As per reports, Israel’s military stated it struck more than 100 targets across Gaza overnight into Friday (05 January) as it intensified operations in central and southern parts of the strip.

Two key visits from the West are expected this week. The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief is in Lebanon to discuss the situation at its border with Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached Turkey on Friday (05 January) with further stops at the West Bank, Greece and Israel. Turkey this week officially backed South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

• A disagreement occurred in Israel’s security cabinet, centered around how to handle investigations into the 07 October attacks on Israel, including the military’s failure to anticipate the attacks and the strategy for prosecuting the ongoing war. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz along with transportation Minister Miri Regev, a member of the Likud party, were among the key figures involved in the dispute.
• Israel’s military released a video Friday (05 January) showing one of what it states are seven tunnel shafts underneath the Blue Beach resort along the Mediterranean Sea in northern Gaza.
• Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets with the inscription ‘Ramadan Connects Us’ indicating the Israeli force’s intentions to stay in Gaza until Ramadan.
• A Turkish court ruled to formally arrest 15 people, and deport eight others, who are suspected of being linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.
• The humanitarian situation is continuing to deteriorate past levels the UN and aid agencies have never seen before. Famine is on the rise, as are a number of communicable diseases.