Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will visit Turkey next week for talks about the Gaza war and reconciliation efforts between Palestinian factions, the Turkish foreign minister said on Sunday.

The visit comes as intensive diplomacy is underway to pause the fighting in the almost five-month-old war between Israel and Hamas sparked by the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attacks.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have mediated in weeks of talks to secure a truce by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in a week.

Egypt on Sunday hosted envoys for talks on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the latest diplomatic effort as Gaza officials reported more deadly bombardment in the nearly five-month-old war.

A senior Hamas official told AFP that a delegation from the Palestinian group would discuss with mediators a proposal for a six-week truce, after a US official said Israel had broadly accepted its terms.

Far from the hustle and bustle of major cities, young Iraqis are increasingly taking advantage of a renewed sense of safety to explore the country's serene desert getaways.

Sheltering amidst the golden dunes, Ghadanfar Abdallah and his friends gather around a flickering campfire in the Samawah desert south of the capital, humming tunes, laughing and eating.

"When we post pictures, people do not believe that there are such places like the dunes in Iraq," the 35-year-old oil sector worker said.

Thousands of Israeli demonstrators thronged a Jerusalem square on Saturday, concluding a four-day march from the Gaza border intended to pressure the government to free hostages held in the Palestinian territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has faced mounting calls to bring home the 130 captives Israel says remain in the Gaza Strip -- including 31 who are presumed dead.

They are among the 250 Israelis and foreigners abducted during Hamas's October 7 attack that triggered the ongoing war.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike hit tents housing displaced civilians near a hospital in the southern city of Rafah Saturday, killing 11 and wounding dozens.

The Israeli army said it had carried out a "precision strike" in the area of the hospital that targeted militants from the Islamic Jihad group.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on social media platform X that the reported strike was "outrageous and unspeakable".

Israel has broadly accepted a ceasefire deal with Hamas, a senior US official said Saturday, as the first American airdrops of humanitarian aid were carried out over war-ravaged Gaza.

The framework agreement envisages a six-week cessation of hostilities, which could begin immediately if the Palestinian militant group signs off on the release of the most vulnerable hostages it holds, the official told reporters on a call.

"The Israelis have more or less accepted it," the administration official said. "Right now, the ball is in the camp of Hamas."

A cargo ship loaded with fertiliser has sunk in the Gulf of Aden less than two weeks after it was damaged by missiles from Yemen's Huthi rebels, Yemen's government said Saturday.

The Huthis claimed the February 19 attack against the Rubymar, a cargo ship flying a Belizean flag and operated by a Lebanese firm, which transported combustible fertilisers.

The crew abandoned the ship and evacuated to safety after it was hit by two missiles.

The vessel had departed the United Arab Emirates and was bound for the Bulgarian port of Varna.

Iran began counting ballots on Saturday after a vote for parliament and a key clerical body, with local media estimating a low turnout and conservatives expected to dominate.

Friday's elections were the first since widespread protests triggered by the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, an Iranian Kurd. She had been arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

Iran has also been badly affected by international sanctions that have led to an economic crisis since the last elections in 2020.

As Israelis are called up to join the war effort in Gaza, anger is mounting at the ultra-Orthodox community which has long been spared the compulsory military service required of most citizens.

Since the October 7 attack by Palestinian militants, the question surrounding whether the insular community, whose members see army service as conflicting with their religious duties, should be obligated to serve has sparked debate and led to protests against their decades-long exemptions.

US President Joe Biden said Friday he was "hoping" for a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but agreement was still not sealed.

"I'm hoping so, we're still working real hard on it. We're not there yet," he told reporters at the White House when asked if he expected a deal by Ramadan, which will start on March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar.