Demonstrators could be seen calling for Hamas to go “outside” in a video verified by NBC News, which showed scores of people amassed in the city of Beit Lahia. In a rare show of dissent, anti-Hamas slogans were shouted by some protesters as hundreds of people gathered in northern Gaza to call for an end to the war. Demonstrators could be seen calling for Hamas to go “outside” in a video verified by NBC News, which showed scores of people amassed in the city of Beit Lahia on Tuesday. Most were calling for an end to the 17-month-long conflict and Israel's military offensive, which has seen more than 50,000 people killed in the Hamas-run enclave since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel launched its offensive in the Gaza Strip after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Children were also pictured carrying signs saying “We refuse to die” at the rally in the city, much of which has been reduced to rubble during the conflict. Others in the crowd, which appeared to be mostly made up of men, shouted "Hamas out" and "Hamas terrorists," according to the Agence France-Presse news agency, which had at least one reporter on the scene. “I think the protests are coming really at an important time where Hamas is really being pushed from all sides — the Israeli government, the U.S. government, Palestinians writ large,” Sanam Vakil, director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “The protest really signifies that there is indeed frustration, if not opposition, to Hamas,” she added. While there have been small protests calling for an end to the war in Gaza, Tuesday’s demonstration appeared to be the biggest since the start of the current conflict. Israel has routinely called for Palestinians to mobilize against Hamas and has maintained a land, air and sea blockade on the enclave since Hamas took power in 2007 following Israel’s withdrawal from the territory after 38 years of occupation. But levels of discontent are hard to gauge. A poll released in September by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a think tank based in the occupied West Bank, found support for Hamas in the Gaza Strip to be at 35%, compared to 38% three months before. Israel resumed airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza after the first phase of a 42-day ceasefire deal with Hamas ended March 1. Since then, more than 700 people have been killed in the enclave. Negotiations on the second stage of the truce deal were meant to begin 16 days after the start of stage one — but this did not happen. As a result, dozens of hostages, both alive and dead, remain in Hamas’ captivity as efforts by mediators to resume the truce and see them released remain in limbo. Israel has pushed for Hamas to agree to a proposal pitched by Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, which would have seen an extension to the first phase of the deal. Hamas has demanded a return to negotiations aimed at implementing the second part of the three-phase deal, which was expected to pave the way to an end to the war. The militant group has previously signaled that it would be willing to cede political power and administrative governance of Gaza to a Palestinian unity government but maintained it would not disarm until an internationally recognized independent Palestinian state is realized. Hamas leaders are likely to feel “very much backed into a corner” and “can’t figure out a way to achieve all of their aims, which are of course to remain a political force in Gaza, obtain a pathway for Palestinian statehood and of course, end the war,” Vakil said. Eventually, she added, “they’re likely going to have to compromise … but systems like Hamas’ don’t generally put the needs of their citizens before their own.”

An Israeli settler kicked his head “like a football” during an attack on his village, Ballal said. Only a few weeks ago, Hamdan Ballal stood on a stage in Los Angeles accepting an Oscar for the film “No Other Land,” a documentary depicting his West Bank village’s struggle against Israel’s occupation. On Tuesday, Ballal — his face bruised and clothes still spotted with blood — recounted to The Associated Press how he was heavily beaten by an Israeli settler and soldiers the night before. The settler, he said, kicked his head “like a football” during a settler attack on his village. The soldiers then detained him and two other Palestinians. Ballal said he was kept blindfolded for more than 20 hours, sitting on the floor under a blasting air conditioner. The soldiers kicked, punched or hit him with a stick whenever they came on their guard shifts, he said. Ballal doesn’t speak Hebrew, but he said he heard them saying his name and the word “Oscar.” “I realized they were attacking me specifically,” he said in an interview at a West Bank hospital after his release Tuesday. “When they say ‘Oscar’, you understand. When they say your name, you understand.” The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the claims that Ballal was beaten by soldiers. The settler whom Ballal identified as his attacker, Shem Tov Luski — who has threatened Ballal in the past — denied he or the soldiers beat him and told the AP that he and other Palestinians in the village had thrown stones at his car. He said he didn’t know Ballal was an Oscar winner. The Israeli military said Monday it had detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks as well as one Israeli civilian, who was soon released. Ballal denied throwing stones. The attack took place Monday night in the southern West Bank village of Susiya. It’s part of the Masafer Yatta region featured in “No Other Land,” which depicts the Palestinian residents’ attempts to fend off settler attacks and the military’s plans to demolish their homes. At around sunset, as residents were ending their daylong Ramadan fast, roughly two dozen Jewish settlers along with police entered the village, throwing stones at houses and breaking property, witnesses say. Around 30 soldiers arrived soon after. Jewish Israelis in an activist group supporting the villagers showed video of themselves also being attacked, with settlers hitting their car with sticks and stones. Ballal said he filmed some of the damage caused by the settlers. Then he went to his own home and locked it, with his wife and three young children inside. “I told myself if they will attack me, if they kill me, I will protect my family,” he said. Ballal said Luski approached with two soldiers. He said Luski hit him on the head, knocked him to the ground and kept kicking and punching him in the head. At the same time, one soldier hit him on the legs with his gun butt, while the other pointed his weapon at him, he said. Lamia Ballal, the director’s wife, said she was huddling inside with their children and heard him screaming, “I’m dying!” Luski told the AP that he and other settlers had come to the village to help a fellow settler who said he was being attacked by Palestinian stone-throwers. He said dozens of masked Palestinians attacked his car with stones, including Ballal. “He broke my window, threw a stone at my chest,” he said. He said when soldiers arrived, he led them to Ballal’s house to identify him as one of the attackers but denied that he hit him or that settlers attacked any property in the village. Luski said he had footage of the night’s events but when asked to show it to the AP, he responded with a string of expletives. On Tuesday, a small bloodstain could be seen outside Ballal’s home, and the family car’s windows were shattered. Neighbors pointed to a nearby water tank with a hole in the side that they said had been punched by the settlers. Under detention Lea Tsemel, the attorney representing Ballal and the two other Palestinians detained with him, said they were taken to an army base, where they only received minimal care for their injuries from the attack. She said they had no access to them for several hours after their arrest. Ballal said he had no idea where he was being held, could see nothing and was “freezing” from the hours spent blindfolded under the air conditioner. The three were transferred to an Israeli police station at the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba and were released Tuesday afternoon. “All my body is pain,” he told the AP immediately after his release as he walked, limping, toward a hospital in the nearby Palestinian city of Hebron. Doctors at the hospital said Ballal had bruises and scratches all over his body, abrasions under his eye and a cut on his chin but no internal injuries. The two other detained Palestinians also had minor injuries. Confrontations with settlers In a widely circulated video from August, Luski and several other masked settlers are seen arguing with Ballal. Luski shouts profanity at him and tries to provoke him into a fight. “This is my land, I was given it by God,” Luski says. “Next time it won’t be nice.” He taunts Ballal with the prospect of being sent to Sde Teiman, a notorious military prison holding Palestinians detained from Gaza, where five soldiers have been charged with raping a detainee with a knife. “Rape for a higher cause,” he says in Hebrew, then blows Ballal a kiss. The film “No Other Land,” a joint Israeli-Palestinian production, chronicles the situation in Masafer Yatta, which the Israeli military designated as a live-fire training zone in the 1980s and ordered the expulsion of the residents, mostly Arab Bedouin. Around 1,000 residents have largely remained in place, but soldiers regularly come in to demolish homes, tents, water tanks and olive orchards. Settlers have also set up outposts around the area and at times destroy Palestinian property. Palestinians and rights groups say Israeli forces usually turn a blind eye or intervene on behalf of the settlers. The film has drawn ire in Israel and abroad, as when Miami Beach proposed ending the lease of a movie theater that screened it. Basel Adra, another of the film’s co-directors and a prominent Palestinian activist in the area, said there’s been a massive upswing in attacks by settlers and Israeli forces since the Oscar win. “We’re living in dark days here, in Gaza, and all of the West Bank,” he said. “Nobody’s stopping this.” Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians want all three for their future state. Israel has built well over 100 settlements, home to over 500,000 settlers who have Israeli citizenship. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal. The 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering population centers. The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military carrying out widescale military operations that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. There has been a rise in settler violence as well as Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

Activists say “No Other Land” co-director Hamdan Ballal is missing. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said it arrested three Palestinians after “violent clashes” broke out. A Palestinian filmmaker who was part of a team that won an Oscar for “No Other Land,” a documentary depicting life under Israeli occupation, was beaten by West Bank settlers and then arrested by Israeli forces, his co-director said Monday. Director Yuval Abraham said on X that co-director Hamdan Ballal was beaten by a “group of settlers” and had sustained injuries to his head and stomach in the Palestinian village of Susiya, Masafer Yatta. He added that Ballal was able to call an ambulance but that Israeli soldiers took him from it. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said, “Contrary to claims, no Palestinian who was inside an ambulance was arrested” Monday. The IDF spokesperson said “violent clashes” between Israelis and Palestinians erupted near Susiya in the Yehuda Brigade. The “clashes” developed after, the IDF said, “several terrorists threw stones at Israeli civilians and damaged their vehicles. “When IDF and police forces arrived at the scene to disperse the clashes, several terrorists began throwing stones at the security forces,” the spokesperson said in a statement, which NBC News translated from Hebrew. “In response, the forces arrested three Palestinians suspected of throwing stones at the force and an Israeli citizen who was involved in the violent clashes. The detainees were taken to the Israel Police for further questioning. An Israeli citizen who was injured in the incident was taken for medical treatment.” The spokesperson did not say whether Ballal is in custody. Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and forces has soared since the start of the war in Gaza. Masafer Yatta, a collection of hamlets in the southern part of the West Bank that is the subject of “No Other Land,” has been a focus of Israeli demolitions since the 1980s, after the Israeli military declared the area a restricted military zone. Anna Lippman, an activist with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, an organization that promotes Palestinian-led nonviolent civil resistance, said she was among the group of international activists who were attacked by “over a dozen Israeli settlers.” Lippman said in a message that Ballal, who does not appear in the video she captured, was hurt earlier Monday and “is still in custody and we are unsure where.” Five Jewish activists, including Lippman, were in the West Bank participating in a “three-month long coresistance project,” the Center for Jewish Nonviolence said in a news release. The group went to the village of Susiya after it responded to “calls to come and support residents who were under attack.” A two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed last week when Israel resumed its bombing campaign in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 700 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave run by the militant group. Israel and the Trump administration have blamed Hamas for the resumption of hostilities, citing the militant group’s refusal to meet Israel’s demand to release more hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, in return for the resumption of talks. But that was not part of the original three-phase ceasefire agreement, which went into effect Jan. 19. The first phase of that deal ended March 1. Phase two never began. Abraham and Ballal were at the Oscars this month, when they accepted the award for best documentary feature onstage alongside filmmakers Rachel Szor and Basel Adra. “No Other Land,” one of the best-reviewed documentary features of last year, did not secure theatrical distribution in the United States — a fact that the filmmakers attributed to political sensitivities around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The documentary screened at independent cinemas in selected cities; digital screeners were made available for academy voters and some members of the media. A spokesperson for Cinetic Media, which handles media inquiries for “No Other Land,” told NBC News that the company is aware of Abraham’s post on X about Ballalis, but did not have any other information to share Monday afternoon. In their acceptance speech, Abraham and Adra pleaded for an end to the conflict. “We made this film, Palestinian and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” Abraham said. “We see each other. The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people must end. The Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of Oct. 7 must be freed.” In his statement to NBC News on Monday, Abraham also issued a call for viewers of the documentary to “take action.” “Hamdan, who was beaten up, came up with the idea to make ‘No Other Land,’” he said. “So that this brutal reality ends. It is now up to the millions who have seen our film to take action to change it.”

A U.N. spokesperson said strikes that hit a U.N. compound in Deir Al Balah that killed a U.N. worker on March 19 came from an Israeli tank. The United Nations said on Monday it is reducing its international staff numbers in Gaza by about a third after Israeli strikes in the enclave that have killed hundreds of civilians, including United Nations personnel. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a regular news briefing the move was taken for security and operational reasons and would involve the withdrawal of about 30 of the 100 or so international staff currently in Gaza. “What we’re doing is reducing the number of international staff members by about one third this week, maybe a bit more likely to come. It’s a temporary measure. We hope to have people return to Gaza as soon as practicable,” he said. He stressed that the U.N. was not leaving Gaza. “The Secretary-General has taken the difficult decision ... even as humanitarian needs soar and our concern over the protection of civilians intensifies,” he said. “The organization remains committed to continuing to provide aid that civilians depend on for their survival and protection.” Dujarric said that based on information currently available, strikes that hit a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on March 19, killing a Bulgarian U.N. worker and leaving six others — from France, Moldova, North Macedonia, the Palestine territories and the United Kingdom — with severe injuries, came from an Israeli tank. “The location of this U.N. compound was well known to the parties to the conflict,” he said, noting that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres had demanded “a full, thorough and independent investigation.” Gaza’s health ministry attributed the strike to Israel, but Israel denied this, saying it hit a Hamas site where it detected preparations for firing into Israeli territory. Asked if the U.N. believed the compound had been deliberated targeted, Dujarric said: “I think that’s one of the reasons we need to have a pretty clear and transparent investigation. The point is that the Israelis knew exactly where this UN facility was, and it was hit by a shell from one of their tanks.” The Israeli military said its forces had fired on Monday at a building belonging to the Red Cross in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah as a result of incorrect identification, after an office belonging to the aid organization was damaged by an explosive projectile.

The U.S. hasn't offered specifics. Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said the attacks have “taken out key Houthi leadership, including their head missileer.” U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels pounded sites across the country into Monday, with the group saying the one attack in the capital killed at least one person and wounded more than a dozen others. The American strikes entered its 10th day without a sign of stopping, part of a campaign by U.S. President Donald Trump targeting the rebel group that threatens maritime trade and Israel while also trying to pressure Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor. So far, the U.S. has not offered any specifics on the sites it is striking, though Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz claimed the attacks have “taken out key Houthi leadership, including their head missileer.” That’s something so far that’s not been acknowledged by the Houthis, though the rebels have downplayed their losses in the past and exaggerated their attacks attempting to target American warships. “We’ve hit their headquarters,” Waltz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “We’ve hit communications nodes, weapons factories and even some of their over-the-water drone production facilities.” An apparent U.S. strike Sunday hit a building in a western neighborhood of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least one person and wounding 13 others, the rebel-controlled SABA news agency said, citing health officials. Footage released by the rebels showed the rubble of a collapsed building and pools of blood staining the gray dust covering the ground. A building next to the collapsed structure still stood, suggesting American forces likely used a lower-yield warhead in the strike. The Houthis also described American airstrikes targeting sites around the city of Saada, a Houthi stronghold, the Red Sea port city of Hodeida and Marib province, home to oil and gas fields still under the control of allies to Yemen’s exiled central government. The campaign of airstrikes targeting the rebels, which killed at least 53 people immediately after they began March 15, started after the Houthis threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels in the past have had a loose definition of what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning other vessels could be targeted as well. The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign targeting ships from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none have been hit so far. The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting any dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decade-long stalemated war that’s torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.

Around two dozen people were killed in fresh strikes overnight, hospitals in Gaza told NBC News, while experts said they believed an "all-out war" could be in the cards. With the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip having collapsed after Israel resumed its bombing campaign, the Israeli military is expanding its activities in the shattered enclave. What comes next could set the stage for a sea change by Israel in Gaza and the broader region. Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 700 people in Gaza in just over a week since the country shattered its two-month-old ceasefire deal with Hamas, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave run by that the militant group. Meanwhile, statements from the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering troops to seize parts of Gaza to be "annexed to Israel" unless Hamas meets its demands are fueling fears of those in the region and among experts of a significant escalation in this bloody near-year-and-a-half-long war. What's changed? The renewed assault comes after Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas after the militant group refused a proposal pitched by White House envoy Steve Witkoff to extend the first phase of the truce deal, rather than negotiate and implement the second phase as had been previously agreed. Speaking with Fox News on Sunday, Witkoff blamed the breakdown of the ceasefire on Hamas' refusal to accept the proposed extension. Meanwhile, Hamas has blamed Israel for refusing to continue negotiations about phase two. Strikes on Gaza over the weekend pushed the death toll of people killed in the territory past more than 50,000 since the war began, according to local health officials. Israel launched its offensive after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decades-long conflict. Since relaunching the Israeli military's campaign, far-right member of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition government Itamar Ben-Gvir has rejoined the Cabinet. He and his Otzma Yehudit party left the fragile coalition over opposition to the ceasefire deal, which he said was "reckless" and would undermine Israel's progress. Now, Israel appears prepared for the possibility of a new phase of the war if Hamas does not accept the extension proposal, experts told NBC News, warning of the possibility of a broader Israeli occupation of Gaza. "It is pretty clear and understood that the objective of the current military operation is to pressure Hamas to accept Witkoff's proposal, not to come back to the negotiation table," Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said Monday. If Hamas continues to refuse the proposal, Michael said he believed Israeli forces would "increase the military pressure," with the possibility of Israel looking to "occupy the Gaza Strip" at least with a "temporary military administration" that would aim to dismantle Hamas. For the families of those whose loved ones remain in Hamas' captivity, the resumption of fighting delivered a major blow, with many calling for a return to the ceasefire to see their relatives freed. Just under 60 hostages are believed to remain under Hamas' captivity, both dead and alive. "We must say this clearly: Returning to war could lead to hostages being accidentally harmed by our forces, or tortured and murdered by terrorists," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a press release Thursday. "This is not an outcome the Israeli people can accept." All-out war? On Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was ordering troops to permanently seize parts of the Gaza Strip to be "annexed to Israel" unless Hamas hands over remaining hostages in the enclave. “The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel," Katz said. Michael said that Israel was getting "closer and closer to an all out war in the Gaza Strip that will lead to the full occupation of the Gaza Strip unless Hamas will change its mind" about refusing to extend the ceasefire deal. "And I don't see any signals that Hamas is in that direction." Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King’s College London’s school of security studies, said that if the objective of continued fighting is a reoccupation of Gaza, temporary or otherwise, then another aim that could be "looming in the background" is President Donald Trump's recent proposal of the U.S. taking over the enclave and turning it into the "Riviera of the Middle East." While it remains unclear what the plan for the day after the war will be in Gaza, Netanyahu's government has signaled its support for Trump's proposal. Asked to comment on the report and on Israel’s future plans for Gaza, a spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond. "Naturally, we will not comment on future operational plans," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement sent to NBC News on Monday, adding that the military acted "accordance with operational plans that were devised by the appropriate professional bodies, and by the directive of the political echelon." A spokesperson for Katz pointed to a statement that the defense minister issued on X Monday. “We will not stop until our hostages are released and Hamas is no longer in control of the Gaza Strip and is no longer a threat to Israel and Israelis," Katz said.

Most countries consider Israel’s settlements on West Bank territory seized in 1967's Six-Day War to be illegal. Israel disputes that, citing historical and biblical ties to the land. Israel’s security Cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from their neighboring communities, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday. The settlements will ultimately be recognized as independent, he posted on X about the move, which follows the approval of tens of thousands of housing units across the West Bank. “We continue to lead a revolution of normalization and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologizing — we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, using Israel’s term for the West Bank. Israel’s opposition to ceding control of the West Bank has been deepened by its fears of a repeat of the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants. Its military says it is conducting counterterrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized the approval of the separation of the neighborhoods and their recognition as independent settlements as disregarding international legitimacy and resolutions. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group governing Gaza, condemned the move in the West Bank, describing it as a “desperate attempt to impose realities on the ground and consolidate colonial occupation on Palestinian lands.” Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, land Israel captured in 1967 during the Six-Day War. Most countries consider Israel’s settlements on territory seized in the war to be illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land. Israel’s pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of U.S. President Donald Trump. Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party and a key partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, has for years called for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank. He noted that until now the 13 settlements were formally considered part of their parent communities, in some cases for decades, which he said caused significant difficulties in their daily management. “Recognizing each of them as an independent settlement is an important step that will greatly assist in their advancement and development,” Smotrich said.

Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas last week with intensified bombing as Israeli forces resumed ground operations and threatened to take “permanent” control of Gaza. More than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the result of Israel’s bombing campaign and ground invasion after Hamas’ terror attack. The Israel Defense Forces’ assault has killed at least 50,021 people, which equates to more than 2.1% of the 2.3 million people living in the enclave. A number of additional victims remain under the rubble and on roads that are unreachable by ambulance and civil defense crews, the ministry said. The World Health Organization has said that the numbers given by health officials in Gaza are reputable. The grim milestone arrives more than 18 months after Hamas launched multipronged surprise attacks on Israel that left 1,200 people dead, according to officials in the country, with another 240 people taken hostage by Hamas and other affiliated militant groups. Last week, Israel broke the two-month ceasefire with Hamas, with the resumption of airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza killing nearly 700 people. Israel has ordered its troops to permanently seize parts of the Gaza Strip — to be “annexed to Israel” — unless Hamas hands over the remaining hostages, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to intensify those operations until the militant group, which nominally controlled Gaza before this round of conflict, returns the 59 dead and living hostages whom it continues to hold captive. Katz also threatened the use of “all military and civilian pressure tools including the evacuation of Gaza’s population southward and the implementation of voluntary relocation plans for Gaza residents,” while describing the new more expansive phase of Israel’s military offensive in the enclave. He added that this would be done “through permanent Israeli control of the territory.” Hamas said Friday that it “remains at the heart of the negotiations” and was engaging with mediators, including discussing a proposal by President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff “and the various ideas on the table.” The group said in a statement that its aim is “achieving a prisoner exchange deal that secures the release of prisoners, ends the war, and achieves withdrawal.”

It is the heaviest exchange of fire since a ceasefire agreement was reached in November. BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israel struck Lebanon on Saturday in retaliation for rockets targeting Israel, killing six people including a child, in the heaviest exchange of fire since its ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah almost four months ago. The rockets fired from Lebanon were the second ones launched since December and again sparked concern about whether the ceasefire would hold. In a statement, Hezbollah denied being responsible for the latest attack, saying it was committed to the truce. Israel’s army said the intercepted rockets targeted the Israeli town of Metula. An Israeli official said six rockets were fired and three crossed into Israeli territory and were intercepted. The official said Israel could not confirm the identity of the group that fired the rockets. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it instructed the army to act forcefully against dozens of targets in Lebanon. Israel’s army said it struck Hezbollah command centers and dozens of rocket launchers. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a strike in the southern village of Touline killed five people, including a child, and wounded 11 others, including two children. On Saturday night, Israel again struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. A strike hit a garage in the coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported, with one person killed and seven wounded. It was the first time the city had been struck since the ceasefire took effect. And a strike on Hawsh al-Sayed Ali village along the border with Syria wounded five people, according to the NNA. In a statement, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked the Lebanese military to take all necessary measures in the south but said the country did not want to return to war. Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled over into all-out war in September as Israel carried out massive waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders. The fighting killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis. Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January under a ceasefire struck on Nov. 27. The deadline was extended to Feb. 18. But Israel has remained in five locations in Lebanon, across from communities in northern Israel. It has carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, saying it attacked Hezbollah, while continuing drone attacks that have killed several members of the militant group. Lebanon has appealed to the U.N. to pressure Israel to fully withdraw from the country. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it was alarmed at the possible escalation of violence and urged all parties to avoid jeopardizing the progress made. Israeli airstrikes pound Gaza The strikes came a day after Israel said it would carry out operations in Gaza “with increasing intensity” until Hamas frees the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Israeli strikes on Friday night killed at least nine people, including three children, in a house in Gaza City, according to Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the bodies. “Rubble and glass started falling on us,” said Sameh al-Mashharawi, who lost his brother in the attack. He mourned with his young nephew Samir al-Mashharawi, whose parents and siblings were killed. The 12-year-old, his head and wrists bandaged, sat in the back of a truck and cried. Israel’s military said Friday its forces were planning fresh assaults into three neighborhoods west of Gaza City and issued warnings on social media for Palestinians to evacuate the areas. “Hamas, unfortunately, understands military pressure,” Netanyahu’s foreign policy advisor Ophir Falk told The Associated Press. Around 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel relaunched the war earlier this week. Israel had already cut off the supply of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians, aiming to pressure Hamas over ceasefire negotiations. The international community has condemned the resumed attacks. The initial 2023 attack by Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. Most of the hostages have been freed in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the bodies of dozens more. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were militants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. Tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday again protested both the government’s failure to negotiate a hostage deal and its move to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service. They called for new elections. The Supreme Court has ordered a temporary halt to Ronen Bar’s dismissal until an appeal is heard. Israel’s attorney general has ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss him. Opposition leader Yair Lapid called for a tax rebellion and general strike if the government defies the ruling, saying: “If this happens, the entire country needs to grind to a halt.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he had long ago lost confidence in Ronen Bar, the head of the domestic security service. CAIRO — The Israeli government unanimously approved early on Friday a proposal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, the prime minister’s office said. “Ronen Bar will conclude his duties on April 10 or when a permanent ISA Director is appointed — whichever comes first,” it added. On Sunday, Netanyahu told the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service that he will ask the government to approve his dismissal this week. Justifying his decision, Netanyahu said he had long ago lost confidence in Bar and that trust in the head of the domestic security service, whose roles include counter-terrorism and security for government officials, was especially crucial at a time of war. Bar’s sacking is likely to draw widespread criticism amid a new Israeli offensive in Gaza with dozens of Israeli hostages still held there. The war was triggered by Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, one of Israel’s worst security failures, which led to the killing of 1,200 people, and the capture of 251 people who were taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli campaign has killed more than 49,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say, and caused a humanitarian crisis with shortages of food, fuel and water.