NBC NEWS CUTS TIES WITH RONNA MCDANIEL AFTER NETWORK FIRESTORM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel would not surrender to what it called the Palestinian armed group's "delusional demands".

They include an end to the war and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The US called the Israeli statement "inaccurate in almost every respect".

A state department spokesman insisted that Hamas's response had been prepared before the Security Council vote on Monday."We have checked all the intelligence," spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. "Marwan Issa was eliminated in the strike."

Hamas political official Izzat al-Rishq said he had "no confidence" in the Israeli claim and that the group's military leadership would have the "final say".

Rear Admiral Hagari described Issa as the group's "number three" and "one of the organisers" of Hamas's attacks on southern Israel on 7 October, when about 1,200 people were killed and 253 others taken hostage.Israel reacted furiously after the UN Security Council adopted for the first time a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza following months of deadlock over the issue.

Fourteen council members, including the UK, voted in favour of the text, which also demanded the unconditional release of all remaining hostages and an urgent expansion of humanitarian aid deliveries.

The US - Israel's closest ally and military supporter - criticised the resolution for failing to condemn Hamas for the 7 October attacks.

But in a sign of its increasing frustration at the way Israel is conducting the war, the US abstained, saying it fully supported the key objectives.