CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM – Israeli forces kept up their bombardment of Gaza on Monday after diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire failed.

The planned halt in fighting was to allow foreign passport holders to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave, and allow aid in.

At the United Nations, the Security Council was due to vote on Monday on rival draft resolutions on Israel and Gaza that focus largely on the humanitarian situation.

It remains unclear whether either stood a chance of being adopted.

Residents of Hamas-ruled Gaza said the overnight strikes were the heaviest yet as the conflict entered its 10th day.

An Israeli ground offensive is believed to be imminent, and bombing carried on through the day, residents said, with many buildings flattened, trapping yet more people under the rubble.

In Israel, officials issued multiple warnings of Hamas rocket fire.

Diplomatic efforts have been under way to get aid into the Gaza Strip, which has endured unrelenting Israeli bombing.

The Israeli military action in Gaza is in response to a Hamas attack in Israel on Oct 7, which killed more than 1,400 people – the bloodiest single day in the state’s 75-year history – and stunned the nation.

Israel’s retaliation has seen at least 2,750 people in Gaza die, the enclave’s authorities said.

Nearly 10,000 people are wounded, and a further 1,000 are missing and believed to be under rubble.

Israel has imposed a full blockade and is preparing a ground invasion to enter Gaza and destroy Hamas, which has continued to fire rockets at Israel since its brief cross-border assault.

On Monday, rocket-warning sirens sounded in several towns in southern Israel, the Israeli military said.

Israeli troops and tanks are already massed on the border.

The humanitarian crisis is deepening, with food, fuel and water running short.

Hundreds of tonnes of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt, pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza.

A planned evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah border crossing is also on hold.

At the UN Security Council, Russia and Brazil submitted draft texts on the crisis.

Russia’s draft calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, while the Brazilian draft calls for humanitarian pauses to allow aid access.

Both condemn violence and hostilities against civilians and all acts of terrorism and call for the release of hostages.

United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said on Monday that he would be travelling to the Middle East to support negotiations on getting aid into the enclave.

Mr Griffiths said his office was in “deep discussions” with Israel, Egypt and others.

“I shall be going myself tomorrow to the region to try to help in the negotiations, to try to bear witness and to express solidarity with the extraordinary courage of the many thousands of aid workers who have stayed the course and who are still there helping the people in Gaza and in the West Bank,” he said in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, Egyptian security sources had told Reuters that an agreement had been reached to open the crossing to allow aid into Gaza.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement: “There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out.” Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari, said it is continuing its operations.

“There are no such efforts under way at this time. If anything changes, we will inform the public. We are continuing our fight against Hamas.”

Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq told Reuters that there was no truth to reports about the opening of the crossing with Egypt, or a temporary ceasefire.

Egypt has said the crossing was rendered inoperable due to Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday the Israeli government had yet to take a stance that allowed the crossing to open.

US officials were hoping the Rafah crossing could be opened for a few hours later on Monday to allow some people to leave Gaza before the expected Israeli ground offensive, White House spokesman John Kirby told CNN.

The US has told its citizens in Gaza to get close to the crossing so that they can move out.

The US government estimates the number of dual-citizen Palestinian-Americans in Gaza at 500 to 600.

Many Palestinians and foreign citizens flocked towards the crossing on Monday with suitcases and belongings, hoping to make it across the Egyptian border.

“There is no safety – even when you’re at the crossing, you’re afraid,” Mr Hadeel Abu Dahoud told Reuters. “Nowhere is safe in Gaza. Wherever we go, there’s shelling, shelling, crying, screaming, blood.”

Washington is also seeking to secure the release of 199 hostages, including Americans, who Israel says were taken by Hamas back into Gaza.

United States President Joe Biden postponed a trip to Colorado on Monday to stay at the White House for national security meetings as Washington works to contain the conflict, the White House said. Mr Biden has sent military aid to Israel.

But he also stressed the urgent need to get humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, and urged Israel to follow the rules of war in its response to the Hamas attacks.

Heavy bombing

In Gaza’s north, where Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in an elaborate tunnel network, local people said Israeli aircraft bombed areas around the Al-Quds hospital early on Monday.

Surrounding houses were damaged, forcing hundreds of people to take shelter in the Red Crescent-run hospital.

Israeli planes also bombed three headquarters of the Civil Emergency and Ambulance Service in Gaza City, killing five people and paralysing rescue services in those areas, health officials said.

Israel has urged Gazans to evacuate to the south, and hundreds of thousands have already made the trek. But residents in the southern half of the enclave also fear Israeli air strikes.

Hamas has told people to ignore Israel’s message.

In southern Gaza, five members of a family were killed in the Khan Younis refugee camp.

With hundreds of people trapped in collapsed buildings, rescuers and residents frantically tore away rubble, sometimes pulling out barely breathing children.

“We were inside the house when we found bodies scattering, flying in the air – bodies of children who have nothing to do with the war,” said resident Abed Rabayaa, whose neighbour’s house in Khanis Younis was hit overnight.

Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours, putting thousands of patients at risk, the UN humanitarian office said.

More than one million people – almost half the 2.3 million people of Gaza – have been displaced within the enclave.

UN agency UNWRA said it was struggling to cope with their needs.

For the fifth consecutive day, Gaza has had no electricity, pushing vital services, including health, water and sanitation, to the brink of collapse.

People are consuming brackish water from agricultural wells, raising concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases. 

Blinken in Israel

US officials have warned that the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate after cross-border clashes between Israel and militants from Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel for talks on Monday, Iran said the US should be held to account for its role in the conflict. 

American aircraft carriers have headed to the region.

Israel said on Monday it would evacuate residents of 28 villages on the border with Lebanon after one came under a missile attack by Iranian-backed Hezbollah on Sunday. Israeli media said a civilian was killed.

Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed on the Lebanese side of the border on Friday. REUTERS