Middle East: Israel says Hamas' armed wing chief killed

What you need to know

• The Israeli military says that it killed a senior Hamas official in Gaza
• Washington and Tehran appeared to be closing in on a deal to end hostilities

Here are the latest developments from across the Middle East on Wednesay, May 27: 

Israel says new Hamas armed wing chief has been killed

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that the newly appointed chief of Hamas's armed wing had been killed in strikes on Gaza the day before.

Hamas has not confirmed that Mohammad Odeh, whose predecessor had also been killed in Gaza days prior, was deceased. However, a relative told Reuters news agency that he had in fact died.

In a statement on X, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said: "We committed ourselves to eliminating everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do: they are all marked for death, wherever they may be."

Gaza health officials said that at least seven people had been killed and several more were wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza on Tuesday.

Despite a January 2025 ceasefire deal, Israel has carried out sporadic strikes in Gaza over the past year, also accusing Hamas of failing to carry out its promise to fully disarm. Meanwhile, Israel has expanded its campaign against what it says are Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Israel escalates operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Welcome to our coverage

Israeli officials have said that a top Hamas leader was killed in fresh strikes on Gaza, although the militant group has yet to confirm the news.

At the same time, signals from both Iran and the United States indicated that their two-month conflict may be inching towards a peace deal.

Check back here for updates from across the wider Middle East.