The White House said on Tuesday that US officials see no indications that Hamas militants are refusing to release American hostages in Gaza in order to use them as leverage.The United States believes Hamas is holding eight to nine Americans as hostages after the release of a four-year-old girl.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said the Gaza Strip was in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe, telling the world: "We must not look away.""Intense negotiations are taking place to prolong the truce – which we strongly welcome - but we believe we need a true humanitarian ceasefire," he told a meeting of the UN Security Council, chaired by China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi.