Live Updates: Israeli army pushing deep into northern, central Gaza — ministry

14:04 GMT — Israeli army detains further 60 Palestinians across West Bank

The Israeli army detained 60 Palestinians on Tuesday from different areas across the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society NGO said the new arrests bring the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli forces since October 7 to 1,740.

Before October 7, the number of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails was around 5,200, includng more than 1,000 held under the notorious administrative detention policy with no charge or trial.

12:30 GMT — Israel army says engaged in 'fierce battles' with Hamas in Gaza

Israeli forces were engaged in "fierce battles" with Hamas fighters inside Gaza, the army has said, as it continued to pummel the Palestinian territory with air and artillery strikes.

Israeli forces are "engaged in fierce battles with Hamas terrorists deep inside the Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement, adding that dozens of militants had been killed in the past few hours.

12:06 GMT — Turkish, Romanian foreign ministers discuss developments in Gaza

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a phone call with his Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu to discuss the Palestinian issue in light of the recent developments in Gaza, Turkish diplomatic sources said.

No further details were shared regarding the conversation.

12:02 GMT — Israel's war on Gaza violates international law: Kuwait

The current Israeli war on Gaza violates international law, said Kuwait’s crown prince.

Speaking to Kuwait’s parliament, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah said the Israeli bombardment of Gaza “violates all humanitarian laws and international conventions.”

“It’s paramount for the world to look into how to implement an immediate cease-fire and increase relief aid to the Gaza Strip,” said Al Sabah, the heir apparent to Kuwait’s throne.

12:01 GMT — Senior Russian diplomat meets Israeli ambassador, discusses situation in Gaza

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed the latest situation in Gaza with Israeli Ambassador Alexander Ben Zvi.

The Russian side emphasised the importance of resolving humanitarian issues “as soon as possible,” including the release of hostages, ensuring the safe evacuation of Russian citizens from Gaza, as well as ensuring the delivery of humanitarian supplies to the territory of the Palestinian enclave, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.

12:01 GMT — Israel criticises Germany for abstention in UN Gaza cease-fire vote

Israel criticised Germany for not rejecting a UN resolution which called for an urgent humanitarian truce in Gaza.

Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, said Germany’s decision last week to abstain in the UN General Assembly vote was “more than disappointing” for his country.

“Friday's abstention is morally wrong and history will judge this. Germany’s ‘reason of state’ means actively standing with Israel, especially in difficult times,” he told the daily Rheinische Post.

Prosor said they expect from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government to honour its promise of “unwavering support” for Israel after the Oct. 7 operation by taking concrete actions in support of his country.

11:45 GMT — Israel army says intercepted 'missile' from Red Sea region

The Israeli military has said its forces intercepted a missile fired from the Red Sea region, as tensions surged across the Middle East amid Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.

"A surface-to-surface missile was fired toward Israeli territory from the area of the Red Sea and was successfully intercepted by the 'Arrow' aerial defence system," the military said in a statement.

The Israeli Air Force also scrambled jets following the detection of the missile. "All aerial threats were intercepted outside of Israeli territory. No infiltrations were identified into Israeli territory," the military said.

11:30 GMT — Orthodox church condemns Israel for bombing its Gaza centre

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has blamed Israel for the overnight bombing of its cultural centre in Gaza City and condemned the "direct and unjustified attack".

"This attack represents a stark embodiment of Israel's unwarranted determination to destroy the civil infrastructure and social service centres, as well as shelters for civilians trapped in the besieged enclave," the church said in a statement.

11:26 GMT — Netanyahu again invokes sacred scripture to defend Israeli war on Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again invoked Jewish and Christian scripture to justify the ongoing war on Gaza.

"The Bible says that 'there is a time for peace and a time for war.' This is a time for war," Netanyahu told a press conference, quoting Ecclesiastes, a book in both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.

10:35 GMT — Targeting hospitals amount violation of intl law: UN

Targeting protected hospitals would "amount to a violation of international humanitarian law," the UN human rights office has said.

10:02 GMT — WHO warns of 'imminent public health of catastrophe' in Gaza

A World Health Organization official has said that a "public health catastrophe" was imminent in Gaza amid overcrowding, mass displacement and damage to water and sanitation infrastructure.

At the same press briefing, a spokesperson from the U.N. children's agency warned of the risk of infant deaths due to dehydration with just 5% of normal water supplies available.

10:47 GMT — Death toll in Palestine's Gaza rises to 8,525

At least 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,542 children, were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7, the health ministry in Gaza has said.

2,187 women also killed in Israel's bombardments.

130 healthcare staff were killed, and 15 hospitals are now out of service along with 32 healthcare centres, health ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al Qudra said.

10:17 GMT — Israel 'turning deaf ear' to international community, ignoring calls for truce: China

China has accused Israel of turning a deaf ear to the concerns of the international community by paying no heed to calls for a humanitarian truce in Gaza.

“Regrettably and unacceptably,” China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the UN Security Council on Monday, “Israel, turning a deaf ear to the common concerns of the international community, has chosen to further escalate its military operations in Gaza and formally declared the launch of a ground assault.”

Zhang was referring to a UN General Assembly resolution passed last Friday which called for an immediate and durable humanitarian truce in Gaza leading to the cessation of hostilities.

“China solemnly calls on Israel as the occupying power to fulfil its obligations under international humanitarian law, lift its full siege on Gaza, immediately rescind its emergency evacuation order, and expeditiously restore the supply of basic necessities so as to prevent an even larger humanitarian disaster,” said the Chinese ambassador, according to an official transcript.

09:56 GMT — Gaza becomes 'graveyard of children' — UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund or UNICEF has raised the alarm over the rising number of child deaths in Gaza since Oct. 7, when Israel-Palestine tensions flared into an armed conflict.

"Gaza has become a graveyard of children," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told a UN press briefing in Geneva.

Elder reiterated UNICEF's call for an immediate cease-fire and humanitarian access to supplies for the enclave, saying children in Gaza are dying not only due to airstrikes but also because of a lack of needed medical care.

09:47 GMT — Yemen's Houthi rebels claim drone attack on Israel

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired drones towards Israel in retaliation for its attacks in Gaza, a senior official from the group told AFP news agency.

"These drones belong to the state of Yemen," Abdelaziz bin Habtour, prime minister of the Houthi government, said when asked about drones launched towards Eilat in southern Israel.

09:05 GMT — It's a matter of life and death in Gaza: UN

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees told a UN emergency meeting Monday “an immediate humanitarian cease-fire has become a matter of life and death for millions,” accusing Israel of “collective punishment” of Palestinians and the forced displacement of civilians.

Philippe Lazzarini warned that a further breakdown of civil order after the agency’s warehouses were broken into by Palestinians searching for food and other aid “will make it extremely difficult, aif not impossible, for the largest UN agency in Gaza to continue operating.”

09:56 GMT - Israel attacks Hamas targets in northern Gaza

Israeli ground forces are attacking Hamas militants and infrastructure in northern Gaza as warplanes strike across the sealed-off territory.

Buoyed by the first successful rescue of a captive held by Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a cease-fire a nd again vowed to crush the militant group’s ability to govern Gaza or threaten Israel.

More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have fled their homes, with hundreds of thousands sheltering in packed U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters or in hospitals alongside thousands of wounded patients.

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,306, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 122 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.

07:16 GMT - 55 more killed as Israeli airstrikes pummel Gaza

At least 55 Palestinians were killed in fresh Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, according to local media.

An airstrike hit a house in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, killing nine and injuring several others, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Another strike targeted a dwelling in the town of Zawaida town in central Gaza, leaving 18 people dead, the broadcaster noted.

Seven others perished and scores were injured in an airstrike on a house in the Zeitoun neighborhood of central Gaza, while 18 were killed in another strike on a home in Rafah city, Wafa said.

07:13 GMT — 15 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike targeting house in central Gaza

At least 15 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a residence belonging to the Abu Shamala family in the Zawaida area of the central Gaza, the Palestine News Agency WAFA reported, citing local and media sources.

WAFA said warplanes also bombed a four-story building in the Zaytoun neighbourhood in southeastern Gaza, resulting in dozens of casualties.

The Israeli military has been conducting relentless air strikes and artillery shelling in all regions of Gaza, resulting in deaths and injuries among Palestinians.

06:50 GMT — UNRWA mourns 63 of its staff killed in Gaza since October 7

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) mourned the 63 members of its staff killed in Gaza due to Israeli attacks since October 7.

"No words can describe the grief for 63 of our UNRWA colleagues killed in Gaza since 7 October," UNRWA said in a statement on its X account.

"This unfathomable, continuous suffering that unfolds each day must stop now," it added.

It said that despite serious risks to its staff, UNRWA continues to serve those in need in Gaza.

UNRWA is the largest UN agency operating in Gaza.

06:40 GMT — Qatari, US top diplomats discuss developments in Gaza

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held discussions with his US counterpart Antony Blinken on developments in light of Israel’s onslaught against Gaza.

Blinken phoned Al Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s prime minister, during which "they discussed the gravity of escalating the confrontations in Gaza (and) the necessity of an immediate ceasefire," according to a statement by the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

They also touched on the latest developments in the mediation process to release hostages in Gaza.

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas’s military wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, said earlier in a statement that it is holding 200-250 people captive, including Israeli soldiers and civilians.

So far, four captives held in Gaza have been released by Hamas.

06:30 GMT — Hamas’s armed wing announces targeting of 4 Israeli military vehicles in southern Gaza

The Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said that they exchanged fire with Israeli forces that penetrated Gaza.

“Our fighters are engaging with the invading enemy forces in southern Gaza. They are actively involved in the clashes, using automatic weapons and targeting four vehicles with anti-tank shells and explosive devices,” they said in a brief statement on Telegram.

“We targeted an Israeli tank and bulldozer with two anti-tank shells," the statement added.

There has been no immediate response from the Israeli side on the announcement.

For our live updates from Monday (October 30), click here.