Boasting good relations with both Western governments and Hamas, the emirate of Qatar has emerged as the key power in efforts to release the hostages seized by the Palestinian militant group from Israel even as other states show readiness to help.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday lauded the key role played by Qatar in the release by Hamas of two American hostages held since its attack against Israel on October 7, adding he was confident of further releases.

The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas could further strain global oil and gas supplies, already disrupted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, experts have warned.

Increases in oil prices in response to the conflict, triggered by the bloody attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7, have so far been relatively mild.

Brent, the European benchmark, has gained around 10 percent, while its American equivalent has gained around 9 percent.

Prices are around $90 per barrel, still far from their historical highs.

UN chief Antonio Guterres pleaded Saturday for a "humanitarian ceasefire" in the war between Israel and Hamas militants that has devastated much of Gaza, demanding "action to end this godawful nightmare".

Addressing a Cairo summit as the conflict raged into its third week, Guterres said the Palestinian enclave of 2.4 million people was living through "a humanitarian catastrophe" with thousands dead and more than a million displaced.

The first of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the war-torn and besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, said AFP correspondents on both sides.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said he was "confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies... to the people of Gaza" and warned that "this first convoy must not be the last".

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has acknowledged the emotional toll that the war between Israel and Hamas has taken on US diplomats amid media reports of internal dissent over Washington's handling of the conflict.

Blinken sent a letter to all State Department employees Thursday night noting the "challenging" circumstances affecting the US diplomatic corps, some of whom feel the "ripples of fear and bigotry" the conflict has generated.

Was Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza hit by Israeli fire? Or did it become the victim of a misfired Palestinian rocket? How many civilians were killed?

Israelis and Palestinians have traded blame for the deadly strike on the Christian-run hospital this week.

AFP analysed verified images and interviewed analysts and weapons experts who did not definitively rule out any scenario.

- What do available images show? -

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said Qatar had played a key role in the release by Palestinian militant group Hamas of two American hostages held since its attack against Israel on October 7, adding he was confident of further releases.

"This is a very good outcome obtained by the negotiators, in which Qatar played a very important role," Macron told a group of reporters.

Macron said France wanted similar operations to continue in the next "hours and days" to continue "allowing hostages, in particular our hostages, to get out."

Relatives of some of the 200 people taken hostage by Islamist group Hamas in its October 7 assault in Israel urged the Red Cross Friday for help, saying more had to be done to free them.

They spoke out hours before the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had been instrumental in coordinating the logistics for the release of two United States hostages.

"SOS!! Somebody has to be there taking care," said Doris Liber, mother of Guy Iluz, 26, of whom she has heard nothing since the assault in which Israel says some 1,400 people were killed.

Meta and Google have pulled out of the Web Summit, one of the tech sector's biggest annual events, after the organizer criticized Israel's actions following the Hamas attacks, the companies said on Friday.

A spokesman for Meta confirmed to AFP that it would not take part in this year's event, with Google telling the Irish Independent that it too would not be making the trip to Lisbon.

Fatima lives a few kilometres from Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque but had to cross four checkpoints to get there for Friday prayers with the esplanade largely deserted since war erupted between Israel and Hamas.

Normally packed for Friday prayers, there were only a few thousand worshippers present at the compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, which is the third holiest site in Islam but is also the most sacred place for Jews.