Official confirmation is trickling in, ahead of a planned evening Netanyahu speech - where he's expected to issue an official declaration of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's death during fighting in southern Gaza:

On Wednesday, Hamas reiterated that it wants to implement a ceasefire proposal that was unveiled by President Biden in May instead of restarting hostage deal talks with Israel.

On Tuesday, Hamas named Yahya Sinwar, the group’s leader in Gaza, to head the political bureau after the Israeli killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran after attending the inauguration of the country’s new president, Iran and the militant group said early Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a list of demands for a potential hostage deal ahead of more indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, a move seen by mediators and Israeli officials as an attempt to sabotage the chances of an agreement.

The IDF had precise information about Hamas's intentions, but due to prevailing conceptions in the security establishment and possible negligence by officials, the warning signs were not acted on.

The fate of the 120 remaining hostages in Gaza is crucial to any deal to end the protracted and bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas. But a senior Hamas official has told CNN that “no one has an idea” how many of them are alive, and that any deal to release them must include guarantees of a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The main sticking point between the two sides is that Hamas wants Israel to commit to a permanent ceasefire, which Netanyahu has ruled out

Hamas has submitted to Egyptian and Qatari mediators its formal response to a Gaza ceasefire proposal that was recently outlined by President Biden. The Palestinian group is seeking stronger assurances on a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The head of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, reaffirmed on Wednesday the Palestinian group’s conditions of a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza for any hostage deal with Israel.

Israel organized and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting U.S. lawmakers and the American public with pro-Israel messaging, as it aimed to foster support for its actions in the war with Gaza, according to officials involved in the effort and documents related to the operation.

Hamas probably won’t be defeated until the end of the year, Israel’s national security adviser said, underscoring the difficulty the country faces in achieving its stated aim of crushing the Islamist group in Gaza.

In a statement last week, the Turkish Foreign Minister had confirmed that Hamas was willing to give up its armed struggle once a Palestinian state was created

Mortar rounds were fired at Israeli forces making preparations for a US-built pier in Gaza on Wednesday, highlighting the danger of the project to the US troops that are involved.

The head of Israeli military intelligence has resigned after accepting responsibility for the failures that allowed the devastating Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the military said on Monday.

“We have seen them reject a number of proposals before that we have thought would deliver incredible benefits to the Palestinian people that they claim to represent,” a U.S. State Department spokesman said.

DUBAI, March 15 (Reuters) - Hamas has presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators and the U.S. that includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences, according to a proposal seen by Reuters.

On March 4, the United Nations released a report into sexual violence which has supposedly taken place amid the Israeli war on Gaza. The report was immediately celebrated in mainstream media outlets as proof of what scores of Israel lobbyists and journalists under their sway have insisted for months (despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary): that Hamas forces engaged in a systematic campaign of rape during their attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel has sought for years to dismantle the UN agency to destroy Palestinian refugees' right of return

Turkish president vows ‘no one can make us qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization,’ says his country will continue to ‘speak openly with Hamas leaders’