Israel-Hamas Conflict: Netanyahu Says Israel 'Doesn't Seek' Gaza Governance; Evacuation Corridor Reopened

Nearly 700 foreign nationals and dependents leave Gaza: report

A total of 695 foreign passport holders and their dependents were able to cross over into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing Thursday, Egyptian security and medical sources said.

The border crossing was shut down Wednesday amid intensified fighting on the route within Gaza that leads to the border.

Israeli troops raid office of Hamas' Gaza leader's brother: IDF

Israeli ground troops with the 7^th Brigade raided the office of Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Hamas' most senior leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, on Friday, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Daniel Hagari said in a Google-translated post on X.

He said they discovered "terrorist equipment and the [Hamas] organization's brochures" at Muhammad's office.

Israeli forces, Lebanese terrorists exchange fire near northern border: IDF

The Israeli army struck the source of an anti-tank missile that was targeted at the Kibbutz Manara area in northern Israel on Friday, the IDF said. The artillery was fired from Lebanese territory, the IDF added.

Multiple attacks against Israel from Lebanon in recent days come amid increasing concerns about Iranian proxies joining the already heated Israel-Hamas war. Hassan Nasrallah, chief of Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah, said last week that the militant group was "ready to face the fleet you [U.S.] threaten us with."

Nasrallah was referring to Washington's deployment of a submarine at the U.S. Central Command, which covers the Middle East.

Israel won't reoccupy Gaza: Netanyahu

"We don't seek to govern Gaza. We don't seek to occupy, but we seek to give it and us a better future, and the entire Middle East," Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.

Netanyahu previously told ABC News that he sees Israel as having a "security responsibility" in Gaza for an "indefinite period" after the war.

Palestinian authority open to assume leadership in Gaza post war: Report

The Palestinian Authority told the Biden administration that it was open to assume a governance role when the war ends if the U.S. commits to a two-state solution that should finally end the Israel-Palestine conflict, the New York Times reported, citing Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the Palestinian Authority's parent, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that "Gaza cannot continue to be run by Hamas." He also reiterated the Biden government's position that Israel should not reoccupy the enclave after war.

2nd group of Filipinos left Gaza: Embassy

The Philippine Embassy in Egypt said Friday that the second group of 42 Filipinos left the Gaza Strip Thursday and entered Egypt through the reopened Rafah border crossing.

Israel-Hamas war's regional expansion now 'inevitable,' Iran warns

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Thursday night that due to Israel's continued ground incursions in the Gaza Strip, "expansion of the scope of the war has become inevitable," Reuters reported, citing Iran's state-run Press TV.

Amir-Abdollahian's comments come as Iranian-backed groups such as Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels have been conducting attacks against Israel and U.S. military assets in recent weeks.

Evacuation corridor to be open for 6 hours: IDF

The Israeli army on Friday reopened a humanitarian corridor for evacuations at the Salah Al-Din Road to allow northern Gaza residents to move south. The passage will be open from 10 a.m. IST (11:30 p.m. ET Thursday) through 4 p.m. IST (5:30 a.m. ET Friday), said Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF's spokesperson for Arab media.

Previously, evacuation paths were only open for four hours in the past five days.

He also posted footage of on-scene developments at the reopened corridor, wherein hundreds of people can be seen passing through, some of them waving white flags.

930 arrested individuals have links to Hamas: IDF

Of more than 1,540 wanted persons arrested since the war started, around 930 of them have connections to Hamas, the IDF said Friday. The arrests were made in Judea, Samaria and Beqaa.

On Thursday night alone, 41 wanted individuals were arrested, of which 14 were Hamas militants, the IDF added.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed wing says ready to release 2 hostages

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's armed wing said it was ready to release two Israeli hostages they are holding: Hanna Katzir, 77, and Yagil Yaakov, 12, multiple local outlets reported. The group previously said it was holding 30 hostages.

The news came hours after the group published a video of the two hostages who were both abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Hamas militants conducted a raid resulting in the deaths of around 20 residents.

Hamas allegedly inside Indonesian Hospital in Gaza

Hamas militants were "inside" the Indonesian Hospital Thursday, the Israeli government's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) department said Friday.

The Indonesian Hospital is located in Bait Lahia, northern Gaza.

2 Hamas commanders killed in Jabalya: IDF

Two Hamas commanders, Ahmed Musa, who is a leader in the terror group's Nakhaba unit, and Omar Elhandi, a platoon commander, were killed Thursday night during ground operations in Jabalya, the IDF said Friday.

Musa and Elhandi were allegedly involved in the Oct. 7 massacre. They were assassinated in western Jabalya, located around four kilometers from Gaza City, which Israeli troops have encircled.

Israel listens to U.S. concerns: IDF spokesperson

Israel is "coordinating" with its American allies and the Israeli army "listens" to their "concerns," IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said in an interview Friday. He was responding to a question about whether the four-hour pauses for Gazan evacuees was "influenced" by Washington's urging.

"I think it is a wise practice that we have started and are now continuing to do. It serves all interests and it's a good thing to do to get civilians out of the battlefield," he said.

Explaining further about the process of helping northern Gaza residents move to the safer south, Conricus said the IDF stops fighting, let's civilians get through the humanitarian corridor, then continues battling Hamas.

Israeli fighters destroy container with rocket launchers inside: IDF

Israeli ground forces with the IDF's 401^st Brigade Combat Team destroyed a repository by the beach that contained 20 rocket launchers, the IDF said Friday.

Reserve fighters with the 252^nd Division also attacked 19 Hamas terrorists that the IDF said were "preparing to attack our forces."

Israeli soldiers help archeologists in efforts to identify missing residents from Oct. 7

Israeli soldiers are helping archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority to sift through ashes from burned houses at Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the areas that Hamas terrorists ransacked on Oct. 7. More than 20 people were reported killed in the kibbutz and dozens were abducted and are being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Archaeologists are trying to identify residents of the kibbutz who went missing after the carnage. Home to around 400 residents, Nir Oz is one of around 20 areas plundered by Hamas. The exact number of missing people from the kibbutz is unclear as archaeologists continue sifting through ashes where human remains may be found.

Residents have said that around half of the kibbutz's entire population fell victim to the massacre.

Israeli troops dismantle 'special Hamas compound': IDF

Israeli ground forces have "dismantled" a "special Hamas compound" in northwestern Gaza that was "next to mosques, next to clinics" and near schools, Conricus said Friday about the Israeli army's ground operations in the strip.

In one footage taken by Israeli fighters after they "conquered" the area, a room where Hamas weapons such as rocket launchers and mortars were being stored was found to be "in direct proximity – next door, basically – to a school," Conricus said.

Another "weapons HQ" was just next door to a school, as per footage from the scene. In another video, Conricus shows a building that appears to be a school compound from the outside, but he said that "inside, is an intelligence headquarters belonging to Hamas."

Yemen's internet collapses: outage tracker

Yemen suffered a total outage in internet access early Friday for unknown reasons, a web outage tracking site reported.

The internet outage reportedly affected internet and data transmission provider YemenNet, which is controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The Houthi movement and Yemen government have yet to confirm the outage.

As of around 6:30 a.m. local time, Yemen's internet connection was still "intermittent," according to internet outage tracker NetBlocks.

Elite air force soldier, combat medic fall in Gaza: IDF

Maj. Dov Moshe Kogan, 32, was killed in clashes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip Thursday, the IDF announced. Kogan is a soldier with the Shaldag unit, an elite force in the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

Sgt. Gilad Rosenblit, 21, a combat medic in the IDF's 52^nd Battalion 401^st Armored Brigade, also fell in an operational activity in northern Gaza Thursday.

A total of 35 Israeli soldiers have fallen in battle since the IDF launched ground incursions in Gaza last month.

Israeli strike team 'cancels' Gaza airstrikes: IDF video

The IDF released a video early Friday that purportedly showed how its air strike unit discussed the cancelation of airstrikes in Gaza "to mitigate civilian casualties."

In the video, an Israeli soldier tells another that the target may need to be "moved." The soldier goes on to say that "we don't want to target an area with this amount of people," adding that the team would "rather attack the target without all these people here at a later time," as per an IDF translation of the conversation.

Israel makes arrests in Jenin refugee camp

The IDF's Kafir Brigade, the Israeli army's largest and youngest infantry brigade, launched a second ground incursion into Jenin in the West Bank Thursday, specifically at the Menasha refugee camp.

An unspecified number of wanted individuals were arrested on-scene, and Israeli troops found weapons at the refugee camp, as well as "an underground shaft with explosives" that the IDF forces destroyed, the IDF said in a Google-translated post on X.

Israel strikes Hezbollah assets in Lebanon

Israeli warplanes attacked Hezbollah "terrorist infrastructure" in Lebanon early Friday in response to strikes targeted at Israeli territory, the IDF said. Among the targets struck were observation posts and technological equipment.

The Israeli army also used its "Iron Sting" guided mortar munition in its retaliatory attacks. The weapon is said to allow soldiers to make precise hits while reducing collateral damage.

Syrian drone hits Eilat school: IDF

An unidentified Syrian group launched a drone that hit a school in Eilat, a southern Israeli city, the IDF said Thursday. The Israeli military said the Syrian government is responsible "for every terror activity emanating from its territory."

In response to the drone strike, Israel said it struck the organization that launched the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

2 evacuation corridors to be opened: Biden

Israel has agreed to open "two humanitarian passages that will allow people to flee hostile areas in Gaza," Biden said in a series of posts on X Thursday. The corridors will be opened during four-hour pauses.

Kirby said "there will be no military operations" during the daily humanitarian pauses. However, Gallant reiterated that the short pauses will "not detract from the war fighting."

Based on footage released by the IDF, it appears that it has opened a single corridor in the past five days for Gaza civilians evacuating to the south. The evacuation pathway was opened in Gaza's main highway, the Salah Al-Din Road. It is unclear where IDF will open a second passage.