About an hour after the Israeli military said a soldier taken hostage in Gaza had been rescued, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells a news conference he won’t speak about the conditions Private Ori Megidish was held under.

“What she told us will remain between her and who she spoke to, and these details must be truly preserved in this manner because, to my chagrin, there are so many other hostages in there hands,” he says.

Ahead of a news conference by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is speaking.

"This will not be an easy an war," he says. "For the sake of our hostages we are determined to win. We are fighting for our hostages."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released a video message in the last few minutes following the rescue of an Israeli soldier taken hostage by Hamas.

In a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, Netanyahu says "welcome home" to Private Ori Megidish, who the IDF said was freed during Israel's ground operation in Gaza overnight.

Netanyahu says the rescue reflects his country's commitment to rescuing abductees, and he praises the Israeli military and intelligence service for their efforts.

He says to Hamas that Israel will continue to target its members.

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Image source, Reuters

On paper, it is an uneven contest in Gaza. Hamas may be fighting on their home turf - on ground and in tunnels they know well - but Israel has the overwhelming advantage in firepower, manpower, technology and logistics.

That, however, is no guarantee that the Israel Defense Forces' "expanded ground operation" in Gaza will ultimately yield the result Israel needs: The elimination of a military threat.

If it lasts long enough - and that is not a given with the rising international chorus of condemnation over civilian casualties - then the military should be able to substantially degrade, if not eliminate altogether, Hamas’s fighting capabilities. For now.

And then what? President Biden has already said a return to an Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a mistake, while some Israeli voices are talking about a total separation from Gaza when the war finishes.

Image source, .

But in the absence of a peace process progressing towards an eventual two-state solution and a future contiguous Palestinian state, it would be delusional to think that Gaza can simply be subdued with high explosive.

The anger will fester, the tunnels can be rebuilt, weapons can be smuggled in and a new and potentially even more virulent organisation could replace Hamas.

Whoever takes on governing this troubled territory will need to offer its people hope of that Palestinian state or risk the murderous cycle of violence repeating itself in just a few months or years down the line.

Image source, ISA

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) have released a joint statement in the last few minutes announcing the rescue of a female Israeli soldier taken hostage by Hamas.

They said that Private Ori Megidish was freed during IDF ground operations overnight after being taken hostage on 7 October.

"The soldier was medically checked, is doing well, and has met with her family. The IDF and ISA will continue to do everything it takes in order to release the hostages," the statement added.

Mark Regev is a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu and has been speaking to our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet.

"The only good thing about this video is we have visual proof these women are alive", he says when asked about the video of three hostages released by Hamas earlier.

Regev says he cannot imagine the pain the hostages are experiencing on a daily basis.

He adds: "We don’t believe that Hamas is going to release these hostages because suddenly Hamas is becoming boy scouts or a humanitarian organisation... Hamas is a brutal, ruthless, extreme, barbaric organisation... We've seen the sort of violence they're capable of first-hand."

He goes on to say Hamas will only release hostages "if they're under pressure" and Israel believes the best way to do that is ratchet up the military pressure on the group at the same time as putting international diplomatic pressure on its allies.

Image source, Reuters

Here's a little more on conditions at Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City.

Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), told our colleagues on the BBC News channel earlier that the situation there is "out of control".

The hospital is "crowded with patients, injured [people] and more than 10,000 people who sought refuge in the hospital because they thought that it was the safest place".

"People are living in the corridors, on stairs, outside and inside. Plus 500 patients are receiving life-saving care. I'm talking about intensive care units, babies in incubators who need oxygen," Della Longa added.

He said the Red Cross was "deeply concerned" about the evacuation order the Palestinian Red Crescent says was given to doctors by Israel. "In this situation there is no possible way to evacuate the patients".

And he added "resources are absolutely limited and running out minute by minute" at the facility, with its waning fuel supply meaning "power will run out soon".

Image source, .

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, EPA

As we’ve been reporting, the Palestinian Red Crescent says it has been ordered to immediately evacuate Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City but that it is impossible to do so.

Staff there say the hospital is housing 400 patients, as well as some 14,000 civilians seeking shelter there.

Video footage shared by the group on social media shows the corridors full of people.

Nibal Farsakh, a spokesperson at the Palestinian Red Crescent, tells me there has been a “significant increase in bombardment in the area” since yesterday and “some damage to the hospital building” caused by strikes nearby.

She says patients will die if they attempt to move them.

In a voice note shared with me, a doctor at the hospital describes the situation there as being “very dangerous”.

In video footage he captured from windows at the hospital, plumes of smoke can be seen as bangs ring out. Similar footage has been shared by the Palestinian Red Crescent, external.

There were reports last night that the evacuation order may have been rescinded, but asked today if it was still in place the IDF responded: “It’s in the north, so yes.”

Image source, Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described a video released by Hamas showing three hostages thought to be in Gaza as "cruel psychological propaganda".

In a statement, Netanyahu also names the hostages, saying: "I turn to Elena Trupanov, Daniel Aloni and Rimon Kirsht who were kidnapped by Hamas who commits war crimes. I hug you.".

The BBC is not publishing the clip, which is just over a minute. It shows three women sitting against a wall, with one of them speaking to the camera.

Image source, Al Qassam

Hamas has released a video showing three people held hostage in Gaza.

We don't know anything about the conditions under which it was filmed, but the three women appear to be in reasonable health with no obvious signs of injury.

The same woman addresses the camera throughout the clip, speaking critically about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling for the hostages to be freed.

We will not publish the video. Prisoners of war and hostages are protected under international humanitarian law, and the BBC does not broadcast material which may have been filmed under duress.

What are the Israeli military planning around Gaza City?published at 14:49 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October 2023

14:49 GMT 30 October 2023

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting from southern Israel

It's very hard to work out what is exactly happening on the ground in Gaza because the Israelis are managing communications very, very carefully.

At one point this morning it seemed like the Israelis had briefly cut off one of the two north-south roads in Gaza. A video showed a car approaching an Israeli tank on the road, then hurriedly turning around while the tank opens fire and an explosion follows.

Why are the Israelis doing this? It may be because they might be trying to surround Gaza City, which the military sees as the key nest of Hamas.

I think if they try to do that, then the military will have to engage in house-to-house fighting.

That said, I'm not entirely sure the Israeli military have enough forces to completely seal up a place as big and complex as Gaza City. Hamas is highly embedded in the city, including with a network of tunnels, and one would think they’ve been preparing and thinking about what Israel might do. So this is going to be a big challenge for the Israelis.

Image source, MASHAV Israel

Two Tanzanian nationals taken hostage by Hamas have been named as Joshua Loitu Mollel and Clemence Felix Mtenga.

The two students were in Israel as part of an agricultural internship programme, Israel's foreign ministry said on X, external, formerly Twitter.

Mollel's father told the BBC that Tanzania's ambassador to Israel had assured him the two governments were working together to secure their release.

The last time Mollel spoke to his son was on Thursday 5 October - two days before Hamas attacked Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where he was studying. The last words he said were: "Be on your best behaviour because you're somewhere new, and make the most of the internship you're there to do."

Find more details in our full story here.

Image source, Reuters

We're turning our attention to Downing Street now, where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency committee (Cobra) to discuss the conflict in Israel and Gaza, and the impact on communities in the UK.

It’s understood that discussions over whether to raise the UK's terror threat level were not on the agenda.

The PM's official spokesman expressed his concern at an increase in antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents across the country since the conflict started.

He described videos and pictures shared on social media over the weekend as “extremely concerning” and insisted that the government was working to reassure affected communities.

No 10 singled out the chant, “From the river to the sea” - used by some pro-Palestinian protesters - as “deeply offensive to many”.

Critics of the chant, which refers to the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, argue it implicitly calls for the destruction of Israel.

But some pro-Palestinian activists say most people chanting it are calling for an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza.

Sunak's spokesman urged people to be careful with their use of language.

After the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, called for clarity on the definition of extremism, Downing Street said the government would look at any gaps in the law that might exist.

“It's important that front line officers feel they have certainty and clarity,” the spokesman added, but he also insisted that the police did have powers to act.

Yolande Knell
BBC Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

Away from Gaza, violence is continuing to flare in the occupied West Bank.

In the flashpoint city of Jenin, funerals have taken place for four members of the armed faction, Islamic Jihad, killed by the Israeli military overnight. One is also said to have been a founder of the Jenin Brigades, a local group of fighters.

Residents say an Israeli drone strike hit a house in the centre of Jenin refugee camp and that there were then heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen.

Israeli military bulldozers destroyed the distinctive double arch at the entrance to the camp as well as a memorial made from scrap metal left after a major Israeli operation in 2002. Several shops were destroyed.

"It looks like Gaza," a local journalist says. Palestinian health officials say that since 7 October more than 120 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers. Several Palestinian communities have also been forcibly displaced by settlers.

A coalition of 30 human rights groups and NGOs in Israel is pleading for the international community to stop the wave of settler violence.

"Settlers have been exploiting the lack of public attention to the West Bank, as well as the general atmosphere of rage against Palestinians” they write in a joint letter., external

Francesca Gillett
Live reporter

It's coming up to 15:30 in Gaza, where we've been closely following the reports of Israel's ground operations. I'm handing over editing of this page to my colleague Heather Sharp, so here's the latest so far today:

• Israeli armoured vehicles have been seen near Gaza City, on a main road that links the south and north of the Strip - the same road that people had been using to evacuate. Verified video appears to show a tank firing on a car. Correspondents say Israeli forces are clearly making Gaza City a focus of their expanded ground operations
• Israeli air strikes have continued in Gaza. This morning, the IDF said they'd hit 600 targets in the past 24 hours
• Hundreds of hospital patients in northern Gaza are stuck and unable to move to safer areas, the UN says. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said air strikes have continued near to Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City. Aid workers have said the situation there is "out of control"
• Violence in the occupied West Bank saw four members of the armed faction Islamic Jihad killed by the Israeli military overnight. There was a raid on the Jenin refugee camp, and the IDF said it carried out an airstrike operation there
• Shani Louk has been confirmed dead. The family of the missing 22-year-old Israeli-German woman, who went missing when Hamas stormed a music festival on 7 October, say remains of her body have been found
• A police officer has been stabbed in Jerusalem and the alleged suspect shot dead by police

What we know about footage showing tank firing on Salah al-Din roadpublished at 12:51 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October 2023

12:51 GMT 30 October 2023

BBC Verify has geolocated the footage in the post below - which was posted on social media - to the Salah- al-Din Road, the main road from north to south in Gaza.

It shows a car driving towards the tank, before doing a three-point turn to drive away from it.

We then see the tank fire, and the car explode.

Another car, from which the video is filmed, drives away after seeing the explosion. We used satellite images to pinpoint the location to a strip of the Salah al-Din road 2km north of the Wadi Gaza.

This footage is the deepest inside Gaza we have seen Israeli forces since they expanded their ground operations on Friday.

Internet connectivity inside Gaza has been largely cut off in recent days, so we have had limited footage, aside from some videos released by Israel Defense Forces.

We have reverse image searched frames from the tank video but have found no copies before this morning - indicating it was first uploaded today.

BBC reporter Rushdi Abualouf who is on the ground in Gaza has also spoken to a photographer who says he was in the car with the cameraman who took the video.

Image source, .

The BBC has verified this footage of a tank on the Salah-al-Din road, south of Gaza City earlier. It appears to fire on a car and this is followed by an explosion.

Our reporter in Gaza, Rushdi Abualouf, says the road is now open and no longer blocked.

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, in Jerusalem

The presence of an Israeli tank on the main north-south highway in the Gaza Strip is surely a sign that Israel’s noose around Gaza City is beginning to tighten.

The tank which fired on a car moving towards Gaza City marks the first appearance of Israeli forces on the road just north of Wadi Gaza.

The tank appears to have moved on, but Wadi Gaza is the line the IDF has repeatedly referred to when telling people living in the northern third of the Gaza Strip – including Gaza City and the surrounding areas – to move south.

It’s clear that as Israeli forces gradually escalate their operations, Gaza City will be a major focus of their efforts.

But with tens – perhaps hundreds – of thousands of people remaining in the north out of fear or determination – it seems the IDF could attempt to cut it off completely.

There are only two north-south roads. Salah-al-Din, where this morning’s incident took place, is the main route. A smaller road, along the coast, can be easily targeted by Israeli warships off the coast.

The area just north of Wadi Gaza is less populated than Gaza City to the north and Bureij and Nuseirat to the south. This would be a logical place for Israel to attempt to sever the Gaza Strip in two.

Our reporter in Gaza, Rushdi Abualouf, reports that the Salah-al-Din road is now open and no longer blocked.

Verified footage from earlier showed a tank on the road, at a location south of Gaza City.

Witnesses said the road was cut off near the Karni-Netzarim junction.

Earlier we heard from our correspondent in Gaza, Rushdi Abualouf, who said there now appears to be fewer air strikes on the south of Gaza than before.

"We noticed since yesterday that there is less air strikes in this area, more aid coming from Egypt.

"So it seems that Israel wants to focus the operation in the north and Gaza City where now they have tanks from four different directions."