Live: Arab and Muslim countries urge Israel to allow 'permanent' shelter into Gaza as weather worsens
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Actor Jackie Chan tells an audience at the premiere of his upcoming film in Beijing that the words of a Palestinian child from Gaza left him in tears.
“They asked him, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ He said: ‘Children don’t grow up here.’ I burst into tears immediately,” said the 71-year-old actor.
“As soon as that child started speaking, I began to cry.”
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 1, 2026
Actor Jackie Chan tells an audience at the premiere of his upcoming film in Beijing that the words of a Palestinian child from Gaza left him in tears pic.twitter.com/HF3EVUQGA5
A Palestinian keffiyeh was displayed on Istanbul’s iconic Galata Tower ahead of a mass demonstration to stand in solidarity with Palestine and draw attention to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
A Palestinian keffiyeh was displayed on Istanbul’s iconic Galata Tower ahead of a mass demonstration to stand in solidarity with Palestine and draw attention to Israel’s genocide in Gaza pic.twitter.com/aSGkV1IMvB
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 1, 2026
Hundreds of thousands of protesters on Thursday marched through the Turkish city of Istanbul in support of Gaza. Some 520,000 demonstrators gathered at Istanbul’s Galata Bridge on New Year’s Day, Anadolu news agency reported.
The report said the demonstration, which involved more than 400 civil society organisations led by the Turkish Youth Foundation, was held under the slogan “e won’t cower, we won’t keep quiet, we won’t forget Palestine”.
Before the event, citizens gathered before dawn prayers at major mosques across Istanbul, including Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet, Fatih, Suleymaniye and Eminonu, Anadolu reported.
The march was organised under the umbrella of the Humanity Alliance and the National Will Platform.
Israeli forces on Thursday detained dozens of Palestinians, including a child and former prisoners, in several towns and villages near Ramallah, Wafa news reported.
The report said Israeli forces raided the Jalazone refugee camp, detaining eight Palestinians.
They also detained former prisoner Ahmed Harish from his home in Beitunia, west of Ramallah, after blowing up the door and handcuffing his brother.
Israeli forces carried out a military raid in the al-Amari refugee camp, the town of Deir Abu Mashal, where they detained six Palestinians.
Further raids were reported in the village of Abu Shukheidim, the town of Nilin, the village of Kobar, the town of Aboud, al-Mazraah al-Gharbiyah, Mazari al-Nubani, and the village of Arura, north of Ramallah.
Gaza's civil defence agency on Thursday said that Salah al Din Street, east of Khan Younis, is witnessing heavy gunfire, issuing a warning for Palestinians living in the area.
"The continued presence of occupation tanks in the area, with intensive shelling and live fire, making movement in the area extremely dangerous," the agency said.
Israeli forces have been attacking Gaza since morning with aircraft-launched air strikes hitting the eastern part of Khan Younis city, in southern Gaza.
Israeli gunboats also fired flares over the sea off the coast of the city.
Local media said that Israeli military vehicles opened fire north of the city of Rafah and reported a series of air strikes targeting the city.
Intense firing was also reported from areas east of Gaza City, where Israeli forces detonated car bombs in the Tuffah and Sanafoura neighbourhoods.
Israeli authorities on Thursday said that 37 international NGOs operating in Gaza had not complied with a deadline to meet "security and transparency" standards by failing to disclose information on their Palestinian staff.
Israel will enforce a ban on their activities, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Gilad Zwick said.
"Organisations that have failed to meet required security and transparency standards will have their licenses suspended," Zwick was quoted by AFP as saying.
The UN has warned that the ban will exacerbate the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Palestinian journalist Nahed Hajjaj, who shared the video, emphasised that the children were not celebrating, but rather holding on to life despite the challenging circumstances.
“While the world marks the New Year with lights, Gaza marks it with hope: a candle that says life still beats, and children deserve a year without fear, pain, or loss,” Hajjaj wrote in his post
Children in Gaza lit candles amid the rubble and destruction to celebrate the New Year pic.twitter.com/LIrxJMRCfC
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 1, 2026
An Israeli soldier was found dead yesterday in what the local press is calling a case of suicide. The military said that this brings the total number of fatalities in 2025 to 152.
The military police have opened an investigation into the death and are treating it as a case of suicide, Times of Israel reported.
According to the army, 22 cases in 2025 are currently under investigation on suspicion of suicide, including 12 conscripts, one career service soldier and nine reservists.
Israeli forces on Thursday killed one Palestinian and shot two others in the occupied West Bank, the military said in a statement on Telegram.
Soldiers from the 636 Nitzan reconnaissance unit stationed near Luban al-Sharqiyah, between Ramallah and Nablus, fired at three Palestinians, who the army says were "throwing rocks".
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Thursday said that it is still waiting for its registration to be renewed to operate in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
MSF said that the new restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities "lack clear and transparent standards."
"The Palestinian health system is decimated, essential infrastructure is destroyed, and people struggle to meet basic needs. People need more services, not less. If MSF and other INGOs lose access, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be cut off from essential care," it said.
The organisation has rejected Israeli accusations alleging a link between some of its employees and "armed groups" warning that these unsubstantiated claims could expose humanitarian workers to serious risks.
As of 31 December 2025, MSF is still awaiting renewal of its registration to operate in Gaza and the West Bank under new Israeli requirements, including staff lists.
— MSF International (@MSF) January 1, 2026
The Palestinian health system is decimated, essential infrastructure is destroyed, and people struggle to meet…
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said that Israel seeks to further impede Unrwa's ability to operate in Gaza, adding that Israeli regulations are inconsistent with the international legal framework.
"The Law and its amendments are inconsistent with the status and international legal framework applicable to Unrwa and must be immediately repealed," Guterres said in a statement, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The UN agency is covered by the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN, which extends to its assets, property, officials and personnel, Guterres said.
"Unrwa's continued operations in Gaza contribute to the effective implementation of Security Council resolution 2803 (2025) and the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict on the ground," he added.
On Monday, the Israeli Parliament approved a bill to cut electricity and water supplies to the Unrwa offices.
Israeli settlers on Thursday attacked a farm in the Masoudiya plain, near the village of Burqa, northwest of Nablus, Palestinian media reports said.
Palestinian activist Dhiab Hajji said that dozens of settlers attacked a farm belonging to the Saleh family and destroyed security cameras.
Israeli gunfire wounded two Palestinians on Thursday, south of Nablus, local media reports said.
Wafa news agency reported that the two young men were shot by Israeli forces at the village entrance on the main road between Ramallah and Nablus.
The head of the Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya village council, Yaqoub Awais, said that one of them was in critical condition and the second wounded man was taken to Salfit Hospital after being shot four times while trying to rescue the first.
Israeli forces on Thursday detonated explosives inside a residential apartment in Nablus and arrested four Palestinians, Wafa news agency reported.
Israeli forces stormed Nablus, surrounded an apartment belonging to the Hasiba family behind the National Hospital, and detonated explosives inside after arresting Rami Hasiba and his son, Ahmed, the report said.
The report said that Israeli forces also stormed a house in the Yasmina neighbourhood and arrested Mo'men al Dabik.
Hani Abu Leil was arrested after Israeli forces raided his home in the Old Askar refugee camp.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that violent settlers who attack Palestinians were only “a handful of kids” who are not from the West Bank.
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu said, “When they’re talking about it, they’re talking about a handful of kids."
“They’re actually teenagers who come from broken homes, and they do things like chopping olive trees, and sometimes they try to burn a home,” he said.
Netanyahu, who is currently on a trip to the US, is wanted by the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant against him following an investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
