The militant group’s chief negotiator also said Hamas would increase the number of living hostages it would release on Saturday to six from three.

Hamas says it has agreed to Israel's request to speed up release of Israeli hostages, including two men held around a decade. The bodies of members of a young family are among those it will hand over.

A top Hamas official said the Palestinian militant group will release six living Israeli hostages on Saturday, instead of three as initially planned. The bodies of four deceased hostages will also be handed over to Israel on Thursday,

An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Monday killed the head of the militant Hamas group in the country, Israel's military said. The strike came on the eve of the deadline for Israel’s full withdrawal from southern Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement that ended the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The army said Muhammad Shaheen was the head of the operations department of Hamas in Lebanon and that he had recently been involved in promoting "terrorist plots" with Iranian direction and funding from Lebanese territory against Israeli citizens.

The strike came on the eve of the deadline for Israel’s full withdrawal from southern Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement that ended the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP video shot by