U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking ahead of a trip to the Middle East, has reaffirmed U.S. support for a two-state solution as the only way to provide hope to Israelis and Palestinians that they can live "with equal measures of security, of peace and dignity."

After a ceasefire with Israel, Hamas has claimed "victory" but the Palestinian Islamist group's success lies more in marginalizing its political rival Fatah than in battle, analysts say.

The return of calm to the Hamas-run enclave of Gaza, after 11 days of Israeli air strikes on the coastal strip -- and rocket fire sent in the other direction -- was celebrated Friday by large crowds waving Palestinian flags.

When an Israeli air strike targeted a security office near her home in Gaza this month, 10-year-old Zeina Dabous frantically scribbled a note and slipped it under her mother's pillow.

The U.N. Security Council on Saturday called for "full adherence to the ceasefire" in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in its first statement since violence erupted on May 10.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Israel was "forced to accept defeat" by Palestinian armed groups, after a ceasefire between the Jewish state and militants in Gaza.

U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to help organize efforts to rebuild Gaza and said creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel is the "only answer" to the conflict.

Biden also said he had told the Israelis to stop "intercommunal fighting" in the flashpoint city of Jerusalem.

The ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza was holding Saturday, as humanitarian aid began to enter the Israeli-blockaded enclave ravaged by 11 days of bloodshed.

Cafes reopened, fishermen set out to sea and shopkeepers dusted off shelves Saturday as Gazans slowly resumed their daily lives after a deadly 11-day conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Cyprus said Friday it is in a "state of emergency" because of an inflow of Syrian migrants that has flooded its reception centers, appealing for help from the European Union.

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