Negotiations to pause the Gaza conflict and free the remaining hostages headed into a second day in Cairo, as displaced Gazans braced for an expected Israeli assault on their last refuge of Rafah, AFP reports.

A Hamas source told AFP that a delegation was headed to the Egyptian capital to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators, after Israeli negotiators held talks with the mediators on Tuesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza conflict, was also due in Cairo for talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

CIA Director William Burns had joined Tuesday’s talks with David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, which Egyptian media said had been mostly “positive”.