international aid agencies say they are struggling to contact their teams inside gaza after most communication networks were cut overnight. the un general assembly adopts a resolution, put forward by arab countries, calling for a humanitarian truce. hello, i'm anna foster, this is bbc news. we're live in southern israel, near the gaza border, where there's been a significant intensification of israeli air strikes over gaza. there is so much smoke and fog on the line where you can normally see the line where you can normally see the apartment buildings in the distance, it has now been almost obliterated by fog and you can smell the smoke in the air and you can hear regularly the sound of mortars, artillery fire, as the bombardment by israeli forces of the gaza strip continues. it has been a real intensification in the last 2a hours orso intensification in the last 2a hours or so last night where there were bright flashes and they lit up the sky above gaza. in the israeli army have said this is an expansion of its ground operations. a spokesman for the israeli government would not confirm that this heralded the start of a much—anticipated ground offensive against hamas. the armed wing of hamas, which is a recognised terror organisation by the uk and the usa, has said it is involved in violent confrontations with israeli forces in northern and central gaza. there has also been rocket fire from the territory into southern israel. this is the scene live in gaza. the united nations has warned of what it described as an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering there, and the un general assembly called for an immediate humanitarian truce. these are some of the latest developments in the past few hours. the israeli military says it hit 150 �*underground targets�* in the north of gaza overnight. that may refer to tunnels, although that has not been specified. israel hasn't said how it carried out the attacks, or if there were any casualties. the israel defence forces say they also carried out a targeted strike, which killed a senior hamas military leader. the idf claims asem abu rakaba took part in planning the attacks in israel on the 7th of october. hamas has not confirmed this. hamas says its fighters have been clashing with israeli troops in two parts of gaza, beit hanoun in the north east, and al bureij in the central area. and the palestinian red crescent says israeli bombardments have led to phone and internet services being cut off overnight. rescue workers in gaza say hundreds of buildings were destroyed by overnight israeli air strikes. our correspondent in gaza, rushdi abualouf, has described the scene as total chaos, saying there's panic everywhere. we'll hear more from him in a moment. our correspondent wyre davies begins our coverage. the night sky over gaza lit up by what israel says is an intensification of air strikes against hamas positions. a relentless barrage from the air and according to hamas it was fighting israeli troops on the ground as well. israel says these are targeted attacks against specific hamas positions and its network of tunnels below gaza city. bombing that is undoubtedly causing widespread damage on the ground. but which israel says is a necessary part of its ultimate goal to eradicate hamas as a fighting force. translation: over the last few hours l we have intensified our bombing over| gaza. the ground forces are also extending their operations this evening. from gaza, too, hamas continues to fire rockets towards israeli cities including tel aviv and ashkelon. most are intercepted by the iron dome missile defence system, but some still get through. the intensifying israeli offensive is making a dire humanitarian situation on the ground in gaza even worse. thousands of gazans are, in effect, trapped with nowhere to go. according to aid agencies on the ground who say that nowhere in gaza is safe. in conditions like this it's hard to get even the most basic humanitarian aid to those who are in desperate need. there should be consideration made right now for humanitarian pauses. these are localised, temporary, specific pauses on the battlefield so that humanitarian assistance can get into people that need it or they, the people, can get out of that area in relative safety. that's what a humanitarian pause is and we think it's an idea worth exploring. in recent days, israel has publicly acknowledged several ground incursions into gaza by land and the sea, hitting specific hamas targets and preparing the ground for what may be to come next. there are more than 220 hostages still being held by hamas inside gaza, israelis and many foreign nationals. some relatives are worried that a full—scale israeli invasion may jeopardise their safety and want israel to negotiate their release. others support their government's actions. we can't wait any more. if we want them back safe and sound, we have to get in and make sure that hamas will be demolished and make sure that they will go down on their knees and beg us to stop. israel continues to enact its revenge and its avowed aim of crushing hamas three weeks of the deadly attacks of 7 october, when 1,400 people were killed by hamas gunmen streaming across the border fence. more than 7,000 palestinians are reported to have since been killed in gaza, many of them children. international calls for a ceasefire or a humanitarian pause are being drowned out by the intensity of the bombing. wyre davies, bbc news, jerusalem. we saw the intensification and continued bombardment, and a real stepping up of the bombardment on gaza overnight. communications networks were cut that many people, notjust networks were cut that many people, not just the civilian networks were cut that many people, notjust the civilian population but also for ngos and humanitarian organisations who told us they have struggled to contact their staff both overnight and this morning, not just to check their safety but check what the level of need is on the ground in gaza at the moment. our gaza correspondent rushdi abualouf says there is no communication with even local authorities and hospitals, so there is no new information on the number of casualties but he was able to send us this update from khan younis. (tx sot) update from khan younis we've no communication here for the last ten hours, as israel cut internet lines, fibre lines, also the two main mobile carriers were stopped, so people unable to communicate with each other. a state of panic here and chaos. very chaotic scenes in the street. i've been driving through the city of khan younis this morning. less people, but more panic. and people, they don't know what to do in these circumstances. they can't establish communication with their friends, with theirfamilies. even here in nasser hospital in khan younis, the ambulance services are facing a very difficult situation dealing with the continuous israeli air strikes around khan younis here. most important, it's gaza city and the north, where most of the israeli operations are taking place now. very little information from some local registration that's still functioning is talking about huge explosions in the north—west of gaza city and north—west of the beit lahia, north—east of beit hanoun and the north. so four different areas where israel has been hitting hard since last night. people have been telling the local registration is that this is something that they have never, ever heard of, the scale of explosions, the intensity of the air strikes in the area, people said they have never seen before. we lost all connection with the local authority here, also with the hospitals, so no updated figure about the number of people killed, but it is close to 8,000 people, according to the director of this hospital, nasser, in khan younis. people are extremely worried about what is going to be happening next and if the israeli tanks will start to advance into some parts of gaza strip. very difficult situation. people are really worried about the next stage. humanitarian situation is getting worse and worse, with the very few trucks were allowed through egypt in the last couple of days. but as the local authority here describes it and the un, it's a drop in the ocean that can't be enough to feed i million displaced persons in the southern part of gaza. his reporting has been there, and he is there with his family moving them from place to place as they try to find the safest situation that they possibly can, and continuing to report for us on bbc news throughout all of that going on at the same time. you would normally from this position in southern israel be able to see the skyline of gaza in the back row but the combination of fog and smoke, you can really strongly smell the smoke and see some of the dustin smell the smoke and see some of the dust in the air from that continuing bombardment, even as we are talking this morning, you will be able to hear the continuing sounds of mortar fire and artillery fire going on that having just been going on overnight, you can hear it there, but they are continuing through the day as well. normally at this point, 12 minutes past one in israel, normally we get some sort of update from gaza on the latest death toll, on the numbers of people, the death toll compiled and released by the various people working together in gaza to update how many palestinians have been killed in the ongoing bombardment. it's worth saying today we haven't received that yet, no updates on numbers and that's potentially because of the communications blackout we were talking about, making it enormously difficult for people to get any concrete information out of gaza about what is happening today. all we can really tell you is what our correspondence are saying and what we are seeing and hearing, the sound of gunfire, the sound of ongoing artillery fire towards gaza. what we have heard this morning is from the israel defence forces who given their regular update, focusing on their regular update, focusing on the intensification and the building of this operation overnight and their spokesman is whose spokesperson daniel hagari has been talking to the media. translation: in gaza, we are l continuing with the objectives of the war. last night, the ground forces entered and continued expanding the ground force operations. infantry, engineering and artillery are accompanied by heavy gunfire. they're all participating. this serves the objectives of the war. the idf is continuing with its evaluation in an ongoing way. continuing massively with air strikes and also the sea. during the night, our general security services and the idf targeted killing various senior members of hamas, including one who was a serious, senior official who was responsible for the preparation of the massacre and we have continued killing various brigade officers and others. they are literally the spearhead of the hamas operatives. and we see this as good progress for what we are aiming for against a much more weakened enemy. live now to our correspondent wyre davies, injerusalem. all the way through this we have been talking about a potential ground operation. there's never been a specific when and where given and people are asking if this is the start of it, but it's still hard to tell, isn't it?— tell, isn't it? yes, there's no aolo: tell, isn't it? yes, there's no apology for— tell, isn't it? yes, there's no apology for the _ tell, isn't it? yes, there's no apology for the israelis - tell, isn't it? yes, there's no apology for the israelis for l tell, isn't it? yes, there's no i apology for the israelis for the intensity of their operation and they want the well to remember what happened exactly three weeks ago when hamas gunmen stormed over several places on the board and fence and killed moo people several places on the board and fence and killed m00 people in israel, sometimes in the most horrific circumstances, which is why israel says it is doing what it is doing. this is notjust a military operation against hamas, is a war against hamas where the endgame is to crush hamas completely, certainly militarily. no suggestion from israel they will take their foot off the pedal. we've seen limited land incursions in the last week and also one from the sea but a small number of israeli troops and vehicles and tanks have gone in for a specific objective and then come out again. what we saw last night was very different, notjust from the air but also the ground and there is a video that's been released by the israeli army and i don't with we've seen it yet, but we will see it in the coming hours that shows large numbers of tanks on the ground and heavy armoured support vehicles all going in the coming hours that shows large numbers of tanks on the ground and heavy armoured support vehicles all going into achieve these objectives against a specific hamas targets. there are two interesting points from the briefing. one is that troops are still in the field and continue the war. does that mean israeli soldiers are still on the ground inside gaza? perhaps they are establishing advanced bases were more heavy armour comes in and perhaps they are clearing up after what happened last night. hamas say they inflicted casualties on the israelis and we know from the israelis and we know from the israeli perspective that they killed, eliminated, i quote, several hamas commanders. this is part of the israeli narrative that they are targeting specific hamas command structures like the tunnels, the hundreds of tunnels they say, and specific hamas leaders. the impact of that in such a densely populated area like gaza, there is considerable collateral damage. huge neighbourhoods completely flattened. thousands of casualties, unofficially now, nearly 8000 deaths in gaza, nearly 8000 people killed as a result of the israeli operation. but i think we will see even more until the eventual israeli aim of completely crushing hamas as aim of completely crushing hamas as a military force is achieved.— a military force is achieved. what's the latest on _ a military force is achieved. what's the latest on the _ a military force is achieved. what's the latest on the humanitarian - the latest on the humanitarian situation? that statement we got from the idf suggested there would be more raids this morning, but as you touched on there, it is not as much as people in gaza need —— there would be more aid. that much as people in gaza need -- there would be more aid.— would be more aid. that was almost a footnote to the _ would be more aid. that was almost a footnote to the statement _ footnote to the statement from the israeli military and they said they were working towards allowing more humanitarian aid any suggestion there would be a ceasefire or lull in the fighting has been rejected by israel. the call was made by some countries at the un general assembly to allow much more aid in to open a humanitarian corridor and there is no indication from the israeli side that that is going to be agreed upon. we've heard from the un this morning that 600,000 people are internally displaced in gaza, those have been told by the israelis to move from their homes in the north towards other parts of gaza yet they are also being bombed and in some cases killed in the israeli shelling, but equally in towns and cities like khan younis as we heard from our correspondence in gaza. and this was no surprise to anyone that this was no surprise to anyone that this was no surprise to anyone that this was the worst night of bombing and shelling so far so the un have been finding it very difficult to maintain lines of communication with their staff in gaza and the united nations agency for palestinian refugees operating in gaza normally run schools and hospitals and other facilities and they have lost a lot of their own staff, many of whom have been killed in the operation and they are really struggling to keep the operations going. thank you so much. keep the operations going. thank you so much- as— keep the operations going. thank you so much- as we _ keep the operations going. thank you so much. as we were _ keep the operations going. thank you so much. as we were talking - keep the operations going. thank you so much. as we were talking there, l so much. as we were talking there, we showing you new pictures that had been released this morning from the international committee of the red cross. they say some aid has arrived, and this is some footage from the crossing and distributed by the person from the red cross is there. well saying all of this is happening as we hear the continuing bombardment. you can hear all around me as we are talking, you cannot so much the guys in the background any more because the fog and the smoke that has blotted out the skyline, but you can see the continuing loud fire going on all around us in southern israel a few kilometres from the border. a little further north in the city of tel aviv, i want to show you some pictures from there. pictures of a group that has formed of the families and loved ones of the more than 220 hostages who are still being held in gaza. this grouping have come together and you can see hanging above their in the form of the bunting hanging above peoples heads the images of many of those hostages who have been taken, theirfamilies are really keen that their names and faces are known, and they are gathered together in tel aviv today with a particular message. they want the israeli prime minister and the israeli prime minister and the israeli defence minister to meet with them face—to—face and have discussions about how those negotiations are going. we've only seen four hostages released so far, more than —— of the more than 200 and we heard various suggestions that qatari negotiators were coming close to negotiating a larger release, but as the evening went on, that has not happened and instead we have seen the increase in rate —— israeli bombardment of gaza instead. one of the key diplomatic presences it is the us. they are a big ally of israel diplomatically and militarily. earlier i spoke to lord kim darroch, the former british ambassador to the united states, about america's position. they were one of the few countries to vote against the un general assembly resolution calling for a ceasefire. last night, we and germany and australia and canada and others abstained on it. and that was, if you like, a signal of their continuing public complete support for what israel is doing. but in private, i think they will be pressing the israelis to minimize civilian casualties in this operation in gaza, to get it over as quickly as possible, because the longer it goes on, the greater the risk of escalation. the more public support for israel around the world, whichever way. and then they will be getting messages through to the leader, palestinian leaders on the west bank to try to stop anything igniting there. they will be getting messages through the back channel to iran saying do not encourage hezbollah to intensify these clashes across the border with israel in the north. and they'll be messaging other parts of the arab world to try to stop any wider escalation. remember last week, a us destroyer intercepted three missiles fired from houthi territory down in the south of the gulf, probably on their way to israel. so the risk of wider escalation is ever present. talking there about the diplomatic work going on in the background, and for many people around the world who have seen this series escalation in the last few weeks. the have seen this series escalation in the last few weeks.— have seen this series escalation in the last few weeks. the question of how eace the last few weeks. the question of how peace between _ the last few weeks. the question of how peace between israel - the last few weeks. the question of how peace between israel and - the last few weeks. the question of how peace between israel and the l how peace between israel and the palestinians might ever be achieved seems further away than ever. i spoke to the former israeli justice minister who was instrumental in the setting up the oslo peace accord, arguably the closest there has been to any kind of solution to the crisis in the middle east for years and we talked about whether or not the two sides, given everything that's come to pass on the last few weeks, are likely to sit down and negotiate any time soon. we live in a nightmare. you want to get up in the morning to see that this is not the reality and you find a reality even worse than you think. so, it's too early to judge, but what i can say is that from the darkest moments of history, people find themselves in a new era. and sometimes, wars are conducive to agreements and to peace. so my hope is that even that very strange and cruel work after the massacre in south israel by hamas, even that conflict will be conducive to a meeting between the parties. not hamas, hamas is not a partner, never was one. but with the pno, with the palestinian authority, not hamas, hamas is not a partner, never was one. with the arab countries, with those countries in the world to understand that managing the conflict was idiotic because it is unrealistic. and that we will come to a solution. we know the solution, it is a two—state solution, based on the 67 borders, with changes of borders, minor changes, land swaps, and the solutions for all the issues ofjerusalem, refugees and the other issues, it is already there. we know the solution. there are those who support and those who oppose it, but nobody can say that he or she doesn't know what is the solution, what the solution should look like, and i believe that it is possible. let me leave you with live pictures of the scene in gaza. you can see this foggy skyline, but also the level of destruction from this continuing bombardment you can see and hear, incredibly intense and more so than we've seen so far in this conflict. i am anna foster. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. it's a story we've heard many times before this october, but the unsettled theme is set to continue. yes, we are likely to see showers and longer spells of rain and it will be quite blustery at times. let's take a look at the culprit. still low—pressure out to the west with more of an organised frontal system pushing into the south—west later on and that will bring some heavy, persistent rain and some gale force gusts of wind on the south coast. the brighter colours note the intensity of the rainfall as it moves through parts of wales, towards dorset and the capital by the end of the afternoon. elsewhere sunny spells, scattered showers, some scattered showers, some of them intense in eastern northern ireland and into eastern scotland. a blustery afternoon for many, gusts of wind up to 30, possibly a0 mph at times. that easterly wind continuing to feed in the rain off the east coast of scotland. top temperatures 10—16 c. through the night tonight, that rain in the south—west will continue to drive its way steadily northwards. a blanket of cloud with it, so temperatures going up but presistent rain in northern ireland but grinding to a halt in southern scotland. we will see this relentless conveyor belt of wet weather pushing in off the north sea. behind it, sunny spells, scattered showers, breezing into northern ireland and south and west facing coasts. another blustery day. gusts of winds up to 40—50 mph in the far north west of scotland. temperatures just above where they should be at this time of year but with showers and rain around, fairly academic. as we move into next week, a little bit of a breatherfor the beginning of the week but more wet weather on wednesdau allows the floodgates to open again with low pressure waiting in the wings. pretty unsettled as we close out october and we start the new month of november. take care. live from southern israel, this is bbc news. israel steps up its air strikes on gaza. the army says it hit 150 hamas targets overnight, releasing video that it says shows its tanks in gaza. translation: the ground forces entered and continued expanding| the ground force operations. infantry, engineering and artillery are accompanied by heavy gunfire. this is the scene live in gaza. our correspondent, rushdi abualouf, says it's been total chaos. a state of panic, fear and chaos. very chaotic scenes in the street. i have been driving through the city of khan younis this morning. less people, but more panic. international aid agencies say they are struggling to contact their teams inside gaza after most communication networks were cut overnight.