Image source, Reuters

Two people were wounded in the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona near the border with Lebanon after a rocket attack

Hamas's armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigade, operating in Lebanon said it fired a dozen rockets on the town.

One of the wounded was "a 25-year-old man in moderate condition who was injured by shrapnel," the an Israeli medical service told the AFP news agency.

Separately, as we reported earlier, Lebanese political and military group Hezbollah says it has used two drones packed with explosives to attack an Israeli army position in the disputed Shebaa Farms/Mount Dov area at the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Here are some of the latest images coming to us from inside the Gaza Strip which show Palestinians coping with ongoing water shortages.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Family handout

British-Palestinian doctor Abdelkader Hammad has told the BBC that he has finally left Gaza.

Today, in a series of calls with Evan Davis at the PM programme he explained how he'd been told by the Foreign Office this morning that he might be able to cross into Egypt.

He then described the frustration of waiting for specific information which eventually came from the UN who were coordinating his transport.

In his latest interview he said: "I am through to the Egyptian side and I am waiting to get out. I am with the British embassy at the moment.

"I am excited to be out and a bit emotional at the moment."

In Israel, funerals have been taking place for those killed in the fighting.

Protests have also been taking place, as people rally around the relatives of hostages that continue to plead for their loved ones to be released by Hamas.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

The Foreign Office has confirmed that “more British nationals” have been able to cross into Egypt from Gaza.

It has again not said how many Britons were able to get through the Rafah crossing or identified who they were.

Israeli strikes in the vicinity of a major hospital in Gaza City are endangering the lives of thousands of civilians sheltering there, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society says.

It said a child and young man were hit in the chest and abdomen while standing in front of the hospital, and suffered critical injuries.

The central air conditioning system and one of the water tanks were reportedly also damaged.

The PRCS accused the IDF of "shooting indiscriminately".

The area near the Al Quds hospital, which is in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood west of Gaza City, has seen intense Israeli bombardment in recent days.

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

The Israeli military issued an evacuation order for the hospital last week, but staff said that moving seriously ill patients currently being treated there would not be possible.

Image source, EPA

Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia political and military group, says it has used two drones packed with explosives to attack an Israeli army position in the disputed Shebaa Farms/Mount Dov area at the Lebanese-Israeli border.

The group says the drones, which were filled with “a large quantity of explosives”, hit their target - although the impact of the strikes is not immediately clear.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has detected “a number of launches” from Lebanese territory towards Israel, adding it is currently attacking a series of Hezbollah targets.

Hezbollah – a powerful group backed by Iran – has been involved in frequent exchanges of fire with Israel at the two countries’ border, raising concerns that Israel’s war with Hamas could escalate further across the region.

Image source, .

Here's a little more from Benjamin Netanyuhu following the statement released by his office.

Netanyahu also said in a press briefing that his government has not made any decision about transferring fuel to Gaza – although he said it was helping with humanitarian aid such as food and water.

"We haven't made any decision about transferring fuel. I haven't given any [such] instruction and the war cabinet has not authorised any decision," he told reporters.

British-Palestinian Mohammed Abu Foul is still in Rafah in the south of the Gaza strip; he is part of a large family, including children, who are all waiting to leave.

This morning we heard from his brother, and now Mohammed himself spoke to the BBC.

He says that he received text messages from the Foreign Office yesterday, saying he and his family should stay put until they were given further information to go to the border.

"We are waiting for our names to be added to a list and we are going to head to the Egypt side once this is finalised," he says.

"I am very worried. I have got some friends from the American side and today they went to the crossing border and there were some problems with the names of their families who are not American and they went back," Mohammed adds.

"I am very worried if one of my family, his name is not on the list, what shall I do? I have a kid, he didn't receive his British passport yet. This is worrying me a lot but we are going to wait and see what's going on.

"I have no clear idea what is going. The game is wait and see."

Raffi Berg
BBC Online Middle East editor

Image source, Reuters

The Israeli foreign ministry says it has not been informed about any decision by Bahrain to withdraw its ambassador from Israel, despite an announcement by Bahrain's lower house of parliament.

The assembly said Bahrain's ambassador had been recalled and that Israel's ambassador had left Bahrain, in the wake of Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Israel's foreign ministry said it knew nothing about a recall of its ambassador to Bahrain either, adding that relations between the two countries were "stable".

Bahrain was one of the first of four Arab League countries to sign a normalisation agreement with Israel in 2020, seen as a major breakthrough in de-escalating the decades old Israeli-Arab conflict.

We've just had this statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

"We're at the height of the battle," Netanyahu says.

"We've had impressive successes and have passed the outskirts of Gaza City. We are advancing."

The statement gives no further details.

Our correspondent in Gaza said earlier the Israeli military was fighting Hamas in five areas in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt opened yesterday - allowing some civilians to leave for the first time in more than three weeks.

There are two groups allowed to leave - injured Palestinians who need treatment, and people with foreign passports.

On Wednesday, 81 injured Palestinians had permission to leave. Egypt says 46 did so - it's not known if the remainder crossed today.

On foreign nationals, the Palestinians say around 100 have left Gaza so far today, out of around 400 expected to leave on Thursday in total.

Around 320 foreign passport holders left yesterday.

Nadia Ragozhina
Live reporter

Image source, Neta Heiman Mina

Neta Heiman Mina's 84-year-old mother is being held hostage in Gaza, after being kidnapped from her kibbutz in Israel on 7 October.

"We must talk directly to Hamas," Neta tells me.

A long-time activist with Women Wage Peace, the largest Israeli grassroots peace movement made up of Jewish and Arab women, Neta has long campaigned for an agreement-based resolution to the conflict.

"You must sit and talk," she says, her voice resolute. "Every time the conflict escalates, every time they are attacking, we attack back. We try to destroy Hamas, but we can't.

"The only way is a diplomatic agreement."

Neta, speaking to me from Israel, adds: "I blame the government for what happened.

"In the last nine months they did everything to escalate the situation, especially in the West Bank.

"The army was there [in the West Bank], to protect the Sukkah [a shelter put up as part of a Jewish festival]. They were there and they didn't protect my mother.

"And now they need to do everything to bring them [the hostages] back."

Neta is very worried about the ground offensive in Gaza. She doesn't know what it means for the hostages, and she is also concerned for the young soldiers.

"They are all friends of my children, they are children of my friends. I don't think it will bring the hostages back.

"The international community must help us. Put pressure that could help us bring them back."

It's 5pm in Gaza and Israel and this is what's been happening over the last few hours:

• Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 9,061 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the present conflict began on 7 October when Hamas launched a series of deadly attacks on Israel
• Doctors Without Borders say more than 20,000 wounded people are still trapped in the Gaza Strip

• So far on Thursday, around 100 more civilians have reportedly left Gaza via the Rafah crossing and the UN says more than 400 people did so yesterday
• Several hundred more foreign passport holders have their names on an approved list to leave Gaza today.

• Israel's defence minister says the Israeli military has dropped more than 10,000 munitions on Gaza City alone since the start of the current conflict
• Israel says the number of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza has risen to 242 in the most recent calculations, up from 240. The hostages include women, children and the elderly

• Thai officials say they have talked directly with Hamas to secure the release of their nationals and that they received assurances that the 25 Thai hostages will be released at the "right time"

• Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong called on Israel to heed calls for restraint in its response to the October 7 attacks, saying the international community will not accept ongoing civilian deaths

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says at least 27 people have been killed by an Israeli strike near a UN school in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

The BBC is not yet able to verify that figure, and has contacted the UN for comment.

Footage from the AFP news agency shows several injured people at the scene.

The Israel Defense Forces, which has been carrying out strikes in the Jabalia area in recent days, have not commented.

As we've been reporting, more evacuees from Gaza have begun to cross into Egypt through the Rafah crossing. Another several hundred whose names have been published on an approved list are expected to leave Gaza today.

One woman, travelling on her US passport, told reporters she wasn't excited to leave as she was worried that she'd never see her family and friends again.

Yolande Knell
BBC Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Several hundred more foreign passport holders have their names on an approved list to leave Gaza today.

They include many Americans but no British nationals.

The Egyptian authorities now say that they’ll help about 7,000 foreigners to exit the crossing in batches.

For a second day, dozens of wounded Palestinians and their carers are also expected to cross into Egypt for medical treatment.

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

There are roughly two hundred British nationals and their dependents in Gaza and so far only a handful have left. Few are expected to cross today.

In contrast, about 400 US citizens are on the list of those approved to leave today.

This has raised questions about what criteria Egypt and Israel are using to draw up that daily list.

Diplomats from the more than 30 countries who have trapped nationals are lobbying hard to get them higher up the list.

UK officials say “we continue to press at the most senior level for all British nationals to be able to cross as soon as is practically possible”. It seems that the vulnerable and those with medical needs are being given priority.

But in this diplomatic competition, a superpower like the United States will also have greater sway than smaller countries.

There is also the sheer logistical confusion involved in such complex diplomacy with so many countries trying to influence a queue in which not everyone can be at the front.

Nadia Ragozhina
Live reporter

Image source, Family handout

"Hamas answered my mother's phone, they were shouting 'It's Hamas, it's Hamas," Neta Heiman Mina tells me over the phone from Israel.

"My sister was terrified, she hung up. I didn't think they had taken her. I thought they had killed her."

Neta's mother, Ditza Heiman, is being held hostage in Gaza. She is 84.

Ditza was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October when Hamas staged its deadly attacks on Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostage.

"My mother lived all her adult life on that kibbutz," Neta says. "She looked after the babies and children for most of her life and later was a social worker.

"She has 12 grandchildren of her own, five great-grandchildren, and so many more children who grew up with her and consider her to be family."

Neta's voice is unwavering as she tells me about her mother. She lived on her own, she cooked for herself, she walked, Neta tells me.

"But she walked slowly. I don't think she could walk for many kilometres, like Yocheved [an 85-year-old hostage freed last month] said she had to, in the tunnels."

Image source, Getty Images

The Israeli ambassador to Germany has asked foreign countries to send hospital ships to Egypt.

Ron Prosor said they would be used to treat wounded Palestinians entering Egypt from the Gaza Strip.

In a radio interview with Kan, Israel's public broadcaster, he added: "I don't know yet if it is happening. We asked for this. I suppose it is being discussed. There is a leaning, here in Europe, to help in humanitarian matters in any way possible."

Last week, France said they were sending a ship to the eastern Mediterranean to "support Gaza hospitals".

Israel also asked Italy but officials said they hadn't heard back yet.