President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy on Friday will host top officials from Middle Eastern countries mediating the Gaza ceasefire, a State Department official said, in a bid to push the tenuous agreement into its next phase.

Gaza has been split in two. Hamas is reconsolidating its control in the western half of the enclave that Israel withdrew from. East of the yellow line, in Israel-controlled territory, armed groups are trying to assert dominance.

A storm has battered the Gaza Strip, creating misery for displaced Palestinians and delaying the search for the body of the last Israeli hostage held by militants there.

Food security experts said a famine reported in August had been alleviated but that the situation remained dire across the enclave, despite a cease-fire in October and greater flows of aid.

Food access has "significantly improved," but the greatest challenge now is adequate shelter for Palestinians, officials say.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that a new governance structure for Gaza -- made up of an international board and a group of Palestinian technocrats -- would be in place soon, followed by the deployment of foreign troops,

Omer Shem Tov spent 505 days in Hamas captivity after being captured at Nova Music Festival, working as a 'slave' in Gaza tunnels before meeting President Trump.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Saturday that progress was being made in implementing the Gaza peace plan put forward by President Donald