Hamas has long called for a comprehensive deal but says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The group has refused to lay down its arms, as Israel has demanded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to order a full military occupation of the Gaza Strip to force Hamas to free the hostages, according to local reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hinted that ceasefire efforts in Gaza are now focused on a comprehensive deal that would release the remaining hostages all at once, rather than in phases.

Palestinians in Gaza on Monday mourned the deaths of five Al Jazeera journalists killed in an Israeli strike the night before. In Gaza City, crowds carried the bodies of correspondent Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues,

Israel’s military has targeted an Al Jazeera correspondent with an airstrike, killing him, another of its journalists and at least six other people sheltering outside a Gaza City hospital