Here are Saturday’s key updates on Israel, Gaza and the Middle East:
■ The Israeli army struck and killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saad near Gaza City, Israeli officials said. Palestinian media reported that four Palestinians were killed in the airstrike.
■ Two U.S. soldiers and one civilian interpreter were killed, and three other soldiers were wounded, during counter-terrorism operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) in central Syria, the Pentagon said.
■ Israeli forces entered two villages in southern Syria and conducted searches in several houses, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
■ Following an “urgent” evacuation warning issued to a village in southern Lebanon earlier Saturday, the IDF Spokesperson in Arabic, Avichay Adraee, issued a statement saying that the military decided to pause its planned strike on the village following an agreement reached with the Lebanese army.
■ The IDF said that two reserve soldiers were lightly wounded by an explosive device “during an operation to clear the area of terrorist infrastructure” in southern Gaza.
■ Thousands of Israelis are taking part in anti-government demonstrations calling to return the final hostage, Ran Gvili, and establish a state commission of inquiry into the disaster of October 7, 2023.
■ Israel Police detained for questioning a protester who took part in a rally held outside a prison in northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.
■ The head of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, reiterated the organization’s position that it won’t disarm, and added that the United States should know that the group will defend itself.