By Andrew MacAskill, Alexander Cornwell and Maayan Lubell

KIRYAT GAT, Israel (Reuters) -In a squat, grey building that normally operates as a cargo hub in an industrial area of southern Israel, U.S. troops have begun the complex task of monitoring Gaza's fragile ceasefire and planning an international force to stabilise the enclave.

The U.S. military announced this week that about 200 troops with expertise in transport, planning, security and engineering had started monitoring the ceasefire and would organise the flow of aid and security assistance to Gaza.

SOUTHERN ISRAEL (Reuters) -An international security force to be put in place in Gaza under a ceasefire agreement will have to be made up of countries that Israel is "comfortable with", U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday during a visit to Israel.

Rubio added that the future of governance in Gaza still needs to be worked out among Israel and partner nations but could not include Hamas, adding that any potential role for the Palestinian Authority has yet to be determined.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Mark Heinrich)

By Pesha Magid

TURMUS AYYA, West Bank (Reuters) -Afaf Abu Alia had woken early on October 19 to join her grandchildren picking olives near the West Bank village of Turmus Ayya, when she heard a woman scream "settlers".

Masked men burst out of the trees, one of whom hit 55-year-old Abu Alia on the head with a club, according to her account and a video verified by Reuters showing the attack.

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the United States and others must do more to push Israel to stop violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement, including the possible use of sanctions or halting arms sales.

According to an official readout of his remarks to reporters aboard a return flight from Oman, Erdogan said the Palestinian militant group Hamas was abiding by the agreement. He added that Turkey remains ready to support the planned Gaza task force in any way needed.

ANKARA (Reuters) -A Turkish court is expected to announce a verdict on Friday that could lead to the removal of the main opposition party leader Ozgur Ozel, in a case seen as a test of the country's shaky balance between democracy and autocracy.

If the court annuls the outcome of proceedings in a 2023 annual congress of the Republican People's Party (CHP), that would mean the ouster of Ozel, 51, its combative leader.

By Jaidaa Taha and Tamar Beeri

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel released almost 2,000 Palestinians from its custody this month in exchange for 20 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.

They include 250 prisoners, some members of Palestinian militant groups, who were either convicted or charged with carrying out, taking part in, or planning deadly attacks. Hamas said 154 of the 250 convicted prisoners were deported to Egypt.

After 14 years of destruction, Syria must be swiftly rebuilt to bring stability to the country and the wider region, a top UN official in the war-ravaged nation told AFP.

Reconstruction is one of the most significant challenges facing Syria's new Islamist authorities after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last December.

"The international community should definitely rush into rebuilding Syria," Rawhi Afaghani, the UN Development Programme's deputy representative in Syria, told AFP this week during a visit to Geneva.

By Steven Scheer and Pesha Magid

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump is considering whether to urge Israel to release popular Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti, jailed for more than 20 years and repeatedly denied his freedom by Israel.

"I am literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called," Trump told Time in an interview published on Thursday. "That was the question. That was my question of the day. So I'll be making a decision."

By Phil Stewart and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is considering aproposal for humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza that would replace the controversial U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to a copy of the plan seen by Reuters.

It is one of several concepts being explored, said a U.S. official and a humanitarian official familiar with the plan, as Washington seeks to facilitate increased deliveries of assistance to the Palestinian enclave after two years of war.

The United Nations' expert on Palestinian rights on Thursday denounced the US sanctions brought against her for criticising Washington's policy on the Gaza war as "mafia-style techniques" to "dirty" her reputation.

In an interview with AFP, Francesca Albanese said she would present her latest report to the UN from South Africa as sanctions from Washington prevented her from travelling to New York.