Here are Friday’s latest updates:
■ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Thursday denied a report by Maariv columnist Ben Caspit that Netanyahu’s confidant had negotiated directly with senior Hamas figure Ghazi Hamad, without the knowledge of Israel’s security establishment, during the 2014 Gaza war, saying in a statement that it “never happened.”
■ The IDF said it killed two members of Hamas’ elite Nukhba force this week who infiltrated the army’s Re’im camp in southern Israel during the October 7 attack.
■ A new UNICEF survey in the Gaza Strip found that the end of the war led to a rapid halt in hunger, but children continue to suffer from nutritional problems, including stunted growth and other health issues stemming from the period of food shortages.
■ Israel is considering expelling British representatives from the coordination center in Kiryat Gat in response to Britain’s criticism of the government’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
■ The Lebanese media has reported a series of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. According to Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen, Israeli artillery fire targeted the Kafr Rumman area in the Nabatieh district. Meanwhile, reports said an Israeli aircraft struck the town of al-Mansouri in the Tyre district. The report also said that the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike in the area between the towns of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Mifdoun, in the Nabatieh district.
■ A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire that was later extinguished, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said early on Thursday.
■ Iran won’t allow military vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz under an agreement that the Islamic Republic is negotiating with Oman, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Wednesday.
■ Qatar’s prime minister will visit Tehran on Thursday in an effort to relaunch diplomacy after the U.S. and Iran traded recriminations over Washington’s promise to increase economic pressure on Tehran by targeting its trade partners for sanctions.