Alex Binley
Live reporter

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We have started a new live page here, where you can follow all the latest updates on the Israel-Gaza war.

We're pausing our live coverage for the next few hours, so until then, here's a quick recap on where things stand in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinians have continued to flee Gaza City as Israel steps up its ground offensive.

The Israeli military said 50,000 Palestinians have fled the city today, as its forces once again opened a safe passage on the main north-south road for several hours.

Yesterday, Israel said it had surrounded Gaza City and cut the strip in half – today it said Hamas had “lost control” of northern Gaza.

Hamas-run authorities in Gaza reported several airstrikes in both the north and south of the territory, with the number of people killed since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October rising by more than 200 to 10,569 in the last 24 hours.

Strong words from the UN continued, with both Israel and Hamas accused of committing war crimes by the UN commissioner for human rights.

And UN Secretary-General Anontio Guterres said the number of civilians killed in Gaza showed something was "clearly wrong" with Israeli military operations, but also said Hamas was using people as human shields.

Meanwhile, as families of some 239 people taken hostage in Gaza during the Hamas attacks continue to push for their release, the BBC heard from a source close to talks about the captives.

Discussions are taking place over a possible release of 12 hostages, half of them Americans, in exchange for a three-day humanitarian pause in fighting, the source said, adding that disagreement remained over the length of the pause and the situation in the north of Gaza.

But Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed "false rumours" and said there would be no ceasefire "without the release of our hostages".

The BBC's International editor, Jeremy Bowen, has travelled with Israeli forces into Gaza - he didn't see a single building that wasn't badly damaged and was shown a building containing both a family apartment and what the military said were weapons-making workshops.

We continued to hear about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, with people there struggling to find enough food and water.

However, a convoy carrying medical supplies reached Gaza City’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa - where medical conditions are “disastrous” - Unrwa and the World Health Organization said. It was just the second delivery to the hospital during the month-long conflict.

Our BBC visual journalism colleagues have produced these maps, which show how Israeli troops and armoured vehicles encircled Gaza City, after entering from northern Gaza following four weeks of air strikes.

The BBC's international editor Jeremy Bowen has travelled with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into Gaza.

While the BBC had editorial control of the report, the section with the IDF has been viewed by them.

The IDF showed the BBC what they said was a Hamas weapons factory, below a home in which children lived.

A convoy carrying emergency medical supplies and medicine have reached the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, in a joint effort between the UN and World Health Organization (WHO).

It is the second delivery of vital aid to the hospital since the conflict between Hamas and Israel escalated, the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) and WHO said in a statement.

But they say the quantity of supplies "are far from sufficient to respond to the immense needs in the Gaza Strip".

The medical conditions at Al-Shifa are "disastrous", the statement added.

UNRWA and WHO again called for fuel to be delivered to humanitarian agencies in the Gaza Strip.

"Without fuel, hospitals and other essential facilities such as desalination plants and bakeries cannot operate, and more people will most certainly die as a result," they said.

Yemen's Houthi rebel movement shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, a senior US official said.

"A US military MQ-9 remotely-piloted aircraft was shot down off the coast of Yemen by Houthi forces," the official is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

The rebels have been fighting a war against a government backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015.

Israel's military said it had destroyed at least 130 tunnel shafts in Gaza.

"Combat engineers fighting in Gaza are destroying the enemy's weapons and are locating, exposing and detonating tunnel shafts," the military said on Telegram., external

In another post, it said its soldiers "destroyed" a tunnel near a school in the Beit Hanoun area, in the north-east corner of Gaza.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, BBC News has been speaking to non-governmental organisations active in Gaza to learn about the challenges facing them.

In a voice message, sent to us by Oxfam, Alhasan Swairjo - a Palestinian who works for the charity in Gaza - describes the difficulties he has faced in trying to secure food.

Alhasan says he "barely managed" to secure 1kg of cheese at stores near the Al-Shifa Hospital for the 10 families he is sheltering with.

He says he witnessed people “who attacked closed supermarkets to get access to the food there".

He adds that he is concerned that civil order will "collapse in a few days" if the siege continues, given the absence of Palestinian police or security forces.

Hundreds of women and children are sleeping in the street near the hospital, he says.

"They don’t have access to food, they don’t have access to water, they don’t have access to toilets. They have to wait for three or four hours to use the hospital toilets.”

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Supplied

The BBC has spoken to the mothers of some of the children being held hostage inside Gaza.

Renana Jacob was not at home when Hamas's 7 October attack began, and rang her sons Yagel, 12, and Or, 16.

She told us: "The last thing I heard my youngest boy saying to me a month ago… he was begging for them not to take him.

"He said 'I'm too young. Please don't take me. I'm too young'."

They are believed to be among the 242 people Israel says are being held hostage inside Gaza.

The BBC has also spoken to Hadas Kalderon, whose two children are among five of her family members still missing, and Batshema Yahalomi, whose son and husband were taken.

You can read their full stories here.

Thousands of Palestinians remain in Gaza City weeks after Israel warned Gazans to leave the north as it began its military response to the 7 October attacks in Israel.

Many have been displaced by the destruction in the city and have taken refuge in Al Shifa hospital.

The Reuters news agency filmed people living in tents in the hospital grounds; or sleeping on mattresses in the corridors.

Image source, Reuters

“Look at our situation, is this a life that we are living?” says Lama, whose daughter died in Al Shifa and is now sheltering inside the hospital.

“We have no food, no electricity or water. We sleep in the corridors, without any blankets, it is very cold. This is not a life.”

Image source, Reuters

Fathiya Shebir is also staying in the hospital. She dries her washing on the hospital roof.

“I lost all my children, without being able to say goodbye. I cannot speak. We have been displaced at Al Shifa for a month, under the trees, in between cars," says Fathiya.

Fathiya points to the roof where she says a rocket struck the hospital: "Look this was an air strike."

“There is no safety, neither in Al Shifa, nor in camps, or inside the homes or on the streets.”

The Israeli military says there is a major Hamas headquarters situated underneath the Al Shifa hospital.

Katy Watson
South America correspondent, reporting from São Paulo

Israel’s spy agency Mossad has said that it helped foil an alleged plot to launch attacks on the Jewish community in Brazil, the second largest in Latin America.

According to Brazilian authorities, two men were arrested in Sao Paulo who appear to have links to the Lebanon-based Islamist group Hezbollah.

According to a statement issued by Brazil’s Federal Police, the operation in which two suspects were arrested was designed to "disrupt the preparation of terrorist attacks" and obtain information on possible recruitment of Brazilians to "commit extremist acts within the country".

A further 11 search warrants were also issued in Sao Paulo, the capital Brasilia, and the state of Minas Gerais.

Recruiters face charges of involvement in a terrorist organisation and participating in preparations for terrorist acts - charges that carry a maximum sentences of 15 and a half years.

According to the Israeli prime minister’s office, Mossad worked with Brazilian and other international spy agencies - it was apparently a network that spanned several countries.

Image source, Reuters

As we reported earlier, a source familiar with talks over the fate of the hostages taken by Hamas has told the BBC discussions are taking place over the release of 12 hostages, half of them Americans, in exchange for three-day humanitarian pause.

According to the source, there is dispute over the duration of the pause and over the situation in the north of Gaza.

We've now heard the following comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - in what appears to be a reference to the reports:

"I'd like to put to rest all kinds of false rumours we're hearing from all kinds of directions, and reiterate one clear thing: there will be no ceasefire without the release of our hostages," Netanyahu said, in comments reported by AFP..

As a reminder, a ceasefire is not exactly the same as a humanitarian pause.

Humanitarian pauses tend to last for short periods of time, and are typically implemented purely with humanitarian aims - while ceasefires are intended to be longer term, as the UN explains here, external.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu spoke to US Channel ABC News about the possibility of humanitarian pauses.

"As far as tactical little pauses - an hour here, an hour there - we've had them before. I suppose we'll check the circumstances, in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods, to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave," he said.

The UN humanitarian chief has described the situation in the occupied West Bank as "increasingly dire".

Martin Griffiths says 158 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since 7 October, among them 45 children. More than 2,400 people have been injured and over 1,000 displaced.

After laying out the statistics, Griffiths wrote on social media, external: "Again, enough is enough."

According to the UN, eight of these Palestinians - including one child - were killed by Israeli settlers, while three Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians.

There have been more than 200 settler attacks against Palestinians recorded by the UN, external, including dozens that have led to injuries and more than 150 where property was damaged or destroyed.

Speaking to the media at the G7 meeting in Tokyo earlier, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called for Israel to take action against "settler violence on the West Bank", which he says the UK has condemned.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which is run by the Palestinian Authority rather than Hamas, are regarded by most countries as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.

Image source, .

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

At a small protest tent across the road from Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, I meet Maoz Inon, who lost both his elderly parents when Hamas gunmen attacked the small community of Netiv HaAsara, on 7 October.

After a month of grieving, he’s channelling his considerable energies back into political activism.

He says he’s “drowning in an ocean of sorrow and pain”, but he’s also furious.

“The government betrayed my parents,” he tells me. “Betrayed 1400 victims. Betrayed 240 kidnapped people who are being held hostage.”

His 76-year old mother, Bilha, was a fierce opponent of Mr Netanyahu, he tells me. She had a bag packed, ready to travel to another protest, the morning she and her husband were murdered.

“So I’m here for her,” says Maoz. “I’m here to say 'go'. 'Go'.”

Maoz and his fellow protesters say they’ll stay camped outside the Knesset until Mr Netanyahu quits.

It’s likely to be a long vigil. The prime minister says the question of accountability must wait until the war is over.

Image source, EPA

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has just visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza during a five-day tour of the Middle East.

Volker Türk said war crimes had been committed by both Israel and Hamas since 7 October when the current conflict broke out.

"The atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups on 7 October were heinous, they were war crimes - as is the continued holding of hostages," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

"The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians is also a war crime, as is unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians."

As we have been reporting, thousands of people fled the Gaza City area today after Israel's military opened an evacuation route from north Gaza for the fifth consecutive day.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said people left because "they understand Hamas has lost control of the north of Gaza Strip and it is more safe and secure in the south".

But Hamas-run authorities said that Israeli air strikes killed more than 100 people in the southern Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.

We can bring you some pictures now of scenes in north Gaza today, as people abandoned their homes in search of safety:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Israel’s chief military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, says 50,000 Palestinians left the Gaza City area today after Israeli forces once again opened Salah el-Din street, the main road to southern Gaza Strip.

The IDF kept the road open for five hours today, an hour longer than yesterday’s window.

Daniel Hagari said there was no ceasefire, merely "humanitarian pauses" to allow people to move south. It appears the Israeli military is now implementing the sorts of limited pauses US officials have been advocating for days, although US officials said these would be to facilitate the provision of aid and allow room for the release of hostages.

On Monday, speaking to ABC News, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was willing to consider “tactical little pauses,” for aid and the release of hostages.

It’s not known how many civilians remain in the Gaza City area (which includes the Shati and Jabaliya refugee camps and surrounding areas), but a few days ago, US officials estimated there might be as many as 300,000 to 400,000 left.

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was closed on Wednesday because of an unspecified "security circumstance", US state department spokesman Vedant Patel has said.

"Our understanding is that given a security circumstance at the Rafah border crossing, Rafah border crossing remains closed today," he said at a news briefing.

Officials were working with Egypt and Israel to get it reopened, Patel added.

Rafah is the only crossing in and out of Gaza that has been operating since 7 October. Several hundred tracks carrying aid have entered through it during the conflict, and it has opened intermittently to allow some injured people and foreign passports holders to exit the territory.

Image source, .

Image source, .

Gazans are increasingly heading to the south of Gaza strip as they seek safety, water, food and medicine not available in the north, an Israeli military spokesman says.

In an evening briefing, Daniel Hagari attacked Hamas for hiding behind the civilian population, and said it had "lost control" in the north.

People are leaving "because they understand Hamas has lost control of the north of Gaza Strip and it is more safe and secure in the south, and they can have water, food and medication over there," he said.

Hagari also confirmed that the north-south evacuation route - which has been been opened for specific windows of a few hours over the past few days - would be open tomorrow, and urged people to "leave the clutches of Hamas".

He said 50,000 people had left the Gaza City area today.

The Hamas leadership were "detached" from the Gazan population, he said, and only cared about their own survival.

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting from Gaza

Image source, bbc

The Israeli army took BBC cameraman Fred Scott and me into the Gaza Strip. We had to accept Israeli censorship of video material, mostly to avoid identifying positions.

Under that agreement I can’t identify the precise location. Based on many visits to Gaza over 30 years, I can say that we were approaching Gaza City.

They took us in and out in an armoured vehicle. It had no windows but was equipped with video screens and cameras facing in all directions.

I didn’t see a single building that wasn’t badly damaged or destroyed, either on the journey in or at our destination. A month of war, and just over a week of a ground offensive, have turned the area of Gaza we visited into a wasteland.

The army took us to a badly damaged building they said they had found in the last 24 hours. Two floors were workshops, they said for making weapons.

Outside they displayed locally made components for drones that the army said could carry bombs, along with scuba gear. On 7 October Hamas also entered Israel from the sea. The top floor of the building was once a spacious family apartment. It had a bedroom with three pink single beds, dolls, toys and school books.

The Israelis said that was proof that Hamas was using civilians as human shields, manufacturing weapons in places where civilians lived. I asked them about the very high levels of civilian casualties.

The officers retorted forcefully that Israel would never deliberately target civilians. When asked about the impact of air strikes, they insisted that they were based on intelligence and that Israel was not responsible for civilian casualties.

Jeremy Bowen's full report will be broadcast at 22:00 GMT on BBC News. Viewers in the UK can watch it on the iPlayer.