Israel-Palestine war LIVE: Hundreds mourn death of Hamas victims at Parliament Square while tributes flood in for hero British-Israeli man who tried to save wounded civilians as UK pushes for Rafah crossing into Egypt to open

More than 1,000 people are missing under the rubble of buildings that were destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza, the Palestinian civil defence team said on Sunday.

In a statement, the civil defence team said many others were pulled alive out of the rubble, 24 hours after buildings were struck.

Leaders of the 27 European Union member states on Sunday stressed ‘Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law’ against the ‘violent and indiscriminate attacks’ by Hamas.

‘We reiterate the importance of the provision of urgent humanitarian aid and stand ready to continue supporting those civilians most in need in Gaza… ensuring that such assistance is not abused by terrorist organisations,’ the statement said.

‘It is crucial to prevent regional escalation’ of the conflict, it added.

The joint statement was adopted two days ahead of an emergency video summit of the member nations called by European Council President Charles Michel.

‘The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms Hamas and its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks across Israel and deeply deplores the loss of lives,’ it said, while also calling for ‘the protection of all civilians at all times’.

EU leaders say they ‘remain committed to a lasting and sustainable peace based on the two-state solution through reinvigorated efforts in the Middle East Peace Process’.

The joint position comes days after a visit to Israel by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which drew criticism from some diplomates and European deputies.

Addressing von der Leyen in a message on X, formerly Twitter, French MEP Nathalie Loiseau wrote Saturday: ‘Yes, Israel has the right to defend itself against bloodthirsty terrorists.

‘You are forgetting an important message: Israel must respect international humanitarian law.’

Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel exchanged deadly cross-border fire Sunday, with the Iran-backed group claiming responsibility for strikes that Israel said killed a civilian.

The exchanges – and a rocket that hit a UN peacekeeping base – further raised tensions on Israel’s northern border, as it targets Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip to the south.

The Israeli army closed the border area to civilians as tit-for-tat fire with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in Lebanon intensified.

More than 10 people have been killed in Lebanon and at least two in Israel since last Sunday.

‘The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) responded with fire and destroyed Hezbollah positions and the source of the fire,’ an army spokesman said.

‘In addition, there was fire at an Israeli military position. There were no casualties. The IDF responded with fire to the source of fire there too.’

A military spokesperson told AFP that, ‘we have a dead civilian and a number of people wounded in the attack’ by an anti-tank missile in Shtula.

‘In accordance with the situational assessment and the recent shooting incident in northern Israel, the area up to four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the northern border with Lebanon has been closed,’ the army said in another statement.

Hezbollah on Sunday morning said it had targeted an Israeli position in the Shtula area with guided missiles.

In a separate statement, the group said one of its fighters had died Sunday.

A spokesperson told AFP the fighter died after sustaining injuries in south Lebanon prior to Sunday, and that Israel was responsible.

Hezbollah said the strikes were retaliation for separate “Israeli aggressions” that killed two civilians and struck journalists, killing a Reuters videographer and wounding others – including two from AFP.

Lebanon’s army blamed an Israeli rocket which hit a car belonging to the journalists. Israel’s army said it was ‘looking into’ who launched the strike.

Smoke rises after Hezbollah targeted an Israeli army post in the vicinity of Alma al-Shaab, at the Lebanese-Israeli border

Israeli army soldiers patrol at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 15

The death toll of French citizens from the Hamas attacks in Israel has risen to 19, and 13 others are still unaccounted for and may have been taken hostage, French foreign minister Catherine Colonna said on Sunday.

‘Everything will be done to bring our compatriots back home. France does not abandon its children,’ Colonna told a news conference at the end of a visit to Tel Aviv.

‘Israel has the right to defend itself against the monstrosity of Hamas and the danger it represents. Its response must be firm, it must be fair, it must be strong, it will be strong if it is fair and in line with international law.’

Speaking before continuing her trip on to Egypt and Lebanon, she added that everything must be done to avoid a regional escalation.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that the Biden administration hopes to push a new weapons package for Israel and Ukraine through Congress that will be significantly higher than $2 billion.

Sullivan, in an interview on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation,’ said U.S. President Joe Biden will have intensive talks with the U.S. Congress this week on the need for the package to be approved.

The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip surged to at least 2,670 since Hamas’s bloody attack on southern Israel last week, the Gaza health ministry said Sunday.

Another 9,600 people have also been injured as Israel continued its blistering air campaign on targets in the Palestinian coastal enclave, the Hamas-controlled ministry added.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel

United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL said on Sunday its headquarters in south Lebanon had been hit by a rocket.

‘Our headquarters in Naqoura was hit with a rocket and we are working to verify from where,’ UNIFIL said in a statement.

‘Our peacekeepers were not in shelters at the time. Fortunately, no one was hurt.’

Joe Biden spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about humanitarian assistance for Gaza, the U.S. President posted has revealed.

Biden said he told Abbas he was working with partners in the region to ensure humanitarian supplies reach civilians in Gaza.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: ‘I spoke with Palestinian Authority President Abbas to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel and reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination.  

‘I assured him that we’re working with partners in the region to ensure humanitarian supplies reach civilians in Gaza and to prevent the conflict from widening.’

The lone man brandishing an Israeli flag chased down a London street and surrounded on Saturday by furious pro-Palestine protesters told MailOnline tonight ‘They wanted to kill me’.

Vahid Beheshti, 46, moved to Britain from Iran 25 years ago and was seen in dramatic video footage shared online.

It showed pro-Palestinian protesters’ anger boiling over as they were seen trampling on Israeli flags, before Mr Behesti had to be encircled by police officers for protection.

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has said the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza will be reopened, Reuters reports.

The Met today released a clearer picture of one of two women they are tracing over Hamas supporting pictures of paragliders taped to the back of their jackets – as Suella Braverman warned ‘the police are coming’.

The Met said it was being treated as a public order offence after they were seen parading towards Trafalgar Square yesterday.

They were both marching for Palestine and the woman in the red jacket was seen to chant ‘Britain is a terrorist state’.

oth women are black and the one in red was also wearing a light blue face mask, blue and black trousers and was carrying a purple bag.

It came as Home Secretary Ms Braverman issued a stark warning to demonstrators, accusing some of glorifying terrorism and promoting genocide, as she said: ‘To all those who saw fit to promote genocide, glorify terrorism and mock the murder of Jewish people, including women and babies – the police are coming for you.’

The UK has ‘not been successful’ yet in opening the Rafah crossing into Egypt to help British nationals leave Gaza, the foreign secretary has said.

Hamas, Egypt, and Israel all exercise control over who can pass through.

But Mr Cleverly has said that he is working with Israel, Egypt and ‘other leading political voices in the region’ to open the crossing.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Cleverly said the gate was key to evacuating British nationals and providing ‘humanitarian support for the people of Gaza’.

The US has refused to rule out sending troops to rescue Ameican hostages in Gaza, National Security spokesman, John Kirby said.

Asked on Fox News Sunday whether this was under consideration, he replied: ‘What I won’t do is rule anything in or out when it comes to getting our hostages home.’

‘We’re working on this literally by the hour but again, in order for you to develop specific policy options, you got to have a lot more contextual information than is available to use right now and we’re working at that.’

There are 15 Americans unaccounted for and Mr Kirby said locating where they are being held was difficult.

‘We are actively trying to find out exactly where they are,’ he added.

However, he did appear to rule out the US getting directly involved in the conflict, despite the movement of ships including an aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean.

‘There’s no plans or intentions to put US troops on the ground to fight in this fight between Israel and Hamas.’

Israel’s defence minister has said the country has ‘no interest’ in waging war on another front in the north.

Yoav Gallant said Israel would respect the situation along the border as it is today as long as Hezbollah does not involve itself in the conflict.

Iran-backed Hezbollah told Israel via the United Nations it would intervene if operations in Gaza continued, a report claimed, as Israel readied a ‘wide range of offensive operational plans’ including a ‘joint and coordinated attack [on Gaza] from the air, sea and land.

There have been sporadic exchanges of fire between the militant organisation and Israeli forces in the past week, but Hezbollah has not fully taken up arms against Israel.

Israel this afternoon re-opened the water supply in south Gaza after President Biden intervened – just days after warning of the importance of the ‘rule of law.’

The about-turn happened three days after energy minister Israel Katz wrote on social media that no ‘electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter’ until the ‘abductees’ were free.

They had precipitated the decision to re-open the supply of water.

Read the full story here:

The Israeli government has raised the death toll of those killed in Hamas terror attacks to more than 1400 people.

The number does not account for those missing or kidnapped, which has been estimated to be roughly 150 people.

More than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes in the past week.

New York senator Chuck Schumer has shared of photo of lawmakers gathered in a Tel Aviv bomb shelter during a Hamas rocket attack.

‘It shows you what Israelis have to go through,” the New York senator posted on X, formerly Twitter.

‘We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself.’

The delegation – which includes Republicans Mitt Romney and Bill Cassidy and Democrats Jacky Rosen and Mark Kelly – plan to hold a news conference in Tel Aviv later today.

Dramatic video footage shared online showed pro-Palestinian protesters’ anger boiling over as they were seen trampling on Israeli flags, before the man with his own flag had to be encircled by police officers for protection.

It came during nationwide pro-Palestinian rallies on Saturday which saw thousands take to the streets of cities including London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol.

Read the full story here:

Israel’s troops have been given more freedom to shoot at potential enemies in Gaza, according to a report, and could be ordered to spend 18 months in the enclave going door-to-door to root out Hamas.

A Hamas officer told The New York Times they intended to ambush the Israeli troops from behind once they entered Gaza, jumping out of hidden tunnels.

Senior Israeli officials told the paper that the ground invasion was due to have begun already, but has been delayed due to bad weather preventing aerial cover.

Israel Defense Forces said they will only commence ‘significant military operations’ in Gaza once all civilians have evacuated, a spokesperson told CNN.

Israeli tanks and troops have gathered on the border and are carrying out simulations ready to spring an invasion of Gaza at any time after Hamas terrorists killed 1,300 Israelis in a surprise attack last Saturday.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said Hamas was stopping civilians from leaving and released an aerial photo of two vehicles blocking the road as desperate Palestinians crammed into cars and donkey carts to escape the northern area.

Tributes have flooded in for a British-Israeli man who died whilst trying to help evacuate wounded civilians during the kibbutz massacre last week.

Benjamin Trakeniski, known as Benji by friends, is understood to have been killed by armed Hamas terrorists after attempting to save innocent lives at kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest hit communities from the attack.

The 32-year-old was living in Tel Aviv and engaged to Israeli tattoo-artist Rotem, with the couple due to be wed in April next year.

Instead, the hero was laid to rest in Israel on Thursday, with his future wife-to-be reading out her wedding vows at his funeral.

Read the full story here:

Hundreds of people have gathered at a vigil in central London to commemorate Israeli victims of the Hamas incursion into the country.

Many were draped in Israeli flags and posters saying ‘bring them home’ with names and faces of hostages captured by Hamas were being handed out to attendees.

Organisers had also covered the square in posters reading ‘kidnapped’ alongside photos of those taken to Gaza by Hamas militants.

A series of candles were lit around the square by those in attendance, who gathered to hear speeches and comfort one another.

More than 10 police officers could be seen patrolling the event in Parliament Square, Westminster. Before the vigil began, there were chants of ‘Free Palestine‘ from passers-by, but as speeches started the scene quietened.

Read the full story here:

Four flights facilitated by the British government have departed Israel, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) reports.

Another two flights are scheduled for today, the government said.

The flights are part of the government’s effort to get British nationals out of the country as the conflict ramps up.

An estimated one million people have now been displaced in the first seven days of the conflict in Gaza, according to the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees.

A UNRWA worker on the ground has described Israel’s bombardment of the territory as non-stop.

‘Being in Gaza in these days is all about surviving, not living,’ the man called Azzam said in a voice note to his colleagues.

Listen to his full testimony below:

Daniel Hagari, the IDF’s top spokesperson, said the military will operate ‘anywhere in the Middle East.’

‘We are always looking around us, in the entire Middle East,’ Hagari is quoted as saying by Israeli media.

The army ‘will operate anywhere in the Middle East to fulfill Israel’s security aims. We are highly prepared in all arenas,’ he added.

A 17-year-old was killed in the occupied West Bank by IDF fire, The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported.

This would bring the number of Palestinians killed in the territory to 56, including 15 teenagers and one woman.

Israeli Prime Minister told the first meeting of his new emergency cabinet that the country is gearing up to ‘demolish’ Hamas in Gaza.

The meeting, held in military headquarters in Tel Aviv, began with ministers standing for a moment’s silence in memory of the 1,300 Israelis killed in Hamas’ shock Oct. 7 onslaught, a video released by Netanyahu’s office showed.

Welcoming former opposition lawmaker Benny Gantz, who joined the government along with several members of his party last week, Netanyahu said all ministers were ‘working around the clock, with a united front’.

‘Hamas thought we would be demolished. It is we who will demolish Hamas,’ Netanyahu said, adding that the show of unity ‘sends a clear message to the nation, the enemy and the world’.

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf urged authorities to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza today as he revealed the privations faced by his in-laws as Israel tightens its siege ahead of a ground invasion.

Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, the parents of Mr Yousaf’s wife Nadia, became trapped in the Palestinian territory when Hamas launched its bloody cross-border attack.

The couple from Dundee were visiting Mr El-Nakla’s 92-year-old mother, who lives in Gaza, as do several other family members.

Read the full story here:

Antony Blinken will travel to Israel again on Monday after visiting the country five days ago for further consultations with Israeli leaders, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

The top American diplomat has embarked on his most extensive trip to date to the Middle East, working with Arab allies to prevent the war from spiralling into a wider conflict.

He has just landed in Egypt, his seventh stop since kicking off the regional tour on Thursday.

‘If the attacks of the Zionist regime (Israel) against the defenceless citizens and people of Gaza continue, no one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflict,’ Iran’s foreign ministry quoted Foreign Minster Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has issued a warning to protesters at yesterday’s pro-Palestine demonstrations in London and across the UK.

She thanked the police for their work managing ‘tens of thousands’ of people and said numerous arrests had been made.

‘To all those who saw fit to promote genocide, glorify terrorism and mock the murder of Jewish people, including women and babies – the police are coming for you,’ she added.

Read her statement via X below:

Irish Tánaiste and Foreign Minister Micheál Martin has condemned Israel’s warning to Gazans to move southward for their safety as ‘dangerous and impossible to implement’.

Read his full statement below:

A planned protest will take place outside of the BBC headquarters on Monday as the controversy still rages on over the corporation’s decision not to call baby-slaughtering Hamas ‘terrorists’.

Organised by the National Jewish Assembly, the group will gather around the corner with Israeli flags and placards.

They will then make their way towards the broadcasting house at around 6.30pm, protesting the BBC for calling Hamas ‘militants’, instead of terrorists.

Read the full story here:

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has urged residents in the Gaza Strip to go to any hospital or blood bank association in the territory to donate blood ‘immediately’.

The Star of David has been graffitied on the doors of homes in Berlin, in a chilling echo of anti-Semitic persecution of Jewish people under the Nazis.

Pictures circulating online show the symbol was drawn on several buildings, with four cases reported to German police in recent days.

Jewish people living in the German capital have reported a rise in abuse following Hamas‘s bloody attack on Israel last week.

Read the full story here:

This is the ninth day in a row that the sirens are sounding, the IDF reports.

Israel’s warning to 1.1million residents in Gaza to evacuate to the south of the coastal enclave has triggered a ‘mass displacement’, according to the United Nations.

‘Mass displacement from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip has been ongoing since… Friday morning, after Israel ordered residents to evacuate the areas ahead of military operations,’ the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said in an update.

‘Humanitarian partners report that the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has risen significantly over the last 24 hours; however, the exact number is unknown,’ it added.

Pope Francis has called for humanitarian corridors to help those under siege in Gaza and renewed his appeal for the release of hostages held by militant Islamist group Hamas.

‘I strongly ask that the children, the sick, the elderly, women and all civilians do not become victims of the conflict,’ the Pope said during his weekly address to the crowds in St Peter’s square.

‘Humanitarian right must be respected, above all in Gaza.’

Medics in Gaza warned that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people run desperately low on fuel and basic supplies.

Palestinians in the beseiged enclave, which is home to 2.3million people and one of the most densely populated places on Earth, have struggled to find food, water and safety amid Israeli blockades.

The situation is set to become more dire for those who have been unable to evacuate as Israel prepares for a ground offensive.

A British girl trapped in Gaza has told how she fears she will be killed in an Israeli airstrike as she described waking up to find ‘bombs and dead people’.

Clutching her British passport tightly for reassurance, the British-Palestinian heartbreakingly says she arrived in Gaza to ‘have some fun and see my family’, but now fears she will never make it home.

It comes after the UK government pledged to evacuate Britons from the Gaza Strip, which is under near-constant bombardment by Israeli missiles ahead of a suspected ground offensive.

Two flights were initially cancelled before the first repatriation plane landed in Cyprus on Saturday, and the government is now telling UK citizens to ‘be ready’ in case the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opens.

Pro-Palestine activists have plotted a wave of sledgehammer attacks on British defence contractors who they say have links to Israel – after claiming responsibility for defacing BBC‘s HQ with red paint.

Palestine Action plans to attack the buildings linked to three companies – Elbit Systems, Rafael and Teledyne.

Read the full story here:

The head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK has called on the British government to ‘stick to its own historic, legal and political responsibilities’ and to stop ‘giving the green light’ to Israel amid its bombardment of Gaza.

The IDF has said that 126 Israeli hostages are confirmed to have been taken by Hamas.

The update comes after Israel previously said that around 150 people were being held captive in Gaza.

A family member has shared a heartbreaking video of her two younger cousins, nine-month old Kfir and four-year-old Ariel, after they were abducted by Hamas during the Israeli kibbutz massacre.

Yifat Zailer, 37, from Israel, said that six of her relatives had been taken from their home Nir Oz kibbuz in southern Israel.

As well as the two young children, who were named at a press conference held by children of British-Israeli hostages on Thursday, Yifat’s aunt Shiri Silberman-Bibas, 30, Shiri’s 37-year-old husband and her parents, Yosi and Margit Silberman, are also missing.

The devastating video shows the young children playing gleefully and laughing at the camera.

Read the full story here:

The IDF says troops have arrested 330 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including 190 affiliated with Hamas, since fighting erupted in southern Israel last Saturday.

Last night alone 33 Hamas members were arrested, the military says.

Israel has reportedly carried out military operations in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

More than 50 people have been arrested during morning raids today, Al Jazeera reports.

At least 55 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.

Labour’s David Lammy said the Foreign Secretary’s suggestion that there must be ‘no resiling’ from support for Israel ‘must be right.’

The Shadow Foreign Secretary told Sky News: ‘Israel has a right to get those hostages.

‘It has a right to degrade the military equipment and rockets that have been used against it to deal with the tunnelling of Hamas and we must recognise that Israel is facing a huge existential crisis.

‘Against that backdrop of course they have the support of the UK government and I would not seek to be partisan about that, except to say that it’s hugely important that that is done as Keir Starmer has said, along the lines of international law.’

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has said that ten is ‘not an unreasonable estimate’ of the number of British hostages taken by Hamas terrorists.

Speaking to Sky News, he said Israel is still identifying who was killed and who was taken hostage when the terror group launched its bloody incursion from Gaza last Saturday.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he was not afraid as he had to seek cover when sirens warned of Hamas rockets during his visit to Ofakim in southern Israel this week.

‘I made a decision that I would go to southern Israel. I recognised that there were risks involved in that.

‘Sadly, for the people living in southern Israel, moving quickly to bomb shelters in response to air threats, alerts, is a regular occurrence.

‘They were very, very used to it and therefore was it quite reassuring.

‘I wasn’t afraid because, as I say, the swiftness and professionalism of the people I was with was incredibly reassuring,’ he told Sunday With Trevor Phillips on Sky News.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Hamas wants to turn the conflict into a ‘war between the Muslim world and the wider world’, as he urged Israel to show restraint and discipline.

He told Sunday With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: ‘Friends speak honestly with friends and we have a very, very good working relationship with the Israeli government and whenever I have spoken to them I have reinforced the UK’s position about the preservation of life, the avoidance of civilian casualties.

‘I know the Israelis completely understand that, President Herzog has said their operations will be in accordance with international law.

‘I have said it’s in Israel’s interest to avoid civilian casualties and Palestinian casualties because Hamas clearly wants to turn this into a wider Arab-Israeli war or indeed a war between the Muslim world and the wider world and none of us, including Israel, want that to be the case and so that’s why we do give that strong advice from a position of friendship.’

He added: ‘I’ve said that restraint, discipline these are the hallmarks of the Israel Defence Force that I want to see and indeed those are the hallmarks of a high-functioning military organisation, which the IDF is – in stark contrast to the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas.

‘Israel seeks to avoid civilian casualties, Hamas seeks civilians in order to target.’

The Israeli army has set up a two mile (four kilometre) buffer zone near the border with Lebanon.

Civilians have been told that entering the area is strictly prohibited after a man was reportedly killed in Shtula by missile fire from across the border.

Antony Blinken met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in Riyadh today, in what the US Secretary of State called a ‘very productive’ meeting as Washington works to contain the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

‘The Secretary highlighted the United States’ unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading,’ the State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

‘The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond,’ Miller added.

Israel’s army says it is striking targets in Lebanon after a reported attack on the northern border village of Shtula.

At least one person, a 40-year-old man, was killed in the strikes and three were wounded, Israeli medics said.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing the anti-tank missile, according to reports.

The United States is offering Americans in Israel and their immediate relatives evacuation by sea from northern Haifa to Cyprus on Tuesday, a US embassy spokesperson said.

Hamas is blocking civilians from leaving the northern Gaza Strip as hundreds of thousands flee for their lives.

Two lorries are blocking a road into the southern region as a huge convoy of vehicles forms behind, shown in aerial photos released by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

Around 1.2million desperate Palestinians have been rushing to escape the Gaza Strip by vehicle or on foot amid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to turn the area into ‘rubble’.

Military forensic teams in Israel have examined bodies of victims of last week’s Hamas attack on communities around the Gaza Strip and found multiple signs of torture, rape and other atrocities, officers have said.

Around 1,300 bodies have been brought to an army base in Ramla in central Israel where forensic checks were carried out to determine the identity of the dead and the circumstances of their deaths.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the ninth day of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Here’s what you need to know this morning:

• Israel is readying its troops for an offensive on Gaza, with a ‘joint and coordinated attack [on Gaza] from the air, sea and land’ expected
• Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have heeded Israel’s warning and fled to the south of the small strip of land as air strikes continue to bombard the enclave. Others remain in their homes and trapped in hospitals
• The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,329 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted, making this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides
• Iran told Israel via the United Nations that it would intervene if operations in Gaza continued, a report has claimed
• IDF troops are hunting Hamas commander Yahya Sinwar – described as Palestine’s Bin Laden
• Around 1,300 bodies have been brought to an Israeli army base for forensic checks, with experts saying multiple people killed by Hamas suffered rape, torture and other atrocities