JERUSALEM/CAIRO/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not seek permission to launch strikes in Gaza or Lebanon, even after agreeing to ceasefire arrangements.

"Israel is an independent state. We will defend ourselves with our own forces, and we will continue to control our destiny," Netanyahu told ministers at the start of his weekly government meeting.

"We do not seek anyone's approval for this. We control our security," he added.

Referring to plans for the deployment of international peacekeeping forces in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel would decide which countries could deploy troops there. "We have made it clear that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and we will continue to act accordingly," he said.

His remarks followed a week of a diplomatic blitz of visits by senior White House officials aimed at reinforcing the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

Hostage bodies 

Also on Sunday, Red Cross and Egyptian teams have been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip to search for the bodies of hostages, Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said.

Speaking at a news briefing, Bedrosian said Israel had permitted the teams to move beyond the "yellow line," which marks the Israeli army's withdrawal zone under the current ceasefire agreement, to assist in the recovery effort.

She said Hamas has not yet returned the bodies of 13 hostages. Under the agreement, Hamas is required to hand over the remains of 28 deceased hostages, in addition to the 20 living hostages it had released earlier this month.

The remark came as Hamas said it was expanding its search for the bodies of the dead hostages, a day after an Egyptian team of experts entered Gaza with heavy equipment to assist in the recovery.  

Gaza reconstruction

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Palestinian Vice-President Hussein al-Sheikh discussed Gaza's reconstruction and the political situation in the Palestinian territories during a phone call on Sunday, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said.

They reviewed preparations for a Gaza reconstruction conference to be held in Egypt next month and urged greater international support and funding to address Palestinians' humanitarian and development needs.

The two also discussed efforts to reconcile Palestinian factions and reforms within the Palestinian Authority. The call also touched on President Mahmoud Abbas's new decree naming al-Sheikh as acting president if the position becomes vacant until elections are held.

The conversation followed meetings in Cairo on Thursday between delegations from Hamas and Fatah on Gaza's post-war arrangements. Cairo also hosted separate talks that day among Palestinian factions on the second phase of a US-backed peace plan supporting the Gaza ceasefire that took effect on Oct 10.

4 killed, 2 injured in Israeli airstrikes

Four people were killed and two others wounded in separate Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, the country's state-run National News Agency reported.

The agency said Israeli drones and warplanes targeted several vehicles in Lebanon's southern and eastern regions.

Meanwhile, security sources told Xinhua that three of the dead were Hezbollah members and the fourth was a Syrian national.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it carried out two rounds of strikes Sunday, killing a Hezbollah official and a suspected weapons smuggler for the group.

Although a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah has been in place since November 2024, Israel continues near-daily strikes in Lebanon, saying they target ongoing Hezbollah threats along the border. Lebanon and several international organizations have condemned the attacks as violations of the truce.

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UN peacekeepers 

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Sunday that one of its patrols came under Israeli fire, but no personnel were injured and no equipment was damaged.

"At around 5:45 p.m. (1545 GMT) Sunday, an Israeli drone approached a UNIFIL patrol near the village of Kafr Kila and dropped a bomb," the UNIFIL said in a statement. "Moments later, an Israeli tank fired toward the peacekeeping forces. Fortunately, no injuries or damage occurred to UNIFIL personnel or equipment."

The statement said the incident followed a prior encounter at the same location, when an Israeli drone flew aggressively over a patrol, prompting the UNIFIL to take defensive measures. The UNIFIL condemned the actions as violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon's sovereignty, saying they endangered peacekeepers carrying out the Security Council's mandate in southern Lebanon.

There is no immediate response from the Israeli side.

UNIFIL positions have been targeted several times since cross-border clashes erupted after the Gaza war began in October 2023. Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued periodic strikes in Lebanon, citing Hezbollah threats, and has maintained border positions past a Feb. 18 withdrawal deadline.