People and governments around the world have deplored Israel's military operation on Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where around 1.4 million refugees from across the territory are sheltering, with Indonesia issuing strong condemnation against the move as well as a warning that further escalation would "amount to an ultimate crime against humanity".

As ceasefire talks continued in Cairo, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters struck Israeli forces on the eastern outskirts of Rafah, firing anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli positions.

Indonesia, through the Foreign Ministry, reiterated its call for a permanent cease-fire and urged the United Nations Security Council to “stop Israel’s brutal atrocities immediately”.

Biden has been trying to head off a full-scale assault by the Israelis against Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian have sought refuge from combat elsewhere in Gaza. 

Asked for confirmation, the Israeli military said it will be "publishing a statement shortly".

Another Hamas spokesman said that the Palestinian militant group would continue negotiations towards a truce in Gaza, despite Israel's order to begin evacuating people from Rafah in the south.

Indonesia sought to remind leaders of the Islamic world to “remain united on helping Palestine”, as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened over the weekend to hash out a resolution on the war in Gaza amid revived efforts to advance ties between Israel and Arab nations.

"IDF (military) encourages the residents of eastern Rafah to advance towards expanded humanitarian area," the military said in a statement.

Netanyahu declared on X that the government had "unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel".

Israel has warned of an operation against Hamas in the southern Gazan city of Rafah where around a million displaced are crowded together in shelters and makeshift accommodation.

After a week of occupying a central area of the sprawling campus in protest at Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, police in riot gear forcibly removed demonstrators in an operation that lasted through the night.

A working draft lays out principles and proposals aimed at putting back on track a US-led effort to reshape the volatile region that was derailed by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the outbreak of war in Gaza, according to two sources who have seen the document.

Blinken "reiterated the United States' clear position on Rafah," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, two days after Blinken again voiced opposition to an assault over concerns for the safety of civilians sheltering in the southern Gaza city. 

Truce proposal envisages return of 33 Israeli hostages.

The ICC - which can charge individuals with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide - is investigating Hamas' Oct. 7 cross-border attack and Israel's devastating military assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza, now in its seventh month.

As the size of the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California at Los Angeles expanded in recent days, counter-protesters have become increasingly vocal and visible on the campus, although both sides remained peaceful until Sunday. 

In Gaza City, in the north of the strip, Israeli planes struck two houses, killing and wounding several people, health officials said.

Other officials upheld support for Israel's representation.

Police have carried out large-scale arrests in universities across the United States, at times using chemical irritants and tasers to disperse protests over Israel's war with Hamas.

Trump, the Republican candidate for president in the November elections, also sought to place blame for the campus protests on Democratic President Joe Biden.

"What's happening in America's college campuses is horrific," he said in a recorded statement, accusing "antisemitic mobs" of taking over leading universities.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said Israel was "moving ahead" with a ground operation, but gave no timeline.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted at such steps when asked by a reporter in Italy about reports that his department had recommended cuts in military aid to an Israeli unit involved in violent incidents in the West Bank.

The ministry of interior official said the attack had killed one person and wounded eight others, while the military source reported three Iraqi military personnel had been wounded.

Analysts said spiraling tit-for-tat violence could still be avoided, provided Iran continues to play down the reported Israeli strike and Israel takes no further action.

The United States vetoed a draft resolution that would recommend the 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly to accept Palestine's full membership to the world body, stopping the UN from recognizing a Palestinian state.

"The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack," the Iranian official said on condition of anonymity.