The United Nations on Tuesday welcomed an Israeli decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow aid into Gaza, and urged the opening of a second location to let in humanitarian workers.

Egypt is seeking to restore its regional clout by mediating between Israel and Hamas to douse the week-long conflict in Gaza that has cost more than 200 lives.

The UN Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday amid a flurry of urgent diplomacy aimed at stemming Israel air strikes that have killed more than 200 Palestinians.

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said Monday it was providing emergency assistance for more than 51,000 people in northern Gaza and appealed for $46 million for its work in the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday urged Pope Francis to help end what he called Israel's "massacre" of Palestinians, which should be punished with sanctions, his office said.

U.N. Security Council diplomats and Muslim foreign ministers convened emergency weekend meetings to demand a stop to civilian bloodshed as Israeli warplanes carried out the deadliest single attacks in nearly a week of Hamas rocket barrages and Israeli airstrikes.

Vaccinated Saudis will be allowed to leave the kingdom for the first time in more than a year on Monday as the country eases a ban on international travel aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus and its new variants.

For the past 14 months, Saudi citizens have mostly been banned from traveling abroad out of concerns that international travel could fuel the outbreak of the virus within the country of more than 30 million people. The ban, in place since March 2020, has impacted Saudi students who were studying abroad, among others.

Gaza residents cowered indoors Monday after Israeli jets pounded the enclave, as violence that has killed more than 200 people -- overwhelmingly Palestinian -- entered a second week.

Wounded Gazans were taken Sunday across the Rafah border crossing into Egypt for treatment, medical and border sources said, as Cairo's foreign minister called for "concessions" to end the current conflict with Israel.

Three convoys transporting a total of 263 Palestinians crossed into Rafah in the restive North Sinai region, the sources said.

Israeli air strikes hit the home of Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas' political wing in the Gaza Strip, the army said Sunday, but without saying if he was killed.