after last week's attack — saying it'll conduct "combined and co—ordinated" strikes from the air, sea and land. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu visited troops near the gaza strip — telling them, "the next stage is coming". the bbc confirms young children were among those killed yesterday in an air strike on vehicles leaving northern gaza, along an israeli—designated route south. the united nations warns clean drinking water is running out in the gaza strip — as hundreds of thousands of people leave their homes. meanwhile, people trying to leave gaza, wait at the crossing with egypt. they include foreign nationals. i'm really in fear and every time i just have to have the thought of me dying in a bomb in gaza.

hello, i'm ben thompson. israel's military says its forces are deployed across the country and are ready for the next stage of the war, which is expected to have significant ground operations. a spokesman said the coming phase could include, what he called, "combined and co—ordinated" strikes from the air, sea and land. the goal, he said, was to "completely destroy the governing and military capabilities of hamas". it's a week since hamas, classed as a terrorist organisation by many western governments, including the uk, killed more than 1,300 people in israel and took dozens hostage.

israel has warned the 1.1 million civilians in gaza's north to move south beyond the wadi gaza here. the military spokesperson said they should not return until israel said they could do so. the authorities in gaza say more than 2,200 people have already died in retaliatory israeli bombing. on saturday, israel's prime minister visited some of his troops and asked them if they are ready for the next stage. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson has the latest. every day, hamas sends rockets into israel, and waits for israel's response. after last weekend's attack, israel says these air strikes are just the beginning, and that people living in the north of gaza should leave now. gaza's salah al—din road has become a lifeline for people flowing south, a humanitarian corridor labelled "safe". not always.

a strike here yesterday killed at least 12 people. the bbc has verified the location and identified women and children under five among the dead. israel says it's investigating. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, visited the troops gathered at gaza's borders today. "the next stage is coming", he told them. "are you ready?" the israeli army has been pounding gaza from here across the border and also from the air. israel says it doesn't deliberately target civilians, and that this is directed at the people who do. today, israel said it had killed the organiser of last weekend's attack. ali qadi was released from an israeli jail more than a decade ago in a prisoner exchange deal with hamas.

israel says it was he who planned the attacks on communities like be�*eri. gunmen arrived there last saturday, caught on a security camera relaxed, unhurried and well—prepa red. they brought everything they needed to kill and kidnap large numbers of people — grenades, gaffertape, plastic cable ties. three members of the gat family are still missing, among them, carmel and her sister—in—law. their family home, shattered. it looks like indiscriminate violence, but it wasn't. this was a targeted attack. some of the people who lived here are now thought to be just a few miles away inside gaza, a different world. be�*eri has lived for years with occasional rockets

or infiltrations, but destruction like this signals a different kind of vulnerability, and the build—up of israeli forces here, a different kind of response. but what will that response mean for hostages inside gaza? i don't know the effort, i don't know the intelligence, i don't know anything. they don't tell us anything. they don't tell us afterwards. nobody calls me to say there is negotiation for them. frankly, nobody really knows if they are taken or not. you're angry about that? i am very angry. there is not even a place for sad, to be sad for me. israel's soldiers are now massing at gaza's borders, their weapons pointing towards both hamas and their hostages. for the army that failed to protect its people at home, how much harder will it be to protect them there? lucy williamson, bbc news, southern israel. live now tojerusalem and our middle

east correspondent tom bateman. we've heard statements from the israeli side making it very clear that this war is about to move to a new, significant phase?— new, significant phase? yeah, a statement _ new, significant phase? yeah, a statement from _ new, significant phase? yeah, a statement from the _ new, significant phase? yeah, a statement from the israeli - new, significant phase? yeah, a i statement from the israeli military in the last couple of hours. quite a lot of detail in there and i think the biggest detail we've had yet about its preparations for the coming ground assault but it doesn't really give a sense of the timing, actually. i think it's more about the scale of the operation, making clear the logistics that are involved and might sense is that the preparation is still going on but they're talking about this being an offensive by land, sea and air and that they need the assets in place to do that and they're talking about the supply lines needed once troops go in to keep supplying the front. they talk about massive mobilisation

of reservists that's taking place in order to be able to achieve that. about 360,000 people, the biggest call—up in israeli history, since the yom kippur war 50 years ago. so this is very much about the size of the operation. then we saw benjamin netanyahu visiting the troops. he was wearing a flakjacket. he basically said to them, are you ready? he said that they should be prepared for what was coming next. so clearly, and this is a moment on saturday night when israel emerges from the shabbat, the day of rest, when people start watching the news again, particularly observantjews who have their phones and tvs turned off for 2h hours. there was a bit of an information blitz about what was being done. benjamin netanyahu trying to project a sense that this thing is coming. we still don't know

when. , ., , thing is coming. we still don't know when. , . , ., ., ., ., when. yes and there is also a lot of di - lomatic when. yes and there is also a lot of diplomatic activity _ when. yes and there is also a lot of diplomatic activity designed - when. yes and there is also a lot of diplomatic activity designed to - when. yes and there is also a lot of| diplomatic activity designed to calm things in the north of israel and particularly on the west bank. explain what's been going on there today. explain what's been going on there toda . ~ ~ ., , explain what's been going on there toda. ~' explain what's been going on there toda .~ �* ., ,�* ~' ,, today. well, antony blinken, the us secretary of — today. well, antony blinken, the us secretary of state, _ today. well, antony blinken, the us secretary of state, was _ today. well, antony blinken, the us secretary of state, was in _ today. well, antony blinken, the us secretary of state, was in israel - secretary of state, was in israel earlier in the week and he was in jordan after that, meeting jordanian and palestinian leader, mahmoud bass and palestinian leader, mahmoud bass and then he went to the gulf states, the leaders of qatar yesterday and today. qatar is a very important country because historically it has mediated between israel and hamas. leading figures of hamas live in qatar. then he went to saudi arabia today, so important meetings with the saudi foreign minister. i think one of the things the americans are trying to get parts of the arab and

muslim world to do is to be more clear and forthright in their condemnation of the attacks by hamas. mr lincoln going to cdl these, head off that the saudis put out a strong state condemning israeli actions in gaza which isn't the kind of statement antony blinken was looking for. the other key thing about meeting the saudis is a warming of the ties between saudi arabia and iran, its archrival in the middle east. there was a very rare phone call recently between mohammed bin salman, the saudi leader, the crown prince, and the iranians president mr raisi. that doesn't happen very often. 0ne iranians president mr raisi. that doesn't happen very often. one thing the americans want to gather is what kind of messages were going on, what were the iranians saying? hezbollah

is funded and backed by the iranians and they will tell them whether to dial down or dial up any activity against israel so that is a key relationship, to between the israelis and the saudis. it is complicated in the middle east. that's why antony blinken is going around these capitals trying to work out where things stand, to try and avoid a wider conflagration, to try and stop this spilling out further into the region. qm. and stop this spilling out further into the region.— into the region. ok, thanks very much. the united nations says nearly a million palestinians — that's nearly half the population — have left their homes in the gaza strip in the week since israel launched its military response to the wave of killings by hamas. the entire enclave is being hit by israeli missiles — from gaza city in the north to rafah in the south, at the border with egypt. you may find some of the images injon donnison�*s report now distressing.

outside the main hospital in rafah, ice cream trucks. the morgue is full. "some of the dead have been here for two days", says this man. "these freezers are meant for food, not bodies", he goes on. and this is right in the south of gaza, where people are now being told to go. hundreds of thousands are now heading in this direction. the question is, where do they go? the nearby united nations school is packed with those seeking shelter. but it was already at full capacity before this latest evacuation order. "as palestinians, what did we do for this to happen to us?", hanan asks. she tells us she ran out of the house barefoot with nothing when israel bombed her

neighbourhood, and came straight to the school. at noon today, many were praying, one would think for better times. "i don't want to live here", says mahmood, a father of four. he says there's not enough food or clothing, he just wants to go home. many of those here are children, still smiling despite it all. around half gaza's population is under 18, and some are old beyond their years. ramez is just 15. this is his fifth war. "i can barely stand it", he says. "and look around you at all these kids. ask them, o you want to live or not? we just want to be secure", he goes on. "0ur dream is to live, that's all we want." jon donnison, bbc news.

many thousands are still on the move. 0ur correspondent, rushdi abualouf, has moved from the north of gaza to khan younis in the south. he spoke to us a short while ago. i had to take the journey from gaza to the southern city of khan yunis, after the israeli army asked all the people living in gaza city, where i used to live, and in the north, to go south. i'm in khan yunis since yesterday and i've seen the eyewitness, it's really tragic. people are sleeping in the public spaces. hundreds of thousands of people are deployed to the schools. i'm in the main hospital in khan yunis. also hundreds of people are taking the hospital as a refugee. suddenly this city has to accommodate and feed 500,000 people displaced from their northern

and middle area, gaza city. as the hamas officially say 400,000 people took this journey yesterday and today from khan yunis along salah al—din road, then to khan yunis. more than a million people and this city and people, the local authority are struggling to find accommodation for the people, to find essential need. water is running out. in the hospital here, medicine is running out. they are trying to manage very little fuel, doctors told me, are left to run the generators and very small amount of life—saving kits that they have, since israel is closing all the border. egypt until now said we can't guarantee that if you send the aid in that israel will allow it. khan yunis is the second largest city with about 4000 people already living there and suddenly this small

city had to accommodate another 600,000 people. they were struggling even before. the city was struggling because it's part of the israeli blockade imposed from last saturday. after one week, without water, without electricity and without internet, this city was already exhausted by their own people and now they have to take care of about 600,000 people, over a million people. some of them are in the courtyard of the local hospital. i did ask someone who told me that back in 2014, his house was destroyed and he somehow managed to rebuild it and he said this time, my house was destroyed again and i had to take the hospital as a shelter. the bbc has confirmed that young children were among those killed

in an air strike on a convoy of vehicles leaving northern gaza on friday — along a route designated by israel. the palestinian health ministry says 70 people died — the israeli military says it's investigating what happened. our team at bbc verify analysed two videos of the strike on the vehicles heading towards southern gaza. both videos have been verified. these first images show a lorry carrying at least 30 civilians, moving south. and these are still images taken from a subsequent video from the aftermath of the strike. they're too graphic to show in detail. the video shows men running to a lorry, part of the same convoy, trying to help those who've been hit. there are at least 12 visible dead bodies in the video. paul brown from the bbc verify team has been investigating the authenticity of

the gaza convoy pictures. very graphic imagery, very disturbing but it is important to help us understand what is going on and to communicate it to our audience. being able to verify this footage in active conflict areas helps us understand these major developments and weed out disinformation of which there is been an absolute flood over the last week. we tend to use satellite imagery and other online resources to try and get a sense of where and when an incident took place based on the footage that we are looking at. in this particular incidence, we thought there was likely to be this salah al—din road which is a major road running north to south, through gaza and was one ofjust two evacuation routes for civilians leaving the north and heading down to the south, presumably to safety. it's a 45 kilometre road, so we scanned the route, starting from the north where they would have left from and tried to match details

that we saw from this satellite imagery with those we saw in the video. in this case the layout of several buildings, some road markings and a sign helped us to pin down the location and we even used online tools to analyse the angle of the sun, the length of the shadows, to get an idea of when this incident took place or at least when the footage was shot and it looked around 5:30pm yesterday local time. yeah and that's the key thing, isn't it? it's about a painstaking process to match so many different elements to getting a clearer picture and you're able to say with some confidence that is exactly what it shows. you touched on it paul at the beginning, this is a war being played out on social media too and there's a lot of disinformation out there. people can be overwhelmed with videos, with statements and pictures and it's about breaking through some of the disinformation and working out exactly what's going on and that's what your team are doing. exactly, that's what we're here for. increasingly there's

footage that comes out that will be misattributed, it will be old footage that's being presented as new footage. it clouds the whole picture of what's going on and that doesn't help anyone when it comes to real—world consequences, particularly dangerous in situations like this when people are fleeing their homes, trying to find safety. if they're not well informed and the people they are speaking to aren't well—informed, this can be dangerous. that's the point, isn't it? this isn't just about telling the rest of the world going on. it's also a valuable source for the people caught up in the conflict. also interesting too the way that all players in this conflict are using social media to get their message out. just tonight, we know the israeli prime minister putting his statement out, talking to the troops on the border and saying we are ready for the next stage and we can see that video here. using social media as a direct way to address people. yeah.

the narratives, counterclaims, all of that is played out on social media on various channels. it's quite confusing at times, trying to figure out what's going on and that's why we dedicate ourselves to this work and have a whole team working on this around—the—clock. we've been flat out on this particular conflict for the last seven days, trying to figure out what's been happening and where it's happening. the chaos of last saturday, when the attacks began, we were quickly able to ascertain where the breaches in the border fence had taken place, where attacks on civilians were taking place and that really helps us to build a picture of what's going on in real time, almost. to really give an understanding of the scale of this kind of attack. yeah and people will be fascinated by how you are able to do thatjob given that, you know, a lot of the footage may be grainy or rushed, especially when you reference the events of last saturday.

you know, it's not always very clear what's going on or indeed the footage itself isn't always very clear and you can't always hear the people talking for example in the videos. what's the hardest bit to get right? that's a good question. the hardest would be, exactly as you say, when we are dealing with grainy footage where the details are unclear and we are dealing with regions where there isn't clear satellite image, we often use street view, these online tools that allow you to take to street level. in gaza we don't have that. that's not available online so we have to base it on what we are seeing from the satellite imagery which makes it a lot trickier and more time—consuming but it's really important we do this.

in lebanon, a journalist from the reuters news agency has been killed, in what eye witnesses say was an israeli attack, near alma al—shaab, close to the israeli border. the funeral for issam abdallah was held in al khiyam. the reuters videographer is the first civilian to have died in lebanon. mr abdallah was covering clashes between israeli forces and the iran—backed lebanese group, hezbollah. two otherjournalists were also injured in the incident. pro—palestinian protests have taken place across the uk, including in london and manchester. 0rganisers say at least 100,000 peoplejoined the demonstration that began outside the bbc�*s new broadcasting house in london. 0ur correspondent simonjones was following the crowd. the focus of the protest has

shifted in the last short while here to trafalgar square. up until then it had largely been focused on downing street where people had stopped to hear speeches and a lot of shouting and wanting government changes. now, in terms of what's happened here, there was an arrest outside downing street that seems to cause the protest to move here. a man was led away and then a large group of people carrying placards moved in this direction. we did see a small number of scuffles in trafalgar square. some placards being thrown and also some fireworks being let off. i think overall it has been a large policing operation and it has been largely good—natured. people i've spoken to say they wanted to come onto the street and make sure that their voice was heard. i spoke to a woman who was practically in tears when she told me several members of her family in the past week had been killed in gaza. she said the family home

where her uncle lived was bombed without any sort of warning and people saying that they want a change in british government policy. the british government saying israel has every right to defend itself. people marching through the streets here have been holding up placards and have been chanting. there's another fireworks going off behind me. they've been chanting, "free palestine," and calling for an end to the bombing. i think in terms of what's been going on here today, people wanted to come out in their numbers and there have been thousands of people on the streets of central london. protest gathering outside bbc headquarters before marching down towards westminster, outside downing street and then ending up here in trafalgar square. the police say their operation is continuing going on into this evening and it will continue for as long as will be needed. certainly the atmosphere did get more tense. things appear to have calmed down now and i think police will be

hoping that the protests will start dissipating and protesters will start heading home, feeling that they have over the last several hours made their voices heard. you can get more news and analysis of the ongoing situation in israel and gaza in a special edition of the global news podcast. and the conflict featuring lyse doucet and jeremy bowen which is now available on bbc sounds. you can also watch a bbc news special — "a week of war", on bbc iplayer. a live shot of gaza, looking dark because of the lack of electricity. it is only for a significant escalation in the war. —— it is on

the eve of.

israel vows to �*completely destroy�* hamas after last week's attack — saying it'll conduct �*combined and co—ordinated�* strikes from the air, sea and land. israel�*s prime minister benjamin netanyahu visited troops near the gaza strip — telling them, �*the next stage is coming�*. the united nations warns clean drinking water is running out in the gaza strip — as hundreds of thousands of people leave their homes. we are saying it is a matter of life or death for many gaza residents because they will no longer have access to clean drinking water within days. and the families of those taken hostage in the hamas attacks on israel call for more action to bring their loved ones home. we ask you, the media around the world, the people around the world, the leaders around the world, listen, act now.