“The ball is now in Israel’s court,” an official in the Palestinian group said.

Overnight, Israeli forces and tanks were seen near the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza, reports in Israeli media said.

Earlier, Israel’s military carried out air strikes on Rafah, on the border with Egypt, after warning Palestinians to evacuate eastern parts of the city.

Tens of thousands of residents are believed to be affected by the operation and many were seen cramming into vehicles or on to donkey carts on Monday.

Israel has long threatened an offensive against Hamas hold-outs in the city of 1.4 million people, many of whom have sought refuge there from Israeli offensives in other parts of Gaza.

Late on Monday, Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement: “Even though the Hamas proposal is far from Israel’s basic requirements, Israel will send a delegation of mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel.”

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