The Israel Defense Forces admitted to killing two Palestinian men and burying their bodies with a bulldozer after Al Jazeera published a video purportedly showing the incident Wednesday.
In a statement, the IDF claimed that the men approached its "operational area" in central Gaza “in a suspicious manner” and didn’t respond to a warning shot. The IDF said it killed them and bulldozed their bodies fearing they carried explosives.
Here are other headlines you should know:
- More Israeli strikes: A series of Israeli airstrikes targeting areas close to the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday have led to casualties among both civilians and military personnel, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
- Other attacks: The Civil Defense in Gaza said its teams recovered eight bodies from the wreckage of a civilian vehicle after an airstrike Friday. At least five children were killed, according to Al-Ahli Hospital, where the bodies and others who were injured were brought. The Hamas-run government said another Israeli airstrike in the same neighborhood killed at least 10 people, including police officers tasked with securing humanitarian aid. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.
- Israel-Lebanon border: The Israeli military told CNN that 20 rockets and two anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon toward Israel on Friday. It also said it killed high-ranking Hezbollah missile commander Ali Abed Akhsan Naim in an airstrike in Lebanon. Hezbollah acknowledged his death without giving his title or saying how he died. Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also warned Israel would pursue Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syria and anywhere else it found the militant group.
- Rescheduled talks: High-level talks between US and Israeli officials over Israel's potential military operations in Rafah could take place in Washington, DC, as soon as Monday, US officials told CNN. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly called off talks scheduled for this week after the United States refused to block a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of captives held by Hamas.
- Israeli disputes famine report: Israel claimed that a United Nations-backed report on famine in northern Gaza was inaccurate and accused Hamas of controlling the aid. "The report contains multiple factual and methodological flaws," Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the agency that controls access to Gaza, said Friday.