Israel and Hamas have agreed to a five-hour United Nations-brokered “humanitarian” pause to their nine-day battle, offering the most encouraging sign yet that the fierce fighting could come to an end.

Israeli war planes intensified attacks across the Gaza Strip today, targeting senior Hamas leaders and bombing a coastal area where four Palestinian boys were killed.

Hundreds of Palestinian families, their children crying, fled as Israel intensified airstrikes on Hamas targets, including homes of the movement’s leaders, following failed Egyptian ceasefire efforts.