The war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas has killed hundreds, displaced thousands from their homes and ravaged key infrastructure.

Palestinians rallied by the thousands Friday after a cease-fire took effect in the latest Gaza war, with many viewing it as costly but clear victory for the Islamic militant group Hamas. Israel vowed to respond with a "new level of force" to any further hostilities.

The 11-day war left more than 200 dead — the vast majority Palestinians — and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. But the rocket barrages that brought life to a standstill in much of Israel were seen by many Palestinians as a bold response to perceived Israeli abuses in Jerusalem, the emotional heart of the conflict.

The diplomatic flurry was over and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu was on the phone telling U.S. President Joe Biden that it appeared the furious fighting between Israel and Hamas was about to end.

But Biden remained wary even after the afternoon phone call with the prime minister. Things still could go crosswise with hours to go before the cease-fire took effect, Biden's team reasoned.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday hailed Israel's 11-day bombardment of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza as an "exceptional success", after a ceasefire to end the deadly conflict took effect. 

Fresh clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police broke out at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, two weeks after unrest at the sensitive religious site triggered deadly hostilities in Gaza.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said "riots broke out" at the al-Aqsa esplanade which is Islam's third holiest site and also revered by Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.

World leaders and top diplomats welcomed an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was in place Friday, while urging a long-term political solution to the Middle East conflict.

Emergency workers on Friday recovered five bodies and rescued around 10 survivors from the rubble of what appeared to be a tunnel in Gaza hit by Israeli bombardment, medics and witnesses said.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, appeared to hold Friday after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet has approved a unilateral ceasefire to halt an 11-day military operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media said late Thursday.

The decision came after heavy U.S. pressure to halt the offensive. Multiple reports said the ceasefire was to go into effect at 2 a.m., just over three hours after the decision.

Diplomatic efforts gathered pace Thursday for a ceasefire on the 11th day of deadly violence between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza, as air strikes again hammered the enclave.