At least 27 Palestinians have died in Gaza in a spate of Israeli strikes, Palestinian health officials have said.
The bodies of at least one woman and three children were counted on Thursday in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, reports said.
The fighting intensified shortly after US President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "de-escalate" the conflict in Gaza and "secure the release" of prisoners in a statement from the White House.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says the Israeli offensive, in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, had killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
It does not break down how many of the dead were militants and how many civilians.
Some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed by Hamas and other militants in their October 7 attack in which they took about 250 people as hostages.
Some 110 hostages remain in Gaza, where a third are believed to be dead.
According to military sources, Israeli forces had stepped up their activities in Deir Al-Balah, which is part of the central Gaza Strip, and Khan Younis in the south, razing dozens of structures in the past 24 hours. It claimed forces killed 50 fighters in the area of Rafah, in the far south of the enclave.
On the other hand, Hamas's armed wing said the fighters ambushed Israeli forces in Rafah, killing and wounding several people.
Meanwhile, Egypt, along with Hamas, is pushing for Israel to return to its pre-May position regarding the Philadelphi Corridor, which Israeli troops advanced into in May.
However, the state of Israel claims that Hamas has used the area as a passageway to bring arms into Gaza. Egypt claims it has sealed off the smuggling routes.
The meetings in Cairo on Thursday and Friday come on the heels of a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which no breakthrough in negotiations was reached.
Efforts to broker a truce and to free hostages had been underway for months by Aqaba-process participants including both the United States and Qatar.
However, with several new demands from the Israeli side, Hamas and Israel have entered into a deadlock while the battle continues in Gaza.
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