Image source, Getty Images

We told you earlier about Asmaa, whose 10-year-old son Firas has cancer and is struggling to receive healthcare in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

She also told us that both from northern Gaza and eastern parts of Rafah, a lot of families have fled to the refugee camps, including some of her family.

"From my family, my parents, my brothers’ wives, my sister and her children, my neighbours, our friends, all those who have gone to refugee camps tell me the living conditions in the camps are horrible."

She gives some details: "They tell me that the water is dirty. It’s not suitable for drinking. Not even suitable for bathing or washing. Some drank the water and got sick from drinking it."

Asmaa also says that food is very limited in the camps, and that each person is given one or two pieces of pita bread, and all the food provided is very old, some of it infested with worms.

Since the people in the camps cannot take a bath or wash their clothes, hygiene problems cause illnesses and skin conditions affecting the hair and body like eczema and itching, Asmaa says.

US President Joe Biden has said the US "stands ready to take further action" following attacks by Iran-linked groups against US forces in Iraq and Syria.

Biden's comments in a letter , externalto House Speaker Mike Johnson came after US fighter jets carried out air strikes in eastern Syria this week.

Earlier, Johnson posted on X, external, formerly known as Twitter, that he had spoken to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone.

"The House of Representatives stands with Israel and I reaffirmed our strong support," he posted.

Image source, Mike Johnson/X

Nadia Ragozhina
Live reporter

Image source, Courtesy of Elinor Shahar

Iris Haim's son Yotam is missing, believed to be held in Gaza.

Speaking on the phone from Tel Aviv, she tells me the last time she heard from him was at 10.44 on the morning of 7 October when Kibbutz Kfar Aza was attacked by Hamas.

The attack had started earlier that morning, and both mother and son had been hiding in their home shelters, in touch throughout the morning.

After the last message, the connection was lost.

"We were waiting for the gunfire to stop so we could come and take him to our house. At some point he told us that there were Hamas terrorists in the kibbutz.

"He was scared, he didn't know what to do. We tried to contact the army, the police. We didn't know that the whole area was under attack, there were thousands of Hamas terrorists who had succeeded in reaching the area."

Her voice strong and composed despite her intense worry for her son, Iris says that the country changed after the terrible day of the attacks almost three weeks ago.

"We understand that there's no country for Israel except Israel. We must be strong together, do everything together, not fight each other. All the problems with the government, the demonstrations, we put it behind us," she says referring to months of protests against Prime Minister Netanyahu's plans to limit the powers of the Supreme Court.

"I have so much support from the government, the people, the army. It's a pity we needed to have the terror attack for the change. But the change has happened."

Talking about her son, she tells me that she believes that he is well and hopes that he is using his good humour to deal with the situation and help other people.

"He is young, he is strong. I want to believe that he's doing well."

Patrick Jackson
BBC News

Image source, AFP

If you are just joining us, it is now three weeks since Hamas's surprise attack on Israel, in which they killed 1,400 people and abducted more than 200.

In recent hours, there has been a significant intensification of Israeli air strikes over Gaza, with bright flashes and huge explosions lighting up the night sky above the territory controlled by Hamas.

This comes after the Israeli army said that it was expanding its ground operations.

A spokesman for the Israeli government, Eylon Levy, refused to confirm that this heralded the start of a much anticipated ground offensive against Hamas, saying only that he would not comment on operational matters.

The armed wing of Hamas has said it is involved in violent confrontations with Israeli forces in northern and central Gaza. There has also been rocket fire from the territory into southern Israel.

Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are enduring another anxious night in Gaza, at risk from the fighting and the huge, ongoing disruption to food and other essential supplies, as the reported death toll in the Strip passes 7,000.

Image source, EPA

Americans have been urged by their government to leave neighbouring Lebanon - while commercial flights are still available - "due to the unpredictable security situation".

Exchanges of gunfire between Israeli forces and the powerful Lebanese Shia Muslim militia Hezbollah have been escalating day by day.

Israel has deployed troops and armour to the border and taken the precaution of evacuating tens of thousands of civilians from vulnerable communities.

In its post on X, external, the US state department adds: "There is no guarantee the US government will evacuate private US citizens and their family members in a crisis situation."

Image source, Getty Images

The "near-total telecoms blackout" in Gaza could create a cover for "mass atrocities", a senior research at non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch has warned.

"This information blackout risks providing cover for mass atrocities and contributing to impunity for human rights violations," senior technology and human rights researcher Deborah Brown said in a statement posted online, external.

Earlier the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also stressed the need for communications to be restored to Gaza, saying the world was "losing a window into the reality” of the conflict.

The lack of information coming out of the Strip “can be filled with deadly propaganda, dis- and misinformation", the organisation added.

The CPJ statement, external adds that at least 29 journalists have died have died so far while covering the fighting that broke out after the Hamas 7 October attack.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York City

Image source, Getty

Protesters have filled the iconic Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, forcing the closure of one of the busiest train stations in the US.

The Jewish Voice for Peace, a fringe group which advocates for Palestinians, said it was holding an "emergency sit-in" and was demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the terminal, which has some 750,000 visitors every day, was closed until further notice.

New York Police Department told BBC News it did not yet have information on how many arrests had been made or when the terminal would re-open.

Images taken inside the terminal show people being handcuffed by police and led away from the main concourse.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Supplied

Asmaa, whose 10-year-old son Firas has Ewing's Sarcoma cancer, lives in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. Soon after the war began nearly three weeks ago, they sought refuge at a school run by the UN agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), like thousands of other people.

They were forced to return to Rafah because of Firas's compromised immune system. Asmaa has detailed the difficulties and disappointments she's faced trying to secure the medicine and treatment he urgently needs.

Earlier this week, Firas was scheduled to receive a dose of treatment at Gaza’s European Hospital. But the facility has been suffering from a dwindling supply of medical equipment and consumables, and was unable to treat him. “I can see him deteriorating in front my eyes,” Asmaa tells the BBC.

Although treatment may be available in other hospitals in Gaza, Asmaa and Firas are unable to reach them: “We don’t know what to do. I live in Rafah. It’s difficult for us to go to Gaza City [for treatment] because of the strikes on cars. Even civilian cars are bombarded. Even ambulances.”

Israel has cut off electricity to Gaza and is not letting fuel be delivered. This poses a major problem for Asmaa: “Some of my son’s medicine at home has been ruined, because we can’t store or preserve it. I try to preserve his medicine as much as I can.

"There’s someone who has solar panels. We try to keep the medicine at their place. But, it’s far from us. And it’s dangerous to get there.”

Image source, Getty Images

We've just had an update from the Pentagon about recent US air strikes in eastern Syria.

Thursday's strikes were "separate and distinct" from the conflict in Israel-Gaza, Brigadier General Pat Ryder said.

US fighter jets destroyed a weapons storage facility and an ammunition storage which Ryder said had been used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the Pentagon briefing, these were self-defence strikes to protect US personnel, and there were no casualties.

There have been 20 attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria since 17 October, Ryder said. Most of these were with rockets and one-way drones that failed to reach their targets.

If you're just joining us, here's a recap in video of what's been happening in the last few hours as Israel announced its ground forces were "expanding operations" in Gaza.

The military wing of Hamas, the Al Qassam Brigades, has said it is confronting an Israeli military ground incursion in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas statement says “violent engagements” are taking place on the ground near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, and Bureij in the centre. It did not give further details about what form the clashes were taking.

The BBC cannot verify these Hamas claims, and while Israel said earlier tonight that it was intensifying its attacks on Gaza, it has not released any details of what the "expansion" of its ground operation involves.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

We’ve been in touch today with people across Gaza, but our calls and messages tonight are not getting through.

Most of the people we’ve been speaking to with recently are now in the south in areas like Khan Younis, having fled their homes elsewhere.

One family who live in central Gaza - and had been given evacuation orders by Israel - told us earlier today that they were too scared to flee for fear that they would be caught up in a strike on the journey.

“We’ll keep living here until we find a safe way to leave,” the father told us over the phone from his home, where he said the windows and doors had been destroyed in strikes on nearby buildings.

“We are in a very miserable condition. The kids especially, they’re afraid,” he said.

WhatsApp messages are now showing only one tick - signifying they haven't been delivered - and our calls are not connecting.

Earlier this evening, Israel said its ground forces were "expanding operations" in Gaza.

A short while ago, BBC News asked an Israeli government spokesman if this marked the start of a much-expected Israeli ground operation in the territory.

Eylon Levy simply answered: "Israel has expanded ground operation in the Gaza Strip, but beyond that, I'm not going to comment on operational matters."

The New York Times has spoken to an Israeli military spokesman who confirmed that some troops had entered the Gaza Strip but declined to say if what was happening was the start of a long-expected ground invasion.

"Our troops and tanks are inside the Gaza Strip. They’re shooting and they’re operating," Maj Nir Dinar told the newspaper, adding: “But our troops and tanks were inside Gaza yesterday as well."

The military wing of Hamas - a proscribed terror organisation in the UK, US and elsewhere - earlier said its fighters had been clashing with Israeli forces in two parts of northern Gaza.

Israel's military has launched what they called "targeted raids" into Gaza for the past two nights.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, Getty Images

For the past 20 days, the lives of Palestinians living outside Gaza and the West Bank have been drastically warped by non-stop feelings of worry and panic over their loved ones still in Gaza.

Sporadic, limited exchanges on WhatsApp have brought occasional moments of respite.

However, any extended gap in communication has been met with paralysing anxiety - marked by questions like: "Are they dead, are they alive, was their house bombed too?"

Now, with internet and telecommunications lines cut off in Gaza, panic for the relatives of the roughly 2.3 million people living there is at an all-time high.

In a WhatsApp group with my wife - whose mother was born in Gaza - relatives from around the world have been frantically messaging over the last hour.

"Oh my god!!", one wrote.

"It seems a ground offensive may start," wrote another.

Everyone seems to be holding their breath - waiting, hoping, but not knowing if they'll ever hear from their loved ones in Gaza again.

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting from Jerusalem

I have been hearing over the course of the day that negotiations between the two sides had been taking place and were making progress - that they had been discussing the possible release of hostages, and perhaps a humanitarian pause in the fighting over the next few days.

The talks had stalled in the afternoon over what seemed to be some minor details, and since the announcement of Israel’s new offensive, it appears they have stopped.

With Israeli tanks and troops set to enter Gaza, there doesn’t appear to be much hope they will pick up again while this offensive is going on.

The fear of wider conflict is realpublished at 00:11 British Summer Time 28 October 2023

00:11 BST 28 October 2023

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent in Jerusalem

Israel’s military has clearly stepped up its Gaza operations tonight, with seemingly devastating consequences.

But it’s hard to know if this marks the start of the full ground invasion everyone has been expecting.

I understand that Western diplomats are urging Israel not to move quickly to an all-out invasion but rather to escalate slowly, to reduce the chances of other regional players – Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shia militias in Iraq and Syria and the Houthis in Yemen – getting more heavily involved.

The fear of a wider regional conflict is real. Warning signs are flashing red across the Middle East.

Israel and Hezbollah are engaged in daily clashes. Israel and the US have both hit targets in Syria in recent days. And projectiles, thought to have been fired from Yemen, hit two Egyptian Red Sea towns on Friday. They were almost certainly aimed at Israel.

In a post on social media tonight, Hizan al-Assad, a member of the Houthi political bureau in Yemen wrote a single word, “Eilat,” a reference to Israel’s only Red Sea port.

Whether Israel is in a mood to heed the advice of its allies is unclear.

It’s just after midnight here in London and the early hours of the morning in Israel and Gaza. Welcome to our live coverage if you're just joining us.

Israel has been bombarding targets in Gaza City at intervals for hours now – we can see and hear the explosions on a live video feed – but there are also reports of fighting inside the Strip between Israeli forces and Hamas, which they have vowed to destroy since the 7 October attack on Israel.

The Israeli military says it is "expanding" its ground operations, but is refusing to say whether this amounts to the start of Israel’s long-expected ground offensive into Gaza.

Medical aid organisations helping civilians inside Gaza say they have been unable to reach their teams on the ground since all internet and phone communications in the territory went down on Friday.

The lack of communications is making it very difficult for us to find out exactly what's happening right now.

What we do know for sure is that Gaza is gripped by a humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled their homes face shortages of food and water.

Stay with us for live updates - and expert analysis.