BARI (Italy): G7 leaders on Thursday called on Hamas to accept a roadmap towards a ceasefire in Gaza announced by US President Joe Biden in May.

The UN Security Council had supported the plan and `now it is important that everyone implements it, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the Group of Seven summit in Italy.

`We therefore call on Hamas in particular to give the necessary consent so that this can now work,` he said.

Biden launched a new US effort late last month to secure a truce and hostage release.

However the deal remains uncertain as Hamas officials have insisted that any ceasefire agreement must guarantee a permanent end to the war a demand Israel has firmly rejected.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is hosting the summit, said she confirmed `the unanimous support for the US mediation proposal for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza`.

The G7, which also includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the US, also called for the release of all prisoners, and for a significant increase in humanitarian assistance to the civilian population of Gaza, she said.

Rafah battles Israeli helicopters struck Gaza`s Rafah on Thursday, residents said, with Hamas reporting street battles in the southern city after top US diplomat Antony Blinken said a truce was still possible.

Israeli ground forces have been operating in Rafah since early May, despite widespread alarm over the fate of Palestinian civilians there, and a ruling by the International Court of Justice later that month.

Western areas of Rafah came under heavy fire on Thursday from the air, sea and land, residents said.

`There was very intense fire from warplanes, Apaches (helicopters) and quadcopters, in addition to Israeli artillery and military battle ships, all of which were striking the area west of Rafah,` one said. Hamas said its fighters were battling Israeli troops on the streets in the city, near the besieged Gaza Strip`s border with Egypt.-AFP