The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has voted to establish the position of vice president, potentially paving the way for a successor to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Gaza's civil defense agency reported on Friday that the death toll from an Israeli air strike the day before on a house in the north of the Palestinian territory had risen to 23.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered condolences on behalf of Israel following the death of Pope Francis.

Hundreds of clerics from Syria's Druze minority on Friday are heading to Israel where they will conduct a pilgrimage to a sacred shrine, the second such visit since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

Jordan announced Wednesday a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood that could include shutting down the country's largest opposition party, after accusing the Islamist group of planning attacks.

The Islamic Action Front, a political party linked to the regionwide Brotherhood, won the most seats in parliamentary elections held last year against the backdrop of mass protests against Israel over its war with Hamas.

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 28 people, mostly women and children, the territory's Health Ministry said Thursday.

Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas and renewed its air and ground war over a month ago. It has sealed off Gaza's 2 million Palestinians from all food and other imports since the beginning of March to pressure Hamas to release hostages.

Senior Palestinian officials loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas are meeting to vote on the creation of a vice presidency and could choose a possible successor to the unpopular 89-year-old.

The two-day meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council, beginning Wednesday, comes as Abbas seeks relevance and a role in postwar planning for the Gaza Strip after having been largely sidelined by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

An overnight Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed 23 people, as Arab mediators worked on a proposal to end the war with Hamas that would include a five to seven year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said Wednesday.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the strike, which set several tents ablaze, burning people alive. The military says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters are embedded in densely populated areas. Another six people were killed in separate strikes, including a pair of five-year-old twin girls.

An official invitation to new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to attend the upcoming Arab League summit in Baghdad has triggered sharp political divisions within Iraq.

Al-Sharaa took power after leading a lightning rebel offensive that unseated his predecessor, Bashar Assad, in December. Since then, he has positioned himself as a statesman aiming to unite and rebuild his country after nearly 14 years of civil war, but his past as a Sunni Islamist militant has left many — including Shiite groups in Iraq — wary.

Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a missile early Wednesday toward northern Israel, a rare target for the group as a monthlong intense U.S. airstrike campaign continues to target them. The Houthis separately claimed shooting down another MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen.

Sirens sounded in Haifa, Krayot and other areas west of the Sea of Galilee, the Israeli military said.