U.S. President Joe Biden has suggested that negotiating a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah could be easier than forging one between Israel and Hamas.

Biden said he discussed the way ahead to end the Middle East conflict following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza when he met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Friday.

Top political leader of Hamas, Khalil al-Hayya, on Friday confirmed the death of the group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Al-Hayya, in a televised statement, reiterated the Palestinian militant group’s stance that it will not release Israeli hostages captured in the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel until there is a cease-fire in the yearlong war in Gaza.

The Kremlin said Friday it was more concerned about the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza and Lebanon, when asked about Israel's killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.

"For us, the main thing is the consequences for civilians that we are seeing... The humanitarian catastrophe that is observed both in Gaza and in Lebanon is the subject of our serious concern," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Israel’s military said that two soldiers were injured in a gunfight with militants from Jordan who crossed into Israel Friday.

At least two militants crossed into Israeli territory south of the Dead Sea Friday morning, before being shot dead by Israeli troops. The two soldiers were injured during the exchanges of fire, the military said. It added that troops were searching the area for another militant who may have infiltrated.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to jointly work for the release of hostages held in Gaza following the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the premier's office said.

After months of disappointment, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration sees new hope for reaching a Gaza ceasefire after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but the upcoming U.S. elections cast a shadow on prospects for a breakthrough.

U.S. President Joe Biden and European leaders meeting during his farewell visit to Germany on Friday were expected to renew calls for a Gaza ceasefire after Israel said it killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Israel's killing of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' top leader and the mastermind of the group's Oct. 7 attack, is a dramatic turning point in the brutal yearlong war that it touched off.

Sinwar's killing on Thursday decapitates the Palestinian militant group that has already been reeling from months of assassinations up and down its ranks. And it is a potent symbolic achievement for Israel in its battle to destroy Hamas.

Iran’s Mission to the United Nations has issued a statement honoring Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, after Israel said Thursday he had been killed in fighting:

“When U.S. forces dragged a disheveled Saddam Hussein out of an underground hole, he begged them not to kill him despite being armed. Those who regarded Saddam as their model of resistance eventually collapsed. However when Muslims look up to martyr Sinwar standing on the battlefield — in combat attire and out in the open, not in a hideout, facing the enemy — the spirit of resistance will be strengthened. He will become a model for the youth and children who will carry forth his path for the liberation of Palestine. As long as occupation and aggression exist, resistance will endure, for the martyr remains alive and a source of inspiration.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has “settled its account” with “the person who carried out the worst massacre in the history of our people since the Holocaust.”

Netanyahu addressed the families of the hostages Thursday saying it was an “important moment in the war” to bring home the hostages. He also said anyone who surrendered weapons and assisted with the return of the hostages would be allowed to leave Gaza safely.