Regional players are unlikely to want their forces to “fight Hamas or get caught in the crossfire,” a former U.S. ambassador to Israel told NBC News.

The exchange was the latest indication that the fraught Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement is moving forward, despite Israeli strikes on Gaza this week that killed more than 100 people following the killing of an Israeli soldier.

The shaky peace is holding, once again, largely because of American pressure. America has established a “Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre” in Israel under a four-star admiral to ensure Israel adheres to the agreement.

Hamas has said the return of the remaining bodies "may take some time" due to the destruction wrought in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday instructed the country's military to "carry out powerful strikes in Gaza," a statement from his office said, in response to alleged ceasefire violations by Hamas.

Foreign ministers of some Muslim countries will meet in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and next steps there, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday, voicing concern over whether the ceasefire will continue.

"It requires a lot of patience and a lot of persistence, and this is what we were made for," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger told Newsweek.

JERUSALEM -- Hospital officials in Gaza say that Israel has handed over the bodies of 30 Palestinians. Friday's handover comes a day after Palestinian militants in Gaza turned over the remains of two hostages to Israel.

Throngs of people lined up outside the Bank of Palestine branch in Gaza City, anxiously waiting to see if they would finally be able to access their funds for the first time in two years of war. Two of the bank’s branches reopened their doors in Gaza this month,