Star International

A first group of civilian evacuees from Gaza has crossed into Egypt while Israeli forces bombed the Palestinian enclave from land, sea and air anew as they press their offensive against Hamas militants.

Firefighters from Victoria and New Zealand are on the way to help exhausted Queensland crews battling dozens of bushfires across the state.

A German-Israeli woman who was seized by Hamas from a music festival and paraded around Gaza by the Palestinian militant group is dead, the Israeli government says.

Armoured Israeli forces have attacked Gaza's key northern city from two directions, targeting the main road linking it to the south of the enclave, witnesses said, widening an offensive that led to more appeals for civilians to be protected.

An off-duty pilot charged with trying to disable the engines of an Alaska Airlines jet in flight told police afterward he was suffering a nervous breakdown and had recently taken psychedelic mushrooms.