We've been receiving some more updates from Rewaa Mohsen, a nurse and mother-of two in Deir al Balah, who told us her plans for the afternoon:

Image source, .

Rewaa later followed up to tell us that things didn't go to plan, along with a video of her daughter, eyes wide open looking at the camera.

“She refuse bottle milk. I gave her on first month and after that it was not available so she is dependant on breast milk,” she writes in a message.

“My mum and only sister were killed in November and I don’t have anyone to help me with them.”

Image source, .

This morning we heard from 12-year-old Malak Al Deirbi, who told us that she helps her family by selling crisps on the side of the street. She is still there this afternoon, and is now sharing memories of her life before the war:

We used to eat and drink and we had food. Our dad used to bring us all we needed.

He used to go to the market to shop for us and we would play with our cousins. We had childhood days. Now it is all turned upside down.

Some of our contacts in Gaza have been having trouble getting in touch with us today because of disruptions to internet connectivity.

Telecom services in the Gaza Strip have been under constant disruption since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war.

Alp Toker, who heads up internet watchdog Netblocks, has told the BBC that this is due to a number of factors, such as fuel shortages.

“The significance of these disruptions cannot be overstated, internet connectivity is a lifeline that facilitates emergency services as well as day to day life," he says.

He adds that the loss of connectivity could lead to “a rise in misinformation and disinformation”, as legitimate sources struggle to share the reality on the ground.

Image source, .

We just made contact again with Mosa Aldous, who after speaking to us this morning, had difficulty getting in touch again because of connectivity issues.

Over a patchy line, he says he has given up and is with his family again in their tent. The line keeps going dead.

Image source, Akram Aggour

Earlier we heard from Akram Aggour, who evacuated from north Gaza and is now sheltering in Rafah. He's been in touch again to tell us more about what it's like sharing a tent with seven other people:

I'm not living with my family right now. My family are in a house, but I'm in a tent with my friends so I can go out and about easily for my work.

Every day the eight of us wake up and we prepare breakfast. It's all canned food because there's nothing to buy in the market except canned food.

We're old friends, and we're used to banding together whenever a conflict breaks out. We've been staying together in the same place since 10 October.

Usually, the first thing that happens is the electricity and the comms go out. We try to pool our resources to survive, and put our money together to buy food and other supplies every week, for ourselves and for other people who are struggling.

Image source, .

We're hearing again from Nagham Atef Mezied, the 22-year-old medical student residing in Deir al Balah. She's telling us more about scenes from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and her hopes for a ceasefire:

The relentless barrage of rockets and explosions orchestrated by the Israeli occupation within Gaza’s borders exacts a toll that transcends mere mortality; it robs survivors of limbs, sight, and hearing, plunging them into a perpetual nightmare.

In Gaza, we do not merely fear death, we dread the prospect of disability, the erosion of dreams, and the dwindling of hope.

The lack of medical supplies, due to the closure of the Rafah crossing and ongoing Israeli restrictions, renders even minor medical interventions a Herculean task.

Travel constraints imposed on the wounded and patients seeking treatment abroad compound the peril and exacerbate the decline in health standards.

While death may represent a swift end, it is not our sole apprehension. We yearn for cessation, for an urgent ceasefire, and for unimpeded access to vital humanitarian aid, spanning every corner of Gaza, from north to south.

Image source, Nashwa Rezeq

We’ve just made contact with 40-year-old Nashwa Rezeq in Rafah. We spoke to her last year after she fled from her home in the neighbourhood of al-Zahra, which was later bombed. In a short voice note, Nashwa says she received more bad news overnight:

It’s been a very, very dreadful night because we just received the news that my father-in-law’s house that we thought we’d go to after the war has been bombed. It was a night that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

We are 28 people living in two rooms. I don’t know what my fate will be, where we will go with the children, especially as Ramadan is coming.

• Read more about the neighbourhood Nashwa lived in before she became displaced

We're continuing to bring you stories from people on the ground in Gaza about what their day looks like.

Here, some photos from earlier this morning show the destruction caused by a recent airstrike on Rafah, the southern border city where families we've been hearing from are living and where about 1.5 million Palestinians are currently sheltering.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Rewaa Mohsen, a nurse, has just made contact from Deir al Balah through WhatsApp. The mother-of-two gave birth to her youngest daughter just two days before the war began.

She says it's been “very hard” to keep her daughters calm and entertained.

“She has her cousins to play with. Also have toys,” she says over WhatsApp, referring to her two-year-old. “We try to keep her busy so she don’t hear bombs.”

Rewaa says her day so far has consisted of doing house work - cleaning and washing the dishes - while feeding her youngest daughter.

Rewaa sends a picture of bags piled at the side of her home, intended to be grabbed at a moment's notice in case the family needs to flee.

The BBC's Rushdi Abualouf, who has reported from Gaza for decades, has been speaking about the challenges he faced reporting on the conflict while also trying to protect his family.

Watch his interview here:

Earlier, we heard from Yahya Hussen, a fashion designer living in Deir al Balah, who told us how food prices in Gaza have become "astronomical".

The price of water, which is reported to be in very short supply, has gone up by 200%. A box of eggs now costs 100 shekels (£21) - a price increase of more than 560%.

The prices seen in the graphic below reflect the average increases in Gaza, but many people in the enclave are paying much more to avoid queues or if items have limited availability.

Abedalqader Hammad, a 59-year-old university lecturer, has just spoken to us on the phone from a market in Rafah. He told us:

I’m in the market walking now with one of my sons, trying to find food for the family. The market is so crowded.

You can hardly move in between all the people. When searching for food, usually we find tins of chickpeas and beans. Today I’m trying to find something different - a new kind of food, so we can have a change from the food we’ve been eating for the past five months.

I tried to buy chicken. Usually I wouldn’t eat frozen chicken. One kilogram of frozen chicken can cost me the equivalent of $20 (£15.75). And I need at least two chickens to feed my family.

One kilogram of onions can cost $15. I need to buy Mulukhiyah [a type of vegetable], but each kilo is 20 shekels so two kilos will be 40 shekels or more than $10.

So if I calculate what I need today for my family, I think it could cost me $71. The things I need are available but in very small amounts. Some things go to the black market.

Akram Aggour, a media and PR graduate from north Gaza, lives in a tent in Rafah with his friends. He's just sent us this message telling us how his morning in Rafah has been:

Good morning. We just woke up at 07:00, me and the guys. There’s eight of us friends sleeping in the same tent.

The first thing we do when we wake up is check the news. The news is contradictory, sometimes it says a ceasefire is about to happen, sometimes not.

We’re all displaced from the north and we’re waiting to go home.

That’s the first thing I did today. We’re staying in a tent with no life necessities, so we try to use what we can.

We store our clothes in plastic bags, we hang them off of nails. We’re trying to create makeshift solutions, as all our homes were destroyed and left behind.

There’s a huge water crisis here, everyone who was displaced to the west of Rafah feels it. There’s no supplies, these places weren’t ready to receive this number of refugees. We fill up water from the water trucks every day just to get by.

Rushdi Abualouf
BBC News Gaza correspondent in London

Life was never easy in Gaza, even before this war started on 7 October, with a shortage of electricity, a lack of clean water and sewage being dumped into the sea.

There were eight hours of electricity every day. And about 95% of the water was contaminated, so people had to buy drinking water every day.

Israel and Egypt had imposed a blockade on the strip since Hamas took control of Gaza back in 2007 after fighting political rivals Fatah. Israel and Egypt restricted the movement of people in and out of Gaza. Sometimes you meet someone who is 40 and has never left Gaza before.

There were four major wars and smaller battles in between – every time there was a war in Gaza people were hoping there would be a permanent solution that would bring an end to their suffering.

But internal political division in Gaza, and the fact Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation, also meant there was little stability for people.

Unemployment was about 50%. And about 900,000 people used to receive monthly food aid from the UN - about half the population of Gaza relied on the UN for food.

Dr Mohamed Al Sheikh sent us this message just over an hour ago from Al-Shifa, the main hospital in northern Gaza, which has been the focus of Israel's ground offensive:

I sleep here at the hospital. We work on a 24/7 basis. We can only take three to four hours rest. For the rest of the time we work. We don't go to our homes. Our families are here in northern Gaza, staying in shelters in schools. We have no communications with them.

Regarding food, only a few items are available, especially with a lack of flour and rice, and there is a shortage of basic food necessities. We provide whatever we can. We have been receiving casualties who are mainly women, children and the elderly.

The casualties were sleeping when [the attacks happened] and came here after they were injured. Since the beginning of the war in October I have only left the hospital twice.

Image source, .

Salah Ahmed, 41, is a tech entrepreneur who runs a hub in Rafah that allows people to access the internet so that they can work for companies abroad. He fled Gaza City in the early days of the war - first to Nuseirat and then to Rafah - with his two teenage daughters and eight-year-old son. He's tells us how he's been trying to make resources last:

Every day begins the same for me: I wake up at 06:00, attend to household needs like groceries and water, and then head to the tech hub I set up to start my workday.

Currently, prices are very high, and numerous items like meat and sugar are unavailable.

I can afford the expensive items because I earn money as a freelancer and a company owner. But my situation differs from that of 99% of the people here.

I'm striving to ensure my children's comfort, but my earnings will soon run out. I'll need to start seeking assistance.

About 99% of the people here in Gaza Strip relies on free water supply and aid. They get food from schools or aid centres. Some of them sell these items to get cash. Those with financial means opt to buy these items to avoid being in queues, as it preserves their dignity.

Meanwhile, police cars have been targeted by the IDF, and numerous armed individuals are posing threats to people's lives. Personally, I refrain from visiting any aid centres.

We're bringing you the voices of people in Gaza who are sharing with us what they are doing in their daily lives today. We have many more of their stories to share, but let's take a quick look at the latest developments in the conflict:

Ceasefire talks: US President Joe Biden has said he hopes to have a temporary ceasefire "by next Monday". A draft plan suggests this could see a 40-day pause in all military operations to allow the release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would also be released. Some buildings could be repaired and more aid trucks could enter, according to Reuters news agency

Death toll: The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says at least 29,700 people have been killed in the war. Israel's retaliatory campaign came after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on 7 October, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages

PA leader resigns: Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has resigned along with his government, which runs parts of the occupied West Bank. He said new "arrangements" were needed to take account of the "emerging reality in the Gaza Strip"

Netayanhu's plan for Gaza: Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out his vision for a post-war Gaza. Under his plan, Israel would control security indefinitely, and Palestinians with no links to groups hostile to Israel would run the territory. You can find more details here.

Image source, Aseel Mousa

Aseel Mousa, 26, in Rafah, has sent us pictures from her morning spent baking bread over fire. She tells us:

I woke up at 06:30 in Rafah, prayed and because I had electricity and internet connection I seized the chance and did some work.

After that, I started helping my mum to make bread. Before the war we used to buy bread, now we make it in our homes. We get wood, start a fire, make dough, put it into portions, let it rise.

This is what we’re doing now. This process takes at least three hours.

The map below - using analysis of satellite data by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University - shows which urban areas have sustained concentrated damage since the start of the conflict.

They say at least 150,000 buildings across the whole Gaza Strip have suffered damage. North Gaza and Gaza City have borne the brunt of this, with at least 80% of buildings believed to have been damaged.

The analysis also suggests up to 64% of buildings further south in the Khan Younis area have been damaged.

Aid workers say more than 500,000 people will have no homes to return to after the conflict because of the damage to buildings and infrastructure.

Image source, .

Earlier we heard from medical student Nagham Atef Mezied, 22, in Deir al Balah, who shared how her morning went with us. She's now got back in touch with an update from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital:

"Once, Tuesdays meant university lectures or rigorous clinical training at the hospital. I’d immerse myself in paediatric cases at Al-Nasr and Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospitals, honing my skills with dedication.

"But today, on the 140th day of war, I find myself at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, a volunteer physician treating the casualties of war.

"The once bustling halls of Al-Nasr and Al-Rantisi are now in ruins, yet amidst the devastation, I’ve grown significantly!"