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Israel has “seized” territory in Syrian-controlled areas of the Golan Heights, as its military warned Syrians living in five villages close to the Israeli-occupied portion of the strategic area to “stay home”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered Israeli forces to grab a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, after a lightning advance by Syrian opposition forces ended Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Israel captured a portion of the Golan Heights in the 1967 war and annexed it. The international community, except for the United States, views it as illegally occupied Syrian territory.

In interview with ToI, a Free Syrian Army officer expresses hope for friendly relations with Jewish state, warns of Iranian militias propping up Assad: ‘They will come for Israel, too’

The commander interviewed by The Times of Israel participated in the recent seizure of Aleppo and his troops are now fighting government forces, Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias in the area, and pushing south.

The rebel leader, in his early 60s, agreed to be interviewed by phone on condition of anonymity and spoke of the objectives of the ongoing campaign, his vision for the future of Syria and relations with Israel, and the role the Jewish state can play, in his view, in support of the rebels.

Israeli forces have stormed into Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza, expelled some staff and displaced people before withdrawing, and bodies of people killed by airstrikes littered the streets outside, its director has said.

The attack had begun with a series of airstrikes on the western and northern sides of Kamal Adwan accompanied by intensive shooting, the hospital director, Hussam Abu Safiyeh, said, speaking via an online chatroom, Reuters reported.

He said troops who swept into the hospital ordered all staff, patients and displaced people into its courtyard before allowing them hours later to return inside, though some staff, including its Indonesian emergency surgery team, and some displaced were ordered to leave the premises for good.

India will be guided by its "national interest" before reconsidering the transfer of weapons or arms sales to Israel, the country's external affairs minister has said, in yet another sign that Delhi is committed to providing diplomatic and military cover for Israel's genocide in Gaza.

On Thursday, several opposition politicians took the opportunity to use the Q&A session in parliament to probe India's external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on India's policies, including its decision to abstain from several UN resolutions on Gaza, as well as to clarify its position on the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

India is the largest purchaser of Israeli weapons, accounting for around $1bn of trade per year. Since 2017, both countries have considered their partnership a "strategic relationship", with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office often making a public spectacle of their friendship.

Israel has sought to enlist Elon Musk’s help in reviving hostage negotiations with Hamas, according to reports in US media.

A source close to the Israeli hostage families, who spoke with Herzog and is familiar with the conversation, told CNN: “There was a chat between [Herzog] and a few hostage families, where one of the subjects discussed was influence on Trump, and Elon Musk’s name came up as someone of influence on Trump. Therefore, keeping an open channel with him is important.”

Musk attended Netanyahu’s controversial speech before a joint session of Congress earlier this year. He previously met with Netanyahu during a visit to Israel last year, as the tech leader sought to quell accusations of antisemitism after personally endorsing a post on his social network X, formerly Twitter, that claimed Jews hate white people.

Protests are planned in the Netherlands in response to a motion accepted by the Dutch parliament to “keep records on cultural and religious norms and values of Dutch people with a migration background”.

A public petition is calling for the motion to be withdrawn and anti-racism campaigners are planning to demonstrate next Saturday against the move by the government, in which the largest party is run by the anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders.

The Netherlands is in the midst of a heated discussion on integration and segregation after violence, some of it antisemitic, around a football match between Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax of Amsterdam.

Rightwing politicians accused Dutch Muslim ethnic minorities of failure to integrate, and the fragile four-party coalition narrowly avoided falling in November, with one junior minister and two MPs resigning over discrimination and the “tone” of debate

One of the commanders of rebel forces in Aleppo, known as Abu Abdo, gave a special interview with i24NEWS' Matthias Inbar on Wednesday, revealing that, despite differences, "we are fighting against a common enemy."

"We look at Israel and the US, with the arrival of President Donald Trump, and we have a lot of respect and sympathy for them, for their actions against Iran – the country that leads terrorism in the region and all over the world."

He said that his faction "looks forward to cooperate and eliminate this enemy and restoring stability."

Lebanon's Hezbollah on Monday claimed an attack on an Israeli position, the first since a ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday, which Israel had violated at least 52 times. Hezbollah said in a statement it had launched two projectiles towards the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms.

The group described the response as "preliminary", stressing it does not intend to return to the all-out war with Israel, according to comments by a Hezbollah parliamentary source to The New Arab's Arabic language edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

"Hezbollah will not remain silent in the face of ongoing and blatant Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty, including today's attack on the Lebanese army," the source said.

"[The group] delayed responding to the violations to avoid acting hastily, allowing the relevant authorities to address the issue," the source added, saying it was confirmed that the nature of the breaches by Israel had all fallen "outside" the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

A French diplomatic source tells the Kan public broadcaster that Paris has warned both Israel and Hezbollah “against actions that endanger the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.”

According to the report, the warning comes after France privately accused Israel of failing to follow the correct procedure when striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since the start of the ceasefire last week.

According to reports regarding the contents of the letter, Israel reserves the right to act at any time, should the terms of the agreement be broken in southern Lebanon. Beyond southern Lebanon, however, it is reportedly only permitted to act if the Lebanese Army is unable or unwilling to deal with the violations.

In all instances, however, Israel is reportedly required to notify the US wherever possible when it is required to take action in response to threats inside Lebanon.

In a statement, Civil Defence spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, said 75 of the victims were killed in Israeli air strikes on two homes in Beit Lahia, while the others were targeted in Jabalia and other areas of northern Gaza.

The spokesman said the Israeli army targets any movement by any person in northern Gaza, and even a person filling water or looking for food or wood is attacked.

Since 5 October, Israel has launched a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza to allegedly prevent the Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

Since then, almost no humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and fuel, has been allowed into the area, leaving most of the population there – currently estimated at 80,000 – on the verge of famine.

There have been at least 18 violations, with 13 on Wednesday alone, according to a tally by Anadolu, compiled through Israeli army announcements and news sources, including Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Violations on Wednesday:

• Israeli drone strike hits a car in the town of Markaba, Marjayoun district of Nabatieh governorate, injuring two people. Israeli Army Radio says the car was targeted to “remove it from a prohibited area”;
• Israeli warplanes attack a site in southern Lebanon, which the army claimed belonged to Hezbollah and contained rockets;
• Israeli tank fire hits the towns of Kafr Shuba and Al-Wazzani in Hasbaiyya district of Nabatieh governorate;
• Israeli artillery shells the towns of Taybeh and Khiam, and the Marjayoun plain in Marjayoun district;
• Israeli artillery shells hills of the town of Haltah in Hasbaiyya district, and the Ras Al-Zaher area in the town of Mays Al-Jabal, Marjayoun district;
• Israeli drone flies over towns in the Tyre district of South governorate, and the town of Bint Jbeil in Nabatieh governorate;
• Israeli artillery shells the town of Aita Al-Shaab, and the city of Bint Jbeil in Bint Jbeil district.

Violations on Thursday:

• Israeli army fires at journalists in the town of Khiam, Marjayoun district while they were covering the return of residents and the Israeli withdrawal from the town, injuring two;
• Israeli artillery fires shells near the Fatima Gate in the town of Kafr Kila in Marjayoun district. The towns of Odaisseh and Khiam also targeted;
• Israeli army arrests four people in southern Lebanon, claiming they approached Israeli forces in the area. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they belonged to Hezbollah and that one of them was a local leader.