Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he will give final approval for the takeover of Gaza City while also restarting negotiations with Hamas aimed at returning all the remaining hostages and ending the war on Israel's terms.

Earlier this week, a Hamas source said the armed group had agreed to a temporary ceasefire proposal from mediators.

The world’s leading authority on food crises has said the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it is likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

A key mediator on Tuesday stressed the urgency of brokering a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after Hamas showed a “positive response” to a proposal from Arab countries, but Israel has yet to weigh in as its military prepares an offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas.

Israel said Wednesday its military had entered the first stages of a planned assault on the city, a campaign it begins while clashing publicly with major Western powers.