Israel's security establishment carried out significant operations in Gaza overnight while domestic politics were consumed by a bitter dispute involving the prime minister's wife. Millions of children returned to school on Monday, marking a poignant milestone nearly three years into the war, even as violence flared elsewhere along the country's periphery.

Security

Israeli forces conducted more than 18 unusually intense air strikes on Gaza City overnight, alongside ground clashes involving special forces, with Palestinian sources reporting four deaths. Defence Minister Yisrael Katz confirmed the arrest of a senior Hamas figure described as heading the group's internal security and counter-intelligence apparatus, though Gaza sources dispute his seniority. The operation came amid reports from Saudi media alleging an attempted abduction by militias linked to Israel, which the IDF denied, saying the strikes targeted threats to its forces with no Israeli casualties. Separately, arson was carried out at a mosque near Nablus, with graffiti threatening the US ambassador and Israeli security forces daubed on the walls; police have arrested eight suspects aged 16-20 in connection with a wave of related attacks in the southern Hebron hills. In Beitar Illit, a bus driver was severely beaten after refusing an illegal stop, an incident police say reflects a 13 percent rise in violence against drivers last month. A suspect remains in custody over the deliberate contamination of baby food with a sedative, with a Jerusalem court citing strong grounds to believe he was involved.

Politics

Former minister Yair Golan is preparing a defamation warning against Sara Netanyahu and Channel 14 after she accused him on air of spreading conspiracy theories, a claim AFP said echoed recurring antisemitic tropes. The affair has triggered wider criticism of the prime minister's wife, with commentators warning of the political fallout from her increasingly public embrace of conspiracist rhetoric. Separately, the government has begun advancing the long-delayed E1 construction project east of Jerusalem, which would effectively bisect the West Bank and is widely seen as foreclosing the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state; Palestinian residents and international governments, some of which have already threatened sanctions, have condemned the move. On the traditional first day of school, senior politicians toured schools across the country in what was widely read as the opening moves of pre-election positioning, with Prime Minister Netanyahu visiting a school named after his father in Ramle and opposition figures touring the north. In Ashdod, 250 children from a state-religious-Haredi track were left without a school after the municipality reportedly bowed to pressure from Haredi parties opposed to institutions teaching a full core curriculum.

International

US Vice President JD Vance addressed a closed session of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas in an attempt to reassure American Jewish leaders of his commitment to Israel, though attendees left divided, with some describing his tone as ambivalent and warning that continued association with commentator Tucker Carlson could become a liability. In Nepal, rescue teams are racing against time to reach hundreds of workers trapped in tunnels following catastrophic flooding that has killed more than 1,000 people and left roughly 4,500 missing near the Tibetan border, including two Israelis, with hopes fading as the critical 72-hour survival window has passed. In Cyprus, the captain of the Filo Jet catamaran has been arrested amid allegations he abandoned ship after the vessel sank in Turkish Cypriot waters, killing at least eight people and leaving 20 missing; survivors described a desperate struggle for life amid a shortage of life jackets.

Other Developments

Around 2.6 million pupils, including 180,000 starting first grade, returned to school on Monday without the disruption of strikes that marred previous years. The day carried particular significance for communities rebuilt after nearly three years of war, with schools reopening in Metula and the Gaza border communities, and families displaced by Iranian missile strikes on Ramle and Petah Tikva reuniting with classmates for the first time since the damage occurred.

Sources: Ynet