Nadia Ragozhina
Live editor

Thank you for staying with us throughout today.

You can read our story on Israel taking "operational control" of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, as ceasefire talks continue, here.

And in a separate story, our International Editor, Jeremy Bowen, writes that after months of on-off hard talking between belligerents and mediators, the time has come for hard decisions.

Let’s bring you up to speed on what’s happened so far today:

• Ceasefire talks are resuming in Cairo with Israel and Hamas both sending their delegations
• Israel said the proposal was not the same as the one it had already accepted, and was not acceptable in its current form
• Exact details of the proposal have not been made public, but an Israeli official briefed on the details said Israel objected to the proposal of a “permanent” ceasefire, saying female soldiers would be released too late in the process, and it said releasing bodies – rather than hostages – was unacceptable
• A senior Hamas official said talks in Cairo would be Israel's "last chance" to release its hostages
• Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his delegation to "stand firm" on the conditions necessary to release the hostages and that will guarantee Israel's security
• On the ground in eastern Rafah, Israel has been directing about 100,000 people out to expanded “humanitarian areas” to enable it to continue with its operation targeting Hamas
• The Israeli army has also taken "operational control" of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt
• The UN has called for both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings in southern Gaza – both vital for humanitarian aid deliveries - to be reopened. Kerem Shalom has been closed since it came under Hamas rocket attacks on Sunday and Tuesday morning
• National security spokesman John Kirby said the US had made clear its opposition to a large-scale operation in Rafah. The US said it was working hard to ensure aid could pass through the Rafah crossing, while Israel had committed to reopening Kerem Shalom at President Joe Biden’s request, he told reporters

We've had a flurry of comments on the diplomatic front, as you will have seen from our last few posts, so let's bring our attention back to what's happening on the ground in Rafah.

People have been setting up tents among ruins in Khan Yunis, after the Israeli army ordered about 100,000 Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah to evacuate ahead of a planned military offensive. Israel says it is targeting Hamas infrastructure in Rafah, which is seen as the last stronghold of the group.

Here are the latest pictures:

Image source, Shutterstock

Image source, Shutterstock

Image source, Shutterstock

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

In a call with reporters just a few minutes ago, national security spokesman John Kirby said the White House was "monitoring" the IDF operation in Rafah, although he declined to comment on whether Israel had informed the US about their intention to take control of the Rafah crossing on the Gaza side.

In his remarks, Kirby said - as he has repeatedly over the last several days - that President Biden and the US had "made clear" their opposition to a large-scale operation in the city.

"We've been very consistent about concerns," he added. "We're going to be watching this closely."

Additionally, Kirby said that the US was "working hard" to ensure the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian assistance across the Rafah crossing, as well as Kerem Shalom.

"Israel has committed to reopen Kerem Shalom at President Biden's requests," he added. "We need to see it happen soon."

Israel is not allowing humanitarian workers access to the Rafah crossing, after taking control of the Gaza side of the border with Egypt. Kerem Shalom crossing was closed after a rocket attack by Hamas fighters over the weekend killed four Israeli soldiers in the area.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Joe Biden made some of his most pointed comments on what he described as a “ferocious surge” in antisemitism in the US and around the world during a Holocaust memorial ceremony at the US Capitol.

In his 16-minute speech, he warned that too many are “denying, downplaying, rationalising the horrors of the Holocaust“. From there, he drew a line to people who are also forgetting the atrocities of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.

"It was Hamas that brutalised Israelis," he said. "It was Hamas that took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten."

He repeated his condemnation of what he characterised as the lawless behaviour and hateful rhetoric directed at Jewish people by some pro-Palestinian protesters on US university campuses in recent weeks.

“We know scapegoating and demonising a minority is a threat to every minority,” he said.

Biden did not address the humanitarian situation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza or the rising American concern about the consequences of an Israeli military invasion of Rafah.

If the president feels pressure from pro-Palestinian activists within his own party, it was not on display at the Capitol today, where his speech received a standing ovation.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

The US has reportedly delayed the sale of precision bombs to the IDF, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal.

According to the newspaper, the delays specifically pertain to a batch of 6,500 Joint Direct Attack Munitions - commonly known as JDAMs - worth about $260m (£207m).

John Kirby, the White House's spokesman on national security matters, has been asked about the delays repeatedly yesterday and today.

At a news briefing here at the White House yesterday, Kirby said only that US support for Israel was "ironclad", although he did not address the shipment directly.

Just a few minutes ago, Kirby was again asked about the reported delays, responding only that he had nothing to add.

Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant has just released a statement on the Rafah offensive.

"This operation will continue until we eliminate Hamas in the Rafah area and the entire Gaza Strip, or until the first hostage returns," the statement reads.

The statement adds that Israel is prepared to make compromises for the sake of hostage returns, but if this isn't an option, "we will deepen the operation".

As we've been reporting, Israeli negotiators have arrived in Cairo for talks on a truce in Gaza and hostage release.

AFP news agency reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the Israeli delegation to "stand firm on the conditions necessary for the release" of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since 7 October, and on "essential requirements for guaranteeing Israel's security".

This comes after Hamas said yesterday it had accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by mediators Egypt and Qatar. Israeli officials said that plan fell short of Israel's essential demands.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

I've just arrived at the White House, which is scheduled to hold a press briefing at 13:30 (17:30 GMT).

Yesterday's briefing focused heavily on reports that Hamas accepted the outline of a ceasefire deal, as well as on the Israeli operation in Rafah.

Today's is sure to again primarily focus on the last 24 hours in Gaza.

At the moment, US President Joe Biden is at the Capitol, where he just delivered an address at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony.

At the outset of his remarks, Biden noted rising antisemitism linked to the Israel-Hamas war, including on US college campuses.

"[There are] too many people denying, downplaying, rationalising and ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust [and] October 7, including Hamas's appalling use of sexual violence, torture, to terrorise."

"It must stop," he added.

Stay with us for more updates.

Image source, EPA

Meanwhile family members of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have joined other demonstrators outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv.

They have gathered behind an empty coffin with red paint on their hands, calling for an end to the war and the immediate release of all hostages.

One holds a placard urging US president Joe Biden to use his influence to help stop the war. Biden warned Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu against launching an offensive in Rafah in a phone call on Monday, after previously describing an invasion of Rafah as a "red line".

Some 128 hostages remain unaccounted for, with at least 34 presumed dead following the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

A senior Hamas official says its delegation, which is leaving for Cairo to discuss truce talks, will be Israel's "last chance" to release its hostages.

Speaking anonymously to AFP news agency, the official says Hamas negotiators initially cancelled plans earlier today to travel from Qatar to the Egyptian capital.

The Hamas official now says they will leave "shortly".

The official says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "decision to invade Rafah" has indicated that he and the Israeli army had "made the decision to let the prisoners (hostages) die".

"This will be the last chance for Netanyahu and the families of the Zionist prisoners to return their children," the official says.

Hamas took 252 people hostage during the attacks on Israel on 7 October, 128 remain unaccounted for. Israel says it is conducting "targeted strikes" against Hamas in Rafah with the aim of finding what they call "terrorist infrastructure".

Image source, EPA

The Rafah crossing's closure is already having economic consequences for people in Gaza.

Raed Asfour, a displaced Palestinian man from Khan Younis, says prices have begun to rise. He describes the Rafah border as the "main artery" of the Gaza Strip.

"It is where the aid enters from, it is where supplies and food enter from. Everything enters from there for us," he says.

"As soon as they said that the border was shut down, the price of sugar went up... life has become more expensive. It is getting more expensive. What should we do?"

Image source, Reuters

Cogat, the Israeli military agency tasked with coordinating aid access in Gaza, says 60 aid trucks have passed through the Erez crossing in the north of Gaza so far today.

Earlier today, international aid agencies said the closing of the two main crossings into southern Gaza - Rafah and Kerem Shalom - was making it virtually impossible to assist civilians inside the enclave.

The UN has called for both crossings to be reopened immediately. It says Israel is not allowing humanitarian workers access to the Rafah crossing, after taking control of the Gaza side of the border with Egypt.

The other main crossing, Kerem Shalom, was closed after a rocket attack by Hamas fighters over the weekend killed four Israeli soldiers in the area. Hamas then targeted the crossing in another attack this morning.

An Israeli government spokesperson, David Mencer, says that tunnels under the Rafah border crossing were being used by Hamas to smuggle arms into Gaza.

He says intelligence shows the Rafah crossing has been used for "terrorist purposes".

"Underneath that large border infrastructure are cross-border underground smuggling tunnels, sustaining and providing a lifeline to Hamas," Mencer says.

Earlier this morning, Israel announced that it had killed 20 Hamas fighters, and found three tunnel shafts the area around the crossing.

We can bring you more now on the Israeli position on the ceasefire deal offered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Hamas said yesterday it was prepared to accept.

An Israeli official briefed on the talks says a mid-level Israeli delegation is due to hold talks in Cairo this evening.

The delegation is there to see if they can negotiate some "new answers", the official says.

According to the official, there are four aspects of the proposal that Hamas has agreed to which Israel takes issue with:

• The document refers to the end of the war, described as a permanent ceasefire, according to the official
• They believe it would see female soldiers released too late in the process
• They say the document references a contingency that if 33 living hostages cannot be found for the first phase, then bodies can be substituted instead, which the Israeli official said was unacceptable
• Israel believes it would be obliged to release an agreed number of prisoners from a list that Hamas will provide, with no power of veto for any individual case

A reminder - we have not had confirmation from Hamas or the mediators as to what is included in the deal currently on the table. We do know that Israel also already dismissed it as "far from meeting" its "core demands".

Image source, Reuters

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says an agreement between Israel and Hamas is essential to put an end to the "suffering of Palestinians and Israeli hostages in Gaza".

He says this is a "decisive moment" for the "fate of the entire region".

"I'm disturbed and distressed by the renewed military activity in Rafah by the Israeli Defense Forces."

He adds that the closure of both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings are especially damaging to an already dire humanitarian situation, and calls for them to reopen immediately.

"Just to give an example, we risk running out of fuel this evening," he says.

Fedaa Shallen, a displaced Palestinian woman, is one of those who found themselves stuck in Rafah after the border was closed when Israeli troops took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

She had been waiting to leave Gaza via the crossing to seek medical treatment for her daughter.

“I have a transfer permit for my daughter so that she can have an operation abroad," she says. "I have been waiting but now the border is shut.

"We don’t know what to do. I want to know, is our right less than those in other countries?"

She adds that children in Gaza "are not living their childhood".

An IDF official said the Rafah crossing was closed and that it was working to reopen Kerem Shalom once the security situation allowed it.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings - the key entry points for aid into Gaza - remain shut, cutting off aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, the UN says.

A spokesperson for the United Nations' humanitarian office, Jens Laerke, says both crossings fall within the evacuation zone, which means "the two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off".

Israeli officials told the UN that there will be no crossings of personnel or goods in or out of the Rafah crossing "for the time being", Laerke says.

Kerem Shalom crossing was closed after a rocket attack by Hamas fighters over the weekend killed four Israeli soldiers in the area. Hamas then targeted the crossing in another attack on Tuesday morning.

Laerke adds that there is just one day of fuel left to sustain the UN's entire operation in Gaza.

He also criticises Israel's evacuation notice, saying there was not enough warning to civilians and the UN was not informed before it warned Palestinians to evacuate eastern parts of Rafah ahead of the strikes.

He adds there is no safe passage to the new humanitarian zone, and says that those on the ground have told him of "massive bombs lying in the street" in Khan Younis.

Israel’s cautious approach to ceasefire talkspublished at 15:08 British Summer Time 7 May

15:08 BST 7 May

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

An Israeli delegation of mid-level ‘technical experts’ has arrived in Cairo in order to ‘study’ the amended version of a ceasefire plan that Hamas has accepted.

This is further than the Israeli government was prepared to go last weekend when the Hamas negotiating team sat down in Cairo with Egyptian and Qatari mediators but Israel didn’t show up as it assessed Hamas’s position as being too far away from what it could accept.

Israel still says Hamas’s terms ‘do not meet its needs’ but it is now engaging in the process.

The team sent to Cairo – consisting of intelligence and security officials – reportedly have no mandate to negotiate. But if they believe a deal is within reach then we can expect to see a top-level delegation, probably headed by the Mossad chief, David Barnea, heading to Cairo to negotiate.

Meanwhile Israel’s military offensive in eastern Rafah, at the south-eastern corner of the Gaza Strip, continues. This has brought international criticism from the UN, Egypt and even Israel’s western allies but the Israeli government has repeatedly said that military pressure on Hamas is essential to persuade it to give up its remaining hostages.

A short while ago, Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman spoke to BBC Radio 4's World At One programme.

He said: "We said from the beginning of the war that we needed to take out the 24 Hamas battalions," which Israel says remain in Rafah.

"The objective of our war is to destroy Hamas and bring home the hostages, and to ensure that Gaza doesn't pose a threat to Israel again."