Hamas urged Palestinians Wednesday to march to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of Ramadan next month, raising the stakes in negotiations for a truce in Gaza, which US President Joe Biden hopes will be in place by then.
The call by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh followed comments by Biden, broadcast on Tuesday, that there was an agreement in principle for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas during Ramadan, while hostages held by the militants are released.
Both Israel and Hamas have played down the prospects for a truce and mediators have said the most contentious issues are still unresolved.
Israel said on Monday it would allow Ramadan prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque but set limits according to security needs, setting the stage for possible clashes if crowds of Palestinians turn up and Gaza violence is still raging.
Fighting raged in the Gaza Strip, where the reported death toll in the almost five-month Israel-Hamas war neared 30,000 as mediators insisted a truce could be just days away.
The Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry reported another 91 deaths in overnight Israeli bombardment, while UN agencies sounded the alarm on dire humanitarian conditions and looming famine in Gaza's north.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been seeking a six-week pause in the war.
In a televised speech, Haniyeh said Hamas was showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel but at the same time was ready to continue fighting.
Haniyeh also called on the self-styled Axis of Resistance - allies of Iran consisting of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq - as well as Arab states, to step up their support for the Palestinians in Gaza.
Children sit in a destroyed car in Rafah, Wednesday.
