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.

The conflict between Israel and Iran has shaped the Middle East for decades. It was largely on a low boil as the two sides attacked each other — mostly quietly and in Iran’s case often by proxy — while avoiding a full-blown war.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A senior Hamas official criticized the United States for treating Israel's demands as the "only response for negotiation," calling it a violation of "the integrity and fairness of mediation" in ceasefire talks.

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