Israel and Hamas have agreed to a temporary five-hour truce in fighting across the Gaza border so humanitarian aid can be delivered.
The sides announced the temporary lull in fighting after an Israeli strike killed four children on a beach in the coastal strip yesterday.
The punishing Israeli offensive aimed at halting cross-border rocket fire by Hamas militants had resumed after Egyptian-brokered truce efforts collapsed on Tuesday.
A Gaza-based human rights group says Israel's campaign has killed 226 Palestinians so far, and more than 80 per cent were civilians.
Since July 8, militants have fired more than 1200 rockets at Israel. They claimed their first Israeli life on Tuesday.
The army said early on Thursday that 82 rockets had hit Israel during the course of Wednesday and more than 30 were intercepted by Israel's missile defences.
Hamas had rejected initial Egyptian efforts for a full ceasefire, saying it had not been included in the discussions. The Israeli army announced it would halt its bombardment of Gaza between 10.00am and 3.00pm (1700 AEST and 2200 AEST) on Thursday, following a UN request for a humanitarian truce.
Hamas later followed suit.
"The Palestinian factions agreed to accept the offer from the United Nations for a cooling-down on the ground for five hours starting from 10 in the morning," spokesman Sami Abu Zukhri said.
Meanwhile, in Cairo, a Hamas official met Egyptian leaders and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived to join the diplomatic efforts.
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday backed Egypt's efforts to broker a ceasefire, offering Washington's full diplomatic support.
"Over the next 24 hours, we'll continue to stay in close contact with our friends and parties in the region, and we will use all of our diplomatic resources and relationships to support efforts of closing a deal on a ceasefire."
Obama said that while he and the world were "heartbroken" by the deaths of civilians in the Gaza Strip, US ally Israel had the "right to defend itself from rocket attacks that terrorise" its population.
In addition to the four children who died on the Gaza seashore, several people were also wounded in an apparent Israeli naval bombardment, medics said.
The first strike scattered terrified children and adults on the beach. A second and third struck as they ran, setting fire to huts on the beach.
The strikes appeared to be the result of shelling by the Israeli navy against an area with small shacks used by fishermen.
Several children ran inside a hotel where at least three had shrapnel injuries.
Several hours after the strikes, the Israeli military described the deaths as "tragic" and said it was investigating the incident.
"Based on preliminary results, the target of this strike was Hamas terrorist operatives," the military said in a statement.
"The reported civilian casualties from this strike are a tragic outcome."
Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior member of Abbas's Fatah movement, said a Hamas official was in Cairo to hold talks with Egyptian officials.
Ahmad expressed hope that the talks in Cairo would "crystallise a definite formula for an Egyptian initiative" or clarify its initial plan, which had proposed an end to hostilities from Tuesday.
Abbas himself later arrived in Cairo to join the diplomatic efforts and was slated to travel to Ankara on Thursday in search of regional support for an immediate end to the fighting.
Also in Cairo, Middle East peace Quartet envoy Tony Blair met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri.
Egypt's initiative was designed "to allow all the issues that are at the heart of this problem ... to be dealt with in a thorough and proper way", Blair said.
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