Efforts to reach a new cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appear to be gaining steam.

Egyptian and U.S. officials confirmed this week that they are actively pursuing ways to halt a war that has raged for over 110 days. An Egyptian official said that Israel has presented a proposal for a pause in fighting, while the White House said it dispatched a senior envoy to the region for consultations with Egypt and Qatar.

The United Nations' top court will issue a decision Friday on South Africa's request for interim orders in a genocide case against Israel, including that Israel halt its offensive in Gaza.

The decision is a preliminary stage of a case filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice alleging that Israel's military action in its war with Hamas in Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel strongly rejects the accusation and has asked the court to throw out the case.

Gaza photojournalist and social media influencer Motaz Azaiza joined Al Jazeera's bureau chief for the Palestinian territory, Wael al-Dahdouh, for a photo in Qatar on Wednesday following the pair's evacuation.

He posted a picture with Dahdouh writing: "Our smile is a kind of resilience."

One of the five children who were hospitalized in Cyprus after being rescued from a rickety boat along with 55 other Syrian migrants has died, an official said Thursday.

The migrants, who were rescued early Wednesday by Cyprus police, apparently ran out of food and water after sailing on the boat from Lebanon for six days, officials said.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday accused Qatar, a key mediator in efforts to free its hostages, of being responsible for the October 7 Hamas attack.

His comments came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was caught on tape allegedly telling hostages' families this week that Qatar's mediation was "problematic" when it came to resolving the hostage crisis.

The fatal shooting of an American-Palestinian teen driving a pickup truck in the occupied West Bank was unprovoked, the sole passenger told The Associated Press, describing apparent Israeli fire hitting the back of the vehicle before it overturned several times on a dirt road.

At least 10 bullets struck the truck, which was seen by The Associated Press after Israeli investigators examined it. Most hit the back windshield and truck bed, supporting 16-year-old Mohammed Salameh's account of the incident that killed his friend, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, 17, a Louisiana native.

Israeli troops on Wednesday blew up the home of a Palestinian accused of assisting in the killing of four Israelis near a settlement in the occupied West Bank in June, witnesses said.

Basil Shehadeh was arrested on suspicion of helping two other Palestinians carry out the deadly shooting at a petrol station near Eli settlement in the northern West Bank.

China, the world's biggest exporter, says it is deeply concerned about tensions in the Red Sea that have upended global trade by forcing many shippers to avoid the Suez Canal.

China has been in "close communication with all parties concerned and making positive efforts to de-escalate" the situation in which Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked international ships with missiles, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing on Wednesday.

Heavy Israeli bombardment of Gaza overnight killed at least 125 people, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said Wednesday, against the backdrop of talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a truce.

As the fighting raged, the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said Israeli forces had issued fresh evacuation orders for a section of Khan Younis housing an estimated half a million residents and displaced people.

By Sara Harmouch, American University and Nakissa Jahanbani, United States Military Academy West Point

From attacks by rebels in the Red Sea to raids in northern Israel and the Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas, Western analysts have pointed a finger of blame toward Iran.