Several top U.S. officials are in Israel to shore up the Gaza ceasefire and attempt to bring about a permanent end to the war. They acknowledge the next phase poses serious challenges.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio toured a U.S.-led coordination center in southern Israel Friday, as the Trump administration pushed forward with plans to set up an international security force in Gaza and shore up a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

However, Israel has said it is keeping the crossing closed until Hamas "fulfils" its commitments under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal by returning the bodies of deceased hostages. Israel has kept the Gaza side of the Egyptian border closed since May 2024 when it took control during the war.

Sami Shaban says his relatives were among 11 killed when Israeli tank fire struck their minibus a week after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect.

AM Rubio says West Bank annexation would 'threaten this whole process' Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Israel's government vote this week to annex the West Bank would "threaten" the peace process,

A total of 195 bodies were transported by the Red Cross to the hospital in southern Gaza since last week, when a ceasefire agreement to end the war between Israel and Hamas was put in place.

The hunger crisis in Gaza remains “catastrophic” two weeks after the ceasefire took effect, the UN’s health agency has warned, as international aid groups demanded Israel stop blocking humanitarian deliveries.

Some Palestinians and people with connections to Gaza in the Hamilton region are doubting whether the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will hold while trying to remain hopeful that it could.