In today’s newsletter: The Lebanese militant group has engaged in skirmishes with Israel following the invasion of Gaza – could it grow into full-blown war?

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Good morning. It’s been another remorseless weekend for the people of Gaza. On Saturday night, an Israeli air strike at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp killed at least 45 people, the Hamas-run health ministry claimed, while the head of the Al-Aqsa hospital put the toll at 52; Israel says it is investigating the incident. And late on Sunday, a series of huge explosions lit up the sky over the territory – strikes which Israeli media reports suggested were a precursor to an advance on Gaza City within the next 48 hours.

About 120 miles north, exchanges across Israel’s border with Lebanon continued at a much lower intensity – but with a momentum of their own. Lebanese state media said that three children and their grandmother were killed in an Israeli air strike, an incident that prompted retaliatory rocket strikes on the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. Those ongoing border skirmishes have fuelled fears of a new front involving a far more powerful regional actor than Hamas: Hezbollah.

King’s speech | Rishi Sunak will this week announce legislation for a new annual system for awarding oil and gas licences as part of a highly political king’s speech which the Conservatives hope will open up clear dividing lines with Labour. The government, which has already watered down the UK’s climate targets, said the plans would protect jobs and bolster energy security.

Poverty | Poverty levels in the UK are “simply not acceptable” and the government is violating international law, the United Nations’ poverty envoy has said ahead of a visit to the country this week. Olivier De Schutter told the Guardian that “things have got worse” since his predecessor Philip Alston angered the government with criticism on his own visit in 2019.

Ukraine | Volodymyr Zelenskiy has denied a claim from the Ukrainian military’s commander-in-chief that the war with Russia has reached a stalemate. Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi said the war had entered an attritional phase and suggested Russia was slowly gaining the upper hand.

Conservatives | Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has denied that rape allegations against a Conservative MP were “covered up” during his time running the party’s headquarters. It follows reports in the Mail on Sunday that allegations against an MP were not dealt with properly by the party, allowing the politician to continue offending.

Israel-Hamas war | The parents-in-law of Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, have arrived safely in Scotland after fleeing the conflict in Gaza. Yousaf shared a family photo of his wife, Nadia, and her parents, Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, who were among 92 British nationals permitted to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Friday morning.