Image source, Reuters

Foreign Minister Wang Yi says China "fully supports" a two-state solution in Gaza, backing the call made recently at the Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh.

He also said the international community "must act now and take effective measures to end the humanitarian disaster".

Earlier, Saudi Arabia's FM had told him the global community needed to shoulder responsibility to stop Israel.

In his opening remarks, Wang Yi also told the Arab and Muslim leaders: "Let us work together to quickly cool down the situation in Gaza and restore peace in the Middle East as soon as possible."

Read more about what China wants from the Israel-Hamas war here.

A delegation of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers are currently in China on a formal visit - the delegation includes the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia and the Palestinian Authority as well as the head of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The visit will see Beijing have in-depth talks on ways to de-escalate the current conflict in Gaza, protect civilians and "seek a just settlement of the Palestinian question," China's foreign ministry representative said on Sunday in announcing the meetings.

China has been among the countries calling for a ceasefire, and has previously said it is willing to do "whatever is conducive" to promote dialogue and restore peace.

We've seeing the first comments out now from China's foreign minister Wang Yi - we'll bring you these in the next post.

Yvette Tan
Live editor

Image source, Reuters

It's just past 06:00 in Israel and Gaza - if you're just joining us now, here's what you need to know:

• The Israeli military has released footage which it says shows a "55m-long terror tunnel" underneath al-Shifa hospital
• It says that this "clearly proves that numerous buildings in the hospital's complex are used by Hamas as cover for terrorist activities" - allegations that Hamas and hospital staff have repeatedly denied
• It has also released footage which it says shows hostages being taken into al-Shifa after the Hamas attacks
• Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels say they have seized an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea, with Israeli PM Netanyahu calling it "another act of Iranian terrorism"
• The Houthis have fired several missiles and drones towards Israel since Israel started bombing Gaza in retaliation for the 7 October attacks
• Thirty-one premature babies were evacuated from al-Shifa on Sunday and taken to an Emirati hospital in the southern city of Rafah
• WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyeseus said the babies were "very sick" and had been moved under "extremely intense and high-risk security conditions"
• The WHO has also said it's finalising plans to complete the evacuation of the remaining patients and staff from al-Shifa. The operation is expected to take several days, with the first to be moved being patients receiving dialysis and those with spinal injuries

Stay with me and my colleague Frances Mao as we bring you the latest updates through the day

Hospital tunnel claims: The Israeli military shared footage earlier which it said showed a deep tunnel shaft running under the al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza. It said this proved claims it had made about Hamas housing a command centre under the facility. Hamas denies this.

Latest media briefing: Using CCTV footage to make his point, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters there was "concrete evidence" Israeli hostages were taken to al-Shifa after the 7 October attacks. He accused Hamas of murdering one hostage - 19-year-old Noa Marciano - there, and "waging terror from hospitals".

Hopes for a hostage deal: Throughout Sunday, there were growing hopes of a deal to release some of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. Michael Herzog, Israel's ambassador to the US, said he was hopeful a "significant number" could be released "in the coming days", after the Qatari PM said his confidence was growing about a deal.

Premature babies evacuated: The UN moved 31 babies from al-Shifa (where Israeli forces have been conducting what they called a "targeted operation against Hamas") to a maternity hospital in southern Gaza. World Health Organization boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described health workers in the Strip as "heroic".

Increasing number of deaths: The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the death toll had risen, and that 13,000 people were now estimated to have been killed in Gaza since the war with Israel began. Israel launched a retaliatory campaign on Gaza after Hamas fighters crossed the border into Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostage.

Image source, EPA

Families of hostages taken by Hamas during the 7 October attacks will be invited to the Knesset (Israel's parliament) tomorrow, the Times of Israel is reporting.

The Israeli newspaper described the event as a "special conference", the first formal Knesset-sponsored event featuring hostages’ families since the kidnappings.

The IDF says its fighter jets have "struck Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanese territory", in response to launches across Israel's northern border.

It said anti-tank missiles and mortar shells had been launched toward northern Israel and it was "striking the origins of the fire".

In a post on X, it said its targets were "a Hezbollah military compound, a military post and infrastructure used for directing terrorist activity". Ths BBC is unable to verify.

In a press conference earlier today, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Hezbollah had fired "more than 1,000 munitions at Israeli targets" since the start of the war - but that the group "suffers far more significant harm".

Oliver Slow
Live reporter

Image source, Supplied

I've been speaking to Maayan Kaplun-Keidar who believes her father, Dror Kaplun, was among those kidnapped by Hamas operatives when they attacked Israel last month.

Dror’s wife, Marcelle Frailich Kaplun, was killed in the attacks, and Maayan has seen a video of her father being taken away by Hamas gunmen. But she has had no confirmation of his status.

“He’s not wounded, he looks strong [in the video]," she tells me. "I know my father, he’s very optimistic... I told myself, he’s strong, he will survive it."

Maayan said that through forensic testing - conducted by a family member and confirmed by police - she discovered her father had received a head injury in the attacks, but does not know the extent of it.

She says she has barely eaten or slept since 7 October - when Hamas attacked - which she describes as “the worst day of my life”.

Responding to reports of an imminent deal to secure the release of some hostages, she says she hopes they can all be freed:

In France, President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier, telling him there had been "too many civilian losses" in the country's war with Hamas.

He emphasised the "absolute necessity to distinguish terrorists from the population", according to the French presidency.

Macron also spoke to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, and condemned violence against civilians in the West Bank.

Macron recently told the BBC that Israel must stop killing women and babies.

It comes as the Times of Israel reports that France dispatched a helicopter carrier to Egypt earlier today to act as a floating hospital for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

After that IDF media briefing - which you can catch up on in our last couple of posts - let's take a look at some of the footage that's been released today.

The Israeli military shared a video earlier showing, it says, a "55m-long terror tunnel, 10m deep underneath the Shifa hospital".

It comes after weeks of the IDF accusing Hamas of having some kind of command centre under al-Shifa, Gaza City's largest hospital, which Hamas denies.

Here's a snippet of the footage:

Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesperson, rounds off his briefing by accusing Hamas of murdering Noa Marciano inside al-Shifa hospital.

The IDF confirmed 19-year-old Corporal Noa Marciano's death last week. She had appeared in a video released by Hamas, which the IDF called "psychological terrorism".

Hagari also claims Noa "was not the only hostage taken to Shifa", before showing CCTV images of what he says are hostages being forced inside the hospital (mentioned in our last post).

He concludes by saying: “Everyone who cares about the future of humanity must condemn Hamas.”

Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesperson, shows reporters CCTV footage that he says is from al-Shifa on 7 October - when Hamas attacked Israel.

The IDF spokesperson says it shows two hostages kidnapped from Israel, one of whom is bleeding on his arm, being brought to the hospital.

"We don't know where these hostages are now," he says.

He also shows images he says show an IDF jeep taken from Israel at the hospital, as well as a white pick-up that he says was of the type used by Hamas commandos when they attacked Israel.

"By now the truth is clear - Hamas is waging terror from hospitals," Hagari says.

In Tel Aviv, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari is giving a press briefing, further explaining what the Israeli military has found during its operation at al-Shifa hospital.

He says these are preliminary findings from a "still ongoing operation".

We're listening in and will bring you key updates - stay with us.

Earlier, we reported on the evacuation of 31 premature babies from al-Shifa hospital, with the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) describing the infants as being "very sick".

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said they had been taken to Al-Helal Al-Emairati Maternity Hospital, in southern Gaza, "where they are receiving urgent care in the neonatal intensive care unit".

We've now seen some of the first images of the babies being cared for, which you can watch below. A warning that some viewers may find the scenes upsetting.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 13,000 people have now been killed in the Palestinian enclave since the war with Israel began.

Israel launched a retaliatory campaign on Gaza after Hamas fighters crossed the border into Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage.

We've regularly reported on the death toll in Gaza, and our colleagues at BBC Verify have explained how the dead are counted.

• You can read more on that here

Nick Beake
Reporting from Jerusalem

Israel believes it's starting to build up a compelling case to justify its operation at al-Shifa hospital. 


Its military has repeatedly said Hamas has a large HQ right underneath the medical centre, and that was the justification for its intense military operation, even while thousands of civilians remained there.

The word from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) today was that more evidence was coming - it seems they're keen to shown what their operation has found.

To quote them, they believe what they've discovered so far - some of which is shown in the latest footage - "clearly proves that numerous buildings in the hospital's complex are used by Hamas as cover for terrorist infrastructure and activities".

But this is a contested claim. Hamas has always denied it - as have doctors we've been speaking to over the last few days who have been at the hospital.

It’s worth stressing the BBC has no way of verifying the footage that’s been presented tonight.

Image source, IDF

In the last few minutes, the Israeli military has released footage which it says shows a "55m-long terror tunnel, 10m deep underneath the Shifa hospital".

In the video, the entrance to a deep staircase is shown at ground level, among rubble in the al-Shifa complex.

Once at the bottom, troops appear to walk along a well-constructed tunnel shaft that leads to a heavy door.

"This type of door is used by the Hamas terrorist organisation to block Israeli forces from entering the command centres and the underground assets belonging to Hamas," the Israel Defense Forces (DF) say in a statement, adding that investigations "are continuing to uncover the route of the tunnel".

The Israeli forces have claimed for weeks that Hamas has a command and control centre underneath al-Shifa - allegations the group and medical staff at the hospital deny.

Last week, the US said its intelligence similarly suggested Hamas has a network underneath al-Shifa.

The Israeli military has posted on X saying plans were approved last night for "the continuation of ground combat and manoeuvring in the Gaza Strip".

It's unclear whether this means the Israeli ground operation will expand to Gaza's south.

Earlier this week, leaflets were distributed to residents in Khan Younis in the south, warning them to evacuate ahead of Israeli military activity there.

Mark Regev, a senior advisor to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says the IDF has located a command and control room in the al-Shifa hospital complex.

“We found a command and control room on the minus 2 floor (of the hospital) but once again we have to show - and we still will, it’s just a matter of time - the connection between the tunnel network and the hospital," he told the Weekend programme on the BBC World Service.

Regev said there were fears of booby traps awaiting IDF forces in the tunnels underground, and that the IDF would have conclusive evidence in the next few days.

Israeli defence forces descended on al-Shifa hospital late last week, accusing Hamas of running the "beating heart" of its operations from beneath the hospital. The US says its intelligence suggests there is a "command and control node" in the hospital complex.

Image source, Reuters

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is "deeply shocked" that two UN schools were attacked in less than 24 hours in Gaza

"Dozens of people – many women and children – were killed and injured as they were seeking safety in United Nations premises," Guterres said in a statement.

"Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are seeking shelter at United Nations facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting. I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable."

He added the war was having a "staggering and unacceptable" number of civilian casualties and reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

More now on the 31 premature babies that have been evacuated from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza today.

Many of the 31 babies evacuated to the Emirati Hospital in Rafah on Sunday have “lost their parents in bombardments” by Israel, Nebal Farsakh has told the BBC.

She says the surviving parents had been ordered to leave Gaza City - where al-Shifa hospital is located - before the babies’ evacuation, and their current whereabouts are unknown.

Farsakh adds that she doesn’t have any information on whether the babies would be transferred from Rafah to a new facility.