Confrontations have resumed in East Jerusalem after dozens of Palestinians and activists participated in a marathon protest run to support families threatened with eviction orders.
Israeli police immediately began to disperse the crowd, with reports they used tear gas and stun grenades, in the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan after Palestinian flags were raised by marchers.
A long-running campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem is still underway, even after it fuelled weeks of unrest and helped ignite an 11-day Gaza conflict.
A convoy of engineers and building equipment from Egypt arrived in Gaza to begin reconstruction on Friday (local time), Egyptian state television reported.
Dozens of bulldozers, cranes and trucks flying Egyptian flags lined up along the border to begin crossing into the Gaza Strip, television pictures showed.
Palestinians lined the street on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing to welcome the convoy as it rumbled into the small coastal enclave.
A Palestinian border official said 50 vehicles had crossed.
"We rushed with all our money, equipment, and what we owned to join the Palestinians in the rebuilding. Every Muslim and every Egyptian wishes to take part in [the reconstruction]," Egyptian truck driver Mahmoud Ismail told Reuters in Gaza.
Conflict between Israel and Hamas militants erupted on May 10 and continued for 11 days until both sides agreed to a ceasefire after heavy pressure from the United States.
More than 250 Palestinians were killed in hundreds of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
Rockets fired by Gaza militants killed 13 people in Israel.
Egypt also played a major role in brokering a ceasefire between both sides and has said it would allocate $US500 million ($646 million) to fund the rebuilding of devastated areas in Gaza.
Gaza's housing ministry said 1,500 housing units were destroyed during the fighting, another 1,500 housing units had been damaged beyond repair and 17,000 suffered partial damage.
A ministry official put the cost of rebuilding at $US150 million ($194 million).
The 365 square kilometre Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas is home to around 2 million Palestinians.
An Israeli-led blockade has put restrictions on the movement of people and goods for years.
Wires/ABC
