US president Joe Biden is strongly considering a trip to Israel as early as this week, NBC reported, citing three US officials. The officials said planning is under way, including on the ground in Israel, for a potential visit from the US president. It is unclear if Biden would make any additional stops while in the region. Hamas demanded the release of “6,000 male and female prisoners in Israeli prisons” in exchange for hostages it took during its attacks on 7 October. The group’s captives include “high-ranking officers” of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’s diaspora office, said. A Hamas spokesperson said there were “about 200-250” Israeli captives in Gaza, contradicting an earlier statement from the Israeli military that said it had confirmed 199 hostages. Hamas released a video on Monday showing a statement from one of the captives seized in last week’s attack. In the footage, the woman, whose injured arm is shown being treated by an unidentified medical worker, asks to be returned to her family as quickly as possible. Iran warned Monday of a possible “pre-emptive action” against Israel “in the coming hours”, as Israel readies for a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. Tehran has repeatedly warned that a ground invasion of the long-blockaded Gaza would be met with a response from other fronts – prompting fears of a wider conflict that could draw in other countries. “The possibility of pre-emptive action by the resistance axis is expected in the coming hours,” Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a live broadcast to state TV, as he referred to his meeting with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, and reiterated the United States’ commitment to avoiding an escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict and emphasised civilian safety, the Pentagon said in a readout. The head of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency took responsibility for the Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,400 people on 7 October. “There will be time for investigations. Now we fight,” Shin Bet director Ronen Bar said in a statement. An intense US-led diplomatic effort failed to ease the plight of two million Palestinians trapped under bombardment in Gaza, with supplies of water, food and medicine all running out, raising the prospect of a humanitarian disaster. At least 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and 10,850 injured since Israel launched attacks on the Gaza Strip, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has said that Israel has killed 11 Palestinian journalists in its airstrikes on Gaza. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Gaza faces an imminent public health crisis as the Palestinian enclave is “running out of water”. The UN agency said the lives of more than 3,500 patients in 35 hospitals in Gaza are at immediate risk, and called for the unobstructed access for humanitarian aid into the enclave. The UN relief and works agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said “there are not enough body bags for the dead in Gaza”. It noted that Gaza had been without electricity for five days, there was limited access to clean drinking water, and more than 1 million people had been displaced. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sheltered in a bunker for five minutes when air sirens went off during their meeting in Tel Aviv on Monday. In a joint press conference, Blinken said Israel will “always have the support of the United States”, while Gallant warned “a long war” lies ahead. Israel activated a plan to evacuate residents within 2km (1.2 miles) of Lebanon, the military said on Monday. It followed exchanges of fire with Hezbollah in parallel to the conflict in southern Israel with Hamas. In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces said the plan included the evacuation of 28 villages. The armed wing of Hamas, Al Qassam Brigades, said it fired a “barrage of missiles” on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. In a statement on Monday, it said the latest attacks were in response to Israel’s “targeting of civilians”. The EU announced it will launch a “humanitarian air bridge” consisting of “several flights” to Egypt to bring supplies to humanitarian organisations on the ground in Gaza. The first two flights will take place this week, carrying humanitarian cargo from Unicef including shelter items, medicines and hygiene kits, it said in a statement. Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, confirmed he will travel to Israel this week to express his solidarity. Scholz said he wanted to address “practical questions, particularly in terms of the security situation”, and “how humanitarian aid can be organised” in talks. About 2,000 US troops have been told to prepare to be deployed for possible support to Israel, according to multiple reports. The troops are not intended to serve in a combat role, according to the reports, and come from across the armed services who are tasked with missions like advising and medical support. Two British teenage sisters are thought to be being held captive by Hamas after last weekend’s attack on communities in southern Israel. The girls were named as Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, by a spokesperson for British families whose relatives are suspected hostages. Their mother, Lianne, who was born in Bristol, was killed in last Saturday’s atrocities. Six Britons are dead and another 10 are missing after the assault by Hamas on southern Israel a week ago, Rishi Sunak said. Speaking in the Commons for the first time since the outbreak of war a week ago, Sunak also announced the UK would spend an extra £10m on humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Islamophobic killing of a six-year-old Palestinian child in Illinois has sparked outrage and shock after police characterised the gruesome act as a hate crime. President Joe Biden said he was “shocked and sickened” by the “horrific” killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, which authorities say was fueled by the Israel-Hamas war. China and Russia hardened their positions towards the conflict in Gaza, as the war between Israel and Hamas aggravates existing geopolitical tensions and underscores the growing gulf between the cold war allies and western powers such as the US, UK and France.