live from london, this is bbc news. stepping up its war on hamas, israel hits 150 targets overnight, releasing video it says shows its tanks entering gaza. the ground forces entered and continued expanding the ground force operations. infantry, engineering and artillery are accompanied by heavy gunfire. our correspondent on the ground says the north of gaza was hit on a scale the territory has never seen before. for the first time ever they have seen this scale of explosion, huge black, huge fire in the sky. this is the scene live in gaza where, in the last half an hour, the israeli army reissued its call for civilians to move south. the families of some

of the hostages held by hamas call for the israeli government to do more to bring them home. here in london, pro—palestinian demonstrators turn out in force. these are live pictures. protests are also planned in other capital cities. fresh aid enters gaza, whilejuliette touma from the un tells the bbc they have managed to re—establish some contact with their teams. this is bbc news. the israeli military says troops and tanks remain on the ground in gaza, after it intensified its operation against hamas, by land, air and sea. it said air attacks hit 150 underground targets and killed several senior hamas commanders. hamas�*s armed wing says it is engaging israeli troops. in the past few minutes, israel has again warned people in the north of gaza to head south,

saying their "window to act was closing". as the israeli operation unfolded, a bbc correspondent in gaza reported a huge bombardment in northern gaza, which he said was on an unprecedented scale. he described scenes of panic and chaos, as communication lines were cut across the territory. that bombardment continued later into the day as israeli artillery also attacked from outside northern gaza. international aid agencies say they are struggling to contact their teams inside the strip. although, in the past hour, the un has told us it has managed to get in touch with its people there. the world health organization said it could not reach its staff and health facilities — it appealed to anyone with authority to press for a ceasefire to act now.

relatives of more than 200 israelis held hostage in gaza have expressed alarm at the intensification of the fighting. a forum representing hostages and missing families demanded an immediate meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his defence minister to discuss their safety. the lack of communication means we don't yet have numbers of those killed in the night—time operation. hamas, which is a proscribed terror organisation by the uk, us and many other nations, says more than 7,700 people have been killed there since the war began. about 1,400 israelis were killed by the hamas attacks three weeks ago. let's start with this report from tom bateman. wave upon wave of israeli air strikes have pounded gaza. the military calls these massive significant attacks as its ground troops entered the territory.

palestinians report an unprecedented level of bombardment while virtually all communications for nearly 2.5 million people appear to be cut. palestinian telecoms companies say the outage was caused by the air strikes. the israeli army hasn't commented on that. we have lost contact with our staff on the ground in gaza, communication lines are still down across gaza and we are incredibly terrified about the situation, especially after the heavy bombardment that was reported last night in gaza and it has been said that it is on a scale never seen before. the israeli military says its forces entered the northern gaza strip, calling it an expansion of its ground operations to eliminate hamas.

it has said it has killed commanders overnight, including one of the leaders of the october 7th massacres against israel. hamas said it was fighting israeli forces on the ground. israel called these targeted attacks against specific hamas positions and its network of tunnels below gaza city. translation: last night the ground forces entered and continued - expanding the ground force operations. the idf is continuing with its evaluation in an ongoing way, continuing massively with air strikes and also the sea. meanwhile, hamas continued to fire rockets toward southern israel this morning. and families of some of the more than 200 people being held hostage by hamas say they have spent the most terrible of all nights during

the ground operation which could endanger them. whether this amounts to the full scale land assault isn't clear, the israeli army is calling this a limited invasion. what we do know is the attacks are intense but with communications out in gaza, most palestinians can't tell the world what is happening to them. this war has entered a new phase. three weeks on from the deadly attacks when hamas stormed israel and killed moo people, almost 8000 palestinians have now been killed, say doctors in gaza. the international calls for a ceasefire are going unheeded and the fighting only intensified. tom bateman, bbc news, jerusalem. we can go live now to our diplomatic correspondent paul adams who's injerusalem. i will talk about the hostages and the scenes and calls we have had already in the last couple of hours in a moment or two. paul, we've just heard

that the idf spokesman has issued an "urgent military advisory", again warning people in the northern part of the gaza strip to move south immediately. yes, this was the idf chief spokesman who made an announcement, a video recording, in english, on social media. —— we got it from social media. —— we got it from social media. —— we got it from social media. we are being told that is being delivered by a variety of means to people in gaza, leaflets dropped from the air, the internet, though quite how that it is working today i do not know, and what they describe as other means they cannot describe, but i think what is important about this message is this was the most urgent message i think we have heard from him so far. he kept saying moved south, move south, do it now, the window is changing is closing will stop he also said, and i think this is the first time i have had any israeli official saying this, that when this phase is over, people will be able to move back to the northern part of the gaza strip,

north of this line wadi gaza, which is the line that is talked about so frequently. definitely an urgent warning, but also some semblance of a suggestion that people will be able to go back at some point in the future. i able to go back at some point in the future. ., , ., , able to go back at some point in the future. ., ., , ., future. i mentioned hostages and we sou~ht future. i mentioned hostages and we sou . ht the future. i mentioned hostages and we sought the scenes _ future. i mentioned hostages and we sought the scenes and _ future. i mentioned hostages and we sought the scenes and calls - future. i mentioned hostages and we sought the scenes and calls to - future. i mentioned hostages and we sought the scenes and calls to meet | sought the scenes and calls to meet with the prime minister, defence minister, what is the latest you are hearing? minister, what is the latest you are hearin: ? , , , , hearing? there is huge pressure cominu hearing? there is huge pressure coming from _ hearing? there is huge pressure coming from the _ hearing? there is huge pressure coming from the hostage - hearing? there is huge pressure l coming from the hostage families themselves and also of course from many governments, including the united states, who have hostages among those being held in gaza. interestingly, daniel hagari in his earlier briefing today said there was what he called a national effort to get the hostages back. the defence minister, when he spoke a short time ago, said that this was

also part of the mission and he also said last night we accomplished, i think he meant completed, a phase in the war. is it possible that israel will try and do something to facilitate the release of hostages? we are told through our contacts in gaza that there are still negotiations going on involving the government of qatar, which has been intimately involved in the release of hostages already. there has been the suggestion around for several days that there might be a large group of hostages who could be released in one go. i was talking earlier today to a former senior officer in israel's foreign intelligence service he said that if it were up to him, and it is not because he is out of service, he would say stop now, stop the military operation now, spending months trying to get all the hostages back, and then if you still want to go to war, go to war, but he thinks, and i think many people here

think, that getting the hostages out should be a much higher priority than so far the government has indicated. w , ., , than so far the government has indicated. .. , ., , ., indicated. exactly the thoughts of my previous _ indicated. exactly the thoughts of my previous guest _ indicated. exactly the thoughts of my previous guest here _ indicated. exactly the thoughts of my previous guest here on - indicated. exactly the thoughts of my previous guest here on the i my previous guest here on the programme only about ten minutes ago as his cousin was hailed as one of the hostages. it is so difficult with communications cuts, we had from our correspondent on the ground but only a satellite phone getting that particular message. live now to oslo to speak to jan egeland, who is the secretary—general of the norwegian refugee council. the council of course has got many people on the ground doing work in the gaza strip. welcome to the programme. have you been able to make contact with your teams there? to the best of my knowledge, no. we

have still no contact with our 3a colleagues on the ground in gaza. we have a headcount again from yesterday and the day before, not today. what we know as they are fleeing for their lives and notjust in the north, also in the south. there is no safe place in gaza. one of my female colleagues in gaza lost her only child to this bombing campaign, and this was close to rafah, where they were asked to go by the israelis. so the only sensible thing now is a ceasefire, too many children are already dead, there was a million children and there was a million children and there is no escape, this places sealed off. israel has closed all the borders. we cannot even get relief to the people inside. i willi relief to the people inside. i will come to believe _ relief to the people inside. i will come to believe in _ relief to the people inside. i will come to believe in a _ relief to the people inside. i will come to believe in a moment but in the last few minutes the un has warned of the potential for thousands more civilians to die as

the gaza ground operation continues. by the gaza ground operation continues. by what you are saying, that is your fear too? ~ ,,., , by what you are saying, that is your feartoo? ~ , ., , ., fear too? absolutely. thousands more will die. thousands _ fear too? absolutely. thousands more will die. thousands have _ fear too? absolutely. thousands more will die. thousands have died. - fear too? absolutely. thousands more will die. thousands have died. there l will die. thousands have died. there is no doubt about that. the figures have been disputed, but no, thousands have died, there is no doubt about it. there are many many hundreds if not thousands under the rubble, women, children, it is disproportionate. it is not a rational counterterror campaign. this is smashing a densely populated place with no escape. you cannot leave gaza. the only sensible thing is a ceasefire and then let's discuss a counterterrorism measure. there is no sign of a ceasefire, quite the opposite, as the pressure

grows for some kind of humanitarian pause, but when you hear the israeli military reissue that warning for people to get out of the north, what is your gut instinct when you hear that? mi; is your gut instinct when you hear that? ' , is your gut instinct when you hear that? ~ , , . , ., , that? my gut instinct is that it is very wrong _ that? my gut instinct is that it is very wrong to — that? my gut instinct is that it is very wrong to ask _ that? my gut instinct is that it is very wrong to ask a _ that? my gut instinct is that it is very wrong to ask a million - that? my gut instinct is that it is l very wrong to ask a million people to go to where there is no safety, no housing, no accommodation, no sanitation, no water, no relief. and then basically say we are coming in and we are shooting at anybody, it is your fault if we shoot you of the application of this. it is against humanitarian law of armed conflict, it looks like forcible transfer, which would be a violation of humanitarian law. the civilians, they are women, they are children,

orphans, sick and wounded people, that must be remembered by israel. you have been saying more and less the same thing now for almost three weeks and it does not appear that anyone is listening. ida. weeks and it does not appear that anyone is listening.— weeks and it does not appear that anyone is listening. no, but we will keep doing — anyone is listening. no, but we will keep doing it- _ anyone is listening. no, but we will keep doing it- i _ anyone is listening. no, but we will keep doing it. ithink— anyone is listening. no, but we will keep doing it. i think world public l keep doing it. i think world public opinion will be able to impress upon israel as the stronger party now, of course also miss house to release the hostages, they call them prisoners of war, they are civilians that need to be released without conditions. —— of course hamas need to release the hostages. both sides have to come to their senses, there has to be a ceasefire now and i hope the us, the uk, germany, european union, france, let's name them, can tell their ally israel ceasefire,

stop this, too many children are dead for is not a quick final thought, are you able to operate at all white micro, given what we have seenin all white micro, given what we have seen in the last few hours, is the hope of getting any help in, what is the situation with getting aidan? yesterday we could get some very small cash amounts in, we could operate in a few of the schools for children and so on. today we are all that fleeing, all my colleagues are fleeing for their lives, so at the moment there is no belief that anybody, only misery, only suffering, only death. thank you for takin: time suffering, only death. thank you for taking time to _ suffering, only death. thank you for taking time to speak— suffering, only death. thank you for taking time to speak to _ suffering, only death. thank you for taking time to speak to us - suffering, only death. thank you for taking time to speak to us here - suffering, only death. thank you for taking time to speak to us here on | taking time to speak to us here on the bbc. we are grateful, thank you very much.

let's continue trying to ascertain what is happening on the ground. we are joined now by dr omar abdel—mannan. he is a paediatrician who has worked in gaza and the west bank since 2011 as part of medical delegations carrying out training and surgery. he has been in close contact with doctors in gaza since the fighting broke out three weeks ago. i know up until last night you have beenin i know up until last night you have been in daily almost hourly contact with doctors, because that's now completely stopped?— with doctors, because that's now completely stopped? thank you for brinuain completely stopped? thank you for bringing me — completely stopped? thank you for bringing me back— completely stopped? thank you for bringing me back on. _ completely stopped? thank you for bringing me back on. yes, - bringing me back on. yes, absolutely. around 6:15pm uk time yesterday, which would have been around 8:15pm in gaza, we lost all communication with doctors, surgeons, paramedics on the ground. we had a message from the palestinian red crescent saying that they were unable to speak to their own aid workers and humanitarian workers on the ground, there was no

way to access ambulances through the emergency hotline which is 101 in gaza, and this has been frankly a huge escalation which has left as extremely disturbed by what has been happening overnight. the fact that we have not heard from a single human soul from dozens we have not heard from a single human soulfrom dozens if we have not heard from a single human soul from dozens if not hundreds of colleagues we have been trying to contact since that time yesterday evening as can stream the —— is extremely concerning. that means people on the ground are suffering, they cannot get to ambulances, they cannot find out if their loved ones are alive or have been killed by the israeli strikes that are continuing throughout the night and it is a very worrying time. i night and it is a very worrying time. . , , night and it is a very worrying time. ., , , ., ., ., time. i am sure it is and alarming because you _ time. i am sure it is and alarming because you have _ time. i am sure it is and alarming because you have been _ time. i am sure it is and alarming because you have been in - time. i am sure it is and alarming | because you have been in contact, you know so many of these doctors, their friends, you know so many of these doctors, theirfriends, their you know so many of these doctors, their friends, their colleagues, you know so many of these doctors, theirfriends, their colleagues, but in terms of where they are, i know

you have a variety of people you are in contact with, art the majority of those in the south or some still in the north given all the warnings? we have had those warnings repeated in the last hour or so. irate have had those warnings repeated in the last hour or so.— the last hour or so. we have colleagues _ the last hour or so. we have colleagues from _ the last hour or so. we have colleagues from all - the last hour or so. we have colleagues from all over - the last hour or so. we have l colleagues from all over gaza, the last hour or so. we have - colleagues from all over gaza, the north and the south, one of the main hospitals, the biggest trauma centre in gaza is based in the north and that has been under a direct threat of bombing by the israeli government yesterday evening, prior to the communication is being cut and we have not heard from them, from a london based medic who has been often on the news, we have not been able to communicate with him, and this is a concerning situation. we have a health system that has collapsed, hospitals that have basically ran out of supplies and you cannot run hospitals on air and

contamination, you need to staff and many are exhausted, over 100 have been killed, and you need medicines, basic equipment like beds, and al—shifa hospital they have 70,000 patients, 70,000 people apology is in the ground taking shelter, is a letter taking up a bed space, much—needed space and fuel as well to run the electricity and we have seen that has run out as well. it is believed there _ seen that has run out as well. it is believed there are _ seen that has run out as well. it is believed there are hamas controlled posts underneath the tunnel networks and they said they are liable to lose their protection from attack in accordance with international law, when you hear that, what do you fear? i when you hear that, what do you fear? ., ., , ., ., , fear? i fear the worst and the worst is unimaginable _

fear? i fear the worst and the worst is unimaginable for _ fear? i fear the worst and the worst is unimaginable for all _ fear? i fear the worst and the worst is unimaginable for all of _ fear? i fear the worst and the worst is unimaginable for all of us. - fear? i fear the worst and the worst is unimaginable for all of us. i - fear? i fear the worst and the worst is unimaginable for all of us. i do i is unimaginable for all of us. i do not try to strain to politics, i come from h matter in perspective, so i cannot answer about the hamas tunnels or not, that needs to be dealt with by the appropriate politicians and negotiators, but at the same time if you bomb a civilian hospital with tens of thousands of patients and children and women on the grounds, you are putting yourself in a situation where there is a huge casualties situation that is a huge casualties situation that is unprecedented. this is highly concerning, we are seeing the threats on a daily basis and it is shocking, to be frank, for all of us as health care professionals. we work in hospitals thinking these are safe zones and patients think they are being looked after and hope that they will get the best treatment but this is a dire situation beyond

anything any of us really imagine. it is worth underlining that of course there has not been an attack thus far, just a warning from the idf. in terms of the work that those doctors you are in contact with are doing, though that has stayed in the north, why have they stayed? yes. doing, though that has stayed in the north, why have they stayed? yes, as a medic myself— north, why have they stayed? yes, as a medic myself and _ north, why have they stayed? yes, as a medic myself and the _ north, why have they stayed? yes, as a medic myself and the doctor, - north, why have they stayed? yes, as a medic myself and the doctor, we - a medic myself and the doctor, we take a hippocratic oath to do no harm and look after our patients and this is the closest analogy i can think of as the titanic sinking and the captain of the ship letting the passengers off first before he or she gets off, and these doctors feel duty bound to look after their patients and they cannot imagine the idea of having to walk away from some of their patients who were on ventilators, some who are unable to move, and they would rather be bombed and killed than walk away from these patients. that is the

frank reality from speaking to them, and they have said to us, you know, we will not leave our patients. they can bomb us as much as they want, we will not leave. that is the last words i heard from one very close colleague who had been messaging us up until 6:15pm last night. thank ou for up until 6:15pm last night. thank you for taking — up until 6:15pm last night. thank you for taking time _ up until 6:15pm last night. thank you for taking time to _ up until 6:15pm last night. thank you for taking time to speak - up until 6:15pm last night. thank you for taking time to speak to i up until 6:15pm last night. thank. you for taking time to speak to us, thanks forjoining us here on bbc news. that is the situation with aid agencies, doctors, trying to make contact with people on the ground. let's turn to the hostage situation, you heard paul adams talking about the pressure on the israeli government. the families of hostages being held in gaza say they spent a night in "great anxiety" as the bombing increased. they have demanded a meeting with the israeli government and, in particular, the defence minister. earlier, i spoke to udi goren. his cousin, tal, was among those kidnapped by hamas. he told me what it has been like in the last 18 hours watching these

operations ramp up. we have not heard anything — operations ramp up. we have not heard anything about _ operations ramp up. we have not heard anything about his - heard anything about his whereabouts, his condition. i'm speaking about my cousin because thatis speaking about my cousin because that is who i really care about is first and foremost, but there are over 100 people held there, babies, children, old people, how are they supposed to survive? israel has had about 11t00 deaths so far, there are 200 more lives on the line as we speak, all the time. the only way to get them back safely and to get all of them without saying that some of them are dispensable is to stop the war and get humanitarian ceasefire and make sure they are back and if we do that and then hamas does not stick to their word or qatar do not

stick to their word or qatar do not stick to their word, i have nothing to say and we have to go after them as hard as we can, but right now we have the upper hand, we are on the offensive, not the defensive. we have the situation contained and we can call the shots and right now we are striking from the air every single day when we do not know where my cousin is, we do not know where over 200 hostages are and we do not know if any of our bombs have killed them. . , , , know if any of our bombs have killed them. ., i, y,, know if any of our bombs have killed them. ., i, , ,, ., them. really briefly, because i am nearl out them. really briefly, because i am nearly out of _ them. really briefly, because i am nearly out of time, _ them. really briefly, because i am nearly out of time, but _ them. really briefly, because i am nearly out of time, but you - them. really briefly, because i am nearly out of time, but you think. nearly out of time, but you think they should not have started this ground incursion, they should have given more space for whatever negotiations were going on, is that what you are saying?— what you are saying? absolutely. the kee what you are saying? absolutely. they keep saying _ what you are saying? absolutely. they keep saying this _ what you are saying? absolutely. they keep saying this is - what you are saying? absolutely. they keep saying this is going - what you are saying? absolutely. they keep saying this is going to | what you are saying? absolutely. i they keep saying this is going to be a long—term war, we had to take down hamas, if we are going to take down hamas, if we are going to take down hamas, this is going to be a new regional status quo, this will not happen within a week, month, six months, this is something that needs all the major powers in the area to be involved. that is why we could

hold for now, stop the fighting, stop the war, get our hostages out at any cost and then take care of hamas. then when we do not have a knife to our throats, then we can do whatever we need to keep ourselves safe, but right now we cannot afford ourselves, as a western democracy that holds human lives above all, we cannot uphold, we have to uphold the value of human lives is our priority. value of human lives is our priority-— value of human lives is our riori . �*, . , ., ., priority. let's close this half hour showin: priority. let's close this half hour showing you _ priority. let's close this half hour showing you some _ priority. let's close this half hour showing you some of— priority. let's close this half hour showing you some of the - priority. let's close this half hour showing you some of the latest l showing you some of the latest pictures from london, the pro—palestinian protests taking place there, these pictures showing the scale. i will take you to turkey because the turkish president has just taken to the microphone. stay with us on bbc

news where we will have all the latest developments in the israel gaza war here in just a latest developments in the israel gaza war here injust a moment or two. do not go away. hello. if you can see any blue sky, it may not last. rain continues to feature for the rest of the weekend. for some, quite a lot of rain. earlier satellite image, you can see clumps of showers circulating around an area of low pressure. this stripe of white cloud pushing in from the south, bringing a band of heavy, thundery rain, squalid gusty winds. a lot of rain in a short space of time across southern counties of england, up into parts of wales. it will be quite blustery, particularly through the english channel. also windy in the north and east of scotland. quite a few showers across parts of northern ireland. still some spells of sunshine and temperatures, if anything, a touch above the average for the time of year — 11—16 celsius.

tonight, this band of heavy rain then drives its way northwards, there will be plenty of showers elsewhere. northern ireland looks like turning quite white for a time. —— turning quite wet for a time. some clear spells, it stays quite blustery, the wind really picks up across north—eastern scotland. low pressure remains firmly in charge through tomorrow. shower circulating around. this front becoming very slow moving across parts of scotland. through tomorrow, across england and wales, northern ireland, we will see some sunny spells, quite a few showers, heavy ones down towards the south—east of england, but for scotland, eastern parts of scotland particularly, we are expecting heavy and persistent rain. some places could see in excess of 100mm of rain, especially on higher ground, so that could well give rise to further flooding. combined with very strong winds, gusting to 50—60mph. those could bring big waves and some coastal flooding along that east coast. temperatures again generally

between 10—15, maybe up to 16. things turn just a little bit quieter, only a subtle difference, into the start of the new week. later in the week, we're keeping a very close eye on developments. don't take the details too literally at this stage. we could see a very deep area of low pressure developing that could bring some stormy conditions in places. whichever way you slice it, as we move out of october into the start of november, it remains very unsettled.

the deadliest assault in israel's history. shouting and gunfire. so many people are dead and are kidnapped and are hurt that i think israel will never be the same. loud explosion. and the brutal response to hamas and its murderous attack. explosion. israel is stunned by its security failure. this was a mass attack, well—planned, well—equipped. and we failed. we failed to protect our people. siren. in gaza, a growing humanitarian crisis. we are talking about a very disaster situation. if the fuel is out, the hospital

will turn to mortuary.