US President Joe Biden has met around a dozen family members of Americans held hostage by Hamas, the AFP news agency is reporting.

The meeting - Biden's first in-person with the relatives - took place at the White House, officials say, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken also present.

Before the meeting, a senior official told Reuters that the group included relatives of all eight Americans still unaccounted for.

Four US citizens were released in the seven-day truce last month.

Image source, EPA

While the US and the UK have imposed additional sanctions on Hamas officials, the EU Commission President is calling for sanctions on "extremist" Israeli settlers who she says are responsible for attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Ursula von der Leyen says: "The rise in violence by extremist settlers is inflicting immense suffering on the Palestinians. It undermines the prospects for a lasting peace and could further exacerbate regional instability."

The UN and many countries say all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. It is something many Israelis, especially those living in the settlements, vehemently dispute.

The strengthening and expansion of settlements in the West Bank has been a key platform of the Netanyahu government, and is one of the most contentious issues between Israel and the Palestinians.

At the beginning of the year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticised Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank as an obstacle to peace.

Image source, Getty Images

The charity ActionAid says that children are being hit hardest by the situation in Gaza, as thousands of people are forced to live in makeshift shelters or sleep rough.

We've been reporting today on the heavy rains that have compounded problems in the area.

Riham Jafari, from the charity, says "those who were already hungry, thirsty, exhausted and terrified are now wet and cold too".

"As conditions become ever harsher, it is children who will suffer the most."

A mother, who is sheltering in a camp in southern Gaza, tells the charity she is struggling to feed her children.

"Honestly, food and water are not even our concern. We just want our children to be safe," she says.

Image source, Reuters

Today we've been hearing from humanitarian agencies stationed in Gaza about what is happening on the ground there.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, says the ability of his agency to help is on the "verge of collapse".

More than 130 staff from the agency have died in Gaza, he says.

Meanwhile a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent - Nibal Farsakh - tells the BBC the lack of basic provisions and healthcare services is putting the people of Gaza in a perilous situation.

"The whole population are suffering from hunger, people are lacking food, water, electricity and medicine, as well as fuel," he says.

He says the health system has "literally collapsed" and the few hospitals that are operating have been overwhelmed by the "alarming numbers of casualties".

The Hamas-run health ministry says 18,608 have now been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.

It says 50,594 people have been wounded.

Lucy Williamson
Reporting from Jenin in the West Bank

Since the war in Gaza began, Israel's military operations in the occupied West Bank have become more frequent, and more forceful.

One place that has become a weekly battleground is Jenin, and the director of the city's hospital says these attacks "will make the people more and more angry".

"This will not bring peace for Israel - this will bring more and more resistance," Wissam Bakr says.

The UN says here in the West Bank, 271 Palestinians, including 69 children, have been killed since Hamas's 7 October attack - almost all of these have been killed by Israeli forces.

Israel says its operations in the West Bank are targeting members of armed groups, often those with Israeli blood on their hands.

Since the Hamas attack, support for armed resistance has risen in many parts of the West Bank - including here in Jenin.

It was a "turning point" for Palestinians, just as it was for Israelis, the youth leader for the West Bank's ruling party told me.

"The people, especially the new generation, are backing Hamas now, more than at any other moment."

You can read more about Hamas's rising support in the West Bank here.

Let's bring you some comments from the Israeli foreign minister who has spoken following the UN General Assembly's overwhelming support for a non-binding resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

It left Israel looking increasingly isolated and was followed by US President Joe Biden issuing his sharpest criticism of Israel's leadership - directly linking the loss of international support with what he called the indiscriminate bombing of Palestinians.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has responded saying the war will continue "with or without international support".

He adds:

Image source, Reuters

Families of Israeli hostages - who have now been held in Gaza for 68 days - have formed a human chain in front of Israel's parliament (Knesset) in Jerusalem, demanding action from the Israeli government for their safe release.

Naama Weinberg, the cousin of Israeli hostage Itai Svirsky, 38, says a new deal is needed "before it's too late".

"We came to Jerusalem to remind our government that there is no time left, and that every day that passes by might be the last day of the hostages while they're alive," she says.

She says her cousin was kidnapped after seeing his mother being murdered by Hamas on 7 October, and his father was murdered half an hour before at a different house.

"Every day we hear about new names and new hostages that came there alive and now they're taken out as bodies."

Image source, Reuters

Merav Leshem Gonan, whose 23-year-old daughter Romi Gonen is held hostage in Gaza, is among the crowd outside the Knesset.

"Every morning when I wake up I'm saying good morning to my kids and every night when I go to sleep I say good night to my kids. And there is one kid that does not answer for 68 days, because she's in Gaza," she says.

"I'm determined to make sure she will come back alive, Romi and all the hostages, because we as a country need it, not just us as a family."

Let's bring you an update of the key developments that have happened in the last hours:

• Israel's military says it has carried out more than 250 strikes in Gaza over the past day
• Palestinian health officials say at least a further 50 people have been killed
• The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza warns its supply of vaccines for children has run out, as UN agencies warn of a public health disaster

• People have gathered outside the Israeli parliament to call for the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza
• Israel says 10 IDF soldiers were killed in northern Gaza, nine of them in an ambush
• US and UK officials have announced a fresh wave of sanctions targeting individuals linked to Hamas
• Elsewhere, sirens have sounded in the occupied West Bank area of Jenin calling for people to take to the streets in support of their "brothers" in Gaza
• The IDF says it has made arrests, searched 400 buildings and destroyed "terrorist infrastructure" during an operation carried out in Jenin

Earlier we brought you news of US sanctions on Hamas-linked figures and the UK has announced its own fresh clampdown on individuals connected to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas’ co-founder, is among those targeted in today’s sanctions, as is Ali Baraka, Hamas’s head of external relations, who the UK government says "publicly defended the 7 October attacks and sought to justify the taking of hostages".

Restrictions on travel and access to the finances of the seven people targeted, the foreign secretary said.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said Hamas could "have no future in Gaza" and said the sanctions would "cut off their access to funding and isolate them further".

The full list can be found here, external.

Lucy Williamson
Reporting from Jenin in the West Bank

Sirens have been sounding constantly over Jenin for the past 15 minutes. They are calling people to take to the streets in support of their "brothers" in Gaza and those in the Jenin refugee camp, under siege, they say, by Israel’s army.

Just before the sirens began, a long barrage of gunfire including what sounded like automatic weapons and rockets, came from the area around the camp, and smoke could be seen rising.

Local journalists say the Israeli army has destroyed several houses in the Jenin camp today, and that ambulances have been unable to get through.

Those living near the camp entrances are reportedly messaging people, asking them to bring food, saying they're unable to leave their homes.

Image source, Reuters

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says its operation in the Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank, has been ongoing for more than 30 hours.

It has sparked protests from some Palestinians there.

The IDF says it detained hundreds of suspects, searched over 400 buildings, confiscated weapons and ammunition, and destroyed "terrorist infrastructure".

It said six laboratories used to make explosives were destroyed, along with several underground shafts in the camp area.

We've seen some pictures which appear to show Palestinian demonstrators lighting tyres on fire to add to makeshift road block following the raids.

Earlier, the Palestinian health ministry said a 13-year-old boy became the seventh victim to die following the raids and drone attacks in the Jenin area over the past day.

Image source, epa

The White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is planning to travel to Israel on Thursday and Friday to meet Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

He will also meet with the Israeli war cabinet and President Isaac Herzog to discuss the latest developments in Israel and Gaza, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson is reported as saying.

The visit follows comments from US President Joe Biden that Israel was losing global support over its "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza.

The UN's refugee chief Filippo Grandi says that he foresees more displacement in the Middle East that "threatens the region".

Speaking at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, he says the Gaza conflict could spur "more civilian deaths and further displacement" of Palestinians.

Almost two million people in Gaza - more than 85% of the population - are reported to have fled their homes in the two months since Israel began its military operation in response to Hamas's deadly attacks of 7 October.

Let's take you back to Gaza, and heavy rains in Rafah, in the south of the Strip, have made living conditions more difficult for displaced Palestinians in tent camps.

Some civilians living in tents used torn nylon sheets as a covering after bad weather flooded the camp.

Displaced civilians there say they lack warm clothes, blankets and protection from the rain.

Let's have a closer look at the latest batch of US sanctions and what the implications are.

US Treasury Department officials say "all property and interests in property" which are in the US will be blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Any entities owned, directly or indirectly, by 50% or more will also be frozen - unless specific authorisation is given by the US department. This means the targeted individuals will have no access to these.

The US Treasury statement adds: "In addition, non-US financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions risk or be subject to an enforcement action".

As we've been reporting, eight individuals affiliated with Hamas - a proscribed organisation in the US, UK and other countries - have been added to this latest round of sanctions.

The latest round, similar to the other three, seeks to cut off funding for the militant-Palestinian group following its deadly attack on Israel on 7 October.

We've been looking through the extensive sanction details released by the US Treasury, external Department which reveals the names and various links each Hamas official is said to have.

These include:

• Haroun Mansour Yaqoub Nasser Al-Din who is the head of Hamas’s Jerusalem office and has been one of Hamas’s key financial operatives in Turkey
• Ali Abed Al Rahman Baraka is a Lebanon-based head of Hamas’s National Relations Abroad
• Maher Rebhi Obeid who is a Lebanon-based senior Hamas political leader and has been part of Hamas’s Political Bureau since 2010
• Hassan Al-Wardian who is a senior Hamas official and a key figure in Bethlehem representing Hamas

The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed additional sanctions on officials and facilitators of the Palestinian Hamas militant group, the US Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

The sanctions target eight individuals who perpetuate Hamas’s agenda by representing the group's interests abroad and managing its finances, the Treasury said, quoted by the Reuters news agency.

We will bring you more details as soon as we have them.

Yolande Knell
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

Israel's army say that 10 soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Gaza yesterday making it the deadliest day for the military since its ground offensive against Hamas began.

Nine of those killed – including a battalion commander and colonel – had been fighting in Shejaiya, to the east of Gaza City.

It is reported that they fell victim to a coordinated ambush.

A total of 115 soldiers have been killed so far.

On X, Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli War Cabinet, who is also a former military chief of staff, wrote that the war was exacting “a heavy, painful and difficult price”, external.

While overall the majority of Israelis continue to see the war as justified and necessary, the death of soldiers in a society where most Jewish citizens - and some from other religious denominations - serve in the conscript army resonates deeply.

On social media, some Israelis are questioning whether the escalation in ground combat could be linked to US pressure to reduce the intensity of air strikes.

Aerial bombardment is less deadly for Israeli forces but has caused large numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties.

Chris Fawkes
BBC Weather presenter

Image source, Reuters

Heavy showers have been affecting Gaza overnight making conditions for those living under canvas even more challenging.

The showers have been caused by a trough from north-east Africa moving across the eastern Mediterranean.

This has pushed cool air over the warm seas, with sea temperatures still in the low 20s - the atmosphere becomes unstable with rising air creating showers and thunderstorms.

The amount of rain will have varied greatly from place to place.

Further showers will continue to affect Gaza throughout the day today. A ridge of high pressure will then bring dry weather, with temperatures well above average by Friday; with this warm weather lasting well into next week.

It looks like there will be another round of wet weather towards the end of next week.

Gaza gets the vast majority of its annual rainfall between November and February, so there will be many more spells of cool and wet weather to come in the weeks and months ahead.

Image source, Reuters