Image source, PA Media

The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged parties involved in ceasefire negotiations to continue talking, and says, "we need to give them the space to conclude these negotiations".

He told broadcasters in south London: "We've been consistent in saying that we want to see an immediate humanitarian pause in this conflict so that we can crucially release the hostages, get them back to their families and get more aid into Gaza, people desperately need it, and then use that pause to build a more lasting and sustainable ceasefire."

Sunak says he has made these points to the Israeli PM previously and will continue doing so.

He adds he is "deeply concerned about the full military incursion of Rafah given the humanitarian consequences of that".

As we've reported, international aid agencies say the closing of the two main crossings into southern Gaza make it virtually impossible to assist civilians inside the enclave.

The UN 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 on Tuesday morning.

Tess Ingram from the UN children's agency, Unicef, says "nothing has got into Gaza for the last 24 hours, which is absolutely devastating".

Ingram says Gaza is on a "precipice of a famine". "No aid coming in means that in a day or two, distribution of that aid will stop and as we'll we run out of supplies that remain in Gaza,” she tells BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.

Egypt warns Israel over Rafah operationpublished at 13:58 British Summer Time 7 May

13:58 BST 7 May

Raffi Berg
Digital Middle East editor

Image source, Getty Images

Egypt has condemned Israel's operation in Rafah, warning its takeover of the crossing point "threatens the lives of more than a million Palestinians" who depend on it for aid.

It also warned Israel not do anything which might jeopardise "strenuous efforts made to reach a sustainable truce".

Egypt matters because it is a mediator in attempts to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire. Its voice also carries weight due to the fact that Egypt is the most important Arab country with which Israel has a peace agreement.

Egypt is extremely wary of what happens in Gaza. It shares a border with the territory, part of Rafah lies in Egypt, and it controls its side of the Rafah crossing.

Egypt's strong words towards Israel will also be in part for domestic consumption. Ordinary Egyptians feel solidarity with Palestinians - there have been angry protests against Israel since the war began - and the government does not want to be out of step with the street.

Sam Rose, the director of planning at UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees) has been telling the BBC about the "desperate" humanitarian situation in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Israel has been directing people in eastern Rafah to expanded "humanitarian areas", but Rose says there's "nowhere" safe for those people to go.

The "safe zone" can't fit any more people, he says, adding that one half of the zone is made of sand dunes that "can't accommodate people for any length of time".

He says the other half of the safe zone is inside Khan Younis, which he says has experienced "savage bombardment" over the past few weeks.

He says borders and crossing points need to reopen for commodities and food to allow humanitarian agencies to provide support.

We've been reporting this morning on Israel's order to civilians in Rafah's east to evacuate the area and move to a new, expanded "humanitarian zone".

Much of that new zone, however, has previously been targeted in the conflict, and now lies in ruin.

In the map below, we've overlaid the new zone, shaded yellow, with the locations we know damage has occurred.

Israel says it needs civilians to evacuate from Rafah to enable it to target Hamas infrastructure in the southern town, which it believes to be the group's last stronghold.

As we reporter earlier, Israel has already announced that it's found tunnels in Rafah that it believes are the entry point for weaponry and other supplies for Hamas and other groups.

Image source, .

Image source, EPA

Conflict has continued a day after Hamas accepted truce terms offered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Israel rejected as being far from its "basic requirements". Here's the latest:

• Israel has taken "operational control" of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing - a vital entry point for aid - after striking eastern Rafah overnight, killing 20 Hamas members

• A senior Israeli official says a team of Israeli negotiators will go to Cairo "in the next few hours" to see whether Hamas can be persuaded to change its latest ceasefire offer

• It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the deal - drawn up by Egyptian mediators - as far from meeting "core demands"
• The exact terms of the deal Hamas has agreed to have not been confirmed
• Hamas says it has fired rockets at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, which was already closed after an earlier Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers over the weekend
• Palestinians are continuing to evacuate after Israel's military warned civilians to leave eastern parts of Rafah ahead of the strikes, with more than 100,000 people affected
• The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, continues to voice concern over the humanitarian situation, and has warned of the impact diminished aid supplies will have on civilians

Stay with us as we continue to bring you live updates, and remember you can watch live coverage from the BBC News channel by clicking Play at the top of this page.

We've just been getting the latest on the BBC News channel from our reporters in Cairo and Jerusalem.

Jo Floto, our Middle East Bureau Chief in Jerusalem, says Israel's special forces are currently combing Rafah in search of what they call "terrorist infrastructure".

Israel has already announced that it has found three tunnels, and these tunnels are key to why the IDF wants to be in this area of Gaza, Floto says. Israel has long suspected that this is the entry point for weaponry and other supplies to militant groups like Hamas, he adds.

In Cairo, BBC Arabic reporter Abdelbassir Hassan says no officials will confirm whether delegations from Israel or Hamas have arrived for ceasefire negotiations.

He says that Egypt, a mediator in these negotiations, is showing restraint in its reaction to the development that Israel is now operating right up against its border between the Gaza Strip. Egypt has condemned Israel's control of the Rafah crossing, as has Qatar, another mediator in these talks. Neither want any enlargement of this conflict.

We've been covering the ongoing ceasefire talks in our last few posts so let's switch gears and look at the situation on the ground Gaza.

People are continuing to leave Rafah after Israel ordered about 100,000 civilians to evacuate parts of the southern city, which has been a refuge for displaced Palestinians.

Here are the latest photos of people on the move:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

How we got to a critical momentpublished at 12:06 British Summer Time 7 May

12:06 BST 7 May

Raffi Berg
Digital Middle East editor

Image source, Getty Images

Hamas's acceptance of (undisclosed) proposals appeared to offer a moment of hope in a months-long cycle of progress and setbacks.

Momentum which led to Monday's statement by Hamas was kick-started just over a week ago, when an official from the group said it had "no major issues" with the latest proposal.

At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was “hopeful” Hamas would accept the proposal, which he called “extraordinarily generous”.

The terms were not publicised, but reports suggested that Israel had found a new form of words about a pause in fighting – talking about a "sustainable calm" in Gaza – something between a truce and a ceasefire.

A day later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an offensive against Hamas in Rafah would go ahead regardless of whether there was a truce - raising doubts over Hamas's willingness to give a positive answer.

Hopes were further dimmed on Sunday when talks in Cairo between Hamas and mediators stalled, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other.

A rocket attack from Rafah by Hamas the same day which killed four Israeli soldiers, swiftly followed by Israeli air strikes on Rafah which reportedly killed 19 Palestinians - and Israel's order hours later for Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah - deepened a growing sense of pessimism.

So when Hamas's leadership issued its statement on Monday evening saying they had approved the Egyptian and Qatari-mediated proposal, it bucked expectations.

Neither Israel nor Hamas want to be held responsible for failing to reach a ceasefire - so each is showing they're prepared to keep going, as the urgency grows by the day.

A group of "mid-ranking" Israeli envoys will go to Cairo in the next few hours to see if Hamas can be persuaded to change its latest ceasefire offer, a senior Israeli official tells Reuters news agency.

The official reiterates that the current proposal is unacceptable, adding: "This delegation is made up of mid-level envoys. Were there a credible deal in the offing, the principals would be heading the delegation."

Hamas said yesterday that it would accept a deal drawn up by Egyptian mediators, but it's not clear what exactly is in the deal Hamas has agreed to and Israel rejected the proposal, saying it was "far from meeting" its "core demands".

Dennis Ross, a former US Middle East envoy, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a "difficult position" when it comes to agreeing any potential ceasefire deal.

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have both said they would quit the government over the terms Israel was prepared to put on the table, Ross says, adding it is an "open question" as to whether they are bluffing.

But if the terms Hamas says it will accept are close to what Netanyahu has already agreed to present, Ross says it "won't be so easy for him to turn it down", adding that if Netanyahu was to do so, there is a "high risk" that other figures in the government could leave.

"That doesn't bring the government down the way Smotrich and Ben-Gvir would, but it may set in motion a set of events in Israel that I think could put the government at risk," he says.

"At a certain point, he needs to choose Biden over Ben-Gvir, he needs to choose the hostages over Smotrich".

A former Israeli MP for Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party says he believes if Hamas is serious about accepting a deal which would see all hostages returned to Israel, then Israel would sign the deal too.

Michael Kleiner, who's now president of the Likud party's internal court, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Israel can't declare victory in its military action against Hamas until all of the hostages are home.

But at the moment, Israeli officials will be examining how "serious" Hamas is in accepting the proposal for a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel, he says.

Meanwhile in Rafah, Kleiner adds, "the pace of the activity... will not be accelerated, just preparation action, not full scale war".

"If (Hamas leader) Sinwar is serious, there will be a deal," he says.

Sharone Lifschitz, whose 83-year-old father Oded is still missing, presumed to be held captive in the Gaza Strip, says she's not hopeful about truce talks continuing because "there are extremists on both sides that can derail it".

Speaking to BBC 4's Today programme, she says she hopes Israel's government will follow what the majority of Israeli citizens want and "bring this deal so that our loved ones could come back".

Sharone's mother was freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza in October but she says her family hasn't had proof of life for her father since the 20th day of his captivity.

"If my father is alive it is a miracle, we can’t wait to have him back, we can’t wait to hug him," says Lifschitz.

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

In diplomatic terms, the most interesting question now is what the Americans say and do.

Because overnight their briefers have been very, very cautious, refusing to say anything substantive about the Hamas announcement, simply saying that a deal is achievable and that they oppose, and they continue to oppose, any military operation in Rafah.

But on the substance they have remained remarkably quiet.

And that is because if the Americans at any stage publicly say ‘this is what Israel must accept’, then at that point the pressure on the Israeli government is huge.

But we’re not at that point yet, because the Americans have yet to say what is their substantive view on what Hamas has agreed to.

Israel and Hamas try to put pressure on each other over ceasefire negotiationspublished at 10:51 British Summer Time 7 May

10:51 BST 7 May

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

We do not know the full details yet of what is included in the proposed Gaza ceasefire deal, including what it says about the idea of a permanent cessation of military operations: Does it mean the war will ultimately end or not?

Because on that point both sides seem still to be in a different position. It’s on that detail that everything matters. And everything that is going on is part of this negotiation.

It’s not just the talks that are taking place either in Doha or in Cairo. The statement that Hamas made yesterday, that is part of the negotiation.

The Israeli statements about what it may or may not do in Rafah are part of the negotiation. The Israeli actions in Rafah are all part of the negotiation.

Each side is trying to put pressure on the other.

Hamas says it has fired rockets at Israeli troops at the Kerem Shalom crossing - the key entry point for humanitarian aid into Gaza from Israel.

The crossing was already closed after a rocket attack by Hamas fighters over the weekend killed four Israeli soldiers in the area.

Hamas's armed wing, which claimed responsibility for Sunday's rocket attack, said in a statement that it had "targeted the gathering of enemy forces" at Kerem Shalom in today's latest attack.

The Israeli Defense Forces posted on X that sirens had sounded in the Kerem Shalom crossing area, after "launches were fired from Gaza".

The Israeli military says it has "operational control" of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, and that it has killed 20 Hamas fighters in Rafah overnight.

Yesterday, Israel directed about 100,000 people in the eastern part of Rafah to move to expanded "humanitarian areas" in Khan Younis and al-Mawasi ahead of its offensive.

Rafah's population has grown to 1.4 million people - many of whom have sought refuge there from Israeli offensives in other parts of Gaza. Israel has described the evacuation of eastern Rafah as a "limited and temporary" move.

The al-Mawasi zone is a narrow strip of land with few buildings and largely consists of sandy dunes and agricultural land. Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah are both zones in which Israel has fought, where many buildings have turned to rubble.

• Read more

Image source, .

Image source, EPA

Israel's offensive on Rafah, which international leaders warned Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu against, is going to cause "a lot of casualties", the EU's foreign policy chief says.

"The Rafah offensive has started again in spite all the requests of the international community, the US, the European Union member states, everybody asking Netanyahu not to attack", Josep Borrell tells reporters.

"I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties. Whatever they say."

Borrell adds that there are "no safe zones in Gaza".

A continuous Israeli bombardment on Rafah has taken place overnight, hours after Israel rejected Hamas's agreement to a ceasefire deal.

Earlier, the IDF said its troops were engaged in a "very targeted operation and a very limited scope against very specific targets" in eastern Rafah.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 34,789 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since 7 October, after Israel launched its military campaign in response to Hamas's attacks on southern Israel.

The number of casualties includes at least 54 deaths in the past 24 hours, it says.

The ministry's statement says that 78,204 Palestinians have been injured since 7 October, as the war enters its eighth month.

Hamas gunmen stormed into southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages.

Israel has released the following images showing their tanks operating by the Rafah crossing, where the Gaza Strip meets Egypt and through which international aid had been entering the territory:

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

Image source, Israel Defense Forces