middle east into the abyss . he s demanded hamas immediately release hostages and israel let in aid. it comes as the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says his military is ready to begin a ground offensive at any moment aimed at crushing hamas, after its fighters killed more than 1,400 israelis and took more than 150 people hostage last week. an estimated 300,000 israeli troops are massing near gaza, but israel has given no indication of when an attack might begin. meanwhile, israeli airstrikes on gaza continue. israel says it is targeting hamas positions. hamas is designated as a terror organisation by many western governments, including the us and uk. we can show you these live pictures of gaza city right now, where it s currently 7am. gazan health officials say the number of palestinians killed has risen to 2,670 with 9,600 others wounded. hamas says that less than half of the 1.1 million people living in northern gaza have now moved south in the last 48 hours,
the united nations secretary general has in the last hour made two direct humanitarian appeals to both hamas and israel. antonio guterres issued a statement saying it was his duty as we are on the verge of the abyss in the middle east . he called on hamas to immediately release the hostages it was holding without conditions. and urged israel to allow rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid into gaza including supplies and workers for the sake of civilians there. mr guterres said each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. they should not become bargaining chips and must be implemented because it s the right thing to do . the statement comes as the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, said his military is ready to begin at any moment a ground offensive aimed at crushing hamas. thousands of people in the gaza strip are continuing to flee south after an order by israel for more than a million people to evacuate. these are the latest dev
an underground command centre used by hamas which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the united kingdom, united states and several other countries. it s a claim doctors there deny. meanwhile, in the us, the white house and the pentagon say they now have intelligence that hamas and palestinian islamic jihad are operating from tunnels below hospitals, including al shifa, and that they are also storing weapons there. it s the first time they have backed up israel s claims to this extent. despite its new intelligence, the us says hospitals and patients must be protected. the israeli military said its actions at al shifa are precise and targeted . the gaza strip has been under siege by the israel defence forces since hamas launched its attacks in israel on october 7. our correspondent in gaza, rushdi abualouf, has spoken to an eyewitness at the hospital. i made another contact with someone inside the hospital and he said he saw six tanks inside the hospital, on he sai
operation against hamas in gaza s biggest hospital al shifa in gaza city where thousands of civilians are believed to be sheltering. in a statement the idf says is conducting a ground operation in gaza to defeat hamas and rescue hostages. israel is at war with hamas, not the civilians in gaza, it says. we re just getting details mark correspondence in gaza who was hearing that israeli soldiers are now inside shifa hospital and eyewitness told us reporter rushdi abualouf saying that is really fight a smoke from that caused people to suffocate. he said soldiers vandalised the specialised surgical department and contact with him was cut off. it comes after the white house and pentagon confirmed there is an intelligent supporting israel s claim that hamas and the palestinian islamichhad are operating from tunnels under hospitals including al shifa. they say they are storing weapons there. hamas denies the claims and his court for an international committee to come in and inspect
in new york confirmed the raid saying the israeli military was doing everything possible to prevent civilians at the hospital getting caught up in the operation. and eyewitnesses told the bbc he has tanks inside the hospital grounds and more than 100 soldiers entering the main emergency department. in a statement, the idf says it is conducting a ground operation in gaza to defeat hamas and rescue hostages. it said israel is at war with hamas not with the civilians in gaza. this is the first time the military is directly entering al shifa hospital after days of strikes and heavy fighting around the grounds in gaza city. the white house has reiterated its earlier position that it does not want to see any targeting of hospitals. the raid comes after the us confirmed it has intelligent supporting israel s claim that hamas in the palestinian islamicjihad are operating from tunnels below hospitals, including al shifa. they say they are also storing weapons there. thomas denies the