• Israel’s army launched airstrikes on several locations in Lebanon on Saturday in retaliation for a rocket attack.
• The strikes came a day after Israel said it would carry out operations in Gaza «with increasing intensity» until Hamas frees the 59 hostages it holds, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
• Tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday again protested the government’s failure to negotiate a hostage deal and its move to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service.

Israel launched airstrikes on several locations in Lebanon on Saturday in retaliation for a rocket attack, killing six people in the heaviest exchange of fire since its ceasefire with the militant group Hezbollah began nearly four months ago.

The exchange sparked concern about whether the ceasefire would hold, days after Israel relaunched its war with another Iran-backed militant group, Hamas, in Gaza. In a statement, Hezbollah denied being responsible for the attack, saying it was committed to the truce.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it instructed the army to respond forcefully against dozens of targets in Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah is based. Israel’s army said six rockets were fired toward Metula, a town along the border with Lebanon. Three crossed into Israel and were intercepted.

ISRAEL ORDERS IDF TO SEIZE MORE GAZA TERRITORY IF HAMAS DOESN’T RELEASE HOSTAGES

The army said it «cannot confirm the identity of the organization that fired the rockets.» It said it struck Hezbollah command centers and dozens of rocket launchers.

An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese village of Touline killed five people, including a child, and wounded 10 others, including two children, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.

Another Israeli strike Saturday night hit a garage in the coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported, with one person killed and seven wounded. It was the first attack on the city since the ceasefire took effect Nov. 27. And a strike on Hawsh al-Sayed Ali village along the border with Syria wounded five people, according to the NNA.

In a statement, Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, asked the country’s military to take all necessary measures in the south, but said the country does not want to return to war.

Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled over into all-out war in September as Israel carried out waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders. The fighting killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis.

Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January under the ceasefire deal. The deadline was extended to Feb. 18, but Israel has remained in five locations in Lebanon across from communities in northern Israel. Meanwhile, Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, saying it attacked Hezbollah, while continuing drone attacks that have killed several members of the militant group.

Lebanon has appealed to the U.N. to pressure Israel to fully withdraw. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said it was alarmed at the possible escalation of violence and urged all parties to avoid jeopardizing the progress made.

Israeli airstrikes pound Gaza

The strikes came a day after Israel said it would carry out operations in Gaza «with increasing intensity» until Hamas frees the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

Israeli strikes on Friday night killed at least nine people, including three children, in a house in Gaza City, according to Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the bodies.

«Rubble and glass started falling on us,» said Sameh al-Mashharawi, who lost his brother in the attack. He mourned with his young nephew Samir al-Mashharawi, whose parents and siblings were killed. The 12-year-old, his head and wrists bandaged, sat in the back of a truck and cried.

Israel’s military said Friday that its forces were planning fresh assaults into three neighborhoods west of Gaza City and issued warnings on social media for Palestinians to evacuate the areas.

FREED ISRAELI HOSTAGE TELLS UN, ‘NO MORE EXCUSES,’ SAYS AID IS FEEDING TERRORISTS

«Hamas, unfortunately, understands military pressure,» Netanyahu’s foreign policy advisor Ophir Falk told The Associated Press.

Around 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel relaunched the war on Tuesday. Israel had already cut off the supply of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians, aiming to pressure Hamas over ceasefire negotiations.

The international community has condemned the resumed attacks.

The initial 2023 attack by Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. Most of the hostages have been freed in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the bodies of dozens more.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were militants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Uproar over Shin Bet chief

Tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday again protested the government’s failure to negotiate a hostage deal and its move to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service. They called for new elections.

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The Supreme Court has ordered a temporary halt to Ronen Bar’s dismissal until an appeal is heard. Israel’s attorney general has ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss him.

Netanyahu said in a statement late Saturday that Bar «will not remain the head of the Shin Bet» and «Israel will remain a democratic state.» He argued that his loss of confidence in Bar long predates the Shin Bet investigation into illicit ties between several of his aides and Qatar.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid called for a tax rebellion and general strike if the government defies the court ruling, saying: «If this happens, the entire country needs to grind to a halt.»

Un periodista de la cadena Al Jazeera captó en vivo el momento en el que durante un bombardeo de Israel a Gaza, un proyectil cayó en el Hospital Nasser, donde, según la agrupación Hamas, resultó muerto uno de los integrantes de su ala política.

En el inicio de las imágenes, el cronista, vestido con un chaleco antibalas con la leyenda “press” en el frente (prensa en inglés), y un casco del mismo color, espera, aparentemente, a que desde los estudios de la señal lo contacten para un nuevo reporte.

Mientras sostiene su micrófono y mira hacia abajo, cruzado de brazos, de fondo se escucha un sonido que se hace cada vez más fuerte en apenas un par de segundos. De inmediato, sobre el margen superior derecho de la pantalla, aparece una fuerte explosión. El periodista se inclina hacia adelante, por el impacto.

Las llamas comienzan a salir de una ventana del edificio y el reportero de Al Jazeera inmediatamente se da media vuelta para ver qué ocurrió. Retrocede un par de pasos y le dice algo a una persona que lo acompaña.

El proyectil había impactado contra el Hospital Nasser, el más grande del sur de Gaza, en un nuevo ataque del ejército de Israel. El bombardeo mató a miembro de la oficina política de Hamas, hirió a otras y provocó un gran incendio, informó el Ministerio de Salud del territorio gobernado por la agrupación terrorista.

El ataque impactó el edificio quirúrgico del Hospital Nasser en la ciudad de Jan Yunis, indicaron las autoridades locales, días después que Israel reanudara los ataques. Esta vez, el gobierno de Benjamín Netanyahu confirmó el ataque y reportó que allí operaban milicianos de Hamas.

La misma agrupación terrorista confirmó que allí estaba Ismail Barhoum, miembro de la oficina política del grupo, quien fue, según Al Jazeera, «asesinado por la ocupación en un ataque al Hospital Nasser mientras recibía tratamiento».

«Condenamos este último crimen, que se suma a la larga historia de terrorismo de la ocupación, violando lugares sagrados, vidas e instalaciones médicas. Reafirma su desprecio por todas las leyes y convenciones internacionales y su continua política de asesinatos sistemáticos contra nuestro pueblo y nuestros líderes», se lee en a declaración.

Antes, el ministro de Defensa israelí, Israel Katz, anunció la muerte de Barhoum en el ataque, llamándolo «el nuevo primer ministro de Hamás en Gaza».

Al igual que otras instalaciones médicas en Gaza, el hospital Nasser fue dañado por las incursiones y ataques israelíes a lo largo de la guerra. Más de 50.000 palestinos han muerto hasta ahora en la guerra, señaló el ministerio el domingo .

El Ejército israelí aseveró haber “eliminado” a docenas de milicianos desde que Israel puso fin al alto el fuego el martes con ataques que mataron a cientos de personas en uno de los días más mortales en los 17 meses de guerra.

En Israel, la inquietud por la guerra y los problemas políticos iba en aumento el domingo, al igual que el enojo hacia el primer ministro Netanyahu, ya que su gobierno votó para expresar desconfianza en el fiscal de la nación, visto por muchos como un control sobre el poder de su coalición.

After 482 days in Hamas captivity, Agam Berger was finally home. The world first saw her in the horrific footage from Oct. 7, 2023 – bloodied, terrified, alongside four other young women soldiers abducted from the Nahal Oz IDF base. The terrorists paraded them through the streets of Gaza as trophies.

At a recent ceremony, held at the Yehezkel Synagogue in Tel Aviv at a traditional meal of gratitude to God, Berger made an emotional plea to God for the 59 hostages who remain in Gaza.

«The living and the dead,» she said in a trembling voice in the Synagogue, «We won’t rest until they all return.»

CEASEFIRE OVER AS ISRAEL STRIKES GAZA AFTER HAMAS REFUSED TO RELEASE HOSTAGES, OFFICIALS SAY

Her mother, Merav Berger, told Fox News Digital, «I began to feel God shaking my world.» She started keeping the Sabbath in her daughter’s honor – long before she knew whether her daughter was alive. «We grew up traditional, but not religious. Agam didn’t keep Shabbat before. But somehow, she found God – in Gaza, of all places.»

She said what kept her daughter going was faith and identity. «They took her body,» she told Israeli media, «but they couldn’t take her soul and identity.»

She and fellow hostage Liri Albag were given a radio during their early days in captivity, and told in an interview to Israel public radio station, «We’d hear voices—Israelis saying that we were worth fighting for. That gave us strength,» she said. «But after the first hostage rescue, they took the radio. They were more paranoid than ever.»

In January 2024, Hamas guards brought them a stack of items recovered from an abandoned Israeli military outpost: maps, a newspaper and a Jewish prayer book.

Agam Berger stands with Rabbi Arieh Levin, his wife Rebbetzin Yocheved Levin and her mother, Merav at the Yechezkel Synagogue in Israel. (Photo: Nadav Katz.)

Agam’s mother later revealed that her daughter had dreamed of a siddur – a Jewish prayer book – just days earlier. «Then it arrived,» Merav said. «How do you explain that? That’s not chance. That’s faith.»

With that book, she began marking Jewish time. «We had a watch at first,» she told Israeli public radio. «That’s how we knew when it was Shabbat, when it was Yom Kippur. I fasted. On Passover, I refused bread. I asked for corn flour—and they brought it. In a strange way, they respected my religion.»

FREED ISRAELI HOSTAGE SPEAKS FOR THE FIRST TIME ABOUT HIS 505 DAYS OF SURVIVING HAMAS HELL

As the months dragged on, the conditions worsened. Hamas guards rotated often, she said, noting that many were cruel and others indifferent. She related to the Israeli media that, «They argued with us, scolded us over small things… we didn’t know who we could trust.»

She tried to stay hopeful, telling herself she’d be home before her younger brother’s bar mitzvah. But the day came and went. «That broke me,» she admitted in interviews. She said what kept her together was her belief that it would end somehow.

Even as rumors of a hostage deal began to circulate in early 2025, she didn’t let herself hope. «We heard people talking, but we didn’t think it would happen for us,» she said.

A military parade of the Hamas terrorist organization before the transfer of four Israeli female hostages to the Red Cross on Jan. 25, 2025. (TPS-IL)

On Jan. 24, Liri Elbag was taken away to film a release video. «They told her she was filming a video – but not that she was going home,» Agam said. «I waited for her. I had made her birthday cards. Then someone told me, ‘Your friends are already home.’»

The next day, gunfire echoed in the distance. Her captors dressed her in a hijab and drove her in circles for two hours. «They didn’t let me take anything – not our notebooks, not the drawings, nothing,» she recalled in an interview with Israeli public radio.

Agam’s absence left a gaping hole in her family, but her siblings carried her strength. Her twin sister Liyam remained in the army, even completing officer training while Agam was still missing. «She did it for her sister,» her mother said.
 

Agam Berger is reunited with her family. (Courtesy: IDF)

Bar, the younger sister, had planned not to enlist. But after hearing that Agam had promised her fellow hostages she’d return to her base after her release, Bar changed her mind. «Three days after Agam came home, she graduated from her unit,» the Bergers’ mother recalled. «She wanted her to carry it forward.»

Now back home, Agam is surrounded by friends, visitors and endless attention. But she’s not at peace – not while others remain in captivity.

In the synagogue this week, Agam made that call loudly and publicly. «We won’t rest,» she said, «until every soul – living or dead – comes home.»

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As her mother put it: «This is the Jewish mission. There’s nothing more sacred. It’s our right to exist – and our rebirth as a people – depends on it. 

«God brought Agam home,» her mother said. «Now we have a duty to bring the others back too.»