Live: Israel dropped 153 tonnes of bombs on Gaza on Sunday

Israeli settlers on Thursday fenced off about 202 hectares (500 acres) of Palestinian-owned agricultural land in the Khirbet Samra area of the occupied West Bank, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. 

Wafa said fencing off the land marks an initial step towards seizing it.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper has reported that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has built or approved around 48,000 settlement housing units since taking office, a figure expected to rise to 50,000.

The figures expose the regime’s relentless expansion of illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, deepening the theft of Palestinian land in defiance of international law and repeated global condemnation.

An investigation by Haaretz has revealed that Israel’s President Isaac Herzog engaged in conversations with families of captives, encouraging them to consider publicly supporting a potential pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. These discussions took place weeks before the fragile ceasefire in Gaza was implemented.

Sources cited by the Israeli media outlet stated that while some families declined the president’s request, others believed that such support could help facilitate a hostage exchange deal. However, Herzog reportedly did not present the pardon as a precondition for any agreement.

Herzog’s office confirmed that the topic was discussed but emphasized that “the initiative came from the families themselves,” according to Haaretz.

Netanyahu, who has been on trial since 2020 facing three separate criminal cases, has denied all charges and pleaded not guilty.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Israel killed at least four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the Palestinian civil defence, while it escalated attacks in the occupied West Bank. 

One Palestinian was shot at a checkpoint near East Jerusalem and Israeli soldiers raided parts of Nablus. 

Here is what else you need to know: 

• Israel is lobbying the US to delay efforts to begin Gaza's reconstruction until Hamas disarms, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported 
• The Red Cross received the body of a 13th captive in Gaza, Al Jazeera Arabic reported
• Around 200 US troops who have been deployed to Israel are establishing a civil-military coordination centre to monitor the Gaza ceasefire, The Wall Street Journal reported
• US President Donald Trump said that Hamas's security deployment against criminal gangs and Israeli collaborators was the work of "rebellious" members of the group and not the leadership

Israeli soldiers launched a raid on Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Monday night local time, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. 

At least 11 Palestinians were injured during the attack. 

The assault comes as the Israeli military and settlers ramp up attacks in the occupied West Bank. 

A Palestinian has been injured by Israeli soldiers' gunfire at the Qalandiya checkpoint in the occupied West Bank near East Jerusalem, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society on Monday.

The shooting comes as Israeli settlers ramp up their attacks across the occupied West Bank despite a ceasefire in Gaza. 

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian Refugees has called for an investigation into Israeli crimes, citing recent violations of the ceasefire by Israel in Gaza. 

"Yesterday, four people were killed following shelling by Israeli forces of an UNRWA school-turned-shelter in Nuseirat refugee camp. More are reported injured," Unrwa commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.

“Since the war began, more than 800 people have been killed and nearly 2,600 injured in separate incidents affecting 300 UNRWA premises,” he said.

“I reiterate my call for independent investigations into these blatant breaches of international humanitarian law,” he added. 

Hamas on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire as it called on Israel to allow heavy machinery into Gaza to begin removing rubble.

The group said that the enclave's vast destruction is preventing the return of captives' bodies. 

“One of the main obstacles we face in delivering the remains is the absence of heavy machinery needed to remove the rubble. We have made this clear to the mediators,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a statement on Hamas's Telegram channel.

“All parties that want calm in the region must pressure the [Israeli] occupation to ensure it fulfills its commitments," the statement said, adding that Israel “has not abandoned its policy of starvation against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”.

At least four Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers across the so-called Yellow Line, the boundary inside Gaza marking where Israeli troops pulled back. 

The Palestinians were killed in two separate attacks “by Israeli gunfire as they were returning to check on their homes", Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence rescue service, said. 

Israel is lobbying the US to delay efforts to begin Gaza's reconstruction until Hamas disarms, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported on Monday. 

The report also said that Israel wants to close the tunnels in Gaza, including those in territoy Israel does not occupy. Israeli soldiers control more than half the enclave still. 

Israel has discussed closing the tunnels with the US, the report said.

The Red Cross has received the body of a 13th captive in Gaza, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

The body was handed over to the Red Cross by the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 

The Red Cross is going to a handover site in the southern Gaza Strip to collect the body of a captive from Hamas, the Israeli military said. 

Hamas said it “retrieved” the body yesterday.

This would mark the 13th captive's body retrieved by Israel since the start of the ceasefire. Finding the bodies has been difficult because of the widespread destruction in Gaza, Hamas says.

Around 200 US troops who have been deployed to Israel are establishing a civil-military coordination centre to monitor the Gaza ceasefire, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. 

The centre will use information from surveillance drones above Gaza and reports from international organisations. Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, the commander of the US Army Central Command, is leading the operation. 

The ceasefire has come under strain with Israel attacking parts of Gaza and blocking the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave. The WSJ reported that US Central Command chief, Admiral Brad Cooper, is trying to "calm" tensions between Hamas and Israel. 

Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump threatened to eradicate Hamas if it did not disarm. 

US President Donald Trump said that Hamas's security deployment against criminal gangs and Israeli collaborators was the work of "rebellious" members of the group and not the leadership. 

"We made a deal with Hamas that they are going to be very good. They are going to behave. They are going to be nice...and if not, they will be eradicated," he said. 

"I don't believe it was the leadership," Trump added, in an apparent reference to Hamas's bid to reestablish security in Gaza. He attributed the fighting to "rebellious" members of the group. 

Trump originally said he approved of the deployment of Hamas security forces, but has since called for the group to disarm. 

Israel launched an artillery attack on Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Monday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. 

The attack is just the latest in a string of Israeli ceasefire violations. 

As Israeli continues its attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, the viability of the US-brokered ceasefire is coming into question.

On Sunday, Israel unleashed a deadly wave of bombings on targets in the besieged territory after it alleged that Hamas violated the terms of the truce deal.

The Israeli military said the attacks were in response to an alleged "attack" by Palestinians on its troops in southern Rafah, which involved rocket-propelled grenade and sniper fire.

However, the armed wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, denied any knowledge of the event, or connections to it, and affirmed it remains committed to the ceasefire. 

Since the ceasefire agreement came into effect on 11 October, Israeli forces have committed over 80 violations of its terms. 

In the 11 days since the truce, local Palestinian media has reported Israeli artillery fire, air strikes and even the arrest and detainment of civilians.

Read more: Israel's ceasefire violations in Gaza so far