Nasser hospital in Khan Younis has a critical shortage of fuel and had to stop admitting patients after Israeli tanks advanced nearby on Thursday.

Israel and Hamas may be able to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal within one or two weeks but such an agreement is not likely to be secured in just a day's time, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday.

The decision followed discussions with the European Union, which has pressed Israel to ease the dire humanitarian conditions for Palestinians in the territory.

"The situation is very catastrophic because the electricity will abruptly go off within 24 hours," one doctor warned.

Israeli officials have signaled they want the United Nations to remain the key avenue for humanitarian deliveries in Gaza, the deputy head of the World Food Programme said on Friday, noting the work of a controversial U.

Hamas and Israel on Saturday accused the other of blocking attempts to strike a Gaza ceasefire agreement, nearly a week into indirect talks between the two sides to halt 21 months of bitter fighting in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the military to prepare to build a “humanitarian city” in Gaza that critics describe as a “concentration camp.”

Hamas has rejected a 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal, a senior official in Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office told reporters Saturday.