Egypt is hosting dozens of regional leaders and senior Western officials for a summit on the war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

The meeting on Saturday in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, just east of Cairo, will discuss ways to de-escalate the fighting and seek a cease-fire amid mounting concerns about a regional conflict, Egypt's state-run media reported. Among those attending the summit are the leaders of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority.

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.

U.N. 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."

Soldiers are everywhere and the last residents are hurriedly packing in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona where Israel fears Lebanon's Hezbollah could open up a second front in its war with Hamas.

As smoke rises from the nearby wooded hills following the latest cross-border exchanges, soldiers in fatigues can be seen eating sandwiches on cafe terraces, buying bandages in pharmacies or emerging in groups from the bus station.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he believed the first trucks carrying aid to Gaza would come through the Rafah crossing from Egypt within the next two days.

"I believe in the next 24 to 48 hours the first 20 trucks will come across the border," Biden said as he met European Union chiefs at the White House.

Hamas said Friday it was releasing two American citizens they were holding captive in Gaza since their Oct. 7 raid on Israel.

The Palestinian militant group said in a statement that in an agreement with the Qatari government it was freeing a mother and daughter for humanitarian reasons.

Saudi Arabia — Arab Gulf and southeast Asian nations called Friday for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The final statement of a summit hosted by Saudi Arabia also condemned “all attacks against civilians.”

Israel’s defense minister said Friday that after the country destroys the Hamas militant group, the military does not plan to control “life in the Gaza Strip”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s comments to lawmakers were the first time an Israeli leader discussed its long-term plans for Gaza.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres paid a visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Friday to oversee preparations for the delivery of aid to the war-torn enclave.

Cargo planes and trucks have been bringing aid to the crossing for days, but so far none has been delivered to Gaza, which Israel has besieged and bombed for 13 days in response to a deadly cross-border attack by Hamas militants on October 7.

Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip early Friday, hitting areas in the south where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable town near the country's border with Lebanon in a sign that a potential ground invasion of Gaza could trigger regional turmoil.

Palestinians reported heavy airstrikes in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, and ambulances carrying men, women and children streamed into the town's Nasser Hospital, Gaza's second largest, which is already overflowing with patients and people seeking shelter. The Israeli military said it had struck more than 100 targets across Gaza linked to the territory's Hamas rulers, including a tunnel and arms depots.

With tensions spiking in the Middle East, U.S. forces in the region are facing increasing threats as a Navy warship shot down missiles appearing to head toward Israel Thursday and American bases in Iraq and Syria were repeatedly targeted by drone attacks.

Later, a U.S. official said there had been a rocket attack early Friday morning on U.S. and coalition forces at a diplomatic support center near the Baghdad International Airport. Initial assessments indicated two rockets were fired, the official said, noting that one was intercepted by a counter-rocket system and the other struck an empty storage facility.