TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will seek to dismiss the head of the country’s internal security service this week, deepening a power struggle between the men focused largely on who bears responsibility for the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

The effort to remove Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar is the latest move in an increasingly acrimonious dispute, which also involves the security service’s investigation into close aides of Netanyahu.

Netanyahu said in a statement he has had “ongoing distrust” with Bar, and “this distrust has grown over time.”

Bar replied in a statement that he planned to continue in the post for the near future and had told that to Netanyahu, citing his “personal obligations” to free the remaining hostages in Gaza, finish sensitive investigations and prepare potential successors.

The Shin Bet recently issued a report accepting responsibility for its failures around the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. But it also criticized Netanyahu, saying failed government policies helped create the climate that led to it.

— The Associated Press