The Palestinian Authority's foreign minister on Thursday said Israel's offensive in Gaza was a "war of revenge", as he called for a ceasefire in the conflict.

The visit of Riyad al-Maliki to the Hague comes as Israel said a column of tanks and infantry had launched an overnight raid into Hamas-controlled Gaza.

It also comes as European Union officials in Brussels debated the situation and were set to call for "humanitarian pauses" in Israel's war with Hamas.

Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials. They are still believed to be holding more than 200 hostages.

Since then, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's relentless retaliatory bombardments, mostly civilians and many of them children.

"This time the war that Israel is waging is different. This time... it's a war of revenge," Maliki said in The Hague.

"This war has no real objective than the total destruction of every livable corner in Gaza," Maliki told reporters at the Palestinian Authority's mission to The Hague.

He said the need for a ceasefire was a top priority to get aid into Gaza, where the main UN agency warned Wednesday operations would cease as it was running out of fuel.

"First we need to end this aggression, this one-sided war and then we need to call for a ceasefire," he said, adding that "a ceasefire is essential... for the distribution of humanitarian aid".