Hamas loses leader in Lebanon but holds on in Gaza

Israel appears far from achieving its goals of crushing Hamas and freeing an estimated 129 hostages still held in Gaza nearly three months after the group's surprise cross-border attack and the Israeli government's declaration of war.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says several thousand Hamas fighters remain in northern Gaza, where entire neighborhoods have been blasted into rubble. Heavy fighting is also underway in central Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israeli officials say Hamas’ military structure is still largely intact.

Gallant on Thursday laid out a personal vision for a scaled-down combat approach in northern Gaza and a proposal for how the territory would be run after the war — with Israel keeping security control while an undefined Palestinian body runs day-to-day administration. His office emphasized the ideas were his own and not official policy.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Beirut on Thursday for the funeral of top Hamas commander Saleh Arouri, who was killed earlier this week in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the Lebanese capital.