The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have expanded their ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip, pushing into Gaza City's eastern Shejaiya neighborhood. The operations aim to expand Israel's buffer zone along the Gaza border. The IDF has killed several terror operatives and destroyed infrastructure, including a Hamas command center. Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields. Meanwhile, a senior Hamas commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the coastal Lebanese city of Sidon. Hassan Farhat, who headed Hamas's forces in the western sector of Lebanon, was responsible for a rocket attack on the Northern Command base in Safed in February 2024.