Middle East: Israel expands Gaza City operation

Israel's attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, told the country's Supreme Court that the firing of internal security (Shin Bet) chief Ronen Bar was "fundamentally flawed" and "tainted by a personal conflict of interest" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Baharav-Miara — who has also been threatened with being sacked by the Israeli government — the conflict of interested was related to the criminal investigation against two of Netanyahu's closest aides, an investigation in which the Shin Bet is involved.

Baharav-Miara also said the move would lead to "making the job into a position of trust [for the prime minister]," and that the job's holder should be able to hold an opposing view of the government if they believe it is in the country's best interest. 

The civil defense agency of Hamas-run Gaza Strip says Israeli military operations have killed at least 30 people in the Palestinian territory since dawn on Friday.

The agency said there had been "30 martyrs in the Gaza Strip since dawn today, and the toll is not final."

At least 25 people were killed in a single Israeli strike in the city of Khan Younis, a medical source at the southern city's Nasser Hospital told the AFP news agency.

The dead included five children and four women, hospital officials told AP. 

Israel's military has ramped up its ground offensive in northern Gaza, pushing deeper into the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City to carve out a broader buffer zone along the border, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday.

According to the IDF, forces "eliminated numerous terrorists" and dismantled Hamas infrastructure, including a command center allegedly used to "plan and execute terrorist attacks."

The army said it had allowed civilians to evacuate before and during the assault. It did not provide casualty figures.

Defense Minister Israel Katz had earlier signaled the expansion, calling the push a move to "clear the area of terrorists and terror infrastructure."

His statement also mentioned the capture of extensive areas that are to become Israeli "security zones."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the army is dividing Gaza and "seizing territory" to force Hamas to free the remaining Israeli hostages seized in the militant group's October 2023 terror attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

Some Palestinians fear that Israel's ultimate aim is to displace Gaza's population permanently, in line with a plan announced by US President Donald Trump to turn the territory into a waterfront property under US control. 

Israel has said it will encourage Palestinians who wish to leave voluntarily to do so.

A drone strike by Israel killed a Hamas official in southern Lebanon, along with his son and daughter, according to multiple official reports from Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

"At approximately 3:45 a.m. (0045 GMT), a hostile drone attacked a residential apartment in the Al-Zahour neighborhood," in the southern port city of Sidon, the Lebanese state-run news agency NNA said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the "IDF and ISA conducted a targeted strike in the Sidon area, eliminating the terrorist Hassan Farhat, commander of Hamas' Western Arena in Lebanon." 

The ISA is the Israeli Security Agency, also known as the Shin Bet.

The IDF added that, during the war against Hamas, "Farhat orchestrated numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians and Israeli army and was responsible for the rockets launched toward Safed" on February 14 of last year.

That attack killed an Israeli sergeant and wounded several other soldiers. Lebanon's Health Ministry and a Lebanese security official all confirmed the attack on the three.

The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Farhat had been killed "inside his apartment in the city of Sidon, southern Lebanon, along with his martyred daughter Jenan Hassan Farhat, and his son" Hamza, also a member of the Palestinian group's military wing.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's office said the attack was a clear violation of a US-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
 

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