Facebook has set up a 24/7 team dedicated to monitoring posts about Israel and Palestine as violence continues to escalate in the region. 

"This operations centre allows us to closely monitor the situation so we can remove content that violates our community standards faster while also addressing possible errors in enforcement," Monika Bickert, Facebook's vice president of content policy, told reporters on a conference call.

The social media company faced criticism when posts related to the al-Aqsa Mosque were removed by Instagram, which it owns.

A young Palestinian worker was stabbed and critically wounded late last night by Israeli settlers in the city of Holon, according to media sources.

The Arab 48 website said a group of settlers assaulted the young man, who hails from the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, and stabbed him after raiding his workplace when they discovered that he was a Palestinian.

The man was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, where his case was described as critical.

The US mission to the United Nations said it "will not support actions that we believe undermine efforts to de-escalate" violence between Israel and Palestinian armed groups when asked about a French push for a Security Council resolution.

France circulated a draft text to council members on Wednesday, diplomats told Reuters.

The French draft text, seen by the news agency, demands an immediate cessation of hostilities and condemns "the indiscriminate firing of rockets against civilian areas" without laying blame. 

It urges protection of civilians and revival of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians with the aim of creating two states.

The United States has traditionally shielded its ally Israel at the UN. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told her UN counterparts on Tuesday that a "public pronouncement right now" by the council would not help calm the crisis.

When asked about the French push for a resolution, a spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations said: "We've been clear and consistent that we are focused on intensive diplomatic efforts underway to bring an end to the violence and that we will not support actions that we believe undermine efforts to de-escalate."

The Wall Street Journal has said a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could come as early as Friday, citing people involved in the discussions.

Egyptian officials had made headway in talks with Hamas’s leadership, and the Israeli military had privately conceded that it was nearing the completion of its objectives, US and foreign officials told the US newspaper.

The US, along with Egypt, Qatar and several European nations have been working to pressure both Israel and Hamas to end their military campaigns.

On Wednesday, Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, told the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV channel that he believed “the ceasefire efforts currently underway will succeed”. 

"I expect a ceasefire within a day or two," he said, without providing further details.

One woman was killed in an Israeli air strike on Khan Younes in the southern Gaza Strip in the early hours of Thursday, according to several Palestinian media outlets.

The woman, identified as 32-year-old Huda Salah al-Khazendar, was reportedly killed in an air strike on a residential building in Khan Younes. 

A number of Palestinian and Arabic news outlets broadcast footage from Khan Younes showing casualties, including children arriving at a hospital in the southern Gaza neighbourhood. 

Translation: "Huda Salah Rabie al-Khazendar (32 years old) has been killed and five Palestinians wounded as a result of the occupation's aerial bombing of al-Khawalda family home in Al-Satr al-Gharbi in Khan Younes, southern Gaza."

Two US Senators have introduced competing resolutions on the crisis in Gaza - one calling for an immediate ceasefire and the other voicing support for Israel.

"Whereas every Palestinian life matters. And whereas, every Israeli life matters," says the resolution introduced by Bernie Sanders and backed by several Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy. 

"Now therefore be it resolved that the Senate urges an immediate ceasefire to prevent any further loss of life, and further escalation of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories and supports diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli Palestinian conflict to uphold international law and to protect the human rights of Israelis and Palestinians."

Sanders delivered an impassioned defence of Palestinian rights while introducing the resolution on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

He slammed the Republican-led resolution introduced by Rick Scott for failing to express sympathy for the killing of Palestinians. In fact, Scott's resolution only mentions the word "Palestinian" to refer to what it called "Hamas and its Palestinian terrorist allies".

Both resolutions, if passed, would be symbolic measures that are non-binding.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with a group of progressive lawmakers, introduced on Wednesday a resolution to block a $735m arms deal to Israel.

Palestinian rights activists described the move as historic. The effort in the House of Representatives was the first of its kind when it comes to Israel. 

But it will be short-lived if it is not adopted by at least one legislator in the Senate, making it a joint resolution that would force a vote in the upper chamber of Congress that would at least delay the sale.

Progressive and Palestine solidarity activists are turning to Bernie Sanders - as the most outspoken senator on Palestinian rights - to pick up the fight.

The deadline for pausing the sale for review is on Friday, so a Senate resolution must be introduced by the end of Thursday.

Congressional approval is not needed for arms sales, but the lawmakers can veto sales by passing joint resolutions of disapproval in both the House and the Senate.

Presidents, in turn, have veto power to block legislation objecting to arms sales. Lawmakers can override a presidential veto with two-thirds majorities in both chambers of Congress.

In all likelihood, the arms deal for Israel will not be blocked, but activists are hoping to open an unprecedented debate about America's military relationship with Israel in Congress.

In the Palestinian village of Bil'in, on the outskirts of Ramallah, a group of children stood in shock and disbelief around their friend's grave. 

"Would it be possible to re-open the grave and see Islam?" one child wondered innocently among his friends as he stared down at the grave. He might still be holding on to his life - maybe there is a mistake, the child said quietly.   

Another asked: "Is Islam really inside this grave now?"

Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Islam Wael Burnat during protests in the village against the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza and plans to displace Palestinians in Jerusalem.

One of Burnat's friends, 14-year-old Abdullah Zaid, who had accompanied him to the protest, recalled to Middle East Eye: "I was afraid and I stood in the back awaiting more people from the village to come. Suddenly, the sound of bullets rang once again, and everyone dropped down." 

"When we all stood back up again, Islam did not stand up. There was a blotch of blood on his head. The youth carried him and began running," continued Zaid. 

In less than an hour, Burnat was declared dead by medics.

Read the full story here.

Hamas officials on Wednesday predicted an imminent ceasefire between Gaza and Israel thanks to mediation efforts by Egypt and Qatar currently underway.

In a statement to CNN Arabic, a Hamas leader said there is a "positive atmosphere" surrounding the talks to reach an agreement with Israel "thanks to the support of our Egyptian and Qatari brothers" who proposed various solutions.

The official added that "the general demands of the Palestinian people are still clear: an end to the Israeli aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, an end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza, and a mechanism for the reconstruction of Gaza after the Israeli destruction".

Another Hamas leader, Mousa Abu Marzook, told Al-Mayadeen news channel earlier on Wednesday that he expects a ceasefire within two days, but Israel's prime minister has turned down a US request for calm.

Hamas leader predicts Gaza ceasefire ‘within two days’ as Israel rejects calls for calm

A group of 130 members of US Congress on Wednesday sent a letter to President Joe Biden demanding that he call for a ceasefire in the war on Gaza.

"Too many people have already died. More will unnecessarily perish if America does not act with the immediacy this violence demands," read the letter.

It was signed by a number of House Democrats including Mark Pocan, Barbara Lee, Joaquin Castro, and Ro Khanna.

Earlier on Wednesday, a group of progressive House Democrats led by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced a resolution aimed at blocking the White House's recently announced $735m sale of "precision-guided" bombs to Israel.

Muhammad Kiwan, 17, has been pronounced dead after struggling in a coma for the past week. 

Israel forces shot the teenager in the head during a protest in the town of Umm al-Fahem inside Israel last week, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

Two weeks ago, a Palestinian citizen of Lod, also known as Lydd, was allegedly shot dead by an Israeli ultra-nationalist who was arrested and quickly released due to "lack of evidence". 
 

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 227 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the past ten days, the local Ministry of Health has reported. Of those killed, at least 64 were children,  38 were women and 17 were elderly men. 

At least 1,620 people have been wounded, the ministry said. 

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has just said that its air strikes have killed 150 members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements - a figure that does not seem to line up with the Gaza health ministry's death toll report. 

Rocket fire out of Gaza has killed a total of 12 people in Israel, two of whom were children. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "determined to carry on with this operation" in the Gaza Strip until "calm and security are restored to Israeli citizens". 

In a statement that followed a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu said that he "really appreciates" the international support Israel has received, particularly "the support given by the president of our friend, the United States, Joe Biden, for the State of Israel's right to self defense". 

During the call, the US President had told Netanyahu that he "expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire", according to a White House statement.

Representative Ilhan Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, has slammed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby group for its recent fundraising campaign focused on attacking progressive members of Congress who have called for human rights conditions to be placed on US aid to Israel. 

"This is desperate and deeply offensive," Omar said of the AIPAC ads. 

"The rights of Palestinians and all people yearning for freedom and self-determination will not be ignored and no level of harassment will silence me or the millions of people demanding peace and justice," she continued.

Omar's post retweeted that of James Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute in Washington, who had taken screenshots of the ads, which he called "an outrage". 

"These ads are Trump-like bigoted acts of incitement. AIPAC should be ashamed (if they even know the meaning of the word) & Democrats should let them know it & shun them," he said. 

Representative Mark Pocan, who has also been critical of Israel's actions, particularly during its current offensive in Gaza, said AIPAC was fanning "the flames of Islamophobia, rather than peace, with deceitful graphics and rhetoric like this".

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is planning to introduce legislation that would block the Biden administration's recently announced $735m sale of precision-guided bombs to Israel. 

Backed by Representatives Mark Pocan; Rashida Tlaib; Cori Bush; Betty McCollum; Ayanna Pressley; and Ilhan Omar and a handful of human rights groups, the bill comes amid increased criticism of Israel in Washington. 

"The United States should not be rubber-stamping weapons sales to the Israeli government as they deploy our resources to target international media outlets, schools, hospitals, humanitarian missions and civilian sites for bombing," Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, said in a post to Twitter on Wednesday. 

"We have a responsibility to protect human rights".