Israel-Hamas war updates: Israel says "currently no ceasefire" agreed for foreigners to flee Gaza

Jerusalem — Israel's government denied reports Monday that it had agreed to a ceasefire in at least the southern half of the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid in and people with international passports to escape into Egypt, as the Israeli military continued hammering the Hamas-controlled enclave with missiles.

"There is currently no ceasefire," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement, dismissing reports that a deal had been brokered to enable foreign nationals massing near Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt — along with thousands of Palestinian civilians — to flee. 

More than a week after Hamas launched its bloody terror rampage in southern Israel, killing some 1,400 people and capturing almost 200 hostages, Israel was still preparing Monday for a widely expected ground offensive in Gaza. Already, Gaza health officials say at least 2,750 people have been killed by Israel's bombardment and almost 10,000 more injured, with hundreds of children among the dead and wounded.