The fate of the proposed cease-fire deal for Gaza hinges in many ways on two men: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Each leader faces significant political and personal pressures that may be influencing their decision-making. And neither seems to be in a rush to make concessions to end the devastating eight-month-long war and free hostages taken by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack.

American forces destroyed two sites in Yemen belonging to the Houthi rebels, the U.S. military said Wednesday, after a series of ship attacks in recent days by the group.

The Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in attacks they say are in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli air strikes and clashes between troops and Palestinian militants rocked Gaza on Wednesday, as Israel's army warned it had readied an "offensive" against the Lebanese Hezbollah movement on the country's northern front.

The army's announcement that its plans for an offensive in Lebanon had been approved, along with a warning from Foreign Minister Israel Katz of Hezbollah's destruction in a "total war", came as U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein visited the region to push for de-escalation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed the United States is withholding weapons and implied this was slowing Israel's offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where fighting has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation for Palestinians.

President Joe Biden has delayed delivering certain heavy bombs since May over concerns about Israel's killing of civilians in Gaza. Yet the administration has gone to lengths to avoid any suggestion that Israeli forces have crossed a red line in the deepening Rafah invasion, which would trigger a more sweeping ban on arms transfers.

The Sudanese government has accused the United Arab Emirates of fueling the 14-month war in the African country by providing weapons to a rival paramilitary force. The UAE dismissed the allegation as "ludicrous," calling "a shameful abuse by one of the warring parties."

The clash came during a U.N. Security Council meeting at which Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee warned that atrocities are being committed along ethnic lines in Sudan's western Darfur region.

A bulk carrier sank days after an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels believed to have killed one mariner on board, authorities said early Wednesday, the second ship sunk in the rebels' campaign.

The sinking of the Tutor in the Red Sea marks what appears to be a new escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign targeting shipping through the vital maritime corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

A Syrian army officer was killed Wednesday in an Israeli air strike in the country's south, the official SANA news agency reported, citing a military source.

"The Israeli enemy carried out an aggression using drones against two military positions of our armed forces in the provinces of Quneitra and Daraa," the agency said, adding the attack resulted in the death of the officer and material damage.

A senior Israeli negotiator told AFP that tens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are certainly alive and that Israel cannot accept halting the war until all captives are released in a deal.

Thousands of Israelis protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Monday over the Gaza war and failure to negotiate the release of scores of hostages still held in the Palestinian territory.

Israel struck Gaza on Monday and witnesses reported blasts in the besieged territory's south, but fighting had largely subsided amid an army-declared "pause" to facilitate aid flows.

The relative calm came as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved his war cabinet, reflecting Israel's political fractures.