Around the world, protesters have taken to the streets to demand a ceasefire in Gaza or show solidarity with Israel following the deadly Hamas attacks on 7 October. Take a look at some of the demonstrations:

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Nick Watt
Political editor, BBC Newsnight

Image source, PA Media

In the UK, suspended opposition Labour MP Andy McDonald has defended using the phrase “between the River to the Sea” on the grounds that he was calling for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace.

In an exclusive interview with BBC Newsnight, McDonald dismissed Labour claims that his intervention had been provocative.

“Absolutely not to be provocative, but to pursue the cause of peace,” the MP for Middlesbrough told Newsnight. “I mean, please, I beg everybody to look at the words that I've used. Calling for Israelis and Palestinians to live in peaceful liberty together.”

Many people believe the phrase “between the River and the Sea” is an antisemitic trope. That is because it is seen by many to suggest that Jewish people cannot live between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in a Jewish state.

Discussing his speech, which McDonald gave on 28 October at a pro-Palestine rally in London, the suspended MP said he had carefully chosen his words to express the importance for all sides of achieving peace in the Middle East.

McDonald said: “Let's be accurate about the words that I did use rather than the ones that have been attributed to me because I did say that we won't rest until we have justice, until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea, can live in peaceful liberty.”

Asked by Newsnight’s political editor Nick Watt to confirm that he believed in the existence of a two-state solution - Israel living alongside a viable Palestinian state - McDonald said: “I've calibrated my remarks to say that this peace process that I pray to God would emerge from this horror has to be predicated on the basis of a state of Israel and the state of Palestine living together.”

He added: “I would condemn anyone who would call for the destruction and the eradication of the nation state of Israel or indeed a putative and viable Palestinian state. So the words I used are clear. I would never, ever make comments that would cause such hurt."

McDonald spoke several days after the Labour Party suspended the whip against him pending an investigation into his speech at Saturday’s rally.

Addressing a crowd at the march, McDonald had said: “We will not rest until we have justice. Until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea, can live in peaceful liberty." He had added: “Free, free Palestine”.

Image source, Reuters

Israel has accused UN experts of repeating Hamas propaganda about the situation in Gaza, something it called "deplorable".

Seven UN-mandated human rights experts said they believed civilians in Gaza were at grave risk of "genocide" and that time was running out to prevent this.

The group of special rapporteurs alleged that Israel was planning to "decimate" the Gaza Strip and it called on Israel and its allies to agree to an immediate ceasefire, and on Hamas and other militants to release all captive civilians.

"The situation in Gaza has reached a catastrophic tipping point,” they said, according to a statement by the UN Office of the High Commissioner, external.

Asked about the statement at a press briefing, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said a determination of genocide could only be made by a relevant UN judicial body, according to the Reuters news agency.

Israel also accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields and diverting aid for terrorist operations.

"The current war was brought upon Israel by Hamas terrorists who committed a massacre on October 7, butchering 1,400 people and kidnapping 243 children, men and women," the Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva said.

Image source, Reuters

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Lebanon

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah, is expected to address his followers on Friday, his first public comments since the Israel-Hamas war broke out.

The speech is likely to indicate the group's next moves, as its fighters and the Israeli army are engaged in intense attacks on the Lebanon-Israel border.

This has raised fears the area could become another front in the conflict.

So far, however, the violence has largely been contained.

Since Hamas carried out the 7 October attacks on Israel, killing more than 1,400 people, Lebanon has been on edge, closely watching Hezbollah.

The group has intensified its attacks on Israel, which is retaliating.

But both sides have apparently taken steps to avoid a dangerous escalation, and most strikes have been limited to the border area.

This, however, could change.

Read Hugo's report in full.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

The US House of Representatives has approved a $14.3bn (£11.7bn) aid bill to Israel, though Democrats have warned it is dead on arrival in the Senate.

The Republican measure was approved by 226-196, with the help of 12 Democrats. Two Republicans voted against it.

Democratic leaders wanted a bill that included funding for Ukraine, but House Republicans opposed bundling Ukraine and Israel aid into the one measure.

Democrats have also taken issue with how the Republican proposal is structured: it aims to provide Israel billions by cutting funding to the Internal Revenue Service, which is tasked with collecting taxes in the US.

Senate leader Chuck Schumer has slammed the House bill as "deeply flawed", saying the upper chamber of Congress - narrowly controlled by Democrats - will not pass it.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, also vowed to veto the bill should it ever land on his desk.

Read more on the move here.

Image source, Getty Images

Here's a recap of the main developments:

• Israel’s military said it had “completed the encirclement of Gaza City”and had been attacking positions used by Hamas. The city is the largest in the Gaza Strip and was the most densely populated part of the territory before the war began
• The UN said four of its schools in Gaza that were being used as shelters had been damaged in less than 24 hours.The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees also noted that at least 20 people were reportedly dead at a school in the Jabalia refugee camp
• Schools at the Beach refugee camp, and the Al Bureij camp, were also damaged, with three reported deaths

• A limited number of citizens were able to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing, near the Egyptian border, which opened on Wednesday. Egyptian officials said 21 injured Palestinians had left on Thursday, plus 344 foreign passport holders, including 72 children
• The UK Foreign Office said “more British nationals” were able to cross into Egypt from Gaza, but didn’t provide a number, while the US said 74 American citizens with dual nationality had left via the Rafah crossing
• The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said more than 9,000 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, when the current conflict began after Hamas launched its deadly attacks on Israel, killing 1,400 people. Since then, Israel has bombarded Gaza with air strikes as it seeks to "destroy Hamas"

• The Lebanese group Hezbollah also said it used two drones packed with explosivesto attack an Israeli army position in the disputed Shebaa Farms/Mount Dov area at the Lebanese-Israeli border

Nine-year-old Rafif Abu Ziyada is currently living in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza.

She tells the Reuters news agency she drinks dirty water and is getting stomach aches and headaches.

"There is no cooking gas, there is no water, we don't eat well. We are getting sick," she says.

"There's garbage on the ground and the whole place is polluted."

The Israeli military says 242 people were taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October.

Udi Goren's cousin is one of them.

In an interview with the BBC, Goren describes his cousin as "an average guy, he's a civil engineer, he's got a wife, he's got three kids". His family is "sick with worry", Udi says.

But his biggest frustration is that he feels the families of hostages "just can't trust anyone".

"We don't trust our government, [we don't trust] that they're doing their best to bring them back. Obviously we don't trust Hamas," he explains, adding that they're "not getting any clear answers".

"I don't see in any way, in any way, how bombing Gaza to the ground is going to get my cousin back. I don't see in any kind of scenario, how this is getting him back alive sooner," Goren adds.

Israel has said it is protecting its country and civilian population by seeking to "destroy" Hamas.

Antony Blinken’s plane has landed for a refuelling stop in Ireland, the first leg of a journey that will take the secretary of state and newly appointed US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, to Tel Aviv for a full day of meetings with Israeli officials.

It has been a quiet trip so far, with Blinken’s only contact with the travelling press corps coming in brief remarks from the tarmac before departing Washington DC.

The pace will pick up considerably over the next few days, however.

US diplomats have a daunting task ahead of them – reassuring the Israelis of continued American support while stepping up pressure to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza. The devastation in the Palestinian territory is increasing tensions with Israel’s Arab neighbours – and risking a widening of the conflict.

Blinken has said he wants to talk to leaders throughout the region in the days ahead about how to ensure a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Plotting a long-term future may be difficult, however, if the secretary is unable to bring new assurances - and evidence - of Israeli restraint to Arab leaders when the secretary meets with over the weekend.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's plane is refuelling on the way to Israel.

His arrival comes just hours after the country's president, Michael D Higgins, made a vocal intervention warning against the "collective punishment" of people living in Gaza.

Higgins called on the European Union and the broader international community to put an end to the conflict, saying they have a responsibility of upholding and vindicating international law.

"The ongoing horrific loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel has to be addressed," Higgins said in a statement. "When it comes to the protection of children, no other issues should stand in the way for even a minute."

His statement criticised the targeting of hospitals in particular, saying it is "simply unacceptable that hospitals and those being cared for within them are threatened by the basic lack of resources, damaged or indeed threatened with destruction".

He concluded that if the world is to move past this conflict, a consistent, diverse body of proposals on the region's future should be put forward.

The proposals, he says, are "ones that can deliver a reasonable security to citizens of Israel, and at the same time achieve the delivery of the long-neglected rights of the Palestinian people".

Patrick Jackson
Live editor, in London

Here in London we’ve just taken over from our colleagues in Washington DC to bring you continuing live coverage through the night of Israel’s war on Hamas.

The conflict took a new turn on Thursday when Israel’s military declared it had “completed the encirclement of Gaza City”, the Palestinian territory’s capital and Hamas stronghold. The military says it is engaged in close combat with Hamas.

Right now we can hear the chatter of machine-gun fire and powerful, echoing explosions thanks to a live video feed from the city. We can see almost nothing in the darkness apart from a few feeble lights because Israel has cut off electricity.

But by day we can see that parts of the city are little more than heaps of rubble. The UN agency for Palestinians says 20 people were killed when a UN school sheltering displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp near Gaza City was damaged after heavy bombardment. Three further deaths were also reported when three other shelters were hit.

Stay with us as we bring you further updates and analysis.