Thousands of Syrians gathered in Damascus’ historic main mosque for the first Muslim Friday prayers since former President Bashar Assad was overthrown.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza have killed at least 14 people including children, while the bombing of a hospital in northern Gaza has wounded a half-dozen patients.

The Israeli military says it is pausing fighting during daytime hours along a route in southern Gaza to free up a backlog of humanitarian aid deliveries for desperate Palestinians.

One major land crossing into Gaza was shut down after a Hamas rocket attack, another by an Israeli incursion.

The Israeli military says it has reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza but a United Nations agency says no aid has yet entered.

A cumbersome process of Israeli inspections and other hurdles are slowing the entry of aid into Gaza.

Israel has faced international criticism for largely excluding Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza from its highly successful vaccination campaign. The dispute highlights the Palestinians' reliance on Israel even as they struggle to combat the pandemic on their own. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and numerous skirmishes since the militant group took control of Gaza. But Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, said they would be administered in two phases, first to vulnerable patients and then to health care workers. Israel captured east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state.