Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday for talks.

Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its aim to eliminate the militant group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas' last bastion.

The group's political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.

Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss their response. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages - of whom 20 are believed to be still alive - still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.

"What's happened, has happened. We're gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We're gonna talk about what the future holds," Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.

Jerusalem meet

Rubio visited the Western Wall, a Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem, on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will hold talks with him during the visit.

U.S. officials described Tuesday's strike on the territory of a close U.S. ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.

Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state - a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.

Aid agencies say an Israeli takeover of Gaza City would be catastrophic for a population already facing widespread malnutrition.

Two more Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said on Sunday, raising deaths from such causes to at least 422 people, including 145 children.

Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.

Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.

Hamas said that Israeli forces have destroyed at least 1,600 residential buildings and 13,000 tents since August 11.

Leaders gather in Qatar

An Arab-Islamic leaders summit in Doha on Monday is expected to rally support for Qatar in the wake of last week's Israeli attack targeting Hamas leaders in the Gulf state.

The attack, which Hamas says killed five of its members but not its leadership, has prompted U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states to close ranks, adding to strains in ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, which normalized relations in 2020.

The emergency summit, bringing together members of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, began with a meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday to discuss a draft resolution.

The gathering is a message that "Qatar is not alone and that Arab and Islamic states stand by it," Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who met U.S. President Donald Trump and Rubio in New York on Friday, said Qatar will pursue a collective response to the attack, which had put the entire region at risk.

Aid flotilla sails for Gaza

Humanitarian aid ships setting off from Italy have joined others from Greece, Spain and Tunisia as they continue their efforts to deliver supplies into the Gaza strip.

18 boats carrying aid set sail on Saturday from Sicily towards Gaza under the "Global Sumud Flotilla" banner, with four members of the European Parliament (MEPs) also on board.

According to the flotilla's spokesperson, 34 boats in total joined the mission with around 600 people on board carrying around 500 tons of humanitarian aid.

The goal is to deliver aid to Palestinians in the biggest attempt so far to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. In the days before the departure, two of the Flotilla's vessels were allegedly targets of drone attacks. Both attacks were claimed to take place in Tunisian waters.

One of the MEPs aboard is Benedetta Scuderi (Greens/EFA). She said: "Of course I am scared. However, this is a mission worth making oneself available for, even if the consequences may be heavy or difficult to manage.

"I cannot even imagine the fear Palestinian children feel under the bombs or when being amputated of their limbs without anesthesia.”

The MEPs hope to increase international pressure on Israel and urge the EU to act more boldly.