity of this conflict, and its toll on civilians, while being sensitive about what you, the audience, are exposed to.

We do not know from these images when exactly the buildings shown were destroyed - the area has been targeted by Israeli strikes over the past few weeks.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Rushdi Abualouf
Reporting from Khan Younis, Gaza

Communications in Gaza are extremely difficult and getting any confirmation is extremely difficult. There are a lot of rumours and a lot of conflicting reporting from different sources.

But there are still some people who have Israeli mobile numbers who still communicate.

I managed to get some information from people in north, east and west – the four areas where Israel is expanding the operation. They said they were not aware of any Israeli tanks near the residential or the highly populated areas, so it is most likely the tanks are operating 1 or 1.5 km (0.6 - 0.9 miles) from the border.

But what people have noticed are the non-stop Israeli airstrikes. They said this was the first time ever they had seen explosions of this scale, with huge fires and clouds of black smoke in the sky.

I was listening to a local radio station, and someone said that what happened last night in Gaza was like “hell”.

Image source, Reuters

Let's take you briefly to central London where thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have begun gathering urging an end to Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Last weekend, 100,000 people took to the streets of the capital demanding an end to the bombing in Gaza, and police expect similar numbers again.

Rallies are expected in many UK cities, including Manchester and Glasgow.

The demos come as Israel expands its military operations, three weeks after Hamas launched deadly attacks on its territory.

• You can read more here

Latest figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry report that 7,703 people have been killed in Israel's attacks on Gaza since 7 October, including more than 3,500 children.

We are still unclear how many people were killed in the intense airstrikes last night.

Chris Partridge
BBC News weapons analyst

Image source, Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Air strikes continue to be the major part of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and there is no sign of that changing.

Overnight Israel's military said about 100 jets ‘dropped hundreds of weapons and destroyed hundreds of targets'.

The Israeli Air Force release frequent social media posts showing aircraft used in this war, mostly US-built F-16s (the jets Ukrainian pilots are currently being trained on) plus F-15C Eagles and F-15E Strike Eagles - all loaded with a variety of weapons.

These include precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) which are ‘regular’ free-fall bombs converted to smart weapons with a bolt-on kit that directs the bomb to target, mostly using GPS/INS navigation. These are accurate to within a few metres.

Image source, Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Generally, these types of weapons can be pre-loaded with target co-ordinates and each JDAM on the aircraft is capable of hitting a different target. So in one mission, four JDAMs from one jet could hit four different locations. Other forms of smart weapons are likely to be used too.

We have also seen jets with what looks like targeting pods loaded. These allow pilots to find or see new targets in flight - and direct the ‘smart’ weapons to them during the mission, if required.

The Israeli military never say what specific weapons are used on any particular target, but it is likely that the weapons on aircraft we see in pictures and videos released by the Israeli military are the weapons they use in strikes.

Lyse Doucet
Chief International Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The fate of more than two hundred hostages held by Hamas and other groups in Gaza was often cited as one of many possible factors delaying significant ground operations.

“Bringing the hostages home is a supreme national mission,” is how the IDF spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari put it in his latest briefing.

There’s now growing worry over the fate of Israelis and dozens of other nationalities, including elderly and babies.

“A deal to release all civilians looked close before talks stalled over certain details,” says a diplomat briefed on the highly sensitive talks being mediated by the Gulf state of Qatar where some of Hamas’s political leaders are based. Only four captives have been released so far.

In his briefing, Hagari called Hamas’s talks “cynical exploitation and psychological terrorism.”

Israel’s “Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum” says families are gathering this morning in “the context of the escalation of events” and the families’ “great concern and anxiety.”

Image source, EPA

It's 13:30 local time in Israel and Gaza, 11:30 here in London. Here's a quick recap of what has happened today:

• Israel says its troops and tanks remain on the ground in Gaza after launching a major incursion to fight Hamas overnight
• It also says Israel's airforce struck 150 underground targets striking what it describes as terror tunnels
• Communication networks in Gaza went down on Friday evening, resulting in a lack of information in and out of Gaza
• Reporting from Gaza a few hours ago, the BBC's Rushdi Abualouf said the overnight bombardment was "on a scale never seen before", causing chaos and panic
• We don't yet have any casualty figures, but footage shows the northern part of Gaza continuing to be hit
• The IDF's spokesman gave an update this morning to say troops remain "in the field"
• Daniel Hagari also said humanitarian lorries with food and aid would be delivered to people in southern areas of Gaza
• Elsewhere, the United Nations general assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for a humanitarian truce in Gaza

We're seeing images that were taken today in Rafah, right in the south of the Gaza Strip.

As our reporter on the ground, Rushdi Abualouf, told us earlier, the north of the Strip was hit hardest overnight, but Israeli airstrikes also hit the south of the territory.

The images from Rafah show people picking through the rubble of buildings and others carrying containers of water in the street.

It's worth noting that many buildings in Rafah were destroyed by previous airstrikes, so we can't be certain the buildings shown here were destroyed overnight.

They all come from a photographer on the ground working for the AFP news agency.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Lucy Williamson
Reporting from Sderot

The explosions hitting Gaza are almost constant — from the air and from heavy artillery positioned along the border to the Strip.

We can also hear bursts of machine-gun fire coming from the north of Gaza.

Television cameras are crowded onto the hill here outside the Israeli town of Sderot, less than a kilometre away.

Alongside the barrage of noise, there’s silence — an almost-total absence of information from inside Gaza.

The BBC’s Rushdi Abualouf, one of the only journalists still reporting from inside the territory, sent a despatch earlier describing the situation there as “total chaos”.

Israel's overnight airstrikes destroyed hundreds of buildings in Gaza, the civil defence service in the Hamas-run territory has told the AFP news agency.

"Thousands of other homes were damaged," a spokesman told AFP, adding that the intense bombardments had "changed the landscape" of northern Gaza.

We do not yet have any casualty figures from Gaza. Images taken this morning show widespread damage in the north of the Strip, which has been regularly hit by Israeli airstrikes since Hamas's attack on Israel three weeks ago.

Image source, EPA

Northern Gaza and Gaza City are facing the brunt of the Israeli bombardment, Rushdi Abualouf, our correspondent in Gaza, reports.

A local radio station that is still functioning reported massive explosions in four areas in the north, he says, with callers saying they are at a scale and intensity that people have “never seen before”.

Speaking to us from Khan Younis in the south, Rushdi says there is no communication with even local authorities and hospitals, so there is no new figure on the number of casualties.

People are extremely worried, he adds, of what will happen when Israel begins the next stage of it's ground offensive.

Israel's devastating bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's horrific attack on Israel on 7 October.

On that Saturday three weeks ago, more than a thousand Hamas fighters broke through Israel's security fence separating it from the Gaza Strip and went on a rampage, killing 1,400 people.

Hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist group in the UK, the US and other countries, first fired a barrage of thousands of rockets towards Israel. That coincided with incursions into the country - many of Hamas fighters flew hang-gliders or motorised paragliders.

They then proceeded to kill hundreds of people in Israel, rampaging through various communities in the south of Israel, including a music festival where they killed around 260 people.

The fighters also kidnapped more than 200 people who were taken into Gaza. 229 are currently being held hostage in the Gaza Strip, only four have been released so far.

We are still unclear about how many Palestinians were killed in Israel's intense overnight bombardment of the Gaza Strip. We will bring you information as soon as we get it.

Communications in Gaza have been almost impossible since networks went down on Friday, which means it is difficult to get concrete, accurate information out of the Strip.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier, we heard from the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari who gave the media an update.

Let's quickly recap the key takeaways from his briefing:

• He confirmed IDF forces entered the territory of the northern Gaza Strip and expanded the ground activity with significant attacks from the air and sea
• Hamas commanders were killed - including one Hagari said had been a "major participant" in the 7 October massacre
• Israeli troops are "still in the field and continue the war", he said adding there had been no casualties to the IDF military
• Humanitarian efforts into Gaza would also be expanded today with more supplies of food, water, medicine allowed in today, Hagari said
• Elsewhere, in the north of Israel, Hagari explained forces attacked a Hezbollah military infrastructure in response to fire aimed at Israel
• So far the military has notified the families of "311 IDF fallen soldiers and 229 hostages", Hagari said
• Returning hostages home remains a "supreme national effort"

Our correspondent in Gaza, Rushdi Abualouf, was finally able to get through to us, and reports that all communication lines - including cell phone services and internet - have been cut by Israeli authorities.

Speaking to us from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, he says there is a "state of panic, fear and chaos" as Israeli airstrikes continue around the city, even though it is meant to be a safe southern part of the besieged enclave.

Palestinians are cut off from the outside world and are also "unable to communicate with each other", he says.

The families of hostages being held in Gaza say they spent a night in "great anxiety", as Israel intensified its bombing of the Strip.

In a statement released this morning, the families are calling on the Israeli defence minister and members of the war cabinet to meet with them immediately.

"This night was the most terrible of all nights. It was a long and sleepless night, against the backdrop of the major IDF operation in the Strip, and absolute uncertainty regarding the fate of the hostages held there, who were also subject to the heavy bombings," the statement reads.

The statement adds that the ground operation endangers the well-being of the 229 hostages in Gaza.

It continues:

Earlier this morning, IDF spokesman said that returning hostages home was "a supreme national effort. And all our activities, operational, intelligence, are aimed at realising the goal".

You can read more about the hostages, and who they are, here.

Is this a ground offensive? We shouldn't get too hung up on definitionspublished at 09:39 British Summer Time 28 October 2023

09:39 BST 28 October 2023

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor, reporting from southern Israel

Image source, Getty Images

The bombardment is very focused on the north. The Gaza Strip is only about 28 miles long, so you can hear the extent of the explosions for miles around and certainly throughout the area.

As I understand it, the Israeli army is still in there this morning, most likely attempting to clear out tunnels, probably with special forces spotting targets for those air force attacks.

Tanks can be more vulnerable in daylight so they may pull some of those back. But, so as far we can tell it’s still going on.

Is it a ground offensive? I don’t think we should get too hung up on definitions of all of this.

When we saw the military build-up, the mobilisation of over 300,000 reservists, we thought we would be seeing an all fronts invasion of Gaza.

I think what they may be doing though, is clearing areas of Gaza slice by slice. I felt from the tone of comments from the Israeli army last night their emphasis was that they would continue pushing, and that this was about "payback".

I think you could call this a very extended raid, or the ground offensive. But it’s certainly a very large military operation.