The Israeli military says it is carrying out "extensive strikes" in the Gaza Strip.

A spokesperson for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency – the strip's main emergency response service – told the BBC that at least 34 Palestinians have been killed and 70 others injured.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was targeting what it called "terror targets" belonging to Hamas.

This is the largest wave of airstrikes in Gaza since the ceasefire began on 19 January...

There were “certainly reasons to be cautiously optimistic” about the prospect of peace in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Friday, after President Donald Trump’s envoy met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. 

Former Obama Defense Secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta credited President Donald Trump Thursday for the "possibility" of a "clean" Russia-Ukraine ceasefire deal.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Ukraine had agreed to a 30-day ceasefire put forward by the Trump administration, contingent on Russia’s response. 

Russia struck a sedate tone on Friday but acknowledged grounds for cautious optimism, after only backing the “idea” of a U.S. brokered 30-day ceasefire with firm caveats.

President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday night in Moscow, as the White House seeks to persuade the Kremlin to accept a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.

"The meeting between Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin will take place in a closed format this evening," Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told the Russian state-owned news outlet Izvestia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia agrees in principle with the United States' ceasefire proposal, but key terms still need to be negotiated. He stressed that any agreement should lead to lasting peace and address the root causes of the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed support for a potential 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict but has raised concerns regarding how such a truce be implemented. Speaking on Thursday, Putin warned of potential loopholes and strategic disadvantages. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday did not fully embrace a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war, stating that there were “nuances” that required “painstaking research,” especially since Russian forces were advancing in the war.

Ukraine has managed to flip the diplomatic script on Russia. Whether it proves enough to end the fighting is another matter.

In the wake of a combative Oval Office meeting, the Trump administration questioned whether Kyiv was ready to talk peace. On Tuesday, after Ukraine agreed to a cease-fire proposal following talks with Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the ball was now in the Kremlin’s court.

“We’ll take this offer now to the Russians,” Rubio said in a press briefing in Saudi Arabia after the discussions there.