As it happened: Strikes on Gaza claim more lives

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned anti-Semitism targeting British Jews, after a video emerged of a convoy of cars brandishing Palestinian flags in North London, with anti-Semitic abuse apparently being shouted through a megaphone.

London's Metropolitan Police said they were aware of the video, which appeared to be filmed in the St John's Wood area, which is home to a Jewish community.

Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said the incident was "utterly disgusting", tweeting that there had to be consequences: "Antisemitism, misogyny and hate have no place on our streets or in our society."

The Jewish community's Community Security Trust said it was fully aware of "appalling anti-Semitic intimidation and incitement from [a] “pro-Palestinian” car convoy from Bradford".

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he is deeply concerned by reports of "hateful, intimidating and racist language used on marches and social media". "Behaviour that incites anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim hatred has no place in our city," he said.

We have more details on this story here.

Nine police officers were hurt during big pro-Palestinian protests in central London yesterday. Protesters called for the UK government to "stop allowing Israel's brutal violence" against the Palestinians. Police said the demonstrations had been largely peaceful but projectiles had been thrown in "small pockets of disorder".

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Israel's military says the destruction of homes in Gaza City which killed 42 Palestinians was caused by an attack on a Hamas tunnel system.

Several homes were reduced to rubble following an air strike early on Sunday. Israel said it had attacked a militant tunnel system which collapsed, bringing residential buildings down with it.

It said the deaths were unintentional. Ten children were among the victims.

Rescue workers combed through the debris of the buildings on Sunday recovering bodies.

"These are moments of horror that no-one can describe. Like an earthquake hit the area," said Mahmoud Hmaid, who was helping the efforts.

Is Israel’s military operation in Gaza, dubbed “Guardian of the Walls”, nearing its conclusion? Not obviously. Benjamin Netanyahu says attacks are continuing with “full force” and will “take time”.

In a news conference this afternoon, Israel’s prime minister admitted there were “pressures” but thanked US President Joe Biden, in particular, for his support.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Mr Biden’s envoy, Hady Amr, has been in Israel since Friday, discussing the crisis with Israeli officials. Unusually, at the end of a week that has also seen an alarming spate of inter-communal violence in mixed Jewish-Arab cities, he also met Israeli-Arab leaders.

Since the US, like Israel and many other countries, regards Hamas as a terrorist organisation, Mr Amr will not be meeting one of the two warring parties. Any messages for Hamas will have to go through traditional interlocutors, like Egypt or Qatar.

Local reports suggest Hamas has been offering some kind of ceasefire for several days, only to be rebuffed by Israel, which clearly wants to inflict as much damage as it can on the militants before the fighting is finally brought to a close.

These episodes follow a familiar pattern: Israel presses home its undoubted military advantage until the international outcry over civilian casualties, and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, demand that the operation end.

In Israel’s estimation, we have not yet reached that point.

Former Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has said it will be Israel, and not Hamas, that decides when the military operation is complete.

Mr Bennett, who heads the right-wing party Yamina, told the BBC that all the casualties in the current conflict were down to Hamas's decision to start it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that destroying the Jala high-rise block in Gaza yesterday was justified.

He's given an interview with US network CBS in which he maintained there was "an intelligence office for the Palestinian terrorist organisation housed in that building that plots and organises terror attacks against Israeli civilians, so it's a perfectly legitimate target".

The building housed crews from the Associated Press and Al-Jazeera, who were given an hour to leave before it was destroyed in an air strike. Mr Netanyahu confirmed Israeli reports that US officials had been given information about the attack.

The building's landlord has denied it has any connection with Hamas. The Associated Press has asked Israel to present evidence.

News agency Agence France Presse said earlier that its media colleagues would be moving into its offices in Gaza.

This is the moment the tower block was brought down in yesterday's air strike.

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In a statement to the UN Security Council, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki denounced Israeli “aggression”, detailing attacks that had destroyed families in the Gaza Strip. "Israel keeps telling you 'put yourself in our shoes', but Israel is not wearing shoes, it is wearing military boots," he said.

He asked how many victims were enough for the Security Council to condemn what was going on. “What is the threshold for outrage?”

Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan also appealed to the Security Council to understand the Israeli response: "This is not the first time that Hamas has fired at Israeli civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians. But this time it was different." He said Hamas was seeking to seize power from the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas.

"There is never a justification for terror," he said, accusing Hamas of inciting violence in Jerusalem. He was adamant that Israel was taking "unparalleled steps" to avoid civilian casualties.

The end games in the wars between Hamas and Israel have followed a pattern since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.

Foreign mediators have thrashed out a variety of ceasefires. That's what the Americans, Egyptians, the UN and others are trying to do now.

For that to work, both sides need to be able to tell their people they've won.

Hamas will want to say that it is the real protector of Palestinian rights, not just in Gaza but also in the occupied West Bank including Jerusalem.

Israel will want to show its people that it has done serious damage to the Hamas infrastructure. A much used phrase is "restore deterrence". That means showing their enemies that hitting Israel will only bring pain and suffering.

Both sides will struggle to find words for bereaved families or traumatised children.

If you are just joining us, here are today's key developments in the Israel-Palestinian conflict:

• Israel has carried out more strikes in Gaza - targeting at least two leaders of the militant Hamas organisation that runs the territory
• Authorities in Gaza say at least 40 people were killed in the latest air strikes, bringing to 188 the number of Palestinian victims killed in Gaza since last Monday.
• Israel has reported 10 deaths. More rockets have been fired from Gaza towards towns and cities in southern Israel. Israel says the concentration of rocket fire in the past week has been the highest ever
• Funerals have been taking place in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel for victims of the violence
• The UN Secretary-General has told a meeting of the security council that all parties must "allow mediation efforts to intensify and succeed"
• However, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says its military operation will continue "at full strength"
• Amid heightened tensions there has been a car ramming in East Jerusalem. Israeli police said four officers were among several people injured and that the assailant had been killed

In a televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military operation against Hamas is "continuing at full strength", appearing to reject international attempts to arrange a ceasefire.

"Our campaign against the terrorist organisations is continuing with full force. We are acting now, for as long as necessary, to restore calm and quiet to you, Israel's citizens. It will take time," he said.

Mr Netanyahu added that Israel wanted to exact a price from the "aggressor" and to restore deterrence. He was speaking after a meeting of Israel's security cabinet which went on for several hours.

More from the UN Security Council meeting currently taking place online. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said that the violence was a threat to the whole region.

"It has the potential to unleash an uncontainable security and humanitarian crisis and to further foster extremism, not only in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel, but in the region as a whole," he said.

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In his opening remarks to the UN Security Council meeting, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN was "actively engaging all sides towards an immediate ceasefire".

He described the violence as "utterly appalling" and said the fighting must stop immediately.

Mr Guterres also called on all parties "to allow mediation efforts to intensify and succeed".

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, told the online meeting that casualties on both sides were mounting and that the situation in Gaza was "more dire by the day". The UN was working tirelessly with all sides to restore calm, he said.

Mr Wennesland said Gaza militants should stop firing rockets from civilians areas and Israeli authorities had to abide by international law, maintaining maximum restraint to spare civilians.

The Israeli cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheba have been hit by rocket fire from Gaza in the past hour.

So far there have been no reports of major injuries but Israel's fire and rescue authority reports substantial damage to homes and cars, and to a synagogue in Ashkelon.

Israel national fire and rescue authorityCopyright: Israel national fire and rescue authority

Earlier, Israel's military said more than 3,000 rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip since the latest conflict began.

Cars were hit in Ashdod and reports say a residential building under construction was also struck.

This video was posted from the scene in Ashdod.

The UN Security Council is due to convene shortly to discuss the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The US - a long-time ally of Israel - blocked a meeting scheduled for Friday and has faced criticism for not doing enough to halt the violence.

US President Joe Biden held phone calls on Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. In his talks with Netanyahu he underscored Israel's right to defend itself.

The US Secretary for Israel-Palestinian Affairs, Hady Amr, held talks earlier with Defence Minister Benny Gantz and was due to meet Palestinian officials too.

Hundreds of people have been attending funerals in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel for victims of the latest violence.

In Gaza City, funerals were held for members of the al-Kulak family who died in an Israeli air strike earlier today.

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In the West Bank village of Saida, near the city of Tulkarem, mourners carried the body of Yaseen Hamad who was killed during clashes with Israeli troops near his village.

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Crowds gathered in the West Bank city of Hebron for the funeral of teenager Muhammad Yunus Freijat, who was also killed during clashes with Israel security forces.

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Meanwhile in Israel, the funeral took place for Gershon Franco, 55, who died on Saturday when a rocket fired from Gaza landed in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Israel says the past week has seen the highest ever rate of rocket attacks on its territory from Gaza. So just how much firepower does Hamas have there?

Foreign affairs analyst Jonathan Marcus says estimating the militant group's stockpile of rockets is impossible, but it will include many thousands of projectiles of varying ranges.

Some of the weaponry will have been smuggled in through tunnels from Egypt's Sinai peninsula but the bulk of it is believed to be manufactured inside the Gaza Strip itself.

You can read more of Jonathan's analysis here.

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Differing reports are emerging about whether Israel is considering a ceasefire to halt the fighting.

The Financial Times newspaper reports that the UN, Egypt and Qatar are working on a short ceasefire to enable fuel to reach Gaza's only power plant, citing two Western diplomats. Israeli officials believe the plant could run out as soon as tomorrow.

However, Israeli media have quoted their own sources saying no ceasefire proposal was made or assessed when the country's security cabinet met for several hours earlier today.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has updated its figures on the number of people killed in Israeli air strikes in the early hours of Sunday.

It now says 33 people died. A spokesman said 12 women and 8 children were among them, and a further 50 people were wounded.

Fourteen hours on, paramedics are still searching the rubble of collapsed buildings for potential survivors.

EPACopyright: EPA

This brings to 181 the number of deaths in Gaza since the conflict erupted a week ago.

In Israel, officials say 10 people, including two children, have been killed by militant attacks. Several more rocket attacks have taken place on southern towns and cities today, but there are no details of casualties.

The fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza is taking a brutal toll on people's everyday lives. Here families on both sides of the border tell of their fear amid the daily bombardment.

Israel has seen the highest ever concentration of rocket attacks on its territory during the latest conflict with Hamas in Gaza, the military says.

Major General Ori Gordin told reporters that since Monday, Hamas had fired about 3,000 rockets towards Israel.

He said the rate of rocket launches surpassed previous attacks from Gaza and also from the 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.