nearly 500 palestinians. israel's prime minister warns of a long war ahead. showing its support — the us says it's moving warships closer to israel. hello, a very warm welcome to bbc news. in the past few minutes, israel's defence minister has said he has ordered a total blockade of gaza which includes a ban on admitting food, water and fuel. yoav gallant said this was part of a battle against what he described as "beastly people". israel also says its forces have regained control of all southern communities attacked by palestinian hamas militants, though isolated pockets of fighters could still remain. it's now more than 48 hours since the mass assault by hamas. the israeli army says it will secure breaches in the gaza separation barrier that militants may

still be using. the death toll since hamas launched its attacks on saturday has now reached 1200. 700 have been killed in israel, including 260 at a music festival. reuters reports this figure includes 73 soldiers — that's according to the israeli military. and more nearly 500 have been killed in gaza, after israel launched retaliatory air strikes. 33 of those are thought to be children. let's take the scene live now in gaza. in the last few minutes and hours we have seen a number of strikes by israeli military, also as we have been hearing the israeli defence minister has announced he has called for a total blockade of the city. this is a densely populated area of land, home to 2.2 million people and what he is saying is that there will be no food, water or fuel allowed is that there will be no food, water orfuel allowed into is that there will be no food, water or fuel allowed into the gaza city. now they completely rely on these

things from the outside world. militants from the palestinian group hamas, pockets of them are thought to be remaining in some areas in southern israel, though as we told you earlier, communities have been regained in terms of control by israel. as many as 100 hostages have been taken into gaza by militants. 0ur middle east correspondnet yolande knell reports. explosions lighting up the night sky as israeli missile defence shot down incoming palestinian rockets. but not all. homes in southern israel were hit. and in gaza, israel has been striking back. the israeli prime minister threatening mighty vengeance. shouting. the scale and complexity of saturday's surprise attack is still becoming clear. hamas released this footage of its armed men storming the main crossing for people from gaza entering israel. israeli rescuers have been collecting hundreds of bodies. it is by far the worst

day in israeli history. never before have so many israelis been killed by one single thing — let alone enemy activity — on one day. if you are americans and want to compare this to something in american history, then this could be a 9/11 and a pearl harbour wrapped into one. hamas now says it's holding 100 israeli hostages — like this 85—year—old grandmother, yaffa adar, whisked away by militants in a golf cart. yoni asher is begging for the safe return of his wife and two small children after they were kidnapped by gunmen while visiting in—laws. i want to ask of hamas... ..don�*t hurt them. don't hurt little children. don't hurt women. if you want me instead, i'm willing to come.

now in gaza, most areas are without power after israel stopped supplying electricity. there are shortages of food and water. tens of thousands of palestinians have fled their homes — many seeking shelter in un schools. as israel hits back, the international community has rushed to support its right to defend itself, but there have been warnings, too, about a growing humanitarian crisis. israel keeps saying the blockade and repeated assaults on gaza are to destroy hamas military capabilities and ensure security. clearly and expectedly, its blockade and assaults accomplished neither. and with palestinians killed in clashes with israeli soldiers in the occupied west bank, there are new signs of the violence spreading. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem.

let's get more now on the situation inside gaza. i spoke a little earlier to our reporter, rushdi abualouf. the latest air strike of five or six rockets destroyed a mosque, as we understand from local sources, in the south—west of gaza city. it was a huge explosion with black smoke and dust in the skies. still we can feel and smell the dust out of this building. this was the latest air strike and series of air strikes, over 500 air strikes the israeli army said this morning has targeted 500 places for a hamas militant group, in gaza they have been targeting mosques, infrastructure for hamas, but also according to local authority here 11 houses have been targeted. they said they hit

the houses without warning killing many civilians. we understand that in rafah, southern gaza a funeral for 19 members of one family are about to start. hamas health officials in rafah said that they were killed by an israeli air strike and all of them from one family. the official health ministry figure about the number of people killed so far is a93 people and about 3,000 people injured, some of them are in a very critical condition according to a health ministry statement. they appealed for help, saying they need essential medical supplies that are running out in the hospitals. they said fuel is running out from the hospital generators and they said they are on the edge of a crisis. they need urgent supplies either by egypt or israel who should allow the equipment and the fuel and medicine to come into gaza.

we understand that since saturday when the hamas militants infiltrated inside israel and killed 700 israelis, israel decided to stop all of the supplies to gaza and the main border crossing is shut so 80% of the people here don't have electricity or internet services for the last three days. and the latest line we are getting is that there has been a blockade announced by the israeli defence minister that no food, water or fuel can get into gaza. this is the scene live now in gaza. you can see the smoke once again billowing out from an area in the background. we know the israeli military has been sending air missiles into gaza city quite regularly over the last few hours and indeed the last day or so.

there has also been a lot of movement in the southern communities of israel. that's the area where the hamas militants entered into, took hostages and killed many people. ashkelon in particular is a target for hamas rockets because it is close to where the hamas militants fired their rockets from. earlier we spoke to our correspondent anna foster, who is there in ashkelon. before we go to listen to what she said, this is the live picture of what is happening in ashkelon but let's listen to what she to say. the explosions — let's listen to what she to say. the explosions have _ let's listen to what she to say. tue: explosions have been let's listen to what she to say. tte: explosions have been happening all through yesterday and through the night, the missiles fired mainly interacted by a system which captures them in the sky and explode them before they hit the ground. it has a success rate of more than 90%

but doesn't catch every missile, and this apartment block in ashkelon was hit in the early hours of this morning, a direct hit into the ground floor of the apartment block. you can see people's belongings, children's toys, furniture, everything just scattered here as people were trying to escape this morning. i have been talking to a woman who lives right above on the next floor and she was describing her actually when this happened, she and her husband were trying to get out but the front door was stuck and she was trying to pull it. she said she was trying to pull it. she said she eventually was rescued by firefighters who came and dealt with this here. but it is something that people in this area have been seeing. you know, there's been a couple of strikes. there's a shop right across here that was hit. there's an apartment building just up there, which was also just punched through with a missile. you can see right up on the top floors there, there's a big hole where a missile met its target.

now, this is something that people here have been dealing with for quite some time now, but really not on the size and the scale that we've seen in the last 48 hours. and as well as seeing and hearing those missiles coming from gaza, of course, as you said, we are very close to gaza here and we can hear what is happening there. we can hear israeli defence forces striking targets in gaza. they say that this morning and overnight that they managed to strike seven hamas command posts, one command post belonging to palestinian islamichhad. and crucially, they do say that there are communities here in southern israel where there is still fighting going on, areas that they're still trying to clear, perhaps seven or eight of them. they're looking to see whether there are tunnels underneath that are still enabling hamas militants to come in. and it really shows you that the size of this situation that still even now, more than 48 hours after it began, israel still is saying it doesn't quite have full control of these southern israeli communities bordering gaza. a lot of people have maybe friends or relatives in different parts of the country that they're able

to go and stay with. some people are in hotels because they feel that the area that they live in is just not safe at the moment. some people are having to to stick it out, especially in this area of ashkelon. it's one of the poorer areas and it is one of the places where, as we were saying, there aren't necessarily shelters, but people don't always have a lot of choice about where to go in a situation like this. we know that the government is planning some evacuations, are trying to take people out of these areas who may be want to go after what they've seen over the last couple of days. but, you know, you're talking about big cities here around gaza. you're talking about large communities. you're talking about lots of people. a lot of this area has been sealed off by the military as well. now, there's a lot of talk about whether or not israel will now go ahead and launch a ground operation into gaza. it's impossible to predict, although israel have said and the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said that israel's response will be significant. we've seen military hardware coming into this area. we know that large parts of it have been sealed off by the military. so there is still the potential that something like that might happen

in the next few hours, in the next few days. but right now, israel is still really considering its response, trying to secure these areas, also trying to secure the release of those hostages — as many as 130, perhaps 150 hostages. we don't know exact numbers, but the fact that people are still being held inside gaza, again, is another concern for the israeli government. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. these are live pictures showing you how the situation is unfolding in gaza. there are thick black clouds of smoke after the israeli military targeted what it called hamas targets in the city. we have had a few lines in the last few minutes. hamas has said four israeli captives have been killed in israeli air strikes on the palestinian enclaves

on sunday. we think around 100 hostages have been taken, both civilian and military, by hamas militants into gaza and the danger is that with gaza being bombed like this, being sent air missiles in this, being sent air missiles in this way, there is a danger that injuries and deaths could happen. the spokesperson for hamas has said the bombardment overnight and today on the gaza strip led to the killing of four of the enemy's captives and their captors. that is from a spokesman for hamas's armed wing. we will bring you more on that story as we get it on bbc news. you're live with bbc news. let's look at the wider implications for the middle east region. live now to dr tobias bock —

senior research fellow for middle east security studies at chatham house. what is your assessment of what is happening now? tt is what is your assessment of what is happening now?— happening now? it is a dramatic escalation _ happening now? it is a dramatic escalation of— happening now? it is a dramatic escalation of the _ happening now? it is a dramatic escalation of the conflict, - happening now? it is a dramatic escalation of the conflict, a - escalation of the conflict, a conflict which i think many had more or less forgotten about or preferred not to think about too much because it is so intractable. so this is a massive escalation, i think the opening of a new chapter, and regionally too it does matter. quite a lot of analysis is immediately about how this conflict is all about regional issues, and i think we have to be a bit careful there to really see this as primarily a conflict thatis see this as primarily a conflict that is between palestinians and israelis but obviously it will have regional implications too. what israelis but obviously it will have regional implications too. what will ha - en regional implications too. what will happen next? _ regional implications too. what will happen next? it— regional implications too. what will happen next? it feels, _ regional implications too. what will happen next? it feels, looking - regional implications too. what will| happen next? it feels, looking from the outside, as if it will be an escalation of violence on both sides. �* , ,., , , escalation of violence on both sides. �* , , , , sides. absolutely, this is the dancer sides. absolutely, this is the danger nova _ sides. absolutely, this is the danger now. there _ sides. absolutely, this is the danger now. there is - sides. absolutely, this is the danger now. there is a - sides. absolutely, this is the l danger now. there is a danger sides. absolutely, this is the - danger now. there is a danger we are entering a spiral of escalation, so

we are already seeing a massive israeli military response to this attack. i think we will see more over the coming days. i think there will be a big question around the invasion of the gaza strip. that would be incredibly costly, probably very bloody, then it will be about whether other groups in the west bank reallyjoin this conflict too. so if that were to happen, we could quite quickly see a spiral into an ever expanding conflict. hope quite quickly see a spiral into an ever expanding conflict. how likely is that to happen _ ever expanding conflict. how likely is that to happen though,? - ever expanding conflict. how likely is that to happen though,? given l is that to happen though, ? given what we have been hearing from the iranians this morning saying they have had nothing to do with the hamas attack on saturday. tt is have had nothing to do with the hamas attack on saturday. it is very difficult to assess _ hamas attack on saturday. it is very difficult to assess how _ hamas attack on saturday. it is very difficult to assess how likely - hamas attack on saturday. it is very difficult to assess how likely this - difficult to assess how likely this is. we have seen some attacks by

hezbollah across the border but so far they seem to be almost intentional in —— intentionally quite limited. if we see a further escalation in gaza, it is unfortunately a possibility that a group like hezbollah might feel like it's hand is being forced. that is really the danger right now. i think quite a lot of what the israelis are doing and what the americans are doing and what the americans are doing too, by deploying ships into the eastern mediterranean is to try to deter against that expansion, is to deter against that expansion, is to clearly send the message that this should remain contained around gaza. but it is unpredictable of course. ., w' gaza. but it is unpredictable of course. ., , ., ., course. let me ask you, we have heard in the _ course. let me ask you, we have heard in the last _ course. let me ask you, we have heard in the last hour— course. let me ask you, we have heard in the last hour or - course. let me ask you, we have heard in the last hour or so - course. let me ask you, we have heard in the last hour or so thatl heard in the last hour or so that the israeli defence minister has called for a total blockade of the gaza strip. that means no food, water or fuel being entered gaza strip. that means no food, water orfuel being entered into that area. how long is support for

israel going to continue if the effects — and they could end up being devastating effects — start becoming more and more clear? difficult to assess how long that will go. there is clearly a lot of support for israel and its right to defend itself right now. understandably so. i think this weekend was in many ways unprecedented. so there will be a lot of support for israel to defend itself. i think there will also be a fair amount itself. i think there will also be a fairamount of itself. i think there will also be a fair amount of pressure on israel to allow humanitarian aid into the gaza strip. but because it is such a small territory, i think that will be unfortunately one of the most difficult and painful questions over the next few days probably. find t the next few days probably. and i know ou the next few days probably. and i know you talked _ the next few days probably. and i know you talked about _ the next few days probably. and i know you talked about how - the next few days probably. and i know you talked about how the regional element is too early to talk about and this is very much an israeli—palestinian thing, but we

have to talk about saudi arabia and what was happening before these events. what has changed now? how will things move forward? saudi israeli normalisation, _ will things move forward? saudi israeli normalisation, which - will things move forward? s—tc israeli normalisation, which had been the topic of the day basically until friday evening. i think some things have not changed. the fundamental logic that these countries, saudi arabia and israel, have shared political and economic strategic interests to normalise their relations, that remains the same. but i do think any imminent agreement is certainly off the table. the crucial point here was always going to be that for saudi arabia to normalise relations with israel, it needed concessions to the palestinians, it needed the israeli government to make concessions to the palestinians to move at least towards a two—state solution. it was always going to be questionable

whether the prime minister's government, which has some very hard right elements within, would be willing and able to make any concessions at all but i think after this weekend, that question of concessions is pretty much off the table, at least for a good little while. �* , , ., , table, at least for a good little while. �*, , ., , , while. it's been really insightful to talk to you — while. it's been really insightful to talk to you so _ while. it's been really insightful to talk to you so thank- while. it's been really insightful to talk to you so thank you - while. it's been really insightful to talk to you so thank you for i while. it's been really insightful. to talk to you so thank you for your analysis today. a short time ago we heard from british prime minister rishi sunak — he gave his thoughts on the situation. the scenes are truly horrifying, and as i said yesterday, this is not a time for equivocation. we should just be straightforward in what is happening here, and that is that hamas and the people who support hamas and the people who support hamas are fully responsible for

appalling, appalling acts of terrorism. we should call it out for what it is. citizens of israel are being murdered, innocent people are being murdered, innocent people are being kidnapped including children. 0bviously that is shocking and horrifying, and they should be held accountable for that. what i have said to the israeli prime minister is that we will provide all the support they need to make sure that israel can defend itself against these kinds of attacks. we already have a very long standing relationship with israel, we are one of their strongest allies. we have provided in the past the kinds of equipment they have used to defend themselves over the past couple of days and we will continue to provide whether its diplomatic intelligence or security support as they need. i am chairing a cobra meeting this afternoon when we will continue to discuss the situation, but we are in close dialogue with our israeli counterparts.— close dialogue with our israeli counterarts. h ,

counterparts. let's bring you some breakin: counterparts. let's bring you some breaking news _ counterparts. let's bring you some breaking news coming _ counterparts. let's bring you some breaking news coming in _ counterparts. let's bring you some breaking news coming in from - counterparts. let's bring you some breaking news coming in from the | breaking news coming in from the gaza health ministry, they are saying dozens of palestinians have been killed and wounded in israeli strikes on a refugee camp. this is the refugee camp located in the gaza strip, one of eight refugee camps located just north of gaza city, close to the village of the same name. the camp covers about 1.4 square kilometres and we know that the palestinian refugees there are registered with the un refugee department in the jabbar layer camp, so we are hearing now from the gaza health ministry that dozens of palestinians have been killed and wounded in strikes on that camp. the scene you are just seeing was the scene you are just seeing was the scene live in gaza. i want to bring more information about how it is

impacting travel within israel. several airlines have suspended services to tel aviv, including three us air carriers. air france, lufthansa and emirates, but some evacuation flights have left the airport. hungary and poland have transported 300 of their nationals on board three aircraft. the nepalese government is expected to meet to discuss how best to evacuate its nationals, at least ten of whom were killed in saturday's attack. other countries are making similar preparations. earlier my colleague rajini vaidyanathan spoke to abdelkader hammad — a doctor at the royal liverpool hospital — who's been stuck in gaza for several days. i came to gaza on friday.

i do kidney transplants in gaza in a project which is a charity project. and i've been doing these transplants for the past ten years in gaza. tell us about the situation where you are and how it's been for the last few days. well, my start on friday afternoon, i arrived on saturday morning where i was supposed to start my surgeries. it started with the rockets and everything. and then because my visits are coordinated by the who, they called me and they said it is better to be evacuated to a un facility, where we are at the moment it is a building me and other foreign nationals who work for international agencies and aid workers. and do you know when you might be able to leave? we don't know. we had a briefing yesterday from the un, and they said

that it is unlikely that the crossing is going to open very soon. so probably all efforts will be to evacuate people, foreign nationals from gaza through egypt. but this needs lengthy negotiations with all parties to guarantee a safe corridor to the crossing, the rafah crossing. and then the egyptian authorities have to agree to that. coming up this hour is the business news, but we will also hear from someone whose mother—in—law is missing and feared to have been kidnapped by hamas. stay with us here on bbc news. before we go, let me take you quickly live to the gaza strip. these are the plumes of smoke in the background and the biggest news we are getting in the last hour or so is the israeli defence minister has

declared a full blockade on the gaza strip. we will have more information on what that means for the 2.2 million people living there in a few moments' time. stay with us. hello again. over the weekend we had a real contrast with the weather north to south. in scotland, we had torrential rain which led to some disruption and flooding, whereas as we pushed across england, wales and northern ireland, this area of high pressure was very much in charge, so it was settled and it was very warm for the time of year, as it will be today. we do have a weak weather front draped across northern england, northern ireland and also parts of southern scotland. it has been producing some patchy light rain. that will continue to fade. we also have a lot of low cloud, mist and murk close to the irish sea coastlines. you can see here a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine, warm across the far south—east. a wee bit fresher as we push further north, but feeling much better in scotland today than it did

over the weekend. through this evening and overnight, the low cloud, mist and murk in the irish sea will push a bit further inland and drift across the english channel coast as well. we'll also have some more rain coming in across western scotland. in fact, the met office has a yellow weather warning out for this because this rain is falling on already saturated ground. it will be with us tomorrow, courtesy of this weather front which is just very slowly pushing southwards. tomorrow, as you can tell from the isobars, it's going to be breezy wherever you are, windy in the north and the low cloud. the low cloud, mist and murk that's pushed inland overnight will start to retreat back towards the coasts, but what you'll find is some of it will linger. temperatures tomorrow widely 19 to 24 degrees, but on the other side of the weather front in the north it will start to turn that bit fresher. 0ur weather front makes it down into england and wales during the course of wednesday. behind it, brighterskies, still noticeably breezy with a few showers peppering the north and the west. you can see the fresher conditions — nine to about 18 degrees behind the weather front,

but ahead of it we're still in a much warmer air. still in the much warmer air. still for london 23 degrees. then, as we look beyond that, our weather front, which has come south, looks very much like on thursday it's going to push northwards again and we've got another one slipping south. we could well see these two merge during the course of friday. still a bit of uncertainty about it, but what it does mean is that in the outlook period, it does turn more unsettled with more of us seeing some rain. but behind the weather front in southern england, as it moves north, will get warmer.

oil prices rise and markets around the world are on edge in reaction to the crisis in the middle east. meanwhile, airlines cancel flights to and from israel as the attacks continiue. welcome to world business report. let's start with the top story — the ongoing crisis in israel and gaza. we're beginning to see the impact on the markets and economies more widely. the price of oil is up 4% to more

than $88 a barrel for brent. now, neither israel nor the gaza strip are big oil producers, but the conflict is taking place close to a key oil producing and export region. meanwhile, israel's central bank has moved to stabilize markets, announcing it will sell up to $30 billion of foreign currency to stabilize the shekel. with more on this, nitesh shah is head of commodities and macroeconomic research at wisdomtree. just talk to us first of all about what reaction we are staying, not in israel or the gaza strip, but right around the world is this contagion spreads. around the world is this contagion s - reads. ., , around the world is this contagion s - reads. . , , around the world is this contagion sreads. . , , ., spreads. clearly the events are creatin: spreads. clearly the events are creating an _ spreads. clearly the events are creating an geopolitical - spreads. clearly the events are i creating an geopolitical premium. people are worried and that is adding up the prices of oil because people are worried about the supply. also, gold prices are rising because

gold is often seen as