Israel and Hamas officials denied the reports that a ceasefire had been implemented in southern Gaza to allow foreigners out of the besieged Palestinian enclave and aid to be brought in amid a deepening crisis.
Security sources in Egypt said a deal had been reached to open the Rafah border crossing to allow aid into the enclave from 0600 GMT.
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Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq told Reuters that there was no truth to reports about the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt or a temporary ceasefire.
More than 2,700 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have lost their lives during Israel-Hamas war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement: “There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out.”
In an address to Knesset, Netanyahu urged the world countries to stand against Hamas.
Meanwhile, Russia reiterated its appeal for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Gaza conflict on Monday and urged officials to begin talks to resolve violence.
The situation at the Rafah crossing remained unclear.
The bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza continued overnight, with residents saying it was the heaviest pounding yet in nine days of conflict.
As a humanitarian crisis gripped Gaza, two Egyptian security sources said Israel had agreed to halt its bombardment of southern Gaza. The Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing was expected to reopen to allow foreign passport holders to leave, they said.
Diplomatic efforts have been intensifying to get aid into the enclave, which has been under complete blockade following the Hamas attack on Israel.
‘Urgent need for ceasefire’
Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office has raised alarm over humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave, calling for “urgent need” to halt hostilities to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“There have been very mammoth diplomatic efforts to try to make this happen. The secretary-general is constantly liaising with all the parties that are involved, and many other member states are also exercising what leverage they can. We need the security for the aid deliveries to be able to happen,” UNHRO spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told CNN on Monday.
“We have seen hospitals that have been forced to evacuate. Doctors insisting that they will stay with patients who are in the ICU wards and the neonatal units, where you had the impossible choice of whether to abandon your patients or to stay with them and risk death.
The access to water, access to food, the forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people into southern Gaza has created a very, very difficult humanitarian situation in southern Gaza as well,” Shamdasani said.
She said there is a significant amount of aid waiting at the border to get in.
‘Biden warns against Gaza occupation’
As Israel is preparing for the Gaza invasion, US President Joe Biden has warned Israel against the occupation of the Palestinian territory, saying the ground assault would be “a big mistake”.
Massing thousands of troops and heavy weaponry in the desert south of the country, the Israeli military has said it is awaiting the “political” green light to go into northern Gaza.
In a video clip posted by CBS News’s 60 Minutes on Monday, Biden backed a humanitarian corridor to let people flee the war-hit area as well as allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, including food and water, into Gaza.
“I am confident that Israel is going to act under the rules of war,” Biden said.
The US president said that he did not believe Hamas represented “all the Palestinian people” and that he wanted to see the group totally eliminated.
