Israel Palestine conflict live updates: Fierce gun battles rage with Hamas militants as ‘over 500 Israelis killed’

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said his group’s “guns and rockets” were with Palestinian militants who carried out a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday that left 250 Israelis dead.

“Our history, our guns and our rockets are with you. Everything we have is with you,” Safieddine said at an event in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahieh on Beirut’s outskirts in solidarity with the Palestinian fighters.

Israel claims to have killed hundreds of Hamas fighters as gun battles play out in the streets of Israel amid efforts to root out and dislodge militants from eight settlements.

Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters the situation at the northern border was calm after the exchange. But he said fighting was still underway in the south and that there were still hostage situations there.

He said troops had moved into every community near the Gaza frontier, where they planned to evacuate all civilians and scour the area for militants. This includes Urim, Bari, Nahal Oz, Native Hatara, Zikim, and further evacuations “will be done according to the assessment of the situation”, the military said.

“We will go through every community until we kill every terrorist that is in Israeli territory,” he said. In Gaza, “every terrorist located in a house, all the commanders in houses, will be hit by Israeli fire. That will continue escalating in the coming hours.”

Hamas said it had continued overnight to send forces and equipment into “a number of locations inside our occupied territories,” referring to Israel.

Hamas-linked media reported that the son of Nizar Awadallah, a senior political official, was killed. Hamas has not reported any senior members being captured, killed or wounded.

“Hundreds” of Hamas militants have been killed and dozens captured amid ongoing fighting in Gaza and southern Israel, Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has said.

Israel’s military has been pummelling Gaza with strikes and claims to have hit multiple Hamas targets. More than 300 people have been reported dead by health authorities, with a hospital and high-rise civilian buildings said to be among those hit.

Israel also said it was seeking to push Hamas fighters from eight locations in Israel with gunfights reported in the streets after militants breached the border from Gaza yesterday.

My colleague Maryam Zakir-Hussain has mapped out the locations where fighting is reported to be taking place:

Two Israeli tourists were killed after an Egyptian police officer reportedly opened fire in the coastal city of Alexandria, according to Egypt’s interior ministry.

One Egyptian person was also killed in the shooting.

You can refresh the article below for updates on this breaking development:

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:

Seventy flights to and from Tel Aviv on Sunday have been cancelled and diverted following the Hamas attacks on Israel. Most departures from Europe, the Middle East and the US were grounded. Two flights – from Ibiza and Naples – took off for Tel Aviv but were diverted to Larnaca, the main airport on the island of Cyprus.

Ben Gurion International Airport remains open and operational. Saturday night’s British Airways flight from London Heathrow touched down 80 minutes behind schedule at 1.10am on Sunday, and the return service departed on time at 7.10am. But the Sunday afternoon BA flight has been grounded, along with services on easyJet and Wizz Air.

Both easyJet flights from Luton to Tel Aviv on Sunday have been grounded. Passengers were told: “We’re sorry that your flight has been cancelled. This is due to the evolving events in Israel.”

A spokesperson for Wizz Air said: “Due to the situation in Israel, we have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv on Sunday 8 October. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and are in touch with the relevant authorities. The safety and security of our passengers and crew is our number one priority and all affected passengers will be contacted via email or text.”

El Al, the Israeli national airline, was not flying during the initial attacks because schedules avoid the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat). Operations resumed after nightfall on Saturday, and the overnight flight from London Heathrow landed on schedule shortly after 5am.

A cruise ship that was due to arrive at Haifa in Israel in the early hours of Sunday morning has changed course to Limassol. Celebrity Apex had just begun a Holy Land cruise from Athens to Israel and Egypt.

The subsequent departure, on 16 October, appears to have been changed so that the two days at Israeli ports will instead be spent at sea.

It is yet not known whether missing British citizen Jake Marlowe is still alive or if he has been taken hostage, the Israeli embassy in London has told The Independent.

“He is missing,” a spokesperson said. “We don’t know yet if taken hostage or killed.”

The 26-year-old’s mother Lisa told Jewish News: “He was doing security at this rave yesterday and called me at 4.30am to say all these rockets were flying over. Then, at about 5.30am, he texted to say, ‘signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you,’ and that he loves me.”

Ms Marlowe said her son had not been online for hours, adding: “I’ve left him lots of WhatsApp messages but I’ve not been able to leave him a [voice] message… I can’t bear to listen to the phone just ringing and not being answered.”

Cabinet minister Mark Harper told Sky News that the UK is “working very closely and have been in contact with the Israeli government about any British citizens” in the country after the attack by Hamas militants.

Mr Harper, the transport secretary, said he had no “specific information” on the reports of a British woman who said her son is missing, amid fears he has been taken to Gaza.

“My own department is working closely with British airlines that fly in that part of the world to make sure they’ve all the information they have to make sure they can continue to keep their passengers safe,” he told the BBC.

He added: “We support their right of self-defence and will support them in whatever they decide to do to defend their country.”

A British citizen is “missing near Gaza” after Hamas militants attacked a music festival and seized partygoers as hostages during their unprecedented incursion across the border with Israel, the country’s embassy in the UK has said.

Thousands of partygoers fled a rave near the border as it was attacked by militants, who were filmed seizing one woman and taking her away on a motorbike.

British citizen Jake Marlowe has not been heard from since Saturday morning and is “missing near Gaza” after the attack on the festival, the Israeli embassy told Sky News.

The Independent has approached the embassy and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment and we’ll bring you more details as we get them.