For many across the Middle East, the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came as a relief: the first major sign of progress in the region since war began more than a year ago.

Turkey welcomes the ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and the Hezbollah militia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in the capital Ankara on Wednesday. Erdoğan separately called for an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Following a deal to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, attention has swung back to the battered Gaza Strip, but any hopes of a rapid end to the war there look likely to be dashed.