Image source, Reuters

We've heard the Israeli account of the ground fighting in Gaza overnight - it says its forces were attacked with anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire as they "eliminated terrorists".

We've now had an update from a Telegram account operated by the Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. It says it ambushed three Israeli vehicles in north Gaza.

The post says the vehicles were fired upon with anti-tank missiles while attempting to move deeper into Gaza in the Al-Tawam area.

In an earlier update, Hamas says it attacked IDF ground troops with mortar shells near the Kerem crossing in southern Gaza.

Image source, Reuters

Marwan Jilani, director general of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), just spoke to BBC Breakfast from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank - around 51 miles (82km) from northern Gaza.

He says the Al Quds Hospital in Gaza City was under heavy bombardment overnight, with his colleagues at the facility saying the strikes were so close "the whole building was shaking".

They "didn't know whether they were going to hit the hospital".

Two Al Quds outbuildings - an emergency medical centre and main warehouse - were "severely damaged and are now out of service," Jilani adds.

He says the hospital has not received any aid and staff members are "collapsing due to the...physical and psychological stress".

"Imagine the stress on the people staying there, taking care of the patients, sheltering there - it is just immense."

As we've reported, the Israeli military says it is striking Hamas targets in all parts of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says the area around the Al Quds hospital in Gaza City has been under heavy bombardment by Israeli forces.

This footage, supplied by Reuters, shows explosions around Gaza City, which is in the north of the Strip.

Image source, IDF

More from the IDF now, who have described troops as "slowly and meticulously" expanding their operations in northern Gaza.

In a video on social media, spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus says Israeli forces are being supported by a lot of firepower and intelligence.

He says attacks on Hamas are taking place from the ground and from the air.

Conricus adds the IDF is "striking all parts of the Gaza Strip", focusing their attacks on northern Gaza - which he describes as the "centre of gravity of Hamas".

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces have issued an update on their offensive in Gaza, saying around 300 targets were hit over the last day in both air strikes and ground attacks.

The IDF also says "numerous Hamas terrorists have been killed" by troops, who battled "terrorist cells that fired both anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire toward them".

Among the targets successfully hit, the update says, are anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below tunnel shafts, as well as military compounds inside underground tunnels.

The US has rejected international calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in lockstep with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In comments on Monday, US National Security spokesperson John Kirby said a ceasefire was not the "right answer right now", calling instead for "pauses" in the fighting so aid could be delivered to Gaza.

Read the full story here.

Israel’s military is “striking in all parts of the Gaza strip”, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said in an operational update on Tuesday.

“We will focus our activities on the northern part of Gaza, that is the centre of gravity of Hamas… but we continue to strike in other parts of Gaza. We are hunting their commanders, we are attacking their infrastructure and whenever there is an important target we strike it.”

Conricus also reiterated that Israel was doing everything it could to avoid killing civilians, before accusing Hamas of using Gaza City's main hospital, Al Shifa, as a place for “terrorists to hide”.

Two weeks ago, Israel called on civilians trapped in the enclave to head south of the Wadi Gaza river for their own safety, as its continued its retaliatory bombardment.

On Monday, IDF forces pushed deeper into northern Gaza - where it is believed 600,000 people remain - with tanks briefly cutting an evacuation route to the south in the process, according to Palestinian witnesses.

It’s nearly 08:00 in Israel and Gaza, following another night of intense fighting. If you're just joining us, here's the latest:

• Israel has continued bombing the Gaza Strip even as the UN called for a humanitarian ceasefire and gave dire warnings of the situation inside the enclave
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel will press ahead with plans to wipe out Hamas
• Earlier, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that the area around Al-Quds Hospital is Gaza City was under heavy bombardment from Israeli forces
• Meanwhile the death toll in the enclave has risen to 8,306 people - including 3,457 minors - according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas
• The US has said it expects there will be a significant increase of aid going into Gaza in the coming days
• The announcement comes amid warnings from the UN that most children now have only salty water to survive on
• More than 200 hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, but on Monday the Israel Defense Forces said it had successfully freed one of its soldiers - Private Ori Megidish - from the militant group

Image source, Reuters

Can Israel swap Palestinian prisoners for hostages?published at 05:19 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2023

05:19 GMT 31 October 2023

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

It's been suggested that Hamas wants to swap some of the Israeli hostages that it holds for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

But who are those prisoners and what is feasible?

The relevant Palestinians detained in Israel are known as security inmates. As of the beginning of October, 5,192 were behind bars. These consisted of 2,410 sentenced prisoners, 1,463 on remand and 1,319 administrative detainees held without trial. That data from the Israel Prison Service is compiled by the Israeli NGO, HaMoked.

But many more Palestinians have been rounded up by Israeli forces since 7 October. The Palestinian Prisoners Club says that some 1,680 people have been arrested from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as some 4,000 workers from the Gaza Strip who had permits to be in Israel. That brings the total held close to 11,000.

On Monday, the Israeli military said 700 members of Hamas had been arrested in the West Bank since the start of the war.

In the past, Israel has agreed to a number of prisoner exchange deals with Palestinian armed factions and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Most notably, it released a total of 1,027 prisoners, who were mostly Palestinian, in exchange for Gilad Shalit - an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas in Gaza from 2006 to 2011. Benjamin Netanyahu was prime minister at the time of that deal.

The exchange was highly controversial as those who were released were collectively responsible for the deaths of some 600 Israelis.

Many of the prisoners released 12 years ago were later detained again by Israeli forces. And those who remain active members of armed groups include Yahya Sinwar, the current leader of Hamas in Gaza.

At least 8,306 people - including 3,457 minors - have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its retaliatory bombarding of the enclave, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The figure also includes 2,136 women, and 480 elderly people, the statement added.

The World Health Organization has warned that Gaza's hospitals are barely functioning due to shortages of electricity and supplies.

There have also been no shipments of fuel into the strip, which is needed to generate electricity for hospitals, shelters, bakeries, water treatment and pumping stations, and the sewerage system.

Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan has vowed to wear a yellow star until the UN Security Council condemns “the atrocities of Hamas” and demands the “immediate release” of hostages.

The UN Security Council has failed to pass a series of resolutions addressing the situation in Israel and Gaza, due to a lack of consensus.

The yellow Star of David was forced upon Jews by the Nazis to single them out in public.

Today, pinning on the star is seen as a way of evoking the Holocaust.

US teenager Natalie Raanan, who was abducted by Hamas during its deadly 7 October attack on Israel, has made it safely to Chicago after being released last week, the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Yinam Cohen says.

“I am relieved that Natalie Raanan is back home in Chicago. Her family members have been anxiously waiting for her return, and today I am sharing their happiness,” he posted on X.

“While we’re celebrating Natalie’s return, we remember the 239 hostages, among them babies, children, women, and the elderly, who are still held by Hamas in Gaza,” he added.

The 17-year-old was freed along with her 59-year-old mother Judith 10 days ago for “humanitarian reasons” according to Hamas.

They were the first captives to be released by the militant group.

Image source, POTUS

Over in the UK, a government employee was sacked and a Labour MP was suspended for making comments about the situation in Israel and Gaza.

Ministerial aide Paul Bristow wrote a letter to the prime minister last week and said "a permanent ceasefire" would save lives and allow aid to reach those who needed it most. Downing Street said the comments "were not consistent with the principles of collective responsibility".

Andy McDonald was suspended as Labour MP for using the phrase "between the river and the sea" in a speech at a pro-Palestinian rally. Critics of a chant which contains the phrase argue it implicitly calls for the destruction of Israel, and the Labour party said the comments were "deeply offensive".

At least 31 journalists have been killed covering the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to the latest count from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Of the casualties, 26 were Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 1 Lebanese. A further 8 journalists have been reported injured, while 9 are considered missing or detained, the CPJ says.

“Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict in the face of an Israeli ground assault... devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, and extensive power outages,” the organisation said in a statement on Monday.

Among the dead are Roshdi Sarraj - a well-known Palestinian filmmaker - and Issam Abdallah, a Beirut-based videographer for Reuters, who was killed near the Lebanon border by shelling coming from the direction of Israel, according to the CPJ. The IDF said it was investigating the claim.

The IDF also told Reuters and the Agence France Press news agencies that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, after they had sought assurances that their employees would not be harmed by Israeli strikes, according to Reuters.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has released footage showing what it says is an airstrike targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure in Lebanon.

“IAF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure including weapons, posts and sites in Lebanon,” the IDF said on Tuesday in a post on X.

Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese militia backed by Iran and a Hamas ally, has exchanged cross-border fire with the IDF since 7 October.

Gershon Baskin - who helped secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas in 2011 - says the hostage video that emerged on Monday presents an "extraordinary dilemma" for Israeli decision-makers.

Speaking to BBC News, he says Hamas wants an "all for all" deal - meaning a trade of all the hostages it holds for some 6,000 to 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Baskin says: "Doing an agreement for part of the (group of) hostages – the civilians, the women, the children, the elderly - would still leave tens of hostages in Hamas's hands; probably 50, 60 or 70."

He adds: "We don’t know the exact number of hostages that Hamas considers to be soldiers – whether they are or not – and that's an impossible reality for Israel to deal with as well."

He says most of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are from the West Bank, and most are not members of Hamas.

Image source, Reuters

Activists across Canada have occupied offices belonging to high-ranking members of the government as they demand that MPs call for a ceasefire.

Among the offices occupied on Monday were those belonging to Defence Minister Bill Blair and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

The protests took place at 17 offices in 12 cities across the country, according to the Montreal Gazette.

“We're here to demand that the Canadian government call for an immediate ceasefire and for an end to the almost 16-year long blockade at the Gaza Strip and to end Canadian complicity with Israel,” one protester in Toronto told Reuters.

Protesters there held signs showing Palestinians who have been killed and placards calling for a ceasefire and for a "free Palestine".

Nadia Ragozhina
Live reporter

Lee Siegel has been telling me about his brother, Keith, and his brother’s wife, Adrienne, who were taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October and are being held in Gaza.

Keith and Adrienne, both in their sixties, have children and grandchildren waiting for them at home. The grandchildren, aged between four and nine, have been asking about their grandparents.

“There is no vocabulary to explain what’s going on in a way that young people can understand, without being more traumatised than they already are,” Lee tells me and I can hear the pain in his voice.

“When air raid sirens go, and when booms of rockets are sounding outside. Whether you are in a shelter, or outside. There is no easy way to communicate with the kids.

“On day 2, day 3, day 4, they are asking where their grandparents are. Israel is a small country, families don’t stay away for that long. This has been going on long enough and it’s clear that something is not right.”

Lee says that he and other families have been doing everything they can to bring their loved ones home.

His message to the world, to all the governments, is that the hostages are the priority and governments should not rest until they are returned.

“The longer it takes, the more complicated it gets.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has just reported that the area around Al-Quds Hospital is under heavy bombardment from Israeli forces.

"Continuous artillery and air strikes in Tal-Alhwa area in #Gaza where the Al-Quds Hospital is located," the aid group posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"The building is trembling and the displaced civilians and the working crews are experiencing fear and panic."

The notice comes after Israel warned that the hospital in Gaza City should be evacuated.

The international charity ActionAid says Al-Quds ambulances are now without fuel and the roads nearby have been bombed to the point that badly needed aid is unable to be driven to doctors and their patients.

"We welcome any scaling up of aid into Gaza, but it’s quite clear that - amidst the escalation in attacks and the increased targeting of hospitals in recent days - the aid that is trickling in is not keeping up with the pace that is needed," said Riham Jafari, the communications and advocacy co-ordinator at ActionAid Palestine.

"Under constant bombardment, aid supplies cannot get to hospitals as roads have been destroyed. Once again, we’re calling for a ceasefire so that hospitals and life support machines can keep running.”

Patrick Jackson
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

It's just gone 01:00 here in London and in the Gaza Strip it's the early hours of the morning. It is clear from a live video feed, which shows the territory from a distance, that fighting is continuing in the dark.

We can hear the booming of explosions and the droning of aircraft, with the occasional rattle of automatic fire.

What we know about the fighting is that Israel has conducted hundreds of air strikes in recent days and its tanks have been spotted inside the territory.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are spending another anxious night in Gaza, many of them sheltering where they can after fleeing from the northern part of the Strip in response to Israeli warnings.