Discussions for a truce in Gaza are "very serious", according to a senior US official.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One that there are "very serious discussions and negotiations and we hope that they lead somewhere".

According to Israeli media reports the negotiations are thought to focus on a deal to free some of the remaining hostages, possibly in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Just before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared his remarks about Israel fighting until Hamas is defeated, his senior adviser told the BBC Israel is open to a new truce deal.

As we reported earlier, according to Israeli media reports, Israel has presented a plan to mediators which could secure the release of some 30 to 40 hostages - prioritising the remaining women, as well as men who are elderly or in need of urgent medical care.

Asked whether Israel was considering a deal which would involve the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel in exchange for hostage releases, Regev said: "We've done it in the past, as you know in late November we had a humanitarian pause in place which involved the release of Israeli hostages.

"We let out Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails then, and so if we've done it in the past you can presume we'll do it in the future.

He added: "The goal is, of course, in this operation, to have all our people come back. And that remains a central part of our campaign against Hamas."

Adnan El-Bursh
Reporting from Rafah, Gaza

I was reporting from near the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah when I saw at least six missiles being dropped from Israeli fighter jets.

The bombardment was heavy and sudden. The ground shook underneath me and clouds of smoke filled the air.

I rushed to the scene, there was panic and dust everywhere. People were running around, women were screaming.

One child was walking around dazed. He appeared to be looking for someone. An older woman was helped down the street, visibly in shock.

Eyewitnesses have told me there were many casualties and some are still trapped under the rubble.

Ambulances started rushing to the scene as I was filming.

The Hamas-run health ministry later said at least 12 people were killed.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from UN headquarters in New York

Initially the United Arab Emirates wanted to bring their draft resolution to a vote on Sunday, but in an effort to try to avoid a US veto, it has been delayed numerous times over the last few days.

Negotiations continued well into the night on Tuesday, but by then, optimism was starting to wane here at the UN.

Several changes were made to the draft to accommodate the US, but ultimately Washington was said to be against the establishment of a UN mechanism to monitor aid into Gaza.

Security Council members are now bracing themselves for a third US veto to block council action on the Israel-Hamas war.

The United States has not publicly stated how it will vote, and neither has the UK, but the BBC understands the draft will get overwhelming support in the council.

We’re likely to see a mix of frustration, regret and anger expressed in member speeches later today.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just published a statement seemingly ruling out the possibility of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza "before the elimination of Hamas".

In a post on social media, he says anyone who thinks Israel will stop the war before achieving its goals is "not connected to reality".

"We won't stop fighting until we've achieved all the objectives we've set ourselves: the elimination of Hamas, the release of our hostages and the end of the threat from Gaza," he reiterates in the statement.

Image source, Reuters

Israeli military says it has shot dead a Palestinian driver who tried to carry out a "car ramming attack" in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported the man, identified as 28-year-old Basil Wajiya Abd al-Afo al-Muhtaseb, was killed as he drove through a junction north of the city of Hebron.

Violence in the West Bank has seen an increase since the 7 October Hamas attacks and Israel's subsequent war on Gaza.

As we've been reporting, Rafah city in the south of Gaza has been hit by air strikes for another day. Many internally displaced Gazans are seeking shelter in the region, which the UN's Palestinian refugee agency warned is lacking in humanitarian aid and overcrowded.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify how many air strikes have hit Rafah today.

Yesterday's bombardment in Rafah, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, killed at least 20 people.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who has been touring the Middle East during the past week, dropped in on a US aircraft carrier which is currently stationed in the eastern Mediterranean.

According to a Reuters report, Austin thanked the crew of USS Gerald R Ford for their role in preventing Israel's war in Gaza from becoming a wider regional conflict, saying "this carrier and crew are making history".

"Sometimes our greatest achievements are the bad things that we stop from happening. And at a moment of huge tensions in the region, you all have been the lynchpin to preventing a wider regional conflict," he added.

The US deployed the massive nuclear-powered aircraft carrier - which houses eight squadrons of aircraft - alongside other warships to support Israel and deter other groups, such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah, from joining the conflict.

Image source, Reuters

The families of some of those killed and taken hostage from kibbutz Be'eri in southern Israel have spoken from the place that that used to be their home.

"Until the 6th October this place [Be'eri] was heaven... green grass, flowers, birds, children playing with no worries, but on the 7th October this place turned into hell," Elad says at a news conference.

His mother Ofra Keidar, 70, was kidnapped by Hamas from the kibbutz.

He says his personal turmoil began at 5am on the day of the Hamas attack, when his mother "went out for jogging and never came back".

"I was in the safe room with my children for 19 hours and somehow we managed to survive.

"My father was murdered on the Saturday," he says, adding that the family didn't know what had happened to his mother until two weeks ago, when "we were told that she was murdered in Gaza by Hamas".

He calls for the release of all the remaining hostages: "Please, bring them all home. Now."

Image source, Reuters

Nira's husband and brother-in-law were kidnapped by Hamas "in front of my eyes", she tells a news conference.

Her husband Yosi Sharabi, 51, and brother-in-law Eli Sharabi, 55, have been in Gaza for 75 days.

"There's not a day goes by without us thinking about them," she says.

"And what about Eli? Who will have the courage to tell him that his wife Lianne, and their two daughters, Noiya, 16-years-old, and Yahel, 13-years-old, were murdered," Nira adds.

The three British-Israelis were killed by Hamas on the 7 October attack and have been buried away from their home, in a cemetery 25 miles (40km) away from the border with Gaza.

You can read more about the hostages who are still being held in Gaza here.

We've just had the text for the UN Security Council draft resolution about the war in Gaza, which is due to be voted on later today.

There have been days of diplomatic wrangling in New York over the precise wording of the document, leading to this vote being repeatedly delayed since Monday.

The language in the UAE's proposal has reportedly already been watered down in an attempt to get around a potential veto of the draft, after the US blocked previous resolutions using its powers as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

The resolution calls for:

• The parties of the conflict in Gaza to comply with their obligations under international law, regarding the protection of civilians
• Urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access
• The immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring immediate humanitarian access
• Reiterates the vision of the two-state solution, with the Gaza Strip as part of a Palestinian State
• Also calls for all parties to "refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance indispensable to their survival"

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

While a full ceasefire in the Gaza Strip still looks a long way off, there are fresh signs that a new pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas could be possible.

That would require a shift in Hamas's public position. It has consistently said that it will only free more Israeli hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire.

The group's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has travelled to Cairo along with a "high level" delegation for talks with Egypt's intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel - that indicates a level of seriousness.

According to mainstream Israeli media reports, Israel has presented a plan to mediators which could secure the release of some 30 to 40 hostages.

This prioritises the remaining women, as well as men who are elderly or in need of urgent medical care.

It is thought that they could be exchanged for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons who have been convicted of more serious offences than the women and teenagers released in the previous deal, and that a truce could last for a week or two.

• You can read more about the potential for a new humanitarian pause here.

Gazan mother-of-five Khitam has described her struggle to care for her children, including her young baby, as she shelters in a school in Deir Al Balah.

"There is no water and no food to eat," she told the charity ActionAid, which has shared her story.

"My little girl has a rash on her skin due to the lack of cleanliness here. Our situation is very difficult. How do you drink water? Is it enough for you and the baby? Of course not! There is no water to drink. There is no clean water. We barely quench our thirst."

Khitam said her four other children "have been wanting to eat since the morning but there is no bread".

She gave birth during the war, and described fleeing her home because of Israeli bombing just two days after giving birth.

ActionAid says tens of thousands of pregnant women are going desperately hungry, while mothers are so malnourished they are unable to breastfeed their newborn babies.

Spokesperson Riham Jafari, said: "Mothers are being forced to watch helplessly as their children scream and cry with hunger, while they are utterly powerless to do anything."

We are getting reports that Rafah city in southern Gaza has been hit by air strikes.

Al Jazeera was broadcasting from Rafah the moment an air strike hit a building in the city and caught it live on camera. Their reporter was positioned a short distance away.

The reported bombardment comes one day after another attack in the city, which killed at least 20 people.

Rafah is close to Gaza's border with Egypt and many internally displaced Palestinians have moved to the area from the territory's north, where fierce fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces rages on.

Quds News Network, a Palestinian news agency, reports that the air strikes were in the vicinity of Rafah's Kuwait hospital.

Image source, WFP

A 46-truck convoy has carried over 750 metric tons of food into Gaza today - the first time a direct aid convoy from Jordan has reached the Strip since hostilities began.

So far, aid deliveries have only been possible via Egypt.

The convoy is organised by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP, external) and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, and travelled through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza.

WFP says half of the population in Gaza is now starving and calls for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of all border crossings.

According to one UN Security Council diplomat, a motion calling for some form of ceasefire or suspension of hostilities in Gaza is heading towards another veto from the US.

Our correspondent Nada Tawfik reports that negotiations went on until 00:30 in New York.

“We’re headed to a veto unless there’s a miracle," the diplomat said.

The diplomat said the White House just couldn’t accept the UN monitoring mechanism for aid, despite not having previously declared that a redline.

If the US does veto this resolution, it would be their third veto to block Security Council action over the Israel-Hamas war.

Efforts at the UN are continuing after Tuesday's vote was delayed with negotiators trying to agree wording that will not be vetoed by Washington.

Image source, Reuters

Just joining us or need a recap? Here's a quick look at the latest developments:

• Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh is in Cairo, with reports suggesting intensive talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt for a possible second truce in Gaza are under way
• According to local media, Israel wants women and unwell men to be included in the deal, with suggestions Palestinians imprisoned for serious offences could be among those freed in exchange

• On the ground, Israel is continuing to carry out air strikes across Gaza, with heavy street fighting reported in the southern city of Khan Younis

• It comes after Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said last night that troops were expanding operations in the area
• The Israeli army says it struck 300 targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday
• The Palestinian Red Crescent says its ambulance depot in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, has been besieged by Israeli forces
• At the United Nations, efforts continue, after several delays, on a Security Council motion calling for some form or ceasefire or suspension of hostilities - with negotiators trying to agree on wording that will not be vetoed by Washington

Stay with us for the latest developments and analysis.

Greece has recommended that commercial vessels sailing in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (between Yemen and Somalia) steer clear of Yemeni waters, Reuters news agency reports.

it says a shipping ministry advisory was issued on Saturday, with vessels advised to keep only the necessary crew on the bridge and follow alerts by maritime authorities to avoid attacks in the area.

According to a document seen by Reuters, vessels are advised to sail through the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait at night.

Several shipping companies have paused routes through the Red Sea after vessels were attacked by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Houthi group has declared its support for Hamas and has said it is targeting ships travelling to Israel, though it is not clear if all the ships that have been attacked were actually heading to Israel.

Read more: What do Red Sea assaults mean for global trade?

Image source, .

As we reported earlier, the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis has experienced heavy street fighting and Israeli air strikes this morning.

Here are some pictures of scenes there today.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron is visiting Egypt and Jordan this week to push for a "sustainable ceasefire", further humanitarian pauses and the release of hostages.

On his second visit to the region, Lord Cameron will progress efforts to step up aid to Gaza and "end Hamas rocket attacks and threats against Israel", the Foreign Office said.

Ahead of the visit, Cameron said: "No one wants to see this conflict go on for a moment longer than necessary.

"But for a ceasefire to work, it needs to be sustainable.

The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) says its ambulance depot in Jabalia, northern Gaza, has been surrounded and besieged by Israeli forces.

It said the depot had been besieged from all directions and there are 127 people inside the centre including workers, displaced persons and injured people.

The IDF has yet to comment on the claims.

Jabalia has been the site of intense fighting recently. On Sunday, Hamas officials said at least 110 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Jabalia, where Israel says it's targeting "terrorist" infrastructure.