The Israeli army said on Sunday it had uncovered the biggest Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip so far, just a few hundred metres from a key border crossing.

Such was its size that small vehicles would be able to travel within the tunnel, an AFP photographer granted access to it reported.

The underground passage formed part of a wider branching network that stretched for over four kilometres (2.5 miles) and came within 400 metres (1,300 feet) of the Erez border crossing, the army said in a statement.

Outside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity in the Palestinian West Bank, the throngs of tourists and pilgrims who normally rub shoulders with costumed Santas and marching bands are missing this year.

There are no festive lights strung overhead and no sign of the huge tree normally erected to celebrate the event that Christians believe took place on this spot 2,000 years ago: the birth of Jesus Christ.

Israel's army said Sunday it had found a vast Hamas tunnel as it pressed its offensive in Gaza despite growing international calls for a ceasefire and pleas from relatives to bring home the remaining hostages.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war began with unprecedented Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7 and has devastated much of the Palestinian territory, sparking global concern.

Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the death of two women in a Catholic parish in Gaza, where he said "unarmed civilians" were being targeted by shootings and bombings.

He was speaking a day after the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said a Christian mother and daughter had been shot dead by an Israeli soldier on the grounds of the Gaza Strip's only Catholic church.

"I continue receiving very serious and sad news about Gaza," the pope said at the end of the Angelus prayer. "A mother and her daughter... were killed and other people were wounded by the shooters.

Kuwait's emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who was defence minister when Iraq invaded the oil-rich country in 1990, was laid to rest Sunday in a low-key funeral, a day after he died aged 86.

Foreign leaders and envoys later paid their final respects, including the Saudi crown prince and the rulers of Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also paid tribute to the late ruler he described as a "valued partner and friend" of the United States.

Kuwait's late emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was laid to rest on Sunday at a private funeral attended by select relatives, a day after he passed away.

Draped in a Kuwaiti flag, the coffin of Sheikh Nawaf, whose cause of death was not disclosed, was carried into a Kuwait mosque for prayers ahead of a burial ceremony that was broadcast on state television.

Attendance was limited to members of the ruling family, making for an intimate and low-key farewell for the ruler who reigned for three years. The speaker of Kuwait's parliament was also present.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Sunday pressed for an "immediate and durable" truce in the Gaza war, saying "too many civilians are being killed" in the Palestinian territory.

Israel has come under growing international pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza, where its war against Hamas militants has killed at least 18,800 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory's Hamas government.

Israel carried out fresh strikes on Gaza Sunday as its leaders came under growing pressure to secure the release of hostages still held in the Hamas-run territory more than two months after the October 7 attacks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced protests on Saturday by relatives of hostages who called for an urgent deal to secure their freedom after the army admitted mistakenly killing three captives in Gaza.

The Israeli army said Saturday it had discovered weapons and arrested around 80 Hamas members in military "activity" at a hospital in Gaza, which Hamas described as a "horrific massacre".

The Hamas-controlled health ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli forces had "fired at patient rooms" and arrested staff at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza City during a "siege" that lasted several days.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said the same day that the hospital director and about 70 other medical staff were "detained in an unknown location outside of the hospital".

Two more major shipping firms, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, said Saturday they were suspending passage through a Red Sea strait vital for global trade after Yemeni rebel attacks in the area.

The announcement by Italian-Swiss giant MSC and France's CMA CGM follows a similar decision Friday by two of the world's largest shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.

The announcements were in response to a warning by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who control much of Yemen but are not recognised internationally.