Another 158 people were taken to hospitals in Gaza with injuries, the Ministry of Health said.Oct 20, 6:38 AMWitkoff and Kushner arrive in Israel, sources sayUnited States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Senior Advisor to the U.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and the U.S. president's son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Israel Monday to shore up the tenuous ceasefire that's holding in Gaza, a day after the fragile deal faced its first major flareup with Israel threatening to halt aid transfers after it said Hamas militants had killed two soldiers.

Soldiers from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion allegedly smuggled hundreds of thousands of shekels worth in cigarrettes into the Gaza Strip using military vehicles and aid trucks.

The hard-won ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appeared threatened on Sunday as Israel accused the Palestinian Islamist group of attacking its troops in the Gaza Strip, before launching fresh strikes in response.

A US embassy spokesperson and Israeli official confirmed Witkoff and Kushner’s arrival in Israel on Monday. US vice-president JD Vance said on Sunday that he also might travel to Israel “in the next few days”, with Israeli authorities expecting his arrival on Tuesday.

It will take about $70 billion to rebuild Gaza, according to an operational damage and needs assessment conducted jointly by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank. European and Arab nations, Canada and the U.S. appear willing to contribute to the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild Gaza, the UN official said on Tuesday.

An Israeli security official says the transfer of aid into the territory is halted “until further notice” after a Hamas ceasefire violation.

Israel on Sunday halted the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, with a security official citing Hamas's "blatant violation" of the ceasefire agreement. "The transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip has been halted until further notice,

For Palestinians returning to Gaza, rebuilding their lives feels at best like a faraway goal and at worst, like an impossible one.

The ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel has allowed more aid to flow into Gaza – but obstacles remain, particularly in the north