Rockets rain over North, security cabinet discusses adding new war goal

Around five rockets were launched from Lebanon into the Upper Galilee in northern Israel overnight into Saturday after residents experienced 38 rocket and drone infiltration alerts since Friday morning.

Due to the escalating security situation, regional councils have instructed residents to stay near protected areas and limit movement in the region.

"Residents should minimize movement, avoid gatherings, remain close to shelters, and heed the Home Front Command’s warnings," officials in the Upper Galilee told locals. Similar instructions were issued to residents of the Golan Heights and the Galilee panhandle.

Amos Hochstein, senior advisor to President Biden, is set to arrive in Israel on Monday for talks focused on Lebanon. US officials have expressed growing concern over the increasingly heated rhetoric coming from the IDF, especially in the Northern Command, about the possibility of war with Lebanon.

During his visit, Hochstein is expected to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, and other top security officials.

Pope Francis on Friday decried the deaths of Palestinian children in Israeli military strikes in Gaza, calling bombings of schools, on the "presumption" of striking Hamas terrorists, "ugly."

On the flight back to Rome from Singapore, the pontiff also expressed doubt that either Israel or Hamas, now at war for eleven months, were seeking to end the conflict. "I am sorry to have to say this," the pope said. "But I do not think that they are taking steps to make peace."

Turkey's spy chief met a delegation from Hamas in Ankara on Friday to discuss negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to state broadcaster TRT.

Ibrahim Kalin, head of Turkey's National Intelligence Agency, met the Hamas political bureau leadership delegation, TRT Haber said, citing Turkish security sources, without saying who the delegation members were.

Hamas terrorists have confiscated so much humanitarian aid that the terror group is struggling to find space in warehouses to store all of it, according to intercepted communications between Hamas operatives that were played during an episode of N12's "Ulpan Shishi" on Friday.

These intercepted communications feature Hamas operatives discussing the movement of goods from overflowing humanitarian aid warehouses to Khan Yunis.

Palestinian activists and whistleblowers complained of the brutal treatment they faced for speaking out against the terror group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, in an article published by the New York Times on Friday. 

The article followed the torture of Palestinian activist Amin Abed - who had previously found bullets on his doorstep in response to speaking out against Hamas.

The family of Alexander Lobanov, one of six hostages recently murdered by Hamas, allowed the publication on Friday of a Hamas psychological warfare video featuring Alexander speaking from Hamas captivity.

The war between Israel and Hamas has emerged as one of the most complex conflicts in modern history, with political and military leaders often divided on how to end the violence. For the first time since the fighting began on October 7, a delegation of high-ranking foreign military officials from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Romania visited Israel.

The group observed the situation firsthand, including visits to Gaza and Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), attempted to defend his organization's conduct during an interview with Stephen Sackur on BBC's HARDtalk on Friday.

The interview comes only a few days after Israel struck a UNRWA school, killing at least 18, according to Hamas, of which six were UNRWA workers.