Updates: Israel's war on Gaza continues

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the US is hopeful on securing a ceasefire deal in Gaza and that US envoy Steve Witkoff is optimistic that proximity talks would be held soon.

"I think we're closer, and I think perhaps we're closer than we've been in quite a while," Rubio told reporters at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia. He said he spoke with Witkoff on Wednesday night.

The European Union has reached an agreement with Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip, including increasing trucks for aid and opening crossing points and certain aid routes, the EU’s top diplomat said on Thursday.

"These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas," Kaja Kallas said in a statement.

The president of the UN rights council said Thursday he regretted Washington's decision to sanction an expert appointed by the body over her criticism of US policy on Gaza.

"I regret the decision of the United States Government to impose sanctions on Ms Francesca Albanese," Swiss ambassador and UN Human Rights Council president Jurg Lauber said in a statement, calling on all UN member states "to fully cooperate with the Special Rapporteurs and mandate holders of the Council and to refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal against them".

Voicing deep concern over Yemen’s protracted crisis, Pakistan has called for reinvigorating inclusive negotiations and addressing the interconnected political, humanitarian, and socio-economic challenges facing the impoverished country.

“Years of conflict have inflicted immense suffering on the Yemeni people –Political fragmentation, economic collapse, and environmental degradation have further exacerbated their plight,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representatives of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

Israel and Hamas may be able to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal within one or two weeks but such an agreement is not expected to be secured in a day's time, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday.

Speaking during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, the official said that if the two sides agree to a proposed 60-day ceasefire, Israel would use that time to offer a permanent ceasefire that would require Hamas to disarm.

The Israeli military said early on Thursday that it identified the launch of a missile from Yemen towards Israel and aerial defense systems are operating to intercept the threat.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations' special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, urged the EU to fully suspend its agreement with Israel, saying continued ties risk supporting serious crimes.

The Israeli military announced that one of its soldiers was killed during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported.

According to the army, the soldier was killed in Khan Younis when Palestinian fighters “who emerged from underground” attempted to abduct him.