Gaza destruction likely helped push Hamas to soften cease-fire demands, several officials say

Several officials in the Middle East and the U.S. believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by a nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a cease-fire agreement. Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any cease-fire deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday boasted that military pressure “is what has led Hamas to enter negotiations.” In recent internal communications seen by The Associated Press, messages signed by several senior Hamas figures in Gaza urged the group’s exiled political leadership to accept the cease-fire proposal pitched by U.S. President Joe Biden.