U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Wednesday with the leader of the United Arab Emirates, wrapping up an overseas trip that saw the highest-level outreach between the United States and Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Rubio's talk with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also the ruler of Abu Dhabi, comes as the U.S. also tries to continue a shaky ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the militant Hamas group.

By car and on foot, through muddy olive groves and snipers' sight lines, tens of thousands of Palestinians in recent weeks have fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank — the largest displacement in the occupied territory since the 1967 Mideast war.

After announcing a widespread crackdown against West Bank militants on Jan. 21 — just two days after its ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza — Israeli forces descended on the restive city of Jenin, as they have dozens of times since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

An Israeli official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a close confidant to lead negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire with Hamas.

The official says that Cabinet Minister Ron Dermer will head the Israeli team. Previous talks have been led by the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet security agencies.

Hamas and Israel announced a deal for the release of six living hostages from Gaza and the return of four captives' bodies -- including, the militants said, the remains of two young boys seen as national symbols back home.

A ceasefire in Gaza was in doubt as the region marked 500 days of Israel's war with Hamas, while Israel and the United States sent conflicting signals over whether they want the truce to continue. Talks on the ceasefire's second phase are yet to start.

500 days of war in Gaza

Efforts were underway to secure the release this week of a larger number of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian sources said Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu is making tremendous efforts" to release six living hostages and the bodies of four others this week, an Israeli official source told AFP.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that Israel would begin negotiations "this week" on the second phase of a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza.

"We had yesterday night a security cabinet meeting. We decided to open negotiations on the second phase. It will happen this week," Saar said of the talks, which were originally supposed to start on February 3.

Israelis have marked 500 days of war in Gaza with protests demanding further progress on a ceasefire so all remaining hostages can be returned.

People demonstrated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Monday as less than two weeks remain in the ceasefire's current phase. Talks on the more difficult second phase are yet to start. Over 70 hostages remain in Gaza, around half thought to be dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he was "committed" to U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, which involves displacing more than two million inhabitants of the Palestinian territory.

"Just as I have committed to, on the day after the war in Gaza, there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. I am committed to U.S. President Trump's plan for the creation of a different Gaza," Netanyahu said in a statement.

A planned Saudi meeting of Arab leaders in response to US President Donald Trump's plan to take control of Gaza has been postponed by a day and expanded, Arab diplomats said on Monday.

"The mini Arab summit in Riyadh has been postponed from Thursday to Friday, February 21," a Saudi source told AFP. An Arab diplomatic source confirmed the new date.