Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Monday denied reports that a temporary ceasefire had been reached in Gaza to allow foreign nationals to flee to Egypt.
However, the Israeli army has promised to extend the limited time from 8 am to noon local time to flee from northern Gaza to the south.
Israel, Egypt and the US had agreed to open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for a few hours to allow foreign nationals to escape and aid supplies to enter, reports said.
But Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that a ceasefire and humanitarian aid were not currently available in Gaza in return for the removal of foreigners. Witnesses said aid groups were waiting from Egypt but had not left the town of El Ares, 40km east of Rafah, on Monday.
On Monday morning, the Israeli army told civilians that they would not attack two roads leading south from the Gaza Strip and marked for potential ground attacks.