Hamas' meetings with Egyptian officials will focus on ways to stop the war, deliver aid, and "end the suffering of our people in Gaza," Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Palestinians in Gaza should be permitted to leave the enclave, remarks critics see as an effort to push residents out amid an intensifying military campaign.

Israeli airstrikes and tank fire pounded eastern Gaza City overnight, killing at least 11 people, according to witnesses and medics, as Hamas leader