Israeli ground forces have "started to operate" around a northern Gaza town, expanding an anti-Hamas offensive that will apparently see residents kept out indefinitely.

Several large airstrikes have hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, including one on a site adjacent to Lebanon’s only international airport

Israel is expected to begin implementing “4-hour pauses" in areas of northern Gaza each day, beginning Thursday, the White House said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his popular defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.

Israel is increasingly operating in parts of Lebanon which are not widely populated by Shias, who are most likely to support Hizbullah. This is stoking fears that Israel hopes to inflame Lebanon’s long-standing sectarian divisions and thus foment political change.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon on Friday accused the Israeli military of "deliberate and direct destruction" of its property. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said two excavators and one bulldozer belonging to the Israeli army destroyed part of a fence and a concrete structure in a UNIFIL position in the border area of Ras Naqoura on Thursday.