Israel-Gaza conflict: 5 key developments on Thursday 19 October

Up to 20 aid trucks are preparing to cross into Gaza from Egypt as the situation in the enclave deteriorates; mains electricity has run out, and supplies of food, water and medicine are running low.

The decision to allow the limited aid into Gaza has been met with approval from prime minister Rishi Sunak, who landed in Israel on Thursday for a meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu warned it would be a "long war", which regional security officials have said comes with little forward planning and "no endgame". According to a Reuters report citing several unnamed officials, there is no long-term plan on Gaza, which remains under "total siege" in the aftermath of an unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas.

Here are the main stories from today:

1. Sunak: We want Israeli victory

• Rishi Sunak has told Benjamin Netanyahu the UK wants Israel to win its battle against Palestinian militant group Hamas as the Israeli premier issued warnings of a “long war".

• Following his meeting with Netanyahu, Sunak said: “I want to thank you for the support that your government has given to the families of British nationals caught up in this horror, including your efforts to release the hostages, to secure their release."

Read more: Sunak thanks Netanyahu for hostages support as he backs Israel to win (PA)

2 Aid trucks wait on border

• Up to 20 aid trucks are waiting to pass through the Rafah Crossing from Egypt into Gaza following days of Israeli bombardments.

• The US and Egypt have successfully agreed a deal with Israel, who said on Wednesday they would not stop aid entering Gaza but that supplies will not be allowed to reach Palestinian group Hamas.

• Most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents depended on aid before the current conflict started on 7 October, and about 100 trucks daily were providing humanitarian relief to the enclave, according to the UN.

Read more: Israeli airstrikes continue as Gaza waits for aid (Euronews)

3. Brits told to leave Lebanon

• The Foreign Office has advised Britons against all travel to Lebanon because of risks associated with the conflict.

• It also encouraged British nationals in Lebanon to leave now "while commercial options remain available".

Read more: Egypt and Cyprus travel advice: What is the latest guidance amid Israeli-Gaza conflict? (Yahoo News UK)

4. Harry Potter fan killed

• The body of a 12-year-old Israeli girl - who was pictured in a Harry Potter outfit - has been recovered alongside her grandmother after they were kidnapped by Hamas, according to Israel.

• Noya, 12, and Carmela Dan, 80, are believed to have been taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October, during Hamas militants's brutal and surprise incursion that killed 1,400 people.

• Israel had posted a photo of Noya in a Hogwarts uniform, holding a wand and a Harry Potter book on social media last weekend.

Read more: Harry Potter fan, 12, and her grandmother found dead in Gaza (Evening Standard)

5. Israel has 'no endgame'

• Israel is vowing to wipe out Hamas in a relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip but has no obvious endgame in sight and no clear plan for how to govern the ravaged Palestinian enclave even if it triumphs on the battlefield, according to the Reuters news agency.

• Codenamed "Operation Swords of Iron," the military campaign will be unmatched in its ferocity and unlike anything Israel has carried out in Gaza in the past, according to eight regional and Western officials with knowledge of the conflict who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Read more: Israel's endgame? No sign of post-war plan for Gaza (Reuters)

Where is Gaza?

Gaza, also known as the Gaza Strip, is a densely-populated Palestinian enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, north-east of the Sinai Peninsula.

Bound by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the south, it is just 25 miles long and six miles wide.

Gaza is one of two Palestinian territories. The other is the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Read more

• Israel-Gaza conflict: 5 key developments on Wednesday 18 October