The United States on Sunday sharpened its criticism of Hamas and urged the militant Palestinian group to accept a cease-fire agreement that would halt nearly two weeks of fighting with Israel.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged Israel to "exercise maximum restraint" and spare the lives of civilians in its campaign in Gaza, where Sunday's Palestinian death toll passed 100.

Egyptian soldiers in north Sinai prevented an aid convoy of activists from reaching the Rafah border crossing with the embattled Palestinian Gaza Strip on Saturday, an AFP correspondent said.

Egypt has no plans to revise its ceasefire proposal to end fighting in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant movement Hamas, which has rejected the initiative, Cairo's foreign minister said on Saturday.

Former Prime Minister Hesham Qandil said in his first remarks after his release from prison that Egypt needs justice.

Dekernes Court of Appeals in Daqahliya on Thursday acquitted four members of the Muslim Brotherhood of demonstrating without permit and fined them LE10,000 each.

The committee charged with managing the companies of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders said it is keeping in mind the rights of workers and suppliers.

A Hamas official denied on Thursday that the Palestinian faction had secured a ceasefire deal with Israel, refuting claims from an Israeli official that they had agreed to halt fire early on Friday.

Egypt's Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat referred 163 alleged supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi to an Alexandria criminal court on Wednesday for the killing of 29 persons in August 2013.

Former prime minister Hisham Qandil was released Tuesday after the prison's authorities sent a letter to the prosecution affirming that he was not facing other charges, reported Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

A few days before he was elected Egypt's president in May, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discreetly visited tribesmen living along the border with Libya. Tribal leaders there say Sisi, former head of the army, urged them to help Egypt confront what could be a security nightmare for the biggest Arab nation: Islamist militants operating just over the frontier in Libya.

The Muslim Brotherhood has called on Arab armies to support Hamas movement in Gaza Strip against Israel which has been raiding the Gaza Strip for a week in response to missiles shot by Hamas.

A Damietta court on Sunday sentenced 101 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters to three years in prison on charges including membership in a banned organisation and protesting without a permit.

Prosecutors have renewed the imprisonment of Magdy Qurqur, a spokesman for the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL), and NASL leader Mohamed Mahmoud Taher, for 15 days pending investigations on charges of joining a banned group, Youm7 reported Monday.

The Egyptian Coast Guard arrested five senior Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya leaders Sunday near the Egypt-Sudan border, said the official army spokesman.

The Church of England was debating whether to allow female bishops for the first time in its history before a vote Monday, which could end half a century of bitter divisions over the role of women.

A few days before he was elected Egypt’s president in May, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discreetly visited tribesmen living along the border with Libya. Tribal leaders there say Sisi, former head of the army, urged them to help Egypt confront what could be a security nightmare for the biggest Arab nation: Islamist militants operating just over the frontier in Libya.

A court in Nile Delta's Damietta city has sentenced 101 supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi to three years in prison on charges of illegal gathering and rioting.

A Cairo court has accepted the appeal presented by ex-prime minster Hisham Qandil and reversed his one-year jail sentence.