The destruction of the Gaza Strip has likely prompted Hamas to soften its ceasefire demands, several government officials say.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Several politicians in the Middle East and the United States believe the extent of the destruction in Gaza caused by Israel’s nine-month offensive has likely contributed to Hamas softening its calls for a ceasefire.

At the weekend, Hamas appeared to long-standing demand that Israel promises to end the war as part of a ceasefire agreement. The sudden change of course raises new hopes for progress in the internationally mediated negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted on Sunday that military pressure – which includes Israel’s two-month-long offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah – “is the reason Hamas is entering into negotiations.”

Hamas, a militant Islamic group seeking the destruction of Israel, is extremely secretive and little is known about its internal workings.

But in recent internal communications obtained by The Associated Press, messages signed by several senior Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip call on the group’s exiled political leadership to accept U.S. President Joe Biden’s ceasefire proposal.

The messages, relayed by a Middle East official familiar with the ongoing negotiations, described the heavy losses Hamas has suffered on the battlefield and the dire conditions in the war-ravaged area. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to relay the contents of internal Hamas communications.

It is not known whether these internal pressures were a factor in Hamas’ flexibility. But the messages indicate divisions within the group and a willingness among leading militants to reach a quick agreement, even if the top Hamas official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwarmay not be in a hurry. Sinwar has been in hiding since the war broke out last October and is said to be holed up in a tunnel deep underground.

US authorities declined to comment on the messages.

However, a person familiar with Western intelligence who spoke on condition of anonymity about the sensitive matter said the group’s leadership was aware that its forces had suffered heavy losses and that this had helped Hamas move closer to a ceasefire.

Two U.S. officials say the Americans are aware of internal divisions within Hamas and that those divisions, the destruction in Gaza or pressure from mediators Egypt and Qatar may have been factors that led the militant group to soften its demands for a deal. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Biden administration’s view of the current situation.

The Middle East official shared details from two internal Hamas memos, both written by senior officials in the Gaza Strip to the group’s exiled leadership in Qatar, where Hamas’s supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is based.

The statement said the war had taken its toll on Hamas fighters, and senior politicians urged Hamas’s political wing abroad to accept the agreement despite Sinwar’s reluctance.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha rejected all indications of divisions within the group.

“The position of the movement is unified and is crystallized by the organizational framework of the leadership,” he said.

The intelligence official showed The Associated Press a transcript of the communications in Arabic but declined to provide specific details about how the information was obtained or the raw state of the communications.

The official said the messages took place in May and June and came from several senior officials in the group’s military wing in the Gaza Strip.

The messages confirmed that Hamas fighters had been killed and how devastating the Israeli campaign in the Gaza enclave has been. They also suggest that Sinwar is either not fully aware of the casualties in the fighting or is not fully communicating them to negotiators outside the territory.

It is not known whether Haniyeh or other senior officials in Qatar have responded.

Israeli government officials declined to comment on the communication. Egypt and Qatar also initially declined to comment.

Egypt and Qatar are working with the United States to negotiate a ceasefire and end the devastating nine-month war. After months of back and forth, talks resumed last week and are expected to continue in the coming days.

An agreement is still not guaranteed. Netanyahu’s office said over the weekend that “there are still gaps.” US officials said they were cautiously optimistic about the prospects for a ceasefire based on recent developments, but stressed that numerous efforts had looked promising but failed.

Nevertheless, the parties seem to be closer to an agreement than they have been for months.

Israel launched the War in the Gaza Strip after the Hamas attack in October, in which militants entered southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducting about 250. According to Israel, Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages – about a third of them are presumed dead.

Since then, Israel’s air and ground offensive in Gaza has killed more than 38,000 people, according to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The offensive has caused widespread devastation and a humanitarian crisis that international authorities say has pushed hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of starvation.

Both Hamas and Egyptian government officials confirmed on Saturday that Hamas had dropped a key demand that Israel commit in advance to ending the war, a demand Netanyahu had repeatedly rejected, leaving talks stalled for months.

Instead, the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations, said the phased agreement would begin with a six-week ceasefire during which Hamas would release elderly, sick and female hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Talks on a broader agreement, including an end to the war, would only begin during that phase, they said.

Netanyahu has vowed he will continue fighting until Israel destroys Hamas’s military and government capabilities, even if the hostages are released.

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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.