Israel launches fresh Gaza attacks amid rocket fire – as it happened

IDF says ground forces have joined the attacks on Gaza Strip but have not entered the enclave. This live blog has now closed - for the latest reports, please head here

• Israel air and ground forces hit targets in Gaza Strip as death toll climbs
• Israeli army says it has not entered the Gaza strip
• Analysis: violence and mayhem offer Benjamin Netanyahu refuge
• All I saw was fire': rockets fracture the sense of safety in Tel Aviv

12.57pm BST

Here's how things stand halfway through Friday, the fifth day of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, in what is the most serious fighting between the parties since 2014.

After an intense night of exchanges of air strikes and rocket fire, aerial attacks appear to be continuing in Gaza and across Israel, albeit at a slower pace. Violent protests are flaring across the West Bank, and mixed Israeli cities are bracing for another night of ethnically-charged rioting.

12.33pm BST

Members of the US Congress debated the deadly hostilities in Israel and Gaza last night.

Rep Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American congresswoman who has been critical of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, questioned the US government's unconditional support' of Israel and, often tearing up as she spoke, accused Israel of being an apartheid state'.