An Israeli official says the bodies of the youngest and one of the oldest captives seized by Hamas during the attack that ignited the war in Gaza are expected to be returned on Thursday.

A senior Hamas leader says the militant group will release six living Israeli hostages on Saturday and the bodies of four others on Thursday.

A Hamas official says that after a weekslong hiatus international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach.

The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israeli forces in Gaza this week leaves the militant group considering new leadership for the second time in less than three months.

Israeli soldiers have killed an American woman during an anti-settlement protest in the West Bank, a witness told The Associated Press, in a shooting that raised calls from Washington for an investigation.

Hamas says it is reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has said for more than 15 years that it could accept a two-state compromise with Israel — at least, a temporary one.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli gunfire has wounded 24 Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy who was shot in the head, during a protest along Gaza's border with Israel.

Hamas’s top leader in the Gaza Strip has expressed optimism about reaching a prisoner exchange with Israel.

(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)GAZA Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday rallied against the U.S.-brokered deal to normalize ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The demonstrators in Gaza City also voiced support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for his rejection of President Donald Trump's Mideast plan, which the Palestinians say unfairly favors Israel. The protest was organized by the militant Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip, and other factions. "Instead, it serves and promotes the occupation in its projects that target Palestine and the region.In the West Bank town of Turmusaya, several dozen Palestinians demonstrated against the UAE's deal with Israel, the Trump administration's Mideast plan and Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank. Protesters burned Israeli flags and threw stones at Israeli soldiers in the distance.