Middle East latest: Israeli strikes kill a family of 6 and a Hamas spokesman in Gaza

A family of six and a Hamas spokesman were killed in separate Israeli strikes in the northern Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, according to the territory's Health Ministry and another Hamas official.

In Israel, the parliament passed a key part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, angering critics who view it as a power grab by his far-right government.

Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza last week and has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since, killing more than 800 people. Israel has vowed to escalate the offensive if Hamas does not release hostages, disarm and leave the territory.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

Thousands of Israelis take to the streets in another day of anti-government protests

Holding signs calling for an end to the war in Gaza and new elections, the demonstrators packed a central square in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Addressing the crowd, a string of retired generals and former security officials warned that the government’s actions were endangering Israel’s security and said the country was “on the brink of an abyss.”

Hours earlier, Israel's parliament passed a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan, which sparked mass protests when it was first introduced in 2023.

Protests have swelled in recent weeks amid growing anger over a flurry of actions by the government that many see as aimed at weakening checks on its power, and over its failure to secure a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Israel’s antisemitism conference draws Europe’s far-right leaders to Jerusalem

European far-right leaders were in Jerusalem for a conference organized by the Israeli government aimed at “ combating antisemitism.”

Thursday's event was shunned by mainstream Jewish leaders because of the divisive guest list. It illustrates a growing alliance between Israel — a country founded on the ashes of the Holocaust — with a European far-right that has not, some critics say, shed its links to antisemitism and Naziism during World War II.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads an ultranationalist government, has cultivated close ties in recent years with far-right populist leaders in countries like Hungary, Brazil and Argentina. Many of these leaders, including Netanyahu, have been greatly influenced by the policies and demeanor of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right French National Rally party, gave a keynote address in which he blamed rising antisemitism in Europe on migration and Islamism.

Israeli kills 2 people in another drone strike in Lebanon

Lebanon’s state news agency says an Israeli drone strike in the country’s south hit a car, killing two people on Thursday afternoon in the village of Baraachit.

The National News Agency gave no further details and it was not immediately clear if the two killed were members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. Israel's military said the strike targeted two Hezbollah members.

Israeli strike in Lebanon kills 3 people

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon killed three people.

There was no comment from the Israeli military. The National News Agency said Thursday’s strike occurred in the Yohmor area in south Lebanon.

Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on the social platform X on Thursday that an Israeli strike late Wednesday killed an official with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in the southern village of Derdghaiya.

Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November, ending the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war, Israel’s air forces has carried out dozens of airstrikes mainly targeting Hezbollah members.

Israel says it intercepted 2 missiles from Yemen

The long-range missiles were fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels and were intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory on Thursday, according to the military.

Air-raid sirens were heard in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, central Israel and the occupied West Bank, with local media reporting fragments fell in several places. There were no reports of injuries.

Since Israel broke the ceasefire last week, a handful of rockets have been fired from Gaza as well as missiles from Yemen. No one in Israel has been hurt.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack. The Iran-backed rebels have been attacking Israel and shipping off Yemen for well over a year, saying they aim to end Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Although Palestinian militants were once firing volleys of rockets each day out of Gaza, that dwindled to nearly zero over the course of the 17-month war.

Israel’s parliament approves a key part of Netanyahu’s divisive judicial overhaul

Israel’s parliament has passed a key part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, angering critics who view it as a power grab by his far-right government.

The planned overhaul sparked mass demonstrations in 2023, leaving the country deeply divided ahead of Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 of that year, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

The law that was passed Thursday gives the government a larger role in appointing judges.

It would give two of the nine seats on the Judicial Selection Committee to lawyers chosen by the government and the opposition. Those seats are currently held by the Israeli Bar Association. The political appointees would have the power to veto nominations to Israel’s Supreme Court and lower court appointments.

Supporters of the measure say it gives more power to elected officials, while critics say it would undermine an independent body that provides essential checks and balances.

The law would not take effect until the next parliament, and the opposition has vowed to repeal it if it regains power.

Separate Israeli strikes kill a Hamas spokesman and a family in Gaza

A strike hit the tent where Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua was staying in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, killing him, according to Basem Naim, another Hamas official.

Another strike near Gaza City killed four children and their parents, according to the emergency service of Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed over 50,000 people, according to the territory's Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead.

The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251.