US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Israel has not told the US of any specific date for the start of a major offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

He added that American and Israeli officials remained in contact to try to ensure that “any kind of major military operation doesn’t do real harm to civilians”.

Mr Blinken spoke a day after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed that a date has been set to invade Rafah.

The city is filled with around 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom are displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip. The US, Israel’s closest ally, has said a ground operation into Rafah would be a mistake and has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians.

Israel’s offensive has pushed Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, leaving more than a million people on the brink of starvation.

International efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas are taking place in Cairo this week.

Egyptian officials said on Tuesday that mediators have presented a new ceasefire proposal to Hamas and Israel that would include a six-week pause in fighting and a swap of 40 Hamas-held hostages for at least 700 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israel says more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza, with about a quarter of those believed dead.

The Palestinian death toll from the war has passed 33,200, with nearly 76,000 wounded, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.