14:00 GMT - Israel raids West Bank home of Hamas deputy leader
Israeli troops have raided the West Bank home of a senior Hamas leader and detained members of his family, witnesses said.
Saleh al-Aruri is the deputy to Hamas' overall leader Ismail Haniyeh and one of the founders of the Islamist group's military wing.
Troops entered Aruri's home in Arura village, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Ramallah, at dawn on Saturday, arresting more than 20 people, including one of his brothers and nine of his nephews, mayor Ali al-Khasib and witnesses told AFP news agency.
13:00 GMT - Israel demands evacuation of 20 hospitals in northern Gaza
Israel has demanded the evacuation of 20 hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, six of which have already been evacuated, an Israeli security official has said.
“Four hospitals refused the evacuation orders while the rest are in the process of being evacuated,” the unnamed official told the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.
The official claimed that "about 30,000 Palestinians came to the shelters surrounding Shifa Hospital to act as human shields."
12:000 GMT - Fuel will not be brought into Gaza - Israeli army
An Israeli army spokesman has said that fuel will not be brought into the Gaza Strip as part of instructions from the Israeli political leadership.
In a statement, the Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed: “The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is under control.”
"We appeal to the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to go south,” the spokesman said, adding that the “humanitarian aid will go in there and we will continue to intensify the strikes on the northern Gaza Strip.”
“Under directives from the political level, food, medicine and water were transported through the Rafah crossing,” he said.
11:00 GMT - Death toll in Gaza Strip due to Israeli attacks reaches over 4,300
The death toll in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing Israeli attacks has climbed to 4,385, health ministry officials in the besieged enclave said Saturday.
The ministry said that 1,756 children were among the people killed in the Israeli attacks.
Officials have said that more than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed in the conflict.
10:00 GMT - Arab leaders denounce Israel attacks on Gaza
Arab leaders have condemned Israel's two-week-old bombardment of Gaza and demanded renewed efforts to reach a Middle East peace settlement to end a decades-long cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
"The message the Arab world is hearing is that Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones," he said, adding he was outraged and grieved by acts of violence waged against innocent civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel," Jordan's King Abdullah said,
"The Israeli leadership must realise once and for all that a state can never thrive if it is built on a foundation of injustice ... Our message to the Israelis should be that we want a future of peace and security for you and the Palestinians."
7:50 GMT - First convoy of aid trucks enter Gaza from Egypt's Rafah crossing
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Egypt into besieged Gaza started passing through the Rafah border crossing, Red Crescent told Anadolu news agency.
More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tons of aid had been positioned near the crossing for days before heading into Gaza. An Associated Press reporter saw the trucks entering.
Many in Gaza, reduced to eating one meal a day and without enough water to drink, are waiting desperately for the aid.
6:00 GMT - Rafah crossing to open for foreigners to leave Gaza
The US Embassy in Israel said the Gaza-Egypt border may open on Saturday, suggesting that such a move would enable foreigners to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave.
In a social media post, the embassy said it had "received info" that the Rafah crossing would open at 10 a.m. (0700GMT). "We do not know how long it will remain open for foreign citizens to depart Gaza," it added.
5:15 GMT - At least 28 Palestinians have been killed in new Israeli air strikes in blockaded Gaza, Palestine's state news agency WAFA reported.
Warplanes struck several areas in Rafah in southern Gaza, leaving at least seven people dead, said WAFA, citing sources. At least 14 people were killed in an Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in northern Gaza, said one source.
An Israeli strike targeted a house in western Rafah, killing five, including three children. Two people were killed in another strike on a house in the city, while seven were reported to be trapped under rubble.
4:30 GMT - Fleeing Palestinians in dilemma
A spokesperson for the UN human rights office said there are new signs that some Palestinians who initially moved south in response to the Israeli ultimatum to evacuate are returning to their homes because Israeli strikes are taking place in the south, too.
"We remain very concerned that Israeli Forces' heavy strikes are continuing across Gaza, including in the south," Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.
"The strikes, coupled with extremely difficult living conditions in the south, appear to have pushed some to return to the north, despite the continuing heavy bombing there."
4:00 GMT - Israel kills 15 Palestinians in new strikes: Gaza ministry
Fresh Israeli air strikes in the blockaded Gaza have killed at least 15 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Interior Ministry.
A ministry statement said 10 Palestinians were killed when Israeli fighter jets struck two houses in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
Four children and a woman were killed in a separate strike on a house east of Rafah in southern Gaza, it said. In an earlier statement, the ministry said 16 people were killed in the strikes.
3:15 GMT - Hamas working with mediators to free 'civilian' detainees
Hamas has said, after the release of two American women, that it was working with Qatari and Egyptian mediators to release "civilian" captives taken during its October 7 surprise blitzkrieg against Israel.
The Palestinian resistance group said it is "working with all mediators to implement the movement's decision to close the civilian [detainees] file if appropriate security conditions allow."
The group said that Americans Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan were freed following efforts by Qatar and Egypt.
2:30 GMT - Father of freed American teen Natalie Raanan says she's doing very good
The father of freed American teen Natalie Raanan has said she's doing well after her release by Hamas.
Uri Raanan of Illinois told The Associated Press that he spoke to his daughter by telephone.
"She's doing good. She's doing very good," said Uri Raanan, who lives in the Chicago suburbs. "I'm in tears, and I feel very, very good."
2:00 GMT - Thousands gather in US capital demanding Gaza ceasefire
Thousands of demonstrators have gathered in the US capital following a Friday prayer to demand a ceasefire in Gaza amid ongoing Israeli attacks.
Organised by American Muslims for Palestine, demonstrators, including women and children, congregated at the National Mall area facing the US Congress.
Demonstrators, many adorned in Palestinian scarves, or Keffiyehs, performed the prayer led by prominent imam, Omar Suleiman.
1:30 GMT - Blinken calls on Hamas to free more US detainees
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has voiced relief that Hamas has released two American detainees but said the Palestinian group still holds 10 other US citizens among approximately 200 captives seized earlier this month.
All hostages, Blinken told a press conference, "should be released immediately and unconditionally."
For our live updates of Friday October 20, click here.
