Image source, Supplied

The BBC has spoken to British-Palestinian Dr Mohamad Abou-foul several times during his efforts to leave Gaza with his family of 16.

Today he told BBC Radio 5 Live they managed to cross into Egypt after a 25-hour journey brought to an end "the worst 30 days of my whole life".

He told 5 Live: “I can’t recognise my kids... they are malnourished... they are pale, they are exhausted.

“There’s been no milk for my baby to have. I have a four-month-old boy. My wife is exhausted, she can’t sleep.”

But before he travels back to the UK, they face an agonising decision in Cairo, where the family are temporarily staying.

Dr Abou-foul's wife and four other relatives, including two children, do not have UK visas.

“There was an idea that we need to split the family but we’re not really ready for that," he said.

Image source, Reuters

It's a little after 19:00 in Gaza and Israel (17:00 GMT) and here are the latest updates:

• Thousands of Palestinians have fled south of the Gaza Strip after Israel's military opened an evacuation route from north Gaza for the fifth consecutive day - it said it kept the route open for an extra hour today due to "substantial response"
• The numbers who fled today are not confirmed but yesterday the UN said 15,000 people moved south via the route - Israel has told Gazans to leave the north for their safety
• However, the Hamas-run health ministry said almost half of those killed in Gaza in the past day were killed in the south of the Strip
• 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 a three-day humanitarian pause
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the number of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip shows something is "clearly wrong" with Israel's military operation there
• The health ministry in Gaza says the number of people killed in Gaza has risen to 10,569, including 4,324 children, since Israel began retaliatory military action in response to the 7 October attacks

Image source, Reuters

A man who was rescued from the remains of his family home in south Gaza has revisited the wreckage.

Mohammed Hamdan tells Reuters an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis killed 35 of his relatives, including his daughter, sister, brother, nephew and two nieces.

He says he was the only member of his family who was alive after being pulled from the rubble of the home where they grew up.

Israel says that its military operations are targeting Hamas, which it accuses of using civilians as human shields.

Khan Younis is in the south of the Gaza Strip, where Israel has urged Gazans to move for their own safety.

An IDF spokesman told the BBC on Sunday that any strikes on southern Gaza are "specific intelligence-based strikes, specifically against terrorist elements".

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting from southern Israel

Image source, Israel Defence Forces

Earlier today, my team and I were preparing to be embedded with an Israeli brigade on combat operations.

Before crossing into the area of heavy fighting, we interviewed the deputy commander of the armoured 4th brigade of the Israel Defense Forces at a military base less than 50 metres from north Gaza.

Lieutenant Colonel Ido Ben-Anat told me his unit were the first to enter when the ground invasion was launched on 27 October. "We've been here, nowhere else," he said.

Asked how it has been for his troops, Ben-Anat said it's been "non-stop work" for them.

"We all will always work. There's always another mission, there's always another goal. It's an ongoing war."

He said operations in Gaza are going to take a while to complete, given it is a war with "no expiry date", rather than a "small 10-day operation".

Asked what the mission is, Ben-Anat said we were about to head to a house that the brigade found yesterday - filled with weapons, ammunition, drones and scuba diving equipment, which he said Hamas had previously used to infiltrate Israel via the sea.

Rushdi Abu Alouf
Reporting from Gaza

A source familiar with talks over the fate of the hostages taken by Hamas in its 7 October attacks has told the BBC that discussions are taking place around the release of 12 hostages, half of them Americans, in exchange for a three-day humanitarian pause.

The proposed pause would be to enable Hamas to release the hostages and to allow Egypt to deliver humanitarian aid to both the south and north of Gaza, the source said.

The dispute is over the duration of the pause and over the situation in the north, which is witnessing extensive fighting, the source told the BBC.

More now from UN chief Antonio Guterres, who has said the UN is involved in talks aimed at securing the release of more than 200 hostages taken when Hamas launched its attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip last month.

"We have the obligation to do everything possible to obtain the release of hostages," he told Reuters news agency.

"We have no leverage over Hamas for that but there are some countries that have capacity of influence." he said, adding that Qatar has been "extremely positive" and the UN has been in close contact with it.

"Egypt has been very active. Others are doing their best. We are in contact with the Israeli authorities too," he said.

"It's absolutely essential that all hostages are released immediately and unconditionally," he added.

Meanwhile, Guterres said it "doesn't help Israel in relation to the global public opinion" to see the daily "terrible image of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people".

He said 630 aid trucks have passed into Gaza over the last 18 days - compared to 500 daily before the war - and "intense negotiations" are ongoing to ensure effective aid deliveries, but until now aid has been "too little, too late".

Image source, EPA

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the number of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip shows something is "clearly wrong" with Israel's military operations against Hamas in the territory.

He said 92 UN staff have also been killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

"There are violations by Hamas when they have human shields," Guterres told Reuters news agency.

"But when one looks at the number of civilians that were killed with the military operations, there is something that is clearly wrong."

We've been hearing from a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who tells the BBC News Channel that Israel is "doing our best to minimise the levels collateral damage".

Mark Regev says the most important move the Israeli military has made to achieve this is "calling on people to evacuate the north" and move south.

Asked about the deaths of Palestinians in Israeli attacks in southern areas, he says the levels of violence are not comparable to the north, where the IDF is currently engaged in heavy fighting with Hamas.

Regev says a "special humanitarian zone" is "being established" in al-Mawasi, to the west of Khan Younis near to the Mediterranean coast

"Along the coast, along the Mediterranean, where there isn’t Hamas infrastructure... we’re talking about establishing a humanitarian safe zone with field hospitals," he says.

He says this area is close to the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, so allows "easy access" for aid supplies.

Hundreds of foreign nationals and injured Palestinians have been able to leave via Rafah over the last week, while some humanitarian supplies have also been allowed to enter Gaza.

"The idea is, while this war is going on... for there to be a safe space for Gaza civilians,” Regev says.

Let's recap some comments from the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said earlier today that Israel must not reoccupy Gaza after the war.

Speaking from the G7 summit in Tokyo, Blinken said key elements of a future peace should include "no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza" and also:

• No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or violent attacks
• No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends
• No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza
• No reduction in the territory of Gaza
• Ensuring "no terrorist threats can emanate from the West Bank"

Blinken said steps to bring about "sustained peace" should be taken, including putting "Palestinian voices and aspirations at the centre of post-crisis governance in Gaza".

He said plans must include Gaza being unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority, schemes for reconstruction in Gaza and a "pathway to Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side" in two separate states.

As we reported earlier, last night an Israeli official clarified earlier comments made by Netanyahu about the future of Gaza, saying that when the PM said Israel would take "overall security responsibility" for Gaza, he meant it would ensure it remained a demilitarised area. The official added that Israel would not reoccupy or govern the area.

More than 150 British nationals had left Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt as of Tuesday night, a UK Foreign Office minister has confirmed.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Andrew Mitchell said Britain has been engaging intensively with Israel and Egypt to allow foreign nationals to leave.

The number is an update from yesterday when UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said more than 100 British nationals had passed through to Egypt.

Lists have been issued each day of those who can present themselves at the crossing with their passports - there are 600 names on today's list including people from Canada, Germany and the US, but no Britons.

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt has opened several times since last week to allow a number of civilians and wounded people to leave Gaza.

Image source, .

Satellite images show Palestinians heading southpublished at 14:04 Greenwich Mean Time 8 November 2023

14:04 GMT 8 November 2023

Palestinians are continuing to flee Gaza City, heading south along Salah al-Din Road – the Gaza Strip’s main highway and a key evacuation route.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say the road is safe to use at specific times of day, external, usually between 10:00 and 14:00 local time - that was extended by an hour today.

BBC Verify has geolocated an IDF video, published yesterday, approximately 3km (1.9miles) north of Wadi Gaza – a natural boundary identified by the IDF as the divider between North and South, external.

In the video, civilians can be seen heading south along the road.

People walking the same route can also been seen in satellite images acquired yesterday.

Signs of damage are visible, including some buildings and debris on the main road. Craters from explosions are also present and an IDF tank can be seen.

A second image, taken around 1km (0.6miles) north of Wadi Gaza, shows a larger group of civilians walking towards south Gaza, which the IDF considers ‘a safe area’.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The Al Quds hospital in Gaza City could run out of fuel today and is "curtailing most operations", the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) says.

The group say the hospital's main generator, surgical ward, MRI and medical imaging ward, and an "oxygen generation plant" have been shut down, despite strict electricity rationing.

Heavy bombardment has taken place around the hospital, where the PRCS says 14,000 civilians are sheltering among patients and staff.

Hospitals have been warning for weeks they are running out of fuel, as Israel blocks supplies reaching Gaza.

Israel has accused Hamas of hoarding fuel reserves for its own use. Yesterday, an Israeli official told us that “all essential facilities”, including hospitals, still had access to power, including via solar panels.

The Israeli military extended the evacuation route for civilians to leave northern Gaza to the south by an hour today, due to what it called a "substantial response".

The route was initially opened for a four-hour window by Israel's military to allow civilians to flee south.

But posting on X, external, Cogat, a unit of the Israeli Ministry of Defence, said the IDF "extended the evacuation corridor by an extra hour, until 15:00 today [13:00 GMT], allowing many more Gazans to move south for their safety".

It's not known how many people used the route today. Yesterday, the UN said Tuesday's total was 15,000.

It's thought hundreds of thousands of people remain in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military holds first four-hour humanitarian pause in Gaza Citypublished at 13:11 Greenwich Mean Time 8 November 2023

13:11 GMT 8 November 2023

Rushdi Abualouf
Reporting from southern Gaza

Image source, EPA

In terms of the number of air strikes, today is different. It is the lowest since the war began across the Gaza Strip and here in the south.

Meanwhile - as we've been reporting - thousands of people displaced from the fighting in the north continued to flee south of Wadi Gaza on foot along the Salah al-Din Highway.

During the early hours of the morning, air strikes focused on the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip and the cities of Gaza and the north, where 40 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured.

For the first time, the Israeli army announced a four-hour humanitarian pause in three large central neighbourhoods in Gaza City, to enable residents to obtain water and food - but people there are complaining about the lack of water and food.

On the eight fighting fronts, clashes continued at a slower pace than yesterday. Israeli ground forces continued to control the strategic coastal road west of Gaza City and tightened the siege around the city.

Yogita Limaye
Reporting from Israel

Image source, EPA

When looking from Sderot in Israel, you can see thick plumes of smoke hanging over Gaza. Before the dust settles from one explosion, there's another.

I ask Gaza-based journalist Mahmoud Bassam what it smells like when he breathes in.

"Like dust, as if something is burning," he replies.

"The smell is really bad. It's a combination of dust and ashes. When bombings occur, the smoke grows larger and larger, surrounding the area.

"This smoke makes it difficult for us to breathe, so we have to wear masks to be able to stay conscious. After the smoke dissipates, the dust remains all over the place, and we continue to smell the odour of something burning."

Mahmoud has been spending a lot of his time in hospitals, documenting the stories of the injured and dead.

"In this war, it's different from previous wars," he says. "We're encountering a new smell of burnt bodies. Most of the injuries we've seen are burn-related."

This won't be over easily and quicklypublished at 12:50 Greenwich Mean Time 8 November 2023

12:50 GMT 8 November 2023

Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting from southern Israel

Image source, Reuters

As we reported earlier, the Israelis have suffered a number of casualties - but for the operation they're doing, they feel it's an acceptable number.

But that doesn’t mean this is going to be over easily or quickly. While Israel can drive their tanks into Gaza, there are an unknown number of tunnels and Hamas fighters.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says the leader of Hamas is in his bunker not talking to anybody - he doesn't actually know that with certainty.

The Israeli military was not able to pick up the intelligence that Hamas was going to carry out the massacre on 7 October. So I think we need to take their claims of certain knowledge and intelligence with a quite a large pinch of salt.

Israel is a very powerful country, with a very powerful army, and they are deploying a large amount of it to Gaza.

So even though Israel has all the heavy weaponry, the question is whether or not they can defeat the Hamas fighters who have been releasing videos of themselves running around and popping out of tunnels, and firing various kinds of anti-tank missiles at the Israeli armoured vehicles going into Gaza City.

Image source, AP

As we've been reporting, thousands more civilians have fled from north to south Gaza through an evacuation route opened by the Israeli military for a fifth consecutive day.

In an update last night, the UN's humanitarian office said the majority arrived at the route on foot with minimal belongings, including children, elderly people and people with disabilities.

The UN said some displaced Gazans had to cross Israeli checkpoints and saw people being arrested by Israeli forces.

Others told the AP news agency on Tuesday they walked past Israeli tanks with raised hands, while waving white flags.

Image source, IDF

The Israeli military has confirmed a member of a special forces unit has been killed in fighting in Gaza.

So far Israel has confirmed that 32 IDF members have died in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 27 October.

Sgt First Class Jonathan Chazor, a 22-year-old member of the Shaldag unit of the Israeli Air Force, was killed in battle in northern Gaza, the IDF says on its list of casualties, external.

The IDF has published the names of 350 dead soldiers since the war began, most of whom were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

As we've been reporting, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 49% of people killed by Israeli attacks in the past day were in the southern Gaza Strip.

On 13 October, Israeli forces told 1.1 million people living in north Gaza to move south, but the south has continued to come under Israeli bombardment.

That has led the UN and other aid organisations to repeatedly warn that nowhere in Gaza is safe for civilians.

Yesterday, an Israeli official told the BBC the only area place in Gaza that could be considered properly safe was al-Mawasi, an area of relatively open ground west of Khan Younis.

Al-Mawasi is where Israel has been telling civilians to go to get humanitarian assistance.

Israeli military's Col Elad Goren said the IDF would attack "wherever Hamas will be".

The Israeli military says an evacuation route was open again for four hours today, to allow people to move from the north to the southern Gaza Strip - the fifth consecutive day the route has opened.

Avichay Adraee, the IDF's Arabic-language spokesman, said that from 10:00 this morning, thousands headed south after "demands and appeals" from the military.

Posting on X earlier, Adraee said: "For your safety, take advantage of the remaining time today until two o’clock in the afternoon to protect yourself and your family members."

The UN said 15,000 people passed through the route yesterday - compared to 5,000 on Monday and 2,000 on Sunday.

But while thousands have left, it's thought hundreds of thousands remain. Yesterday, Hamas-run authorities in Gaza said 600,000 people were still in the north.