Israel War: Death toll from explosion at Gaza City hospital up to 500 - health ministry

At least 500 people have been killed in an explosion at a Gaza City Hospital, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas.

Hundreds of people were seeking shelter at the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital at the time of the blast on Tuesday evening, which the ministry claims was caused by an Israeli air strike.

Photos showed fire engulfing the hospital halls, shattered glass and body parts scattered across the area.

If confirmed, the attack on the hospital would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008.

The Israeli military says it is looking into the report.

Meanwhile water and food supplies are running dangerously low in the besieged enclave and hospital fuel reserves are expected to last just a further 24 hours, putting thousands of injured patients at risk, aid agencies have warned.

At the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, truckloads of aid were waiting to be delivered as the US agreed with Israel “to develop a plan” to get aid into Gaza.

More than a million Palestinians have fled their homes, and 60 per cent are now in the eight-mile area south of the evacuation zone, the UN said.

On Tuesday Iran warned that Israel will face “another shockwave” if its “atrocities” do not stop in Gaza, while the Israeli military said it’s getting ready for the “next stages of war” which may not include the expected “ground offensive”.

“Everybody’s talking about the ground offensive. It might be something different,” Lt Colonel Richard Hecht said.

President Joe Biden will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday before travelling to Jordan to meet Palestinian, Jordanian, and Egyptian representatives.

Key developments overnight

07:00 , Josh Salisbury

Good morning. Several key developments overnight in the Israel-Gaza war are:

• Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday in a show of US support, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to allow aid into Gaza, but did not provide details.

• More than 600,000 Gazans have evacuated Gaza City after warnings by the Israeli military to leave ahead of an expected ground invasion, the IDF has said - but 100,000 have still not left.

• Hamas has demanded the release of “6,000 male and female prisoners in Israeli prisons” in exchange for hostages it took. It claims there are “about 200-250” Israeli captives in Gaza, where Israel has said there are 199 captives.

• More than 350 bodies of suspected civilian victims in Israel still have not been identified, after Hamas’s attacks, the national institute of forensic medicine has said. It says some bodies were burned beyond recognition.

At least 49 Palestinians 'killed in strikes near border’

07:07 , Josh Salisbury

At least 49 people Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes near the southern Gazan towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, the Hamas-run Ministry of the Interior in Gaza has said.

Bombs hit areas west and southeast of Khan Younis and west of Rafah, according to local reports.

Thousands of people trying to escape Gaza are gathered in Rafah, which contains the territory's only border crossing to Egypt, as international mediators press for a deal to allow aid in and refugees with foreign passports out.

Israel has advised Gazans to make their way to the south of the territory “for your own safety” as it conducts strikes on the densely-populated Gaza City.

‘Supplies are dwindling and running out fast’ - UN

07:33 , Josh Salisbury

A spokeswoman for the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) has said their “supplies are dwindling" and she fears “waterborne diseases are going to start spreading" in the Gaza strip.

Asked what her colleagues on the ground in southern Gaza are currently able to provide, Juliette Touma, UNRWA director of communications, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “They continue to provide assistance wherever possible. UNWRA is overwhelmed. We are overwhelmed. Our supplies are dwindling and running out fast.”

She said UNRWA teams are operating from an “overcrowded" warehouse in Southern Gaza with “hundreds of people sharing one toilet", adding: “Our own staff have had to ration drinking water to one litre."

She added: “In some parts of southern Gaza there was running water as of last night but the water situation is a huge concern. Most of Gaza in fact, the vast majority of Gaza, does not have running water.

“We are fearful that, waterborne diseases are going to start spreading and are going to start spreading soon.”

Almost 200 people taken hostage, Israeli military says

07:48 , Miriam Burrell

At least 199 hostages were taken into Gaza, the Israeli military said on Monday, which is more than previously estimated.

Meanwhile Hamas said it was holding 200 to 250 hostages.

Its military wing released a hostage video showing a dazed woman having her arm wrapped with bandages.

The woman, who identified herself as Mia Schem, 21, rocked slightly as she spoke, the sound of explosions reverberating in the background.

Schem was taken from Kibbutz Reim, where she was attending a rave. Hamas said she had undergone a three-hour operation.

Foreign Office will do ‘everything’ to get back British hostages

07:58 , Miriam Burrell

The Government will do “everything we possibly can” to get back up to 10 British hostages being held by Hamas, the Foreign Office minister has said.

Andrew Mitchell told BBC Breakfast: “We don’t know where they are and we are thinking of them all the time. And of course we are strongly supporting the attempt by Israel to find them and release them.

“The British Government will do everything we possibly can to get them back, as soon as we possibly can.

“We mourn the six British hostages we know who have died and we are extremely concerned about the fate and the state of the other 10.”

Pictured: Aftermath of air strike in Khan Yunis

08:08 , Miriam Burrell

Four attempting to cross Lebanon-Israel border killed

08:30 , Miriam Burrell

The Israeli military said it killed four militants wearing explosive vests attempting to cross into the country from Lebanon.

No group in Lebanon immediately claimed responsibility.

Tensions have flared along the Lebanon-Israel border between the Hezbollah group and Israeli military.

While shelling has been limited to towns along the border, there are fears Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups would escalate their actions to support Hamas should Israel begin a ground operation in Gaza.

Israeli military says post-war Gaza will be ‘global issue’

08:45 , Miriam Burrell

The status of the Gaza Strip after Israel’s planned assault would be a “global issue” for international discussion, an Israeli military spokesman has said.

“We’ve had all kinds of end games,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told media during a news briefing, in response to a question about whether Israel would fully occupy the territory.

“The cabinet is also discussing what that could look like ... this is also a global issue, what the situation will look like in this region,” he said.

British teen killed in Hamas attacks - reports

08:49 , Miriam Burrell

A British teenager who went missing after the Hamas attacks on Saturday has been killed, the BBC is reporting.

Family members reportedly told the BBC that Yahel, 13, died in the attack along with her mother.

Her sister Noiya, 16, and father are still missing.

British teen killed in Israel liked to sing and dance, uncle says

09:37 , Miriam Burrell

British teenager, Yahel, 13, who has been confirmed dead in Israel, liked to sing and dance, relatives have said.

Yahel disappeared after militants attacked Kibbutz Be’eri and killed her Bristol-born mother Lianneon October 7. Her older sister and father are still missing.

Before Yahel’s death was confirmed, her uncle Sharon Sharabi told the BBC that she was “funny, all the time. She likes to hear music, singing for us, dancing.”

Read more here.

Mother of 21-year-old hostage speaks out

10:10 , Miriam Burrell

Keren Shem, the mother of French-Israeli woman held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza, has called for world leaders to free her daughter.

She spoke to reporters after Hamas militants released a video of Mia Shem, 21, held in captivity.

Mia said in the clip that she had been taken to Gaza by the military group from a “rave in Ra’i”, and her mother said he feared her daughter had been shot and injured.

The Israeli military on Monday raised the figure to 199 people confirmed to have been abducted by Hamas to the Gaza Strip.

Read more here.

Fuel and water supplies dangerously low in Gaza

10:15 , Miriam Burrell

People will start dying without water and fuel reserves at all hospitals across Gaza are expected to last for a further 24 hours only, the UNRWA said in an update.

“The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at serious risk,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said.

“Concerns over dehydration and waterborne diseases are high given the collapse of water and sanitation services, including today’s shutdown of Gaza’s last functioning seawater desalination plant.”

Next ‘stages of war’ may not include ‘ground offensive’, Israeli military says

10:19 , Miriam Burrell

The Israeli military is getting ready for the next phase of its campaign against the Gaza Strip but plans may not include the expected ground offensive, an army spokesperson said.

“We are preparing for the next stages of war. We haven’t said what they will be,” Lt Colonel Richard Hecht told a regular briefing with reporters.

“Everybody’s talking about the ground offensive. It might be something different.”

Pictured: Destruction in Gaza

10:30 , Miriam Burrell

What will happen during Joe Biden’s trip?

10:52 , Miriam Burrell

Joe Biden leaves on Tuesday on a whirlwind trip to Israel and Jordan.

The US President is expected to spend part of Wednesday in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel prepares a possible ground offensive in Gaza.

Mr Biden will then fly to Amman for talks about accelerating humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

He will meet Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has long been opposed to Hamas and whose organisation exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Mr Biden’s goal will be to show American solidarity with Netanyahu while trying to avoid a broader regional war involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and Syria.

UN: Israel’s evacuation order could breach international law

11:07 , Miriam Burrell

Israel’s evacuation order for civilians in north Gaza could amount to a forcible transfer and be in breach of international law, the UN office has said.

Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Israel seemed to have made no effort to ensure that civilians temporarily evacuated in Gaza were provided with proper accommodation, hygiene, health, safety and nutrition.

“Those who managed to comply with the Israeli authorities’ order to evacuate are now trapped in the south of the Gaza Strip, with scant shelter, fast-depleting food supplies, little or no access to clean water, sanitation, medicine and other basic needs,” she said.

The term “forcible transfer” describes the forced relocation of civilian populations and it is a crime against humanity punishable by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Faith leaders in London plead for peace

11:21 , Miriam Burrell

Faith leaders gathered in London this morning to plead for peace between faith communities in the UK.

They gathered outside Lambeth Palace “to stand together against any form of hatred or violence against Jewish people or any other community”, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said.

Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra said: “British Muslims and Jews have much in common and there are many personal ties between us”.

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg added: “As leaders in the British Jewish and Muslim communities we affirm the importance of maintaining our relationships even, and especially, in troubled times.”

Aid trucks on way to Rafah border crossing

11:40 , Miriam Burrell

Around 160 trucks have left Egypt and are on their way to the Rafah border crossing, according to reports, but no agreement has been decided on how to deliver relief.

At least 49 people were killed in overnight Israeli bombardment of Rafah and the nearby town of Khan Younis.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said early on Tuesday he had agreed with Israel “to develop a plan” to get aid into Gaza.

Egypt says the Rafah crossing has not been officially closed but has become inoperable due to the Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side.

Hundreds of tonnes of aid have been awaiting an agreement on aid delivery, an eyewitness told Reuters, adding that Egypt had repaired the roads within the crossing that had been damaged by Israeli strikes.

Pictured: Debris in central Gaza Strip

11:51 , Miriam Burrell

Iran warns of ‘another shockwave’ if Israel does not end ‘atrocities'

11:56 , Miriam Burrell

Israel will face another shockwave if its “atrocities” do not stop in Gaza, a deputy commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying.

“The resistance front’s shocks against the Zionist regimes (Israel) will continue until this ‘cancerous tumour’ is eradicated from the world map,” said Ali Fadavi, according to Iranian state media.

“Another shockwave is on the way, if Israel does not end atrocities in Gaza.”

Downing Street urges Israel to allow water in Gaza

12:58 , Miriam Burrell

Downing Street has urged Israel to allow water into Gaza, while refusing to say whether it believes the tactic to shut off the supply was in line with international law.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We want to do everything possible to relieve the unfolding humanitarian issues in Gaza. Water is an important part of that.”

Rishi Sunak told his Cabinet that Hamas was responsible for the “murder and suspected abduction of British nationals”, Downing Street said.

Asked if it is believed that some of the 10 missing British citizens may have been kidnapped, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s a dynamic situation.

“I think sadly the full details of this attack are still becoming clear.”

WHO aid supplies ‘waiting for the go ahead'

13:24 , Miriam Burrell

The World Health Organisation says it has aid supplies waiting south of the Rafah crossing and is waiting for “the go ahead to get entry to Gaza”.

WHO said its supplies had been ready to go for three days, but teams had been unable to deliver it.

“Even if you think this madness and horror stop and we think about recovery, this will be a long-term humanitarian exercise,” said Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the West Bank and Gaza.

Speaking from Cairo, he said 2,800 people have died and 11,000 have been injured in Gaza since Israeli air strikes started. About half of them were women and children.

There have been 115 attacks on healthcare facilities. Disease outbreaks are a risk as well.

80 people dead in Israeli air strikes in past 24 hours

13:36 , Miriam Burrell

Palestinian deaths in Israeli air strikes in southern Gaza in the last 24 hours rose to 80, Hamas-run Government Media Office said, according to Reuters.

France condemns Mia Shem Hamas hostage video

13:47 , Josh Salisbury

France has condemned by Hamas of a Franco-Israeli citizen being held in Gaza.

The mother of Mia Shem, who was taken hostage from the Nova festival near the Gaza border, earlier pleaded for her daughter’s return after she was filmed asking for help to “get me out of here as soon as possible. Please.”

France’s foreign ministry said 21 French nationals were killed in the October 7 attacks and another 11 remained missing.

“Several are very likely hostages of Hamas. This is the case of a national, whose vile staging by Hamas in a video France condemns," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

A recap: What happened today?

15:29 , Miriam Burrell

Israel has bombed areas of southern Gaza where it told Palestinians to flee ahead of an expected invasion, killing dozens of people.

Violence along Israel's border with Lebanon has also led to concerns over a widening regional conflict that diplomats have been working to prevent.

In Gaza, people wounded in the air strikes were rushed to hospital after heavy attacks outside the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, residents reported.

Hamas' military wing said that an Israeli air strike in the central Gaza Strip killed one of its top commanders.

Iran's foreign minister warned that "pre-emptive action is possible" if Israel moves closer to a ground offensive.

The strikes have not stopped Hamas militants from continuing to attack Israel with rockets launched from Gaza.

Pictured: Israeli soldiers near Gaza border

15:43 , Miriam Burrell

Israeli soldiers duck as they fire into Gaza from a position outside kibbutz Beeri near the border.

3,000 killed in Gaza

15:57 , Miriam Burrell

Around 3,000 people have been killed and 12,500 injured in Gaza by Israeli air strikes since October 7, the Palestinian health ministry said in an update.

A further 61 people have been killed and 12,50 injured in the West Bank.

US will get involved if Iran joined Hamas, Israel says

16:18 , Miriam Burrell

The US would get "involved" if the Gaza war escalated to the point where Iran and Hezbollah joined in on behalf of Hamas, Israel's national security adviser said.

Tzachi Hanegbi noted expressions of support by President Joe Biden, which included US naval deployments in the Mediterranean and a public warning to the Lebanese group and to Tehran to stay out of the fighting.

"He is making clear to our enemies that if they even imagine taking part in the offensive against the citizens of Israel, there will be American involvement here," Hanegbi said.

"Israel will not be alone...a US force is here and it is ready," he added.

Humza Yousaf’s wife calls for urgent ceasefire

16:55 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Humza Yousaf’s wife has asked for an urgent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after her relatives were wounded by shrapnel in a drone attack.

Nadia El-Nakla, an SNP councillor for Dundee City Council and wife of Scotland's First Minister, spoke on LBC news about the dangers faced by her family who have become caught in the midst of the ongoing conflict.

She said her two-year-old cousin is among those who have been injured in drone attacks on Gaza, and has been left with shrapnel wounds.

"The numbers that we’re seeing dying are just incredible, and most of them – 50 per cent – are children and there’s more under the rubble," she said.

“I want an urgent ceasefire, humanitarian aid getting into Gaza, and I want the foreign nationals to be able to get out. I want to see our governments have discussions about long-lasting peace."

Read the full story here.

Sunak speaks to Qatar and Saudi leaders

17:06 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Rishi Sunak has today spoken with the leaders of Qatar and Saudi Arabia about the situation in Israel and Gaza, No 10 has said.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that during Mr Sunak’s call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the leaders “agreed on the importance of avoiding further destabilisation across the Middle East including through Iranian proxies in the region and committed to co-ordinate action to escalate tensions”.

During his conversation with the Emir of Qatar, No 10 said the Prime Minister and Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani discussed “areas of co-operation” between their two countries, including on “ensuring safe passage for aid to Gaza to alleviate humanitarian suffering, and on urgent efforts to secure the release of hostages”.

The Downing Street official added: “The Prime Minister updated on his conversations with other Arab leaders and they agreed that the conflict must not be allowed to destabilise the wider region and cause further bloodshed.”

The spokesman said he could not get into more detail about the conversations between the UK and Qatar leader on efforts to free Britons taken hostage by Hamas, saying only that London was speaking with Tel Aviv and other important regional partners, of which Doha was one.

Around 5,000 Hamas targets attacked by Israel, says official

17:12 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Israel has attacked around 5,000 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip since Hamas launched its attack on Israel 10 days ago, a senior Israeli official has said.

They added that Israel has cancelled a "large number" of other strikes in an effort to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties,

Briefing news agency Reuters on condition of anonymity, the official did not elaborate on the number of strikes cancelled during a days-long bombardment of Gaza that has killed around 3,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, saying only that every such operation is "approved at the highest level" of the Israeli military.

In the wake of the devastating October 7 incursions by Hamas, Israel was determined to eliminate the Islamist group in Gaza "even if it takes months or years," he said.

At least six killed in Israeli air strike on school in Gaza refugee camp

17:27 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

At least six people have been killed in an Israeli air strike that hit a school run by the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in Gaza's Al-Maghazi refugee camp, UNRWA posted on X social media platform.

18:49 , Tom Davidson

The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike Tuesday hit a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter, killing hundreds.

The ministry said at least 500 people had been killed.

Several hospitals in Gaza City have become refuges for hundreds of people, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said there were still no details on the hospital deaths: "We will get the details and update the public. I don’t know to say whether it was an Israeli air strike."

Hospital attack 'crime of genocide' - Hamas

19:05 , Tom Davidson

On their Telegram channel, Hamas has responded to the reported attack on the al-Ahli Hospital.

It called the "horrific massacre" a "crime of genocide".

"This also exposes the American and Western support for this criminal occupation," the statement read.

"The international community and the Arab and Islamic countries must assume their responsibilities and intervene immediately, now and not tomorrow... to stop the arrogance of the occupation and its fascist army, and hold it accountable for the genocide it has been committing for the eleventh day in a row in the already blockaded area."

Three days of mourning for Palestinians

19:35 , Tom Davidson

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has declared three days of mourning after the strike on al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, state media is reporting.

"What is taking place is genocide. We call on the international community to intervene immediately to stop this massacre. Silence is no longer acceptable," a statement from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation said.

600% rise in antisemitic incidents in UK since Hamas launched attack

19:51 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Antisemitic incidents in the UK have increased by almost 600 per cent since Hamas' attack on Israel, according to a Jewish security group.

The Community Security Trust (CST), which represents British Jews on issues of racism and policing, said it had recorded 320 antisemitic incidents between October 7 and 16, a sevenfold increase on the 47 antisemitic incidents recorded over the same period last year.

CST said 15 of the 320 incidents recorded were assaults, 14 referred to damage to Jewish property and 244 were related to abusive behaviour, with 86 taking place online.

Examples of antisemitic incidents included someone shouting "Free Palestine, kill Jews" at the heart of a Jewish community in London.

Two Jewish schools in north London were also vandalised with red paint in what CST director of policy, Dave Rich, called "a disgraceful attempt to intimidate and harass" the community.

World Health Organisation 'strongly condemns' attack on hospital

19:59 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The World Health Organisation (WHO) "strongly condemns" an attack on a Gaza hospital that has reportedly left hundreds of civilians dead.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted: "Early reports indicate hundreds of deaths and injuries.

"We call for the immediate protection of civilians and health care, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed."

Palestinian president cancels meeting with Joe Biden 'in protest against hospital attack', says official

20:07 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

President Mahmoud Abbas has cancelled his participation in a meeting scheduled for tomorrow with President Joe Biden and other leaders, according to a senior Palestinian official.

Mr Abbas was scheduled to join Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at Wednesday’s summit in Amman, Jordan, where they were to discuss the latest Israel-Hamas war with Mr Biden.

But the senior official said Mr Abbas was withdrawing to protest an alleged Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza that Hamas health officials say has killed over 500 people.

IDF urges caution, says hospitals are 'not IDF targets'

20:55 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Israel Defence Force has said “a hospital is a highly sensitive building and not an IDF target.”

It added: “The IDF is currently investigating and as always prioritises accuracy. We urge everyone to proceed with caution while reporting about a terror organisation.”

IDF blames 'terrorist organisation' for hospital strike

21:13 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Israel Defence Force (IDF) has blamed terrorist militants for this evening's strike on the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, which has reportedly killed hundreds of civilians.The IDF tweeted: "Following an analysis by the IDF's operational systems, a barrage of rockets was launched toward Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit.

"According to intelligence information from a number of sources we have, Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is responsible for the failed rocket launch that hit the hospital."

Médecins Sans Frontières 'horrified' by hospital 'massacre'

21:16 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

International medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has condemned the hospital attack, writing on X, formerly Twitter: "We are horrified by the recent Israeli bombing of Ahli Arab Hospital in #Gaza City, which was treating patients and hosting displaced Gazans. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed. This is a massacre. It is absolutely unacceptable..."