Israel sent tanks into Rafah in southern Gaza, seizing the border crossing with Egypt Tuesday in an operation the United Nations said denied it access to the key humanitarian passage.

The thrust into the eastern sector of Rafah, packed with displaced civilians, came as negotiators and mediators met in Cairo in another effort to forge a hostage release and truce in the seven-month war.

A senior Hamas official, requesting anonymity, warned this would be Israel's "last chance" to free the estimated 128 captives still held in Gaza, including 36 officials say are dead.

The war in Gaza featured prominently in Monday's Pulitzer Prizes, which included a special citation for journalists covering the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The New York Times won a Pulitzer in international reporting for its "wide-ranging and revelatory coverage of Hamas's lethal attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7," as well as reporting on "the Israeli military's sweeping, deadly response."

Human Rights Watch said Tuesday an Israeli strike in Lebanon that killed seven first responders was "an unlawful attack on civilians", and urged Washington to suspend weapons sales to Israel.

The Israel-Lebanon border area has witnessed near-daily exchanges between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7 sparking war in Gaza.

Crowds danced, cheered, and fired in the air in the streets of the southern Gaza city of Rafah Monday after Hamas said it approved a ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar.

People were crying tears of happiness, chanting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") and shooting in the air in celebration of the news, an AFP journalist reported.

"I felt joy and kneeled before God in gratitude after the ceasefire announcement," Nour al-Fara, 56, told AFP.

US President Joe Biden, seeking to push a Gaza ceasefire, on Monday warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against invading Rafah as Israel defiantly issued evacuation orders and carried out intense air strikes on the crowded Gaza city.

The United States said it was reviewing a response from Hamas, which said it has accepted a deal to halt seven months of war and free hostages, with CIA Director Bill Burns in the region to negotiate through Arab allies.

Palestinian civilians in the southern Gazan city of Rafah voiced despair on Monday as Israel dropped fliers urging them to evacuate for their own "safety" ahead of a long-threatened ground invasion.

Israel's army said it was instructing Palestinian families in eastern Rafah to flee in preparation for an expected ground assault on the city near Gaza's border with Egypt.

But as many displaced people packed up their things to move yet again, authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli airstrikes were already targeting specific areas ordered evacuated in eastern Rafah.

Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike Monday wounded three people in the country's east, with Hezbollah saying it launched "dozens of Katyusha rockets" at an Israeli base in retaliation.

Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah have exchanged regular cross-border fire since Palestinian militant group Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked war in the Gaza Strip.

In recent weeks Hamas-ally Hezbollah has stepped up its attacks on northern Israel, and the Israeli military has struck deeper into Lebanese territory.

Nearly 200 aid groups appealed on Monday for funds to bridge a $2.3 billion shortfall in assistance for war-torn Yemen, warning of potentially "catastrophic consequences" for the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country.

A joint statement from 188 humanitarian organisations, including several UN agencies, warned that 18.2 million people -- more than half the population -- were in need of help after nine years of war between Huthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition.

Hamas on Monday said it accepts a proposal for a truce in the seven-month-old war in Gaza, as Israel renewed an order for Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate ahead of a long-threatened invasion of the city.

The Hamas announcement brought cheering crowds onto the street amid tears of happiness, chants of "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") and celebratory shooting in the air.

UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Iran Monday, where he is expected to speak at a conference and meet officials for talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.

The visit comes at a time of heightened regional tensions and with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) criticising Iran for lack of cooperation on inspections and other outstanding issues.

News agencies reported Grossi's arrival "at the head of a delegation to participate in the nuclear conference and negotiate with top nuclear and political officials of the country".