A minister raised hopes that Britons trapped in Gaza may be able to flee if the Rafah crossing with Egypt opens possibly as early as Monday.
Armed forces minister James Heappey told Times Radio: “We had an expectation that the Rafah crossing may open today.
“The news appears to be breaking that that is now an expectation that is had in theatre as well.
“That is good news and it gives British nationals trapped in Gaza the opportunity to leave.”
Egypt, Israel and the US agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza to begin at 6am GMT coinciding with the re-opening of the Rafah border crossing, two Egyptian security sources said on Monday, but the time passed and it remained closed.
The sources said the ceasefire would last for several hours but were not clear on the exact duration. They also said the three countries had agreed that Rafah would be open until 2pm GMT on Monday as a one-day initial re-opening.
Asked for confirmation, the Israeli military and the US Embassy in Israel had no immediate comment. This was not immediately confirmed by officials with Gaza’s governing Hamas either.
Israel denied on Monday that a truce was “currently” under way in southern Gaza, half an hour after security sources in neighbouring Egypt said such a deal was due to be implemented.
“There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out,” a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
British diplomats in Cairo had “very advanced” plans to receive British nationals who succeed in getting out of Gaza and to get them back to the UK, Mr Heappey added, but later warned of the need for caution over whether the crossing would open.
One young girl was shown over the weekend, with her British passport, at the crossing.
Opening the crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt could also allow desperately needed aid to flow in.
Mr Heappey also warned that over the next few days “horrific” events would unfold as Israeli forces go into Gaza to seek to destroy Hamas after it killed more than 1,300 Israeli, including babies and children, and took more than 100 hostage.
Mr Heappey stressed that America and Britain had deployed forces to the region in order to seek to stop the conflict escalating into a broader war involving more nations.
The US and UK have given strong backing to Israel to defend itself against the appalling terrorist attacks, to try to free the hostages, and prevent similar atrocities in the future.
But they have also stressed to Israel the need to minimise civilian casualties.
More than half a million people in Gaza were reported to have moved south after Israel warned them to leave Gaza city and the north ahead of its planned incursion.
The United Nations has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis with food and water shortages, with hospitals struggling to cope with the number of casualties, with more than 2,300 people in Gaza reported to have been killed in recent days after Israel launched a wave of air attacks on the besieged strip in retaliation to the Hamas horrors.
In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday, Joe Biden warned Israel not to reoccupy Gaza in his strongest public effort to hold them back after the attack that killed more than 1,300 people, including at least 30 US citizens.
"I think it’d be a big mistake," Mr Biden said.
"Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas, and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again."
"Taking out the extremists... is a necessary requirement," he added.
Mr Biden and his administration officials have refused to criticise Israel or its bombing campaign that has killed civilians in Gaza.
