U.S. and Arab mediators are working round-the-clock to hammer out a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, sources close to the talks said, while in the Gaza Strip medics said Israeli strikes had killed 13 Palestinians on Thursday.

The order included four residential block areas in a refugee camp where Israel claims Palestinian militants fired rockets from.

Israeli officials say a ceasefire in Gaza is a more realistic prospect than at any time in the past year, suggesting a long-awaited deal to free hostages and boost aid to the beleaguered territory could be close.

A group of Palestinians in Gaza filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department this week over military aid to Israel. The State Department has created exceptions for Israel, allowing the key U.S. ally to bypass laws restricting aid to foreign militaries accused of human rights abuses,

The US State Department is facing a landmark lawsuit brought by Palestinians and Palestinian Americans, accusing the agency of bypassing a decades-old human rights law to continue funding Israeli military units allegedly involved in atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Israeli military hit weapons depots and air defenses, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Israel has said it aims to keep military equipment away from extremists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered Syrian territory on Tuesday during a security tour of the buffer zone seized by Israel in the past few days since

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced that Israeli troops would occupy a buffer zone in Syria "for the foreseeable future." This marks the first time an incumbent leader of Israel has extended military presence so deeply into Syrian territory.