Report: Israeli Foreign Minister Says Disagreements With Syria Over Security Deal Have Widened

Here are Wednesday’s latest updates from Israel, Gaza and the Middle East:

■ UNIFIL said IDF forces shot at its peacekeepers who were on a patrol along Lebanon’s border with Israel.

■ The IDF said two Palestinians crossed the Yellow Line marking the border into Israeli-controlled territory of the Gaza Strip, and one was “eliminated in order to remove the threat.”

■ The powerful winter storm “Byron” has swept across the region this week, bringing heavy rainfall that has devastated large parts of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are living in tents that offer no protection from the elements.

■ The IDF said several Israeli civilians had crossed the border from Israeli territory into the Gaza Strip, and were returned to Israeli territory by IDF troops present in the area.

■ Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, reportedly said that the gaps between Israel and Syria regarding a potential security agreement “have widened,” as they “have.”

■ Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issued a legal opinion opposing the draft-exemption bill promoted by MK Boaz Bismuth, claiming it does not meet recruitment targets or establish enforcement mechanisms.

■ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the appointment of an unnamed Mossad official who goes by the alias A to deputy Mossad director.

■ Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir met and agreed to consolidate the investigations conducted by the ministry and the army into the failures that led to the October 7 attack, a statement by Katz’s office said.

■ Multinational rescue teams searched for, and found an Israeli yacht with four people on board, whose contact was lost in the Mediterranean Sea early on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said.

■ Palestinian detainee Abed al-Rahman Sufian Muhammad al-Sabatin, 21, from the town of Husan west of Bethlehem in the West Bank, has died in Israeli custody, the Palestinian Prisoners Club announced on Wednesday after it was notified by the Palestinian Authority’s Civil Affairs Committee.