Military strikes include area near Al-Azhar University in Gaza City. Plus, Matthew Perry’s troubled life and foreshadowed death

Good morning.

Israeli troops backed by tanks have expanded their operations in Gaza amid reports of fierce air and artillery strikes in the enclave’s north, as nearly 40 trucks entered through the territory’s southern border yesterday.

What do we know about the operations? Israel’s self-declared “second phase” of its three-week war against Hamas militants has largely been kept from public view, with forces moving under darkness and a telecommunications blackout cutting off Palestinians. Hamas said its Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades were “engaged in heavy fighting … with the invading occupation forces”.

What has Joe Biden said to Benjamin Netanyahu this weekend? In a call with the Israeli prime minister yesterday, Biden “underscored the need to immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza”, the US said.

What have the prosecutors said? “The defendant has capitalized on the court’s administrative stay to, among other prejudicial conduct, send an unmistakable and threatening message to a foreseeable witness in this case,” they said in their brief. “Unless the court lifts the administrative stay, the defendant will not stop.”

What did Trump say about Meadows? Prosecutors complained about Trump’s post on Meadows that questioned the credibility of Meadows’ testimony and suggested that anyone who testified against him under limited immunity from prosecution – such as Meadows – were weak or cowardly.