Talks to reach a Gaza truce were expected to resume Sunday after officials from the Hamas Islamist organisation and Israel publicly disagreed over demands to end their seven-month war.
While mediation took place in Egypt, the head of the UN's World Food Programme said "there is famine" in northern Gaza, and appealed for a ceasefire.
The war's impact has been increasingly felt around the world as pro-Palestinian university students from Australia to Mexico and Europe follow the example of protest encampments set up in the United States.
Gaza's bloodiest-ever war began following Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,654 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
An AFP correspondent and witnesses on Sunday reported shelling and gunfire in the Gaza City area, helicopter fire in central and southern Gaza, and a missile strike on a house in the Rafah area.
The Palestinian civilian toll has strained ties between Israel and its main military supplier and ally the United States.
Nonetheless, Washington's Secretary of State Antony Blinken said "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas."
Negotiators have proposed a 40-day pause in the fighting and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, according to details released by Britain.
It would be the first such truce since a week-long ceasefire saw 105 hostages released last November in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.
Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators met a Hamas delegation in Cairo on Saturday and a senior Hamas source close to the negotiations told AFP there would be "a new round" of talks on Sunday.
After "no developments" in the first round, a senior Hamas official separately insisted late Saturday that the group would "not agree under any circumstances" to a truce that did not explicitly include a complete end to the war, including Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
A source with knowledge of the negotiations had on Wednesday said Israel's proposal contained "real concessions" including a period of "sustainable calm", but the source said Israel's withdrawal from Gaza remained a likely point of contention.
The Israeli official on Saturday, however, told AFP in Jerusalem that Israel has not agreed to any guarantees that the war will end.
Previous negotiations stalled in part due to Hamas's demand for a lasting ceasefire and Netanyahu's vows to crush the group's remaining fighters in the far-southern city of Rafah, where half of Gaza's population is sheltering.
Israel has yet to send a delegation to Cairo. The Israeli official said it would do so only if there were "positive movement" on the proposed framework.
"Tough and long negotiations are expected for an actual deal," the official added.
Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah regardless of whether a truce is reached, and despite concerns from the United States, other countries and aid groups.
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