The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, has instructed the military to present him with "a plan for the complete defeat of Hamas in Gaza" as soon as possible. His office said on Friday that Katz believes Hamas must be completely crushed if the hostages it abducted from Israel are not released by the time US President-elect Donald Trump takes

An Israeli delegation is expected to arrive in Qatar on Friday to continue negotiations on a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza, a source with knowledge of the talks told CNN on Friday.

Israel says Hamas has not provided any information about the status of those 34 hostages, dampening any notion that the endorsement is a step toward a deal to stop the war.

A total of 46,006 Palestinians — mostly women and children — have been killed and 109,378 wounded in the Israel-Hamas war, Palestinian officials say.

Both israeli and hamas negotiators, confirmed the talks on friday. official negotiations have been deadlocked for months, but indirect talks have continued as the biden administration continues to push for a ceasefire,

The post has sparked outrage among Palestinians and Arab countries, who have called on the international community to curb Israel’s expansionist ambitions and prevent further attempts to occupy Palestinian and Arab territories.

Three Palestinians were killed, including two children, in an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said.

Israel said Monday that Hamas had not yet provided the status of 34 hostages the group declared it was ready to release in the first phase of a potential exchange deal.Late on Sunday, a senior Hamas official told AFP the group had "agreed to release 34 Israeli prisoners from a list presented by Israel as part of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal".

Israel confirmed on Friday that a hostage found killed in Gaza was Hamza Ziyadne, the son of deceased hostage Youssef Ziyadne, whose body was found alongside him in an underground tunnel near the southern city of Rafah.