Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

At least six Gazans were killed and several others wounded when the Israeli military struck a shelter in Gaza City, hosting a wedding party.

The deadly strike came as senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye were in the United States for talks on reaching the next phase of the shaky ceasefire on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.

Local sources said that Israeli tank shells struck the second floor of a school-turned-shelter while displaced Palestinian families were gathered there to attend a wedding.

The attack was the latest in hundreds of Israeli ceasefire violations that have taken place since the US-brokered agreement came into force in October, according to a tally from the Gaza Government Media Office.

Gaza´s civil defence agency said Israeli shelling on a school-turned-shelter killed five people on Friday, while the military said it had fired at "suspicious individuals".

Spokesman for the agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP that "five martyrs have been recovered as a result of the Israeli shelling of the shelter at the Gaza Martyrs School," in the Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City.

When asked by AFP about the incident, the Israeli military said that "during operational activity in the area of the Yellow line in the northern Gaza Strip, a number of suspicious individuals were identified in command structures west of the Yellow line."

Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli forces have withdrawn to positions east of the so-called Yellow Line.

"Shortly after identification, the troops fired at the suspicious individuals to eliminate the threat," the military said, adding that it was "aware of the claim regarding casualties in the area, and the details are under review."

"The (Israeli military) regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to mitigate harm to the extent possible," it said.

The ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US hoped talks between Lebanese authorities and Israel would lead to a strong Lebanese government and see the Hezbollah’s disarmed.

"We are hopeful that talks between Lebanese authorities and Israelis will create outlines and a way forward that prevents further conflict," Rubio told a press conference.

There cannot be peace in Gaza unless Hamas disarms and no longer poses a threat to Israel, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.

"If Hamas is ever in a position in the future that they can threaten or attack Israel, you’re not going to have peace," Rubio told journalists, adding: "That’s why disarmament is so critical."

A famine declared in Gaza in August is now over thanks to improved access for humanitarian aid, the United Nations said on Friday, but warned the food situation in the Palestinian territory remained "critical".

"Food security conditions have improved in the Gaza Strip. However, the situation remains critical: the entire Gaza Strip is classified in Emergency [...] through mid-April 2026. No areas are classified in Famine," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises.

A top Hamas official said that talks in Miami on Friday to advance the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire must aim to end Israeli truce "violations" in the Palestinian territory.

"Our people expect these talks to result in an agreement to put an end to ongoing Israeli lawlessness, halt all violations and compel the occupation to abide by the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement," Hamas political bureau member, Bassem Naim, told AFP.

The United States is hosting the discussions, with President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, expected to meet senior officials from mediator countries Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye in Florida to push for the second stage of the ceasefire deal.

The United States will host talks in Miami on Friday to push the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, as President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely visit him at the close of the year.

Trump's roving special envoy Steve Witkoff is to meet senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in Florida, a White House official told AFP Thursday, amid fears that efforts to reach the second stage of the deal are stalling.

Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed.

But progress in moving to that phase of October's agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was brokered by Washington and its regional allies, has so far been slow.

The ceasefire also remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.

The head of Lebanon's army agreed to document its progress in disarming Hezbollah during talks Thursday with international envoys in Paris, the French foreign ministry said, as Beirut seeks to forestall expanded Israeli attacks.

Thursday's meetings showed "progress in implementing the plan to restore the Lebanese state's monopoly on weapons", French foreign ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said at a briefing.

Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal outlined the "specific needs of the Lebanese Armed Forces" to continue this work, Confavreux added.

He said the officials agreed on the need to "seriously document these advances", adding they were "working on this within the framework of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism".

Sources familiar with the talks said they were chaired by French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian and attended by US and Saudi envoys Morgan Ortagus and Yazid bin Farhan, respectively.