‘We need to get a cease-fire and hostage agreement over the finish line, and we need to do it now. Time is of the essence,’ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters before leaving Qatar.

The secretary of state had said earlier that the time is now to conclude a cease-fire agreement that would return hostages held by Hamas and bring relief to Palestinian suffering.

Health officials and civil defense workers say the true toll is likely thousands higher, since many bodies remain buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed in airstrikes.

Hamas has survived the killing of several top leaders across more than three decades, while maintaining a high degree of internal cohesion – and tapping Yahya Sinwar, who tops Israel’s most-wanted list, was a show of defiance.