The US's top diplomat Antony Blinken is meeting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - he's seeking "concrete steps" to minimise harm to civilians in Gaza
Dr Emilee Rauschenberger holds both UK and US citizenships and was able to leave Gaza yesterday.
"On Thursday, there was a large number of Americans on the list. Me and my children hold dual UK and American citizenships, my husband does not," she tells the BBC's Today programme.
"We went to the border, my husband [who is a British citizen] was helping us as far as we could go before we had to depart. He ended up being included in the list since he was with the family."
Dr Rauschenberger says it was a very unique exception because they saw many families that had been split up.
The border was "chaotic," as lots of people did not have cars or could not find taxis to go there.
"There was no system at the crossing, every individual goes to the security officials and telling them the number they were given, and if the official finds their name on the list, they are allowed to leave."
We are waiting to hear from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken soon - he has been meeting with the Israeli PM and the war cabinet in Tel Aviv this morning and is in Israel to call for "concrete steps" to minimise harm to civilians in the Gaza Strip.
He is also bringing a message from President Joe Biden, who last night addressed the need for a break in conflict to get aid into Gaza. "I think we need a pause," Biden said at a campaign event on Thursday.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later clarified that such a humanitarian pause would be "temporary, localised and focused, focused on a particular objective or objectives, humanitarian aid in, people out".
Both Israel and the US have rejected a blanket ceasefire between Palestinians and Israel, which they said would allow Hamas to regroup and resupply.
President Biden has previously expressed his "unwavering support" for Israel and it's right to defend itself.
We've been hearing from Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari, who says in his morning update they are on "very high alert" along Israel's northern border.
There has been violence at Israel's northern border with Lebanon in recent weeks between the Hezbollah Islamist group and Israeli army. Later today the head of Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, US and others, is set to make a speech, breaking weeks of silence.
"Yesterday we conducted a wide attack and struck a number of Hezbollah terror cells in response to a massive fire by Hezbollah... that injured civilians," said Hagari, according to Reuters.
"We will continue to respond harshly against any attack on Israeli civilians. We are on high preparedness in the northern border, on very high alert to respond to any event, today and in the coming days.”
FULL DETAILS AT: Israel Gaza live news: Blinken meets Netanyahu to push for 'concrete steps' to protect Gaza civilians - BBC News
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