Demonstrations in support of Gaza and condemning Israel's bombardment of the besieged enclave were held across the Arab world on Friday, including in countries which have normalised relations with Israel.

In Egypt, where public gatherings were banned after the military seized power in 2013, tens of thousands took to the streets of Cairo and other cities as authorities sought to manage the wave of public anger.

The protests came on day 14 of Israel's retaliation for a shock Hamas attack, the deadliest in Israel's 75-year history.

Soldiers are everywhere and the last residents are hurriedly packing in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona where Israel fears Lebanon's Hezbollah could open up a second front in its war with Hamas.

As smoke rises from the nearby wooded hills following the latest cross-border exchanges, soldiers in fatigues can be seen eating sandwiches on cafe terraces, buying bandages in pharmacies or emerging in groups from the bus station.

President Joe Biden requested urgent military aid for Ukraine and Israel in a massive $106 billion security package Friday, but he faces a tough battle to get it through a paralyzed US Congress.

Biden's demand came a day after he drew a direct link between the Hamas attack on Israel and Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine to convince Americans that the United States must show global leadership.

Lebanon's national carrier Friday said it was cutting more than half of its flights as tensions along the border with Israel prompted more Western countries to warn against travel to Lebanon.

Since a Hamas attack on October 7 triggered war between Israel and the Gaza-based militants, the Lebanese-Israel border has seen near daily tit-for-tat incidents involving Lebanon's Hezbollah or Palestinian groups including Hamas.

At least 22 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, including four civilians, sparking fears of a wider escalation.

Dozens of Palestinians clutching foreign passports gathered Friday at Gaza's border with Egypt, the only crossing which can possibly open as Israel bombards the tiny territory.

The crowds were waiting at the cafeteria of the Rafah border crossing, which has been hit multiple times since Israel began an intense bombardment of the enclave following the deadly Hamas attacks of October 7.

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across Egypt in support of war-torn Gaza on Friday, with large crowds flooding into Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, an AFP correspondent and Egyptian media said.

The correspondent said several thousand packed into Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Media outlets said rallies also took place in other Egyptian cities on day 14 of Israel's bombardment of the enclave following Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks.

Fadwa al-Najjar said she walked for 10 hours with her family from the north of war-torn Gaza to reach a UN camp for displaced Palestinians, witnessing terrifying scenes along the road.

"We left the house at 10:00 am and we got here at 8:00 pm," said the 38-year-old who walked 30 kilometres (18 miles) with her seven children after Israel told more than a million Palestinians to move south ahead of an expected ground offensive.

Gaza's Hamas rulers released two Americans on Friday among some 200 hostages they abducted in brutal October 7 attacks in Israel and indicated that more could follow.

Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan were back in Israel late Friday, the Israeli government said.

No details were given on their condition, but US President Joe Biden said he was "overjoyed" at the news. Biden spoke by phone to the two women after they were freed.

Author Salman Rushdie on Friday called for a "cessation" in fighting between Israel and Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, saying he was filled with "horror" and "foreboding".

Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death, according to Israeli officials.

Israel said around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed before its army regained control of the area under attack.

Aid trucks waiting to cross from Egypt into Gaza are "a lifeline" which need to move into the war-torn Palestinian enclave as soon as possible, the UN chief said Friday.

"These trucks are not just trucks, they are a lifeline. They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as he visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to oversee preparations for the delivery of aid.