Hopes for a brief ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow foreign passport holders to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave and aid to be brought in were dashed on Monday, with Israeli bombardments intensifying ahead of an expected ground invasion.

The Israeli army yesterday said it was awaiting a “political decision” on the timing of a major ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, as fears grew that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could spiral into a regional Middle East war.

Bangladesh has strongly condemned the disproportionate use of force in Gaza resulting in the growing civilian casualties, including women and children.

Iran yesterday warned that any Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip could escalate conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East.

As Israel prepared for a ground assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Palestinians who have lost family members in air strikes were bracing for more destruction.

Twenty-seven eminent citizens of the country, in a statement, have expressed deep concern over the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza by Israel

Israel pummelled northern Gaza with fresh air strikes yesterday, one week on from the deadliest attack in its history, as a window for Gazans to flee closed before an expected ground offensive against Hamas militants.

Saudi Arabia has suspended talks on potentially normalising ties with Israel, a source told AFP yesterday, amid the war raging between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) has warned about the killing of children in Gaza amid fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Stories of the conflict between Hamas and Israel as they happen

A senior military commander of Hamas who headed the Islamist group's aerial operations in Gaza City has been killed in Israeli air strikes, the military said Saturday

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes while attempting to flee the northern Gaza Strip after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of more than a million residents, a demand that was deemed "impossible" by the UN, according to Hamas officials

Thousands of Palestinians fled Saturday to southern Gaza seeking refuge after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas in retaliation for the deadliest attack in Israel's history

Gazans ask after 24-hour evacuation ultimatum; countries urge Israel to hold off ground assault

Mosques called on residents of the Gaza Strip not to leave their homes on Friday after Israel's military told all civilians, more than 1 million people, to relocate south ahead of an expected ground invasion that risks high casualties

At least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the northern Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, Hamas's armed wing said Friday

UN urges Israel to call off evacuation order

Israel yesterday said there would be no humanitarian exceptions to its siege of the Gaza Strip until all its hostages were freed after the Red Cross pleaded for fuel to be allowed in to prevent overwhelmed hospitals from “turning into morgues”.

Israeli strikes targeted Syria’s two main airports yesterday, Syrian state television said, in the first such attack since a Hamas assault on Israel at the weekend triggered fierce fighting.

Most of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip have no electricity and no water. And, with hundreds of Israeli strikes raining down on their tiny enclave, they have nowhere to run.