Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is “no way” Israel will halt its war in Gaza, even if a deal is reached to release more hostages.

Israeli officials said the military had launched an attack targeting Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of a leader killed last year.

Muhammad Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, was on Tuesday (May 13), targeted in a massive Israeli airstrike on a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) stated that it targeted Hamas operatives at an underground command centre beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

A senior Hamas official tells Newsweek that the Palestinian militant group saw "positive" potential in signs of a growing rift between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after offering the U.S. leader a political win in the form of an American hostage release ahead of his Middle East trip.

Hamas agreed to release Alexander, the last living U.S. hostage in Gaza, after talks with the Trump administration. His parents traveled to Israel from New Jersey.

The agreement to release Edan Alexander came after talks between Washington and Hamas that did not include Israel.