Fighting in Gaza dragged on into Friday with scores reported killed overnight, after mediator Qatar said Hamas had given its "initial" approval to a hostage-prisoner exchange deal that would pause its war with Israel.

Hamas's health ministry said 105 people were killed overnight from Thursday to Friday, while the group's press office reported raids and shelling around Khan Yunis -- southern Gaza's main city and the recent epicentre of hostilities.

Nearly four months of fighting have rendered Gaza "uninhabitable", according to the UN, while an Israeli siege has led to dire shortages of food, water, fuel and medicines.

The humanitarian crisis, coupled with soaring civilian casualties, has spurred increasing international calls for a ceasefire.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, said Thursday that recent talks in Paris between Qatari, US, Israeli and Egyptian officials had yielded a consolidated truce proposal.

"That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side."

Ansari said there were hopes of "good news" about a new pause in the fighting "in the next couple of weeks".

But a source close to Hamas told AFP on Thursday: "There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet -- the factions have important observations -- and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true."

A Hamas source had previously told AFP the three-stage plan would start with an initial six-week halt to the fighting that would see more aid deliveries into Gaza.

Only "women, children and sick men over 60" held by militants would be freed during that stage in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

There would also be "negotiations around the withdrawal of Israeli forces", with possible additional phases involving more hostage-prisoner exchanges.

- A deal 'right now' -

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also seized about 250 hostages, and Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, including at least 27 believed to have been killed.

After the attack, Israel launched a withering offensive that has killed at least 27,019 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Visiting Khan Yunis on Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops that the local Hamas brigade had been "dismantled" and that the "same will happen in Rafah", the southern border town where hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians have fled.

"(Hamas) don't have weapons, they don't have ammunition, they have 10,000 eliminated terrorists and another 10,000 terrorists who are wounded and not functioning. This is a serious blow that erodes Hamas' abilities," he said.

Gallant also reiterated the government's long-standing position that only military means could ensure Israeli captives' release, telling troops their operations "bring us closer to enabling the return of the hostages, because Hamas only responds to pressure".

However, domestic calls for a ceasefire and hostage deal have mounted, with protesters gathering again in Tel Aviv on Thursday night carrying placards featuring hostages' faces and slogans such as "No more bloodshed".

"This government, our leadership, needs to make decisions and they need to be brave," said activist Moran Zer Katzenstein. "We need them to bring the hostages back, right now."

"The only way is through a deal," she added.

- Settler sanctions -

Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank, where more than 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers since October 7.

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on four Israeli settlers over the violence, in a rare US move against Israelis. Any assets they hold in the United States will be blocked, with Americans forbidden from financial transactions with them.

"The situation in the West Bank -- in particular high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction -- has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region," President Joe Biden said in an executive order laying the groundwork for US actions.

The war in Gaza has also given rise to an increase in attacks by Iran-backed allies of Hamas across the Middle East, drawing in US forces among others.

American forces shot down a drone of unspecified origin off Yemen on Thursday, and later destroyed an explosives-laden uncrewed surface vessel attributed to Huthi rebels that threatened ships in the Red Sea, the US military said.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) also said Yemen's Iran-backed Huthis had launched two anti-ship missiles that were possibly aimed at a cargo ship in the Red Sea, though they did not hit the vessel.

The United States had destroyed 10 Huthi drones and a ground control station shortly after midnight local time on Thursday.

The Huthis began targeting Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were acting in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Scores killed in overnight strikes as Hamas weighs Gaza truce proposal

Scores were reported killed in overnight strikes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, after Hamas said it needed more time to consider a proposal that would halt its war with Israel in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said early Sunday that at least 92 people had been killed overnight, including in what the group's media office said was an Israeli bombardment of a kindergarten in Rafah where displaced people were sheltering.

Concerns over a potential Israeli ground incursion into the southern border city have mounted in recent days, with hundreds of thousands of displaced seeking refuge from the fighting there in makeshift shelters and encampments.

Many made the journey from even harder-hit areas after being told the city was a safe zone, but strikes have continued there as well, with mourners gathering outside a local hospital Saturday to pray for the dead after another bombardment.

"The children were just sleeping and suddenly the bombardment happened. The bedroom fell on my children. God took one of my children and three escaped death," Ahmad Bassam al-Jamal told AFP, his voice breaking. "My child now is a martyr in heaven."

The city that had been home to 200,000 people now hosts more than half of Gaza's population, the United Nations said.

A representative of the UN humanitarian agency OCHA has called Rafah "a pressure cooker of despair", expressing concern for what might happen next.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Thursday that the military -- which began its ground invasion in the territory's north and has gradually advanced south -- "will also reach Rafah".

Civilians who fled to the city have been pushed up against the border with Egypt, trying to avoid areas exposed to bombardment and fighting in nearby Khan Yunis.

"We are exhausted," said displaced Gazan Mahmud Abu al-Shaar, urging "a ceasefire so that we can return to our homes".

- Push for a deal -

International mediators are making a full-court press to seal a proposed truce deal thrashed out last week in Paris.

But a top Hamas official in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, said on Saturday that the proposed framework was missing some details.

Hamas needed more time to "announce our position", Hamdan said, "based on... our desire to put an end as quickly as possible to the aggression that our people suffer".

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also seized around 250 hostages, and Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, including at least 27 believed to have been killed.

Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has killed at least 27,238 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make his fifth crisis visit to the Middle East in the coming days to push for the truce proposal, the State Department has said, and French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is also making a pass through the region, according to a spokesman.

A Hamas source has said the proposal involves an initial six-week pause that would see more aid delivered into Gaza and exchanges of some Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Hamas's Qatar-based leader Ismail Haniyeh has said any ceasefire must lead to "a full withdrawal" of Israeli troops from Gaza.

- Domestic pressure -

The Israeli government's inability to secure the hostages' release, as well as the intelligence failures that allowed the October 7 attacks to happen in the first place, have led to harsh criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Hundreds rallied on Saturday night in Tel Aviv at protests calling for early elections and to demand action to free the remaining hostages.

Demonstrations were also held in the northern Israeli port of Haifa and near Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence.

In Tel Aviv, anti-government protester Michal Hadas told AFP that dragging out the conflict only served the interests of government officials, "because as long as the war continues there will be no election".

At the rally for hostages' families, Carmit Palty Katzir, sister of captive Elad Katzir, called for swifter action.

"Every second a deal is not closed, the price goes up. The number of hostages who won't return alive goes up. The number of soldiers risking their lives without a clear plan for the day after goes up," she said.

- Fresh Yemen strikes -

The war has sent regional tensions soaring, with a surge in attacks by Iran-backed groups in solidarity with Gaza triggering counterattacks by key Israel ally the United States.

The United States and its coalition partner Britain said they struck dozens of targets in Yemen on Saturday night in response to repeated attacks on shipping by Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

US forces also struck an additional anti-ship missile in Yemen on Sunday morning that the US Central Command said was ready to be launched towards the Red Sea.

The joint air raids came after a separate wave of unilateral American strikes against Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria that were carried out in response to the killing of three US soldiers in Jordan on January 28.

The Israeli army, meanwhile, said on Saturday that it had struck more than 3,400 Hezbollah militant targets across southern Lebanon since the start of the war, as well as more than 50 targets linked to the Iran-backed Hamas allies in Syria.

Israel-Hamas war: 4 key events from the conflict this week

A view of destruction in the towns of al-Karameh, al-Sudaniyeh and Al-Tawam, in Gaza, where their asphalt roads were destroyed by bulldozers and Israeli airstrikes, on Friday. 

This week saw the most promising ceasefire initiative since November as the Israel-Hamas war prepares to enter its fourth month. Here are other major headlines from the conflict from this week:

Ceasefire proposal

The Hamas militant group said on Tuesday that it’s reviewing a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza that would involve the release of the roughly 130 remaining hostages captured from Israel on Oct. 7. The plan developed from talks in Paris over the weekend between Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel Defense Forces won’t withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is “eradicated.” Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages as part of a deal to permanently end the war in Gaza.

At the same time, Reuters reports that about 70 U.S. cities, including Chicago and Seattle, have passed symbolic resolutions, with most calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, while some others have advocated more broadly for peace.

Biden takes action against violent settlers

President Biden issued an executive order on Thursday that imposes financial sanctions and visa bans against four Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been accused of “extremist settler violence” against Palestinians, have forced their displacement and destroyed their property in the occupied territory, according to the order.

“These actions undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom,” Biden said in the order, adding that such violent actions could contribute to wider destabilization in the Middle East.

U.S., U.K. consider options for Palestinian statehood

The State Department is reviewing policy options on possible U.S. and international recognition of a Palestinian state following the Israel-Hamas war, as first reported by Axios, citing two U.S. officials briefed on the matter.

For decades, the U.S. has stressed that an independent Palestinian state should only be achieved through direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to Axios. But State Department spokesman Matt Miller said the establishment of a Palestinian state has been U.S. policy for quite some time.

“We are actively pursuing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with real security guarantees for Israel, because we do believe that is the best way to bring about lasting peace and security for Israel, for Palestinians and for the region," Miller told reporters on Wednesday.

The U.K. is also considering an official recognition of Palestine as an independent state, but it wouldn’t happen while Hamas remains in Gaza. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told reporters Thursday that the decision “can’t come at the start of the process, but it doesn’t have to be the very end of the process.”

United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) funding controversy

The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that halting funds to UNRWA would have “catastrophic consequences” for the Palestinian people in war-torn Gaza. The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency provides food, shelter and schools to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

The U.S., U.K. and other western nations froze funding to the U.N. agency after Israel alleged last week that over a dozen UNRWA employees in Gaza took part in the Oct. 7 deadly attacks on Israel by Hamas militants. The U.N. has since fired several employees and is conducting an ongoing investigation into the allegations.