US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that progress was being made to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, as a new ceasefire push began more than 20 months since the start of the conflict.

The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding Wednesday after a rocky start, giving rise to cautious hope it could lead to a longer term peace agreement, even as Tehran insisted it would not give up its nuclear program.

After twelve days of intense strikes between Israel and Iran – punctuated by the United States’ bombing of Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend and Tehran’s performative retaliation – a US-brokered ceasefire appeared to be holding on Tuesday.

Gazans caught up in violence seeking food, and the U.N. agency tasked with helping them, say a U.S. and Israeli-backed aid effort is "costing more lives than it saves."

At least 41 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday, as the death toll at US-Israeli aid distribution centers in Gaza rose to 516.

The Israeli military said the soldiers were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, and that they were part of a team finding and demolishing tunnels.