Israel is arming local militias in Gaza in an effort to counter Hamas in the besieged enclave, officials say, as opposition politicians warned that the move endangers national security.

But as law enforcement investigates the violent incidents -- from the New Orleans truck rampage to the Molotov cocktail attack in Boulder -- some counterterrorism experts say they're worried the federal government has taken its eye "off the ball" in preventing terrorism as its priorities shift -- from counterterrorism to mass deportation.

Israeli troops entered southwestern Syria in the early hours of Thursday and arrested several people who the Israeli military said were members of Palestinian militant group Hamas but which Syria's interior ministry said were civilians.

Israel's leader says arming "clans in Gaza" to help fight Hamas will save lives. Opposition leaders say the weapons "will eventually be turned against" Israelis.

The Israeli military on Sunday released video it said showed the underground rooms where they found the body of Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar who is believed to have died in tunnels under a Gaza hospital last month.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged only that Israel had been working with “clans.” But the opposition leader warned that the “weapons going into Gaza will eventually be pointed at Israeli soldiers and civilians.

The family of a Nepali man taken captive by the Palestinian militant group Hamas has appealed to his captors for his release, stressing that he has no involvement in the conflict in Gaza

The vote was the most serious challenge to Netanyahu’s government since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which was the biggest security failure in Israel’s history.