TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday to shore up the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza that has teetered over the past few days following a burst of deadly violence and questions over how to move forward with the plan for cementing a long-term peace.

President Donald Trump is suggesting he could call on Israel to release imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, the most popular and potentially unifying Palestinian leader, as the United States aims to fill a leadership vacuum in postwar Gaza.

Several top U.S. officials are in Israel to shore up the Gaza ceasefire and attempt to bring about a permanent end to the war. They acknowledge the next phase poses serious challenges.

The vice president was the latest U.S. official to meet with the Israeli PM since a flare-up in violence threatened the truce. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to follow Friday.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance sought Wednesday to ease concerns in Israel that the Trump administration was dictating terms to its closest ally in the Middle East, as he and other top U.S. envoys visit Israel this week to support the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The United Nations’ top court issued a legal opinion Wednesday stating that Israel, as an occupying power, is obligated to work with UN agencies to facilitate humanitarian aid in Gaza, a rebuke of the blockade it imposed on the Palestinian enclave earlier this year.

A collective funeral ceremony was held Wednesday in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, for 54 unidentified Palestinians whose bodies were returned from Israel, the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) reported.

Archaeologists recently uncovered a 1,500-year-old synagogue in Israel's Golan Heights, revealing new evidence of ancient Jewish presence in the biblical region.