According to Israel’s public broadcaster, the security cabinet is set to convene on Sunday to discuss and likely endorse the planned expansion of military operations in Gaza.

Protesters brandished placards and Israeli flags during a rally against the government, demanding action to free Israeli hostages captured since the attacks on October 7. Source: AFP / Jack Guez

Israel resumed amid deadlock over how to proceed with a two-month ceasefire that had largely halted the war.

A statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum argued that “any escalation in the fighting will put the hostages … in immediate danger”.

One protester in Tel Aviv, 64-year-old Arona Maskil, expressed to Agence France-Presse: “We’re here because we want the hostages home. We’re here because we don’t believe that the war in Gaza today, currently, is justified at all.”

Three babies killed in Israeli strike in Gaza

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal say they were killed in the “bombardment of the Al-Bayram family home in Khan Younis camp” at around 3am local time.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA says over a million people across the Gaza Strip are experiencing ‘high levels’ of acute food insecurity, with acute malnutrition several times higher than before the war. Source: EPA / Haitham Imad

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the strike, saying it targeted a “Hamas member”.

Israel carries out strikes on two Syrian cities

Israel’s repeated strikes on Syria act as a warning to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus, which Israel views as a potential threat on its border.

Druze families wave to their relatives fleeing sectarian violence in Damascus, Syria, upon arrival in the buffer zone across the ceasefire line near the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. Source: EPA / Atef Safadi

The Israeli army confirmed the strikes on Syria on Friday, saying it targeted “a military site, anti-aircraft cannons, and surface-to-air missile infrastructure”.

The Israeli army has previously said it targeted Syria’s military infrastructure, including headquarters and sites containing weapons and equipment, since mainly Sunni Muslim Islamist fighters toppled president Bashar al-Assad in December.