Middle East crisis live: ‘not easy to see’ how Israeli offensive on Rafah could be compliant with international law, says UK minister

British government doing everything it can to prevent assault on Rafah while civilians shelter there, says deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell

Al Jazeera is carrying a quote from Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan. It quotes him saying:

It's clear from the Israeli paper that they are still insisting on two major issue: they don't want a complete ceasefire and they are not talking - in a serious way - about the withdrawal from Gaza. In fact, they are still talking about their presence, which means they will continue to occupy Gaza. We have serious questions for the mediators. If there are positive answers, I think we can move forward.