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 focused largely on who bears responsibility for the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

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

After months of tension, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would seek to remove the chief of the Shin Bet security service, Ronen Bar.