The earliest evidence of mummification in Egypt suggests that the practice of wrapping bodies to preserve them after death began around 1,000 years earlier than thought, said a study Wednesday.

The study in the journal PLOS ONE is the first to describe resins and linens used as funeral wrappings dating back as far as 3350 to 4500 BC.

A 72-hour truce between Israel and Hamas teetered on the brink of collapse Wednesday with a rocket hitting the Jewish state just hours before it expired at midnight.

Shortly before the rocket hit, an official told Agence France Presse Israel was willing to extend the lull by another three days as the Palestinians expressed hope they could reach a deal in indirect talks brokered by Egypt.

An Egyptian court said it will deliver its verdict in the murder trial of Hosni Mubarak on September 27, in a session Wednesday in which the ousted strongman passionately defended his 30-year rule.

Mubarak and seven security aides are accused of involvement in the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 18-day uprising that toppled him in 2011. A previous sentence of life in prison was overturned on technical grounds.

Negotiators in Cairo addressed the thorny issue of the Israeli Gaza blockade on Tuesday night, as the second day of a 72-hour truce neared its end.

As Gaza's residents ventured out to try to piece together their battered lives, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held a second round of indirect talks aimed at finding a durable end to the five-week confrontation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hosted his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for talks about Cairo's purchase of advanced surface-to-air missiles and membership in a Moscow-led free trade zone.

The two strong-willed leaders have developed a close working relationship since Putin gave his backing to Sisi's presidential run during the latter's visit to Moscow in February.

A year after a bloody Cairo crackdown, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has tightened his grip on Egypt, crushed the Muslim Brotherhood, jailed top opponents and turned the page on the Arab Spring, critics say.

On August 14, 2013, after Sisi ousted Egypt's first freely elected President, Mohamed Morsi, the security forces launched a crackdown on thousands of his supporters at protest camps in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares that left hundreds dead.

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday demanded that Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and two other officials be investigated for their roles in a brutal crackdown that killed hundreds in likely "crimes against humanity".

Security forces stormed two sit-ins of supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares on August 14, 2013, resulting in what HRW termed "one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history".

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia discussed developments in Syria, Iraq, Gaza and Libya with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during Sisi's first visit to his regime's powerful ally since winning May elections.

Egypt has barred the head of Human Rights Watch from entering the country ahead of the release of a report on a mass killing of protesters, HRW officials said Monday.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of the New York-based NGO, and HRW Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson were held overnight in Cairo airport before being denied entry, Whitson wrote on Twitter.

Israel and Hamas on Monday stuck to a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza as Egyptian mediators launched fresh talks with negotiators aimed at securing a permanent cessation of hostilities.

Quiet returned to the enclave from midnight (2100 GMT on Sunday), the fruit of days of Egyptian-brokered mediation to stem violence which has killed 1,939 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side since July 8.