Israel said on Saturday it planned to expand its military offensive in Gaza after seizing a new corridor as part of a broader effort to take large parts of the war-battered Palestinian territory.
It also announced a sweeping evacuation order for tens of thousands of residents of Khan Younis and surrounding areas in southern Gaza.
Israeli defence minister Katz said the military was also taking over several areas in northern Gaza and the "security zone is being expanded, including in the Netzarim Corridor".
His announcement came as a Hamas official said the resistance group expected "real progress" towards a ceasefire deal to end the war, ahead of talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo.
Saturday Hamas released a video showing Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, in which he criticises Israel's government for failing to secure his release.
The Times of Israel reported that Egypt's proposal would involve the release of eight living hostages and eight bodies in exchange for a truce lasting between 40 and 70 days and a substantial release of Palestinian prisoners.
US President Donald Trump's envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff, was quoted by Israeli media as saying "a very serious deal is taking shape, it's a matter of days".
Gaza's health ministry said yesterday at least 1,563 Palestinians had been killed since March 18 when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,933.
Mohammed Hanieh, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who suffers from malnutrition, is carried by his father in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday
Palestinians wait in front of a free food distribution point, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday
