We'll shortly be pausing our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Before we go, here are some of the key developments from the day:

• The UN agency UNRWA has said that many displaced Gazans are now being forced to stay "anywhere they can" with many "living in the open"
• This comes as the southern border city of Rafah is now hosting "well over a million people", with at least 100,000 fleeing there in recent days as fighting intensifies in Khan Younis - which Israel sees as a Hamas stronghold
• The Israeli military says it's eliminated dozens of what it called "terror operatives" in Gaza City
• The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 165 more Palestinians have been killed and 250 have been injured in the last 24 hours
• At least 1,200 people were killed when Hamas militants attacked Israel 12 weeks ago and about 240 others were taken hostage

You can continue to read about the latest developments here.

And you can go deeper with analysis and features here

Image source, Reuters

Tess Ingram from the UN's children's agency, Unicef, has been speaking to the BBC about the increase in the spread of diseases in Gaza.

She says her colleagues on the ground are seeing more causes of acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea, which can be deadly in children.

"Water is a serious problem, particularly in the south for the newly displaced people," she says.

"We were hearing that children are having to resort to drinking polluted and salty water, and only have access to about one and a half to two litres of water each per day. And that's for all of their needs.

"That's for washing and cleaning and cooking and drinking. That's far from enough, we recommend 15 litres per person per day in an emergency conflict like this.

"So that's resulting in children having dehydration and being at risk of diseases like diarrhoea."

Image source, APTN

The AP news agency has been speaking to Ahmad al-Amoudi, who is living in a tent in Rafah with his family, after being displaced during the war.

He says the family initially spent three days sleeping in a garden in the street and they don't have blankets, clothes or food.

On the third day, he says, they were told about a place to stay in the street, but there is sewage close to it.

"It's not suitable for human living," he says.

Ahmad is worried for his children's health, saying they are scratching their bodies and suffering from chest pains and more.

The Arabic-language spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has shared "urgent instructions" to people in Gaza.

Writing on X earlier, external, Avijaa Adraei said the IDF's operations around Khan Younis meant that the main north-south road in Gaza, the Salah al-Din, was a "battlefield". He told Gazans: "It is dangerous to reach it."

But, he said, soldiers would allow the humanitarian movement of civilians through the bypass axis located west of Khan Younis. He said this would allow a connection between Rafah or Khan Younis with Deir al-Balah and camps in the centre of the territory.

Concerns have been raised that Gazans suffering power outages may struggle to see instructions issued online.

Health officials in Gaza say there's been more loss of life as Israel presses forward with its offensive in the south and centre of the Strip.

Image source, Israel Defense Forces handout via Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

• The UN says at least 100,000 people have fled in recent days to Rafah, the most southerly city in Gaza. This has happened while fighting intensifies in Khan Younis - which Israel sees as a Hamas stronghold
• Many displaced Gazans are having to live "in the open", according to the UN agency UNRWA, and are searching for safety despite the fact that "nowhere is safe in Gaza"
• The Israeli military says it's eliminated dozens of what it called "terror operatives" in Gaza City
• In figures released today, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 165 more Palestinians have been killed and 250 have been injured in the last 24 hours
• The Hamas-run ministry of health in Gaza says the total number of people killed since 7 October is now 21,672 - with 56,165 injured
• To recap: at least 1,200 people were killed when Hamas militants attacked Israel 12 weeks ago and about 240 others were taken hostage

Image source, Reuters

We're now hearing from the director of UNRWA, the UN's relief agency.

Speaking from Rafah in southern Gaza, Tom White tells the BBC there are "well over a million people" seeking safety in the city.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians across Gaza moved to Rafah - which borders Egypt - because of intense bombardment in the enclave's northern and central parts. The displacement also follows orders from Israeli forces urging civilians to flee parts of Gaza where Israel says it is working to eradicate Hamas.

White says that for "hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people" seeking safety in Rafah, "there are no spots left" in schools, UNRWA schools and other municipal facilities.

He reiterates a line we heard from UNRWA earlier, saying that "hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people are now sleeping in the open" as a result of the overcrowding. White says those people are bedding down "under flimsy pieces of plastic".

We're hearing a further update on casualty figures in Gaza, from the Hamas-run health ministry.

It says that 165 Palestinians have been killed and 250 people injured in the last 24 hours.

The Gaza ministry of health says the total number killed since the 7 October is 21,672, with 56,165 injured.

Health officials in Gaza say that 100 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports, as the Israeli army strikes targets across the territory.

The IDF says it's eliminated dozens of what it called terror operatives in Gaza City, while there's been fierce tank fire and air strikes in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, which Israel sees as a stronghold of Hamas.

The southern border town of Rafah continues to see an influx of people seeking safety - some 100,000 have moved there in recent days, according to the UN.

With the recent mass displacements across southern Gaza, the spread of diseases has intensified according to reports from UN agencies.

Image source, Reuters

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is estimating that at least 100,000 people have moved into Rafah, the most southerly city in Gaza, in recent days as fighting intensifies in Khan Younis and elsewhere.

Israel has told people to leave parts of Khan Younis, which it sees as a stronghold of Hamas.

The OCHA says the influx of people has made overcrowding worse and put pressure on limited resources.

There is also concern about a rise in the spread of diseases in Gaza, with some families having to move multiple times.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A senior Hamas health official says 100 Palestinians have been killed and 158 wounded in Israeli strikes in central Gaza during the past 24 hours, Reuters is reporting.

Image source, Reuters

Let's hear more from Juliette Touma from the UN Aid Agency UNRWA, on where the people displaced by the war are now living.

"At least 1.4 million people are now living in UNRWA facilities – that is what used to be mainly schools that the agency ran until the war began," she's been telling the BBC.

That's out of population of some 2.2 million in the Gaza Strip.

"Many are now living anywhere they can find – on the street, with friends crammed in apartments – 70 people in one apartment, and those who can afford it are renting rooms."

"But many are living in the open, in the parks, in the open areas, in their cars, people are searching for safety which they cannot find because there is no safety in Gaza."

"Nowhere is safe in Gaza, not the north, not the middle and not the south."

Image source, Reuters

The director of the UN aid agency UNRWA, Juliette Touma, has been telling the BBC "the humanitarian needs on the ground have continued to massively grow".

"We continue to have restrictions to access areas in the Gaza Strip where we should access on a regular basis, like the north of the Gaza Strip.

"There's very, very little commercial supplies coming into Gaza and there's no market, so more and more people are depending by the day, by the hour, on organisations like UNRWA.

"It’s safe to say that every single person in Gaza, a population of 2.2 million people is impacted one way or another."

Israel says it’s not limiting aid, and that the problem lies with its distribution.

Rescuers in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza, have pulled a baby girl alive from the rubble after an Israeli air strike.

People used their hands to free Mariam Abu Akel from the debris, before a rescuer ran with her to a nearby hospital. Doctors there swabbed her cuts.

The baby had been sheltering in a house with her family when the strike took place, which killed her mother and sister, Reuters reported. Her father and young brother survived.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

With the recent mass displacements across southern Gaza, the spread of diseases has intensified according to reports from UN agencies.

Shelters are overcrowded, personal hygiene is difficult, medicines are in short supply and the healthcare system is overwhelmed.

The World Health Organisation, external says it remains "very concerned about the increasing threat of infectious diseases" and that in the three months until mid-December, it registered:

• some 180,000 cases of upper respiratory infections
• 136,400 cases of diarrhoea (half of these among children under five years old)
• 55,400 cases of lice and scabies
• 5,330 cases of chickenpox
• 42,700 cases of skin rash (including 4,722 cases of impetigo)
• 4,683 cases of Acute Jaundice Syndrome; and 126 cases of meningitis.

Yesterday, in coordination with Israel, Unicef says it delivered 600,000 vaccines to Gaza.

They will be used for routine immunisations as most children have not received scheduled vaccinations during the war.

Drone footage from the Reuters news agency shows what it says are thousands of tents in Rafah, close to the border with Egypt.

In recent weeks, tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled to Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip as a result of intensified fighting in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The mass displacement of Gaza's population has meant that Rafah city has turned into a vast camp.

"Enough with this war! We are totally exhausted," says Umm Louay Abu Khater, a 49-year-old woman who had fled her home in Khan Yunis, taking refuge in Rafah.

"We are constantly displaced from one place to another in cold weather," she told AFP. "The bombs keep falling on us day and night."

Nadin Abdullatif, originally from Gaza City, describes how she is again without shelter.

She and her family first fled after air strikes "completely destroyed" their Gaza City home, killing her elder brother.

After setting up in Rafah, in southern Gaza, the house next door was hit by an Israeli strike and destroyed - leaving Nadin "terrified".

In a morning update, the Israeli military says its navy and air force has hit targets throughout the Gaza Strip and its troops have been engaging in "fierce battles".

It says its forces in Gaza City killed "dozens of terrorists" over the past day in several battles.

Soldiers also destroyed two buildings used by Hamas in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the IDF says.

This comes as Palestinians have been reporting intense Israeli tank fire and bombardments in Khan Younis in southern Gaza overnight.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said that 187 people were killed in strikes in a 24-hour period.

South Africa has filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel is engaging in "genocidal acts" in Gaza.

The UN court confirmed the proceedings concerning alleged violations of Israel's obligations under the Genocide Convention.

Israel has strongly rejected the allegation, calling it "baseless".

"Israel rejects with disgust the blood libel spread by South Africa", the foreign ministry said.

Following its application to the ICJ, South Africa's presidency said in a statement that the country was obliged "to prevent genocide from occurring".

Read more on South Africa's legal action here.

Image source, Reuters

We're seeing pictures from the Reuters news agency of Gaza, viewed from southern Israel.

They show plumes of smoke billowing over the enclave.

Image source, Reuters