A Hamas official said the Palestinian group is ready to discuss a hostage release deal with Israel even without a "complete" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The apparent easing of Hamas' position comes as long-stalled diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release have gathered pace with a new proposal and meetings hosted by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Israel carried out deadly air strikes in the Gaza Strip as the war entered its tenth month on Sunday, with fighting raging across the Palestinian territory and fresh diplomatic efforts under way to halt the violence.

Israel has said it will send a delegation in the coming days to continue truce talks with Qatari mediators that began recently in Doha.

Hamas has given its initial approval of a U.S.-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel commit up front to a complete end to the war, a Hamas official and an Egyptian official said Saturday.

The apparent compromise by the militant group, which controlled Gaza before triggering the war with an Oct. 7 attack on Israel, could deliver the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks on ending a devastating nine months of fighting. But all sides cautioned that a deal is still not guaranteed.

A close adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad has died after a car accident left her hospitalized for four days, the president's office said in a statement.

Israel said that "gaps" remained with Hamas on how to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release but that it will send a delegation for fresh talks with Qatari mediators next week.

The statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman came after a delegation led by the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, held a first round of talks with mediators in Doha on Friday.

Islamic State group jihadists killed eight people, including two civilians, in an ambush on pro-government militiamen in Syria's Badia desert, a war monitor reported Thursday.

Israel has approved a new payment of more than $140 million to the Palestinian Authority after announcing it had also unblocked some funds frozen because of the Gaza war, a finance ministry spokesperson told AFP on Thursday.

Blindfolded, beaten and sometimes bitten by dogs, Gazans released from Israeli prisons allege being tortured amid the Israel-Hamas war, which rights groups say has worsened conditions for detainees.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, former director of Al-Shifa, Gaza's biggest hospital, is the latest to report mistreatment by Israel.

The Israeli military said Friday it was conducting counterterrorism activity that included an airstrike in the area of the West Bank city of Jenin. Palestinian authorities said five people were killed.

The military said Israeli soldiers had "encircled a building where terrorists have barricaded themselves in" and the soldiers were exchanging fire, while an airstrike had "struck several armed terrorists" in the area.

After months of deadlock in Gaza ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to send a delegation for talks aimed at securing the release of hostages seized in Hamas's October 7 attack, which sparked the war.

A source familiar with the talks said an Israeli delegation led by spy chief David Barnea was travelling to Doha for discussions with the Qatari prime minister "aiming to bring the parties closer to a deal in Gaza".