Emergency workers on Friday recovered five bodies and rescued around 10 survivors from the rubble of what appeared to be a tunnel in Gaza hit by Israeli bombardment, medics and witnesses said.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, appeared to hold Friday after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet has approved a unilateral ceasefire to halt an 11-day military operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media said late Thursday.

The decision came after heavy U.S. pressure to halt the offensive. Multiple reports said the ceasefire was to go into effect at 2 a.m., just over three hours after the decision.

Diplomatic efforts gathered pace Thursday for a ceasefire on the 11th day of deadly violence between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza, as air strikes again hammered the enclave.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that "indirect talks" with armed Islamist group Hamas were essential to advancing efforts toward a Middle East ceasefire.

The World Health Organization Thursday issued an urgent appeal for $7 million needed over six months in response to a health crisis in Gaza and the West Bank amid a conflict with Israel.

Hundreds of Syrians flocked to their embassy in Lebanon early Thursday as expatriates and refugees kicked off voting for next week's presidential election which is expected to keep Bashar al-Assad in power.

Germany's top diplomat Heiko Maas said he stood with Israel as he visited Thursday, and called for a ceasefire between the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories for talks Thursday on the escalating conflict in the Middle East, a ministry spokeswoman said.

The conflict in the Middle East has stirred up a diplomatic stand-off at the United Nations between France and the United States, the first open tension between the two allies since Joe Biden took power.