Smoke was seen rising on the Gaza skyline from southern Israel as the Palestinian death toll in the enclave nears 60,000.

Israel has allowed more aid to flow into Gaza, under intense pressure over Palestinians starving to death, but the U.N. says much more is still needed.

Israel ended a truce in Gaza in March, hoping to break Hamas. The move has heightened suffering for Palestinians but achieved few, if any, Israeli goals.

The German security cabinet convened for more than two hours on Monday to discuss the situation, Merz told a news conference in Berlin. While it welcomed Israel's announcement of a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza as an "important first step", it agreed more must follow.

The local pause in fighting came days after ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas appeared to be in doubt.

Aid has been delivered to Gaza over the weekend, but the UN's aid chief says it is still only a "drop in the ocean".

The European Union's executive body recommended on Monday curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding programme after calls from EU countries to increase pressure on Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The United States blew through about a quarter of its supply of high-end THAAD missile interceptors during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, according to two sources familiar with the operation,