Lyse Doucet
Chief International Correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Jordan has taken what it's called a decisive step in its response to the Israel-Gaza war by recalling its ambassador to Israel.

An official statement said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi ordered the country's top diplomat’s return to express "Jordan’s strong condemnation of the violence taking place in Gaza".

Last Sunday, Safadi told me in a BBC interview that Jordan "would do whatever it takes at the right time, whatever we believe will help in this war, we will do it".

Jordan is the first Arab state to make this move. Like Egypt, which has also signed a peace treaty with neighbouring Israel, as well as some of the Arab states who normalised relations through the Abraham Accords in 2020, the kingdom has an embassy in Tel Aviv.

Israel's ambassador to Jordan, who left Amman two weeks ago in the midst of protests, was also told not to come back.

Jordan's statement makes clear the return of ambassadors "is contingent upon the Israeli occupation ceasing its military operations in Gaza". It also expressed concern about the "dire humanitarian situation".

Image source, Reuters

We've just heard from US President Joe Biden who has commented for the first time on the Rafah crossing opening up earlier.

Posting on social media Biden wrote: "Today, thanks to American leadership, we secured safe passage for wounded Palestinians and for foreign nationals to exit Gaza.

"We expect American citizens to exit today, and we expect to see more depart over the coming days."

President Biden vows to ensure work is done to "get Americans out of Gaza".

We've just had another update on the numbers of people who have left Gaza via the Rafah crossing into Egypt.

Palestinian officials have said that 76 wounded Gazans and 335 foreign passport holders have been able to exit the territory, bringing the total to more than 400.

A Jordanian man on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing has been speaking to the BBC team on the ground.

Dr Manar Elfarra says he had to come to the crossing several times after a number of phone calls from the Jordanian foreign ministry.

"I came [to Gaza] to visit my family, but then I couldn't go back after the war broke out.

"I have been here for almost a month. Today they called at 2am and asked me to go to the crossing, as there will be an evacuation for Jordanians and some foreigners."

He says he used to be manager of the Alouda Hospital in northern Gaza where he says he witnessed three incursions into the northern Gaza Strip.

"None of them were as brutal or violent as we see now," he says.

Image source, EPA

It's just past 1600 in London and 1800 in Gaza. People have continued to cross through the Rafah border crossing out of the territory into Egypt throughout the afternoon.

At least 320 foreign passport holders have left through the crossing, according to Egyptian officials and security forces cited by the Reuters and AFP news agencies.

Another 76 injured people have been transferred into Egypt, an Egyptian official has told AFP.

Image source, EPA

It's approaching 18:00 in Israel and Gaza, where fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas nears the four-week mark and shows no sign of easing.

If you're just joining us, or need a recap, here are some of the latest developments:

• There are reports of a second blast in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, where, yesterday, Israel hit a refugee camp and launched a separate ground operation
• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have not yet commented on the latest explosion
• Some foreign nationals and injured Palestinians have been allowed to leave Gaza for the first time in more than three weeks after the Rafah crossing with Egypt was opened - dozens more are waiting to do the same
• In Israel, the number of IDF soldiers killed during an operation on Tuesday has risen to 15 - PM Benjamin Netanyahu earlier mourned their loss and said they "fell in a just war"

• Meanwhile our colleagues over at BBC World Service have announced plans to launch an emergency radio service for Gaza, which will be broadcast on medium wave and provide people with daily news and safety advice
• We've also had a look at the UN's latest update on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including hospitals being stretched and one out of three water supplies from Israel being restored

The Israeli army has announced 15 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza since Tuesday.

It's an increase on the previous death toll of 11 which was reported by officials this morning.

Image source, Reuters

We've been focusing on those leaving Gaza for much of today, but let's remind ourselves of the conditions for those who remain (as outlined by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs).

Hospitals: Just 13 hospitals left in the Palestinian enclave remain operational, out of 35 that existed before the conflict erupted on 7 October. The rest have either been damaged by strikes or forced to close due to a lack of supplies.

Healthcare staff: Hospitals are operating with less than one-third of their normal staffing levels, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. Meanwhile, 16 healthcare workers are estimated to have been killed while on duty and another 30 injured.

Water: Yesterday, one out of Gaza's three water supply lines from Israel was restored for the first time since being cut off last month - though the amount being received has yet to be assessed.

Electricity: Gaza remains under a full electricity blackout, using backup generators to get by, after Israel halted both electricity and fuel on 11 October in a bid to cut off Hamas's supplies. Humanitarian aid entering Gaza since 21 October, via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, has not been allowed to include fuel for this reason.

Aid trucks: Some 59 trucks carrying water, food and medicines entered Gaza yesterday - making it the largest convoy of aid to be delivered so far. In total, 217 trucks have entered the enclave so far but officials have consistently pointed out that Gaza used to receive around 500 of these trucks every day.

Bakeries: Just one bakery run by the World Food Programme (WFP) and eight local Gazan ones remain operational, supplying bread to Palestinians. Hours-long queues are reported in front of them as a result, where the UN says people are exposed to airstrikes.

We’ve had reports in the last few hours of a new blast in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, where, on Tuesday, Israel carried out an air strike and a separate ground operation.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza shared pictures on Telegram that it said showed emergency responders retrieving dead and injured people from the al-Falluja Martyrs Roundabout area.

Footage obtained by news agencies shows damaged buildings and injured people being carried away. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says dozens of people have been killed.

The BBC is working to verify the footage and details of the incident. We'll bring you more as and when we get it.

We have some analysis for you looking inside Hamas's network of tunnels.

The tunnels are thought to cover around 300 miles under Gaza.

Watch below as the BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera explores how they could shape the next phase of the war.

The BBC World Service is launching an emergency radio service for Gaza which will be broadcast on medium wave.

The emergency service called Gaza Daily will broadcast daily news to the people of Gaza, and also provide listeners with safety advice on where to access shelter, food and water supplies.

Produced in Cairo and London, the service will initially run one programme a day at 1500 GMT (1700 Gaza time) from Friday 3 November.

A second daily update will be broadcast at 0500 GMT (0700 Gaza time) from Friday 10 November.

The Gaza service will be broadcast on MW 639kHz.

Communications have been difficult in Gaza, with phone and internet services for most Gazans cut off for a period over the weekend and again today.

Rushdi Abualouf
Reporting from the Rafah crossing

Here at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt there are about 350 people waiting to have their IDs checked. So far, 150 have been transported over the border in buses.

There is no electronic system or stamping of passports - everything is down. There is only a civilian Palestinian officer checking passports and then allowing through those on a list of people cleared to leave.

From here, they will be transported straight to the Egyptian side where there will be proper passport control.

About 20 metres from where I am standing is another gate designed for cars to pass through.

We have seen about 20 or 30 ambulances pass through it to Egypt, carrying those who are seriously wounded.

From there, they will be transported to a field hospital about 10km (6 miles) away and then taken on for further treatment.

A friend of one of the three Israeli hostages who appeared in a video released by Hamas on Monday has called for the release of all of the captives taken on 7 October.

Lena Trupanov was seen in the video, which shows her alongside two other Israeli women, one of whom berates Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calls for the release of the hostages.

A family friend of Trupanov, Shiri Grosbard, told BBC Radio 4 earlier that there is no one left in the family to speak on their behalf. "They were all either killed or kidnapped," she says.

Grosbard says "the only feeling or sentiment towards this whole ordeal is: 'Bring them home right now'".

"Everyone in the world - everyone who is human - should do everything in their power to bring them back," she adds.

And in a message to the hostages, in the hope "somehow they can hear us", Grosbard says: "Please stay strong. Please know we are doing everything in our power to bring you home."

Mohammed Ghalayini is a scientist from Manchester who has been in Gaza visiting family since the conflict began.

He told the BBC's Newshour programme that he visited Gaza's border crossing with Egypt today, because some of his family members - those with Jordanian passports - were told they were on a list of people allowed to leave.

Mohammed says he found an official at the border who had a list of people who are approved to leave "but there are no British people on it".

He said there were some other nationalities on the list including Austrians, Jordanians, Indonesians and Australians.

But Ghalayini himself says he is staying put in Gaza, even though he has a British passport which means he might be able to leave. He wants to tell the world what is happening in Gaza, he says.

"This is an existential plight for the Palestinian people. Everyone I know and love in the UK will shout at me that I am mad but in the end we have to make our own decisions in this life," he adds.

• Civilians have been allowed to leave the Gaza Strip for the first time in more than three weeks
• At least 20 Palestinian patients and more than 100 dual nationals entered Egypt via the Rafah crossing
• The UK Foreign Office says the departure of British nationals from Gaza "will take place in stages over the coming days"
• Elsewhere, the Hamas-run health ministry says seven of the hostages it took from southern Israel on 7 October were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza on Tuesday

• The health ministry in Gaza says 8,796 people have been killed in the Strip since 7 October - an increase of 271 since Tuesday
• And in Israel, funerals have been taking place for some of the 11 soldiers killed in ground fighting in Gaza on Tuesday

Image source, Reuters

We've just had this picture from the scene of yesterday's Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp.

Israel says it was targeting a Hamas commander and tunnels. Dozens of people were reported dead and children were pictured among the killed and injured. The BBC can't confirm the number of casualties.

Earlier today, the Hamas military wing al-Qassam Brigades said seven civillian hostages were killed by the air strikes - they said this included three "foreign passport holders".

At least 20 injured civilians have crossed into Egypt at the Rafah crossing, BBC News can confirm.

And our colleagues in Cairo say 110 dual nationals also crossed into Egypt from Gaza.

As a reminder, we're expecting around 80 Palestinian patients, and around 500 dual or foreign nationals, to be allowed to leave Gaza for Egypt today.

Twenty aid trucks were also allowed into Gaza when the border opened earlier.

Children are among those waiting in ambulances to cross from Gaza into Egypt for treatment.

At least seven injured people have crossed into Egypt from Gaza, with more expected to follow, as the Gazan border finally opened for some civilians.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Israel's military losses a sign of what may lie aheadpublished at 11:51 Greenwich Mean Time 1 November 2023

11:51 GMT 1 November 2023

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting southern Israel

After Israel's strike on the Jabalia refugee camp yesterday, the issue is whether or not it was worth the price - the price being scores of dead Palestinians.

Late last night, I spoke to the surgical director of the local hospital near the camp who said that they received about 400 casualties. Around 120 of them were either dead on arrival or died subsequently very quickly.

Israel says there have been about 11,000 strikes on Gaza since the start of the war. I’m in southern Israel near the border with Gaza, and for days, I’ve been hearing, at times, almost continuous heavy artillery.

You can hear war planes in the sky above racing in for their strikes. When they cross us they are only seconds away from releasing their missiles and hitting Gaza.

The IDF has announced that it has lost 11 of its own men. I think that's a sign of what may lie ahead because they haven't yet tried to enter the really built-up urban areas like Gaza City - which will be a huge military challenge.

The Israeli military is getting close to it, but mostly moving through villages around the city right now.

A few days ago, Hamas ambushed Israeli troops as a convoy entered Gaza. Some men were in what was supposed to be a modern and fairly impregnable troop carrier, which was incinerated by a Russian made anti-tank missile.

The first ambulances carrying injured civilians from Gaza have crossed into Egypt through the Rafah border, BBC News can confirm.

Our team in Cairo said at least seven people had crossed into Egypt so far - with more expected to follow.

We've heard that 88 injured Palestinians will be allowed to leave today, and up to 500 foreign nationals will also be allowed out.

Image source, Reuters