Gaza’s rulers Hamas said Friday its armed wing has released two American hostages, from around 200 captives abducted in attacks by the militant group in Israel on October 7.

“In response to Qatari efforts, (Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons,” Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he’s dealing with “restrictions” being imposed on aid deliveries to Gaza, as Palestinian death toll from unrelenting Israeli strikes rises above 4,100.

“We are actively engaging with all the parties in order to clarify these restrictions so we can have these trucks moving towards where they’re needed. We need these trucks moving as soon as possible,” said Guterres, speaking at the Egyptian border crossing near Rafah in Gaza.

Here are the latest updates

• At least 4,137 Palestinians have been killed and 13,000 wounded in Gaza in Israeli strikes since Oct 7, the Palestinian health ministry said on Friday in a statement, amid uncertainty over the entry of aid from Egypt. On the other hand, Hamas’s October 7 attack inside Israel, killed more than 1,400 people.
• The Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church compound was hit in an Israeli air attack in central Gaza City, Al-Jazeera reported on Friday.
• The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed its “strongest condemnation” of the strike at its church compound.
• The Hamas-controlled interior ministry said several displaced people sheltering at a church compound in Gaza were killed and injured after an Israeli strike late Thursday.
• The strike left a “large number of martyrs and injured” at the compound of the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City, the ministry said.
• Witnesses told AFP the strike appeared to have been aimed at a target close to the place of worship where many Gaza residents had taken refuge as the war raged in the Palestinian enclave.
• Israel’s defence minister has told gathered troops they will soon see Gaza “from inside”, suggesting an imminent ground invasion.
• US President Joe Biden makes a rare Oval Office address as he seeks additional emergency funding from Congress for Israel, Ukraine and the Palestinians in Gaza.
• The US says it shot down missiles and drones fired from Yemen, “potentially at Israel”, and confirms reports of attacks on bases hosting US troops in Syria and Iraq.
• The European Commission president says the “risk of a regional spillover” from the Israel-Hamas war is “real”.

Israeli defence chief says troops will soon see Gaza ‘from inside’.

• World Health Organization chief Tedros says aid trucks are “loaded and ready to go” into Gaza as dozens of US senators urge swift implementation of the US-Egypt deal.

• Asian markets fell and oil prices extended gains Friday on worries that an expected ground invasion of Gaza by Israel will spark a wider conflict in the Middle East.

• The Rafah border crossing is unlikely to open on Friday, according to a report, stalling anew the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid to over a million Palestinians living under siege in the Gaza Strip.