US President Donald Trump said Sunday he was issuing a "last warning" to Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group must accept a deal to release hostages in Gaza.

A public warning from the United Arab Emirates prompted the Israeli government to drop a planned discussion on annexing the West Bank, the Washington Post has reported.

The Israeli military on Thursday said it controls 40 percent of Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the Palestinian territory which it is preparing to conquer after nearly two years of devastating war.

One of thousands of public servants in Gaza's Hamas-run government, Karim, a public works ministry employee, received what seemed like an ordinary message on his phone: an invitation "for a coffee".

Tens of thousands of Israeli reservists have begun reporting for duty as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prepares for a new offensive to take full control of Gaza City

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that Hamas’ armed wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida had been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Five journalists were among at least 20 people killed on Monday in an Israeli “double tap” airstrike on Nasser Hospital, the largest medical facility in the southern Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities.

After weeks of rising concern about hunger in Gaza, a United Nations-backed panel has declared that famine is underway in northern Gaza, warning that more than half a million people are on the brink of starvation as hunger spreads deeper into the densely populated Palestinian enclave.

Britain and France were among 21 countries to sign a joint statement Thursday calling Israel's approval of a major settlement project in the West Bank "unacceptable and a violation of international law".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of stoking anti-Semitism by moving to recognize the state of Palestine. The Elysee Palace has said that the allegations “will not go unanswered.”

Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state.

Condemnations poured in from the United Nations, the EU and media rights groups Monday after an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera news team in Gaza, as Palestinians mourned the journalists and Israel accused one of them of being a Hamas militant.