Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

More pictures have emerged on Israeli social media, showing Palestinians apparently surrendering to Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip.

For the first time, the images show a man obeying instructions to lay down a weapon. But the existence of two versions of the same scene have raised questions about its authenticity.

• In one version, the man, dressed only in shorts and sandals, holds a rifle aloft in his right hand and a magazine in his left. He places both down on a rubbish-strewn pavement, next to another discarded weapon
• But in a second version, the same man appears with the rifle in his left hand and the magazine in his right

In both versions, dozens of other men are seen standing across the road, stripped to their shorts, many of them with their arms aloft. They appear to be standing in front of a UN school in Beit Lahiya, north of the Jabaliya refugee camp.

It’s not clear why two versions of the same video were filmed - the BBC has approached the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment. But it does suggest that troops may have staged the scene to drive home the message that Palestinian gunmen are surrendering - something Israeli officials have claimed.

In a separate video circulating on Israeli social media, soldiers are seen taking delight in destroying Palestinian property. A soldier gleefully vandalises the contents of a shop, while a laughing colleague films.

In a statement on this video, the Israeli military said it condemned the soldier’s behaviour, calling it “inappropriate and contrary to the values of the IDF.”

Update 17 September 2024: Further analysis by the BBC proved that separate takes of the video were not made, as outlined in a BBC Verify article

Yolande Knell
BBC Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

A witness said it was a night of “terror and fear” in the heart of Khan Younis amid the constant sound of artillery shelling and fierce battles.

Hamas says the intense fighting extended along the road to Rafah in the very south of Gaza where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been fleeing.

Speaking to Israeli soldiers, the military chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi, said that two months into the war, there were signs Hamas was falling apart, adding: “We need to press harder.”

Amid concerns about a wider regional conflict, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen threatened to prevent any ship heading to Israeli ports from passing through the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until food and medicine could enter Gaza freely.

UN officials have complained that only limited aid is now reaching a small corner of the territory, resulting in severe shortages of food and drinking water.

Image source, Getty Images

Thanks for rejoining our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Here are five things you need to know since we paused our coverage last night:

• Israeli forces are pushing further into southern Gaza - where have ordered people leave the centre of the southern city of Khan Younis. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans previously fled there to find a shelter from air strikes in the north
• Meanwhile, the head of the Israeli army has called for his troops to "press harder" to defeat its enemy, Hamas
• Questions have been raised about footage which has emerged, appearing to show Palestinians surrendering to Israeli forces in northern Gaza
• The UN has warned that half of Gazans are starving - and that 90% of people in the Palestinian territory cannot eat every day, as a result of the Israeli siege
• After Hamas showed a video of what it claimed was a failed Israeli rescue operation, an Israeli hostages’ group on Saturday confirmed the death of a hostage, Sahar Baruch, 25

This is Ece Goksedef, Ali Abbas Ahmadi and James FitzGerald in London - and with our teams on the ground, we'll continue to bring you the latest.