a barrage of rockets begins just after dawn. fired from gaza into israel by the palestinian militant group hamas, they have an immediate and devastating impact. this barrage provides cover for hamas fighters to cross the perimeter fence into israeli territory. hamas releases these pictures apparently showing observation towers being attacked by drones. here, they capture an israeli tank near the barrier. then they use a bulldozer to smash their way through. supporters pour through the opening, some with motorbikes, many more on foot. the israeli defenders clearly had no idea the attack was coming. just miles away, hundreds of people gather at a music festival. what appear to be rockets fly overhead. you might have seen these images posted on social media showing people running for their lives. witnesses say that after rockets were fired, palestinian gunmen began attacking from several directions. "don't kill me, don't kill me," noa argamani pleads, as she and her boyfriend, avinatan, are both taken captive. they are still missing, thought to have been taken inside gaza. later, noa's father spoke to israeli media. translation: i asked to see the video, and then i saw - that it was definitely her. she was so scared, so frightened. i always protected her, and at this very moment, i couldn't. noa is 25, with a passion for travel. she had been messaging a friend just before she was kidnapped, and then the live location ended. also taken from the festival, shani louk, a tattoo artist from germany, pictured here on holiday in mexico. her family recognised her in a video of palestinian gunmen celebrating her capture on a pick—up truck. the images are too graphic to show. on the road next to where the festival was taking place, this footage from the day after shows burnt—out vehicles. we don't yet know what happened to all of those who came in these cars to party and celebrate, but there were shellshocked reunions with those who survived. and, as more videos of hostages taken into gaza emerge, israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, makes this statement. translation: since this morning, j the state of israel has been at war. our first objective is to clear out enemy forces that infiltrated and restore the security and quiet to communities that have been attacked. the second objective, at the same time, is to exact an immense price from the enemy within the gaza strip too. the leader of hamas watches the unfolding news from overseas. he promises to expel israelis from their land. translation: we are on the verge of a great victory and a clear- conquest on the gaza front. what we see next is immediate retaliation from israel. warplanes hit several buildings in the centre of gaza city. this is what israel calls its mighty vengeance on hamas. among the many targets in gaza, the jabalia refugee camp. and as night falls on day one of this war, gaza is hit again and again. the question millions of israelis are asking — how hamas had managed to carry out the biggest attack on civilians in the history of the state of israel. the barrier between gaza and israel is part concrete wall and part fence. it's watched over by israeli troops, cameras and ground motion sensors. but hamas militants were able to cross into israeli territory in at least seven places, according to israel's military. fighters swept out of gaza in several directions to carry out attacks at 27 locations, seemingly with orders to kill on sight. day two, and israeli troops are still hunting down armed palestinian militants. among those killed, an israeli family — shot dead, waiting to be identified and buried. more details about hostages are emerging, like this 85—year—old grandmother, yaffa adar, who was whisked away by militants in a golf cart. families are kidnapped as well, among them yoni's wife and their five and two—year—old daughters. hello. 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 am willing to come. from israel's government comes a warning. the country faces a long and difficult war ahead. this horrific terror act demands a forceful, determined and sustained response. well, they have said that they are still working very intensively in these areas in southern israel, around these communities. they have said that they have special forces in these areas, and they are doing everything they can to find hamas militants who may be hiding here. these pictures of israeli missiles landing in gaza are being filmed by a bbc team on the ground there. as i have said, hamas is using offices in this building to perform some terrorist activity. elsewhere in gaza, many civilians are killed. people living in this tightly populated area have nowhere else to go. 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 the risk of escalation becomes clearer as hezbollah militants in neighbouring lebanon fire rockets into israel. they say it is a show of solidarity with palestinians. monday 9th october, israeli towns like ashkelon are still under attack. there is a huge barrage going on overhead just at the moment. we have taken cover. this is actually a memorial building. you can see we are all here. there is nick — he has our camera. yes, we're going to move. get down. we heard them all around us, but they didn't know we were there. when the siren started, i was talking to gilad. he had been at the music festival where more than 250 people were massacred as hamas launched its attack on saturday morning. shrapnel tore past his head. he was lucky to survive. the bullet went through here and here. yes, you can see it went in and out. yes, you've got a fight—or—flight situation. you need to react very fast, or that means you are dead. it is certain death. it's no wonder 250 people, 260 people died — and even more, i still don't know the body count. people living in ashkelon know these moments of fear well. gilad and his mother didn't need words. we followed the smoke. we think this is where one of the missiles hit. yes, look, here on the ground. in this poor part of ashkelon, there aren't bomb shelters in most buildings. thin walls and windows don't stop missiles, so this family hid in a stairwell. they told the children the explosions were thunder. "we need to be strong for them," avi told me, "but who is going to take care of us?" at the same time, inside gaza, it looks every bit as if palestinians are feeling the full force of israeli military power. israel declares a siege, completely cutting off water and power supplies from its territory, and its retaliation for the hamas attacks has onlyjust begun. palestinian armed groups, undeterred, keep up their own barrage of attacks against israel and threaten to kill israeli hostages. but israel's airstrikes roll on, hour after hour. as you can see, the israeli air strike just hit this area. we had to move from our office. this is a residential building where i live. it's a very densely populated area. i have been covering many wars between hamas and israel, but this time, and this day especially, i think it's the biggest ever israeli air strike that targeted gaza. it's still day three, and israel is moving more firepower closer to gaza. a ground offensive against hamas looks increasingly likely, larger than any since the group took over the territory in 2007. one soldier who has already lost his life is londoner nathanel young. at his funeral injerusalem, his sister starts to pay tribute. i watched him grow from a cheeky little boy, to a strong, brave national hero. but then this. sirens wail mourners take cover as explosions ring out. some recite prayers. as day three of the israel—gaza war comes to a close, there are displays of solidarity with israel around the world. landmarks are illuminated in israeli colours. from new york to buenos aires and london, jewish communities and their supporters are taking to the streets. chanting: free palestine! some protesters in london, as well as other cities around the world, give support for hamas and the palestinian cause, galvanised by events in gaza. the origins of the current violence stretch back more than 100 years, decades of division over land considered home and holy tojews and muslims as well as christians. the state of israel, the onlyjewish majority country in the world, has been locked in conflict since its creation in 1948. around 2 million israeli arabs, many of whom prefer to be called palestinian citizens of israel, make up a fifth of the country's population. the majority of palestinians live in gaza and the west bank, as well as in neighbouring jordan, syria, and lebanon. the gaza strip is only 25 miles long and six miles wide. israel controls its airspace and shoreline and restricts who and what goods are allowed in and out over its land crossings. egypt controls its own crossing with gaza. the west bank and eastjerusalem, under international law, are considered occupied territories. gaza is run by hamas, a palestinian islamist militant group which is designated a terrorist organisation by many western governments, including the uk. it has sworn to destroy israel. the war between israel and the gaza—based palestinian militant group hamas is intensifying as it enters its fourth day. new and disturbing details emerge about saturday's attack. israeli troops enter a kibbutz, orfarm community, called kfar aza, close to gaza's boundary. what they find is evidence of a massacre by hamas. women and children, including babies, were among the dead. some victims say the troops had been decapitated. they have justjihad mission to kill everybody, without weapons, without nothing, just normal citizens going to take their breakfast and that's all. and they cut some of their heads. it is a dreadful thing to see. another officer says the woman under this cover was among those decapitated, killed in herfront garden. even for experienced soldiers, fighting their way in had been hard going. how difficult was the fighting? you cannot imagine. have you ever had to do anything like this before as a soldier? no, not like this. what happens next, what do you do next? what does israel do next? i don't know. i do what they tell me to do, i will do. i hope we will go inside. into gaza? yes. that will be tough fighting. yes. we are ready for it. more details emerge about the israelis taken hostage in the music festival attack. a 12—year—old and 16—year—old were taken by gunmen from a house nearby. they phoned their mother as it was happening as she explained to one of our bbc correspondents. and then they said they hear someone breaking in and walking in the house. about ten minutes later i heard people speaking in arabic outside the door, the door opened and i could hear my youngest. she was saying don't take me, i am too young. that was the last time that i've heard from them. those barbarians took kids out of their houses and out of their beds and just kidnapped them, keeping them hostage. almost half of these are things for a baby... not far away from the festival site, we met one of the volunteers bringing supplies to local people affected by the violence. people on the other side, what are they saying, what are you seeing? it's difficult. it's really, really hard. it's really hard. i'm 23 years old. i saw things i should never see in my life. i saw things that i learned about in the holocaust, it is a massacre. they killed a lot of people. in gaza, entire neighbourhoods are being flattened by israeli airstrikes. israel is accused of breaking the laws of war, which it denies, saying it's only targeting hamas, and not civilians. there are fears about a new humanitarian crisis unfolding inside the territory. very quickly, if we can see the scale of destruction in this neighbourhood, it is the economic hub for gaza. israel said they have carried out 200 airstrikes targeting the hamas infrastructure. in fact, they hit many buildings, government buildings belonging to the hamas—run authority, but look at the scale and destruction in the area and how civilian homes were completely affected and some of them were completely destroyed. with the violence unfolding on the ground, a us aircraft carrier, the largest in the world, heads for the eastern mediterranean. good morning, it is wednesday 11 october. israel's defence minister says its military is now moving towards a full—scale offensive against gaza. day five. there's new concern about the humanitarian catastrophe growing in gaza. the territory's only power station has stopped working and fuel is running out. children are playing here, where they should be sleeping. what is this? this is not a life. basic services like hospitals are close to collapse. the health system was on its knees to begin with. we are already short of consumables, we're already short of medication, of equipment. unless there is a humanitarian corridor, unless aid is brought in, the diesel that operates the generators that the hospital depends on is going to run out. new satellite images show the level of destruction in gaza. this was an area before the airstrikes and this is the same neighbourhood after coming under attack. new accounts emerge about life under a barrage of airstrikes. the family are gathering altogether, also in a place far away from the window. explosions i was trying to explain things, but i think you can hear them now. in southern israel, there is a visit by britain's foreign secretary and his israeli counterpart. we are living close to monsters, to inhuman people, we are fighting for our all and we will win. are you considering a humanitarian corridor? i'm not going to speculate. minutes later, they're bundled towards a bomb shelter as sirens warn of an incoming rocket attack. in the north of israel, thousands of extra troops are being deployed to reinforce the country's border with lebanon. when i look out here i can see the wall that divides northern israel and lebanon and just this morning, there has been an exchange between the two sides. hezbollah fired an anti—tank missile into northern israel and in response israeli war planes struck a piece of hezbollah infrastructure on the lebanon side. there is real anxiety that these regular exchanges that are happening could lead to a deadly escalation just on this hilltop over here. injerusalem and across the country, the biggest mobilisation of army reserves in israel's history gathers pace. some arrived from around the world. this man is 28 and lives in austria. he has left behind a wife and two young children. there is nothing more important right now, not myjob, not my studies, not everything, not even my family, only ourjob and only what we are doing here. this is more important than your family? unfortunately, we are currently in a situation where i have to say that. i didn't even imagine i would ever say something like that. another fighterjet. that is the second one. i didn't think i would say something like that ever. that there is something in the world that is more important for me than my family, but, unfortunately, the reality has changed and here we are. there are tearful goodbyes as reservists head off to serve their country. it's eight o'clock on thursday 12 october. the headlines this morning — the united nations says almost 340,000 people have been forced from their homes in gaza by israeli airstrikes. day six, shortly after dawn, israel bombs another apartment block in gaza. it's in a refugee camp. residents say many had fled there, trying to get to safety. "they bombed without warning," says this man. "this is murder. "everyone has to do something." many are wounded. but hospitals now depend on generators after israel's siege cut the power. food and clean water running out. israel says there will no supplies until its hostages are freed. in israel, cctv from saturday's attacks shows hamas fighters entering kibbutz be'eri. homes there were completely burned out. this one belonged to vivian silver. she has been missing ever since. her son is searching and remembering. what do you think your mother would be saying about everything that's happening right now? that this is the outcome, this is the outcome of war. vivian was making light of it until she couldn't. "we may be witnessing a massacre. "enough sense of humour, i'm just telling everybody, "telling you i love you." and i write back, "i love you, mum." she writes, "they are in the house now." i said "i have no words. "i am with you." she writes, "i feel you." and that was it. that's the last message. on a visit to tel aviv, america's top diplomat tells israel that washington's support is unwavering. you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as america exists, you will never, ever have to. we will always be there, by your side. friday, day seven. the un says it's been told by israel that everyone in northern gaza must relocate to the south in the next 2a hours. it would mean the entire population of gaza city and its surroundings — about 1.1 million people — having to flee their homes. the hamas—run interior ministry has called on gazans not respond the order to move, calling it psychological warfare. after a week at war, there is no sign of an end to the crisis. millions of israelis, palestinians, and others are reflecting on events that few saw coming and no—one will ever forget. israelis are shocked and they are grieving, because what they have seen are the most unimaginable scenes of brutality and horror with these massacres that have been carried out. they've had to bury loved ones. there are families that still don't know where their children are because they are being held hostage in gaza. and then in the strip you have palestinian civilians who are living under bombardment, they are seeing death and destruction all around them every day. there's no electricity and the water and food are running out. everything has been turned upside down. this last seven days has shocked the world and now people are asking, what's next? live from london. this is bbc news. release the hostages and let aid in — the double appeal to hamas and israel from the un secretary—general as he warns the middle east is on the verge of an abyss. israel continues its bombardment of the gaza strip, with fighter planes and drones striking targets across the territory. the white house says israel has turned on the water supply in southern gaza following a conversation between us president biden and the israeli prime minister. and the us secretary of state antony blinken is to return to israel following talks in the region — he says that israel should take every precaution to avoid harming civilians. the way that israel does this matters. it needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity. hello, i'm ben thompson.