Israel offensive presses deeper into Gaza as tank seen on key road
BBC updates:
ISRAELI armoured vehicles have been seen on the main road running from north to south of the Gaza Strip, close to Gaza City.
The Israeli military has said they will not comment on the location of their forces.
But it comes as Israel expands its ground offensive in Gaza, with a military spokesman saying troops killed "dozens of terrorists" during clashes overnight.
Meanwhile, "hundreds and hundreds of patients" are stuck in hospitals in the north of Gaza, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says.
Doctors say Israel told staff to evacuate Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City on Sunday but that moving patients - many of whom are in intensive care - is impossible.
Israel has been bombing Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people and saw at least 230 people kidnapped as hostages.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,000 people have been killed since Israel's retaliatory bombing began.
Sunak convenes Cobra to discuss conflict
We're turning our attention to Downing Street now, where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency committee (Cobra) to discuss the conflict in Israel and Gaza, and the impact on communities in the UK.
It’s understood that discussions over whether to raise the UK's terror threat level were not on the agenda.
The PM's official spokesman expressed his concern at an increase in antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents across the country since the conflict started.
He described videos and pictures shared on social media over the weekend as “extremely concerning” and insisted that the government was working to reassure affected communities.
No 10 singled out the chant, “From the river to the sea” - used by some pro-Palestinian protesters apparently as a call for the retaking of the land between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea - as “deeply offensive to many”.
Sunak's spokesman urged people to be careful with their use of language.
After the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, called for clarity on the definition of extremism, Downing Street said the government would look at any gaps in the law that might exist.
“It's important that front-line officers feel they have certainty and clarity,” the spokesman added, but he also insisted that the police did have powers to act.
