What happened on day 549 of the war?

The High Court of Justice will hear petitions on Tuesday morning against the government’s dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, in a case that has the potential to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis. 

Disruptions at the pivotal High Court hearing on the firing of Shin Bet director Ronen Bar amount to "shameful exploitation of bereaved families" by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, opposition head MK Yair Lapid said on Tuesday.

"The orchestrated riots... are a pathetic move by the criminal October 7 government, which is attempting to impede on the rule of law in Israel," he added.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin also reacted to the disruptions, backing the "cries of millions whose rights are being trampled on... by a handful of arrogant justices. The people, who are asking for true freedom this coming Passover, can no longer be silenced."

Five suspects were arrested for allegedly taking tens of millions of shekels in public aid funds set aside to help those impacted by the war, Israel Police announced on Monday.

The suspects were identified after a joint investigation between the Northern District police and the National Insurance Institute. 

The stolen funds were set to be awarded to evacuees who returned to work at least 11 days a month. Those who returned received NIS 3,000 in a monthly grant but were expected to declare their eligibility through a government site. However, it was found that in 1000s of cases, funds were being claimed without legal entitlement. 

During the investigation, dozens of citizens who made a false statement were questioned - many of whom testified that other parties "hunted" potential clients by various means in order to take the grants.

Morgan Ortagus, US Deputy Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, called for Hezbollah's complete disarmament and compared the Iran-backed group to a “cancer” within Lebanon that must be removed for the country to have any hope of recovery, in an interview with Al Arabiya on Monday.

Ortagus placed blame on Iran and Hezbollah for Lebanon’s conflict with Israel and for dragging Lebanon into it.

"The government of Lebanon didn’t want to go to war with Israel. It was on October 8, 2023, that Hezbollah and Iran decided to get into the war… people were forced into a war that nobody wanted to be in,” she said.

The special envoy emphasized the need for Hezbollah’s complete disarmament, comparing the group to a “cancer” within Lebanon that must be removed for the country to have any chance of recovery.

“When you have cancer, you don’t treat part of the cancer in your body and let the rest of it grow and fester,” she stated. “You cut the cancer out.”

Lt.-Gen. Al-Sadiq Ismail, the personal envoy to Sudan's military ruler Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, made a secret visit to Tel Aviv last week to discuss normalization efforts with Israel, Sudanese news outlet Al-Rakoba reported on Tuesday morning.

The visit aimed to coordinate with Israeli officials on how to present al-Burhan in a positive light to the new US administration and to address growing tensions with the United Arab Emirates over al-Burhan and the Sudanese army in general. 

According to the report, the envoy told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Al-Burhan wanted to finalize the normalization process between the two countries and arrange Sudan's inclusion in the Abraham Accords in return for Israeli support for Sudan.

“This entire hearing is quite simple: Bar said more than once that he is responsible and he is leaving his position - and he is clinging to legal thorns,” said Amir. 

Before Amir could continue, Bonzel interrupted from the audience, “A court that I respect is asking whether he was fired in the right manner. Our children are lying in the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery. This man [Bar] said he was responsible - you don’t need to be even discussing this! Bar cannot be trusted.”

Solberg replied, “We feel your pain.” 

Amit said, “This has to be the only court in the world where this is allowed to happen,” and called for a break. 

“This is an unprecedented government decision,” Chief Justice Isaac Amit said at the start of his remarks.

Likud MK Tally Gotliv yelled at Amit during his remarks. He requested that she stop, and the two scuffled. He issued two warnings to her, in another rare occasion in the High Court. “Members of Knesset are immune!” she said. “Your immunity doesn’t stand here,” he replied. 

The judges and legal teams agreed to condense the two types of arguments in one hearing on Tuesday: Whether the court has the authority to hear the case, and the arguments of the case itself. 

The High Court of Justice’s hearing on the government’s firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar opened in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning. 

As the audience filled in, bereaved father Itzik Bonzel yelled, "Who are you defending? a man who failed on October 7?" His son, St.-Sgt. Amit Bonzel, was killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip in December 2023.     

Audience members yelled, "Shame!" and "You don't have the authority!" 

Itzik was then escorted out of the courtroom, a rare occasion.  "What's going on here?" said Likud MK Tally Gotliv, "How can you kick out a bereaved father?"

Itzik was brought back in right as the hearing began. 
 

Several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the US Trump administration, 10 senior commanders and Iraqi officials told Reuters.

The move to defuse tensions follows repeated warnings issued privately by US officials to the Iraqi government since Trump took power in January, according to the sources who include six local commanders of four major militias.

The officials told Baghdad that unless it acted to disband the militias operating on its soil, America could target the groups with airstrikes, the people added.

The United States continued its airstrikes in Hodeidah, Marib, and the Houthi-run capital city of Sana'a in Yemen, Houthi-linked media outlets reported on Monday night.

The Houthi movement claimed that its senior intelligence leader, Abdul Nasser Al-Kamali, was killed in the strike, Al Hadath reported.