Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

Residents of the southern city of Khan Younis at the heart of Israel’s southern offensive in Gaza, have told me fierce fighting continued through the night and is still ongoing.

“There’s been violent shelling and clashes,” says Amer, who has moved to the Nasser Hospital for shelter.

“There’s been a noticeable advance of Israeli tanks nearby.”

Medics at the hospital report some 15 members of the Hamdan family were killed and 20 wounded in western Khan Younis yesterday evening.

A few hours later, 10 people were injured in an air strike at the home of the Qudra family. Since dawn, members of the Wafi and Wadi families have been killed also in the west of the city.

“People came as body parts. They were unrecognisable,” Dr Mohammed Abu Lahiya tells me.

"We have little anaesthetic. We ran out of blood and the poor phone lines mean we can’t even call other doctors when we need them to come to help.

"The route to the hospital is becoming more dangerous."

Image source, Reuters

Away from the conflict in Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces says it's attacked a series of targets belonging to the Lebanese group Hezbollah - an Iran-backed Shia Islamist group that wields considerable military and political power in Lebanon.

It is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, UK, the US and others.

The IDF says its air force struck "several terrorist infrastructures alongside military sites where the organisation's terrorists operated".

Since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza following Hamas's attack on 7 October, Hezbollah has regularly carried out rocket and drone attacks from southern Lebanon, some aimed at military targets, others fired more indiscriminately into northern Israel.

Israel has evacuated thousands of civilians from the area because of escalating hostilities with Hezbollah militants.

Image source, .

The Middle East director at NGO International Communities Organisation says if Israel wants all hostages held by Hamas freed, any deal will most likely have to involve the return of all Palestinian prisoners.

Gershon Baskin negotiated the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in 2011.

He tells the BBC News channel that a UN vote on a ceasefire resolution - which was delayed on Tuesday - would not “have much impact” on the ground.

He says this is because Israel will continue bombing Gaza until “its war goals are met”, which he defines as “dismantling Hamas’s ability to rule the Gaza Strip”.

He believes Israel's openness to a ceasefire is due to “local pressure” from the families of hostages.

During a six-day ceasefire at the end of November, 105 hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Drone footage from southern Gaza shows hundreds of tents in the city of Rafah, near Gaza's border with Egypt.

Displaced Palestinians are sheltering in this tent camp after fleeing south to escape Israel's bombardments in the northern part of the Strip, but the city has been hit with air strikes, with 20 reportedly killed yesterday.

Aid agencies continue to warn of the difficult conditions experienced by the more than two million people in the territory.

Yolande Knell
Reporting from Jerusalem

Reports suggest intensive Qatari and Egyptian mediated talks are now under way for a possible second Gaza truce.

According to local media, Israel wants women and unwell men to be included in the deal. Palestinians imprisoned for serious offences could be among those freed in exchange.

Hamas has previously said it would only release hostages if there was a permanent ceasefire. Israel maintains the war in Gaza will only end when Hamas has been removed from power.

However yesterday, the Israeli president said his country was “ready for another humanitarian pause”.

Image source, IDF

While the head of Hamas is in Cairo for talks, the Israeli army has provided an update on its attacks on Gaza, saying it struck 300 targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The IDF said it was "continuing to target terrorist infrastructure and operatives in the Gaza Strip".

It said its troops were conducting "close-quarters combat with Hamas on the ground and directing aircraft to strike Hamas cells and weapons".

"More than 300 terror targets were struck over the last day," the statement said.

The IDF also said its troops were fired at in southern Gaza, and in response, it carried out a targeted raid on a military command centre in Khan Younis, where it found rifles, ammunition and explosives.

It said its fighter jets struck a launch post that had fired rockets "toward Israeli civilians yesterday".

Image source, REUTERS

Let's bring you some updates on the situation in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis which has experienced heavy street fighting in the last few hours.

This morning, the Hamas-affiliated Safa news agency reported on fierce clashes between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army in central Khan Younis, as well as violent clashes and Israeli air strikes in the Ma'an area.

Last night, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief spokesman Daniel Hagari said the army had "intensified and deepened" its military efforts in the Khan Younis area.

"We added a whole brigade and additional engineering forces to the operation in the area - engineering forces to improve our engineering operations in the area," Hagari said.

"We are intensifying forces in the Khan Younis Hamas strongholds to dismantle Hamas and will continue to do so with determination wherever required."

As we've reported, Malaysia has banned cargo ships with Israeli flags from docking at its ports in response to Israel's actions in Gaza, which it said violated basic humanitarian principles.

All ships heading to Israel would also be banned from loading cargo at ports belonging to the Muslim-majority country. Malaysia has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel and groups inside the government had been pressuring the government to implement the ban.

In a statement, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the permit allowing Israel's largest shipping company, ZIM, to use Malaysian ports had been rescinded immediately.

He said: "These sanctions are a response to Israel's actions that ignore basic humanitarian principles and violate international law through the ongoing massacre and brutality against Palestinians."

ZIM and the Israeli government have not yet responded to the announcement.

Image source, Telegram

Families of the two hostages, who were seen in a video released by Islamic Jihad on Tuesday, say they are glad to see their loved ones alive, but are also worried about their health.

Elad Katzir, 47, was one of the hostages seen in the video. His sister, Carmit Palty Katzir, says: "I have mixed emotions: A sign of life! But I am also beset with worry and rage".

In a post on social media, Carmit Katzir writes: "It sears into my flesh. The humiliation. His life is not his own. He looks weak, emaciated, down. I know I should be grateful, many families don't have anything, not even a signal of life."

She adds: "Bring him back already!"

Image source, Telegram

Yair Mozes, son of the other hostage seen in the video, Gadi Moses, 79, says "the family is delighted, on the one hand, to get a first sign of life. On the other hand, he looks exhausted and emaciated, which is extremely worrying."

Speaking to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, he says "a deal is needed to secure the release of as many [hostages] as quickly as possible".

In the video, both men warned that Israel’s bombings were endangering their lives but Yair believes what his father said were "words he was ordered to speak".

It's just gone 08:30 here in London, where we are taking over the coverage of the page from our colleagues in Singapore.

Let's bring you a quick recap of the key headlines so far this morning and what we expect to happen later on:

• The head of militant group Hamas has arrived in Cairo to meet Egypt's intelligence chief
• Ismail Haniyeh is usually based in Qatar, but his visit to the Egyptian capital is the latest sign of possible movement in negotiations
• Egypt, along with Qatar, helped to broker a truce last month which lasted a week and saw a number of Israeli hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said his country was ready for another humanitarian pause in Gaza to enable the release of hostages
• Also later today, the UN Security Council is due to vote on a delayed resolution calling for a pause in the fighting
• The latest text, which it's hoped will avoid a US veto, is said to call for a "suspension," rather than a cessation of hostilities

Ismail Haniyeh talks with Egyptian officials will focus on developments in the Hamas war with Israel in the Gaza Strip, according to Reuters.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said his country was ready for another humanitarian pause in Gaza to enable the release of hostages.

Reuters news agency is reporting that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has arrived in Cairo to hold talks with Egyptian officials.

Mohammed Alghusain has dual citizenship with Canada. When he got a call from the Canadian embassy, he was offered a way out of the war - but not all his loved ones could come.

They said: "We are able to evacuate you, your wife and your two daughters. But not your parents."

Liberia has reversed its vote against a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza following a directive by President George Weah.

Liberia was the only African nation among the 10 countries that voted against a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza during the vote held on 12 December.

Its diplomats who had voted against the motion had lacked the president's approval, the Liberian government said on Wednesday.

"The Liberian Foreign Ministry has therefore ensured the reversal of the negative vote through the appropriate channels at the United Nations General Assembly and registered a new vote in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza," authorities said.

Image source, Reuters

Michael Race
Business reporter, BBC News

The world's biggest shipping firms have been diverting journeys away from the Red Sea following attacks from Houthi rebels in recent weeks

The Houthi group in Yemen 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.

Regardless, it's led to many firms deciding to avoid the shipping lane- one of the world's busiest.

Any ship passing through the Suez Canal to or from the Indian Ocean has to come via the strait of Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea. The Suez Canal is the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe.

So what's the impact of this diversion now?

It seems inevitable that supply chains will be disrupted, analysts say.

Consumers and consumer goods "will face the largest impact". Read more here.

A video filmed from southern Israel showed large explosions over Gaza this morning. Reuters reported seeing around a dozen strikes hit the Palestinian territory in the space of 15 minutes at around 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT).

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across the territory on Tuesday.

Pictures from Deir-al-Balah, a city in Central Gaza, show stunned Palestinians covered in dust and rubble:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Tom Singleton
Technology reporter

Social media has an enormous role in shaping perceptions of this conflict, and two of the most popular and therefore influential platforms – Facebook and Instagram – are owned by one company, Meta.

So the decisions it makes about what content people can and can’t see really matter.

Today, Meta’s Oversight Board has ruled it got two of those decisions wrong.

One related to an Instagram video which showed the deadly consequences of a strike on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The other concerned footage on Facebook of an Israeli woman being kidnapped.

Both were initially taken down by Meta. The board has ruled they shouldn’t have been.

It urges Meta to “respond more quickly to changing circumstances on the ground” and suggests the use of automated moderating tools (rather than a human moderator) increases the likelihood of “valuable” posts being wrongly suppressed.

The board admits such decisions are “very difficult”, and acknowledges Meta’s responsibility not to incite hatred. But it says the firm also has to focus on freedom of expression for all sides.

“These testimonies are important not just for the speakers, but for users around the world who are seeking timely and diverse information,” says Board co-chair Michael McConnell.

Yolanda Knell
Middle East correspondent

The head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, is due in Cairo later for talks on a fresh ceasefire in Gaza. Israel has indicated it’s willing to agree to another pause in fighting in exchange for more hostages.

Egypt, alongside Qatar, helped broker a week-long truce last month that led to the release of some 100 hostages captured by Hamas in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Ismail Haniyeh – who’s usually based in Qatar – is expected to lead the high-level Hamas delegation to Egypt to meet its intelligence chief.

Israel’s President, Issac Herzog, has said that his country’s ready for another humanitarian pause “in order to enable the release of hostages".

Last night, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, released a new video showing two Israeli men - 79-year-old Gadi Moses and 47-year-old Elad Katzir - who have been held hostage, pleading to return home.

International pressure has been mounting for a new pause in fighting that could increase the aid sent to besieged Gaza.

Image source, EPA

Wrangles over wording delayed the UN Security Council's vote yesterday on a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The vote may be held today instead. Negotiations had aimed to avoid another veto from Washington - which stymied the Council's previous resolution calling for a ceasefire. The UK also abstained from the vote.

Diplomats say one of the main sticking points has been how to frame calls for a cessation of hostilities.

The original draft proposed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) called for an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" to allow "safe and unhindered humanitarian access".

Diplomats thought they were very close to an agreement but final discussions have been complex, says the UAE.

The draft has already been watered down and now calls for "a suspension of hostilities", rather than a sustainable cessation. But it still includes a phrase calling for "urgent steps" towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities.

The US, along with Israel, opposes a ceasefire because they say it would benefit Hamas.

Its UN representative on Tuesday said it was "engaging constructively" on the sticking points. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told the BBC: "We're still working on the text with other players and I don't want to get ahead of where we are at this point."

Read more on the UN negotiations here.