Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

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.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the US was sanctioning two judges of the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel, raising the number of senior court officials under US sanctions to 11.

"Today, I am designating two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, pursuant to Executive Order 14203," Rubio said in a statement, referring to an order President Donald Trump signed in February sanctioning the ICC.

"These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel's consent," he said.

The judges named were part of a panel that refused to overturn a lower court decision that the prosecution's investigation into alleged crimes under its jurisdiction could include events following the October 7, 2023 attacks.

French, Saudi Arabian and American officials held talks with the head of the Lebanese army on Thursday in Paris aimed at finalising a roadmap to enable a mechanism for the disarmament of the Hezbollah group, diplomats said.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations with Israel questioning the Lebanese army's efforts to disarm Hezbollah. Israeli warplanes have increasingly targeted Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and even in the capital.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said that a Palestinian was killed while 13 others sustained injuries after Israeli soldiers opened fire in Gaza.

At least 395 have been killed and 1,088 injured in Israeli attacks since US-brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire, it added.

With the latest casualties, the death toll in Palestine hits 70,669, with 171,165 injured over two years of war in Gaza.