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Medical sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli raids across Gaza on Wednesday have so far killed at least 30 Palestinians.
Fifteen of those killed were in northern Gaza.
Israeli forces on Wednesday demolished a park in the town of Nahalin, which is located just west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera.
The news agency reported that Israeli security forces first entered the Khallet al-Daliya and then began demolishing a park. The park contained a swimming pool, restaurant and other facilities.
Like in many other cases of Israel demolishing Palestinian property, the Israeli authorities said the park was destroyed because it was built without a permit.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem marked a sombre Christmas for the second consecutive year in solidarity with Gaza, where the Israeli onslaught has killed 45,000 people in over a year.
No festive lights or Christmas trees were put up in the city as the holy day for Christians was limited to religious rituals and prayers.
Manger Square, the centre of Bethlehem traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, was unusually quiet.
“Every year, there are scouts, a choir, decorations, a tree is raised, carols are sung, and celebrations take place,” Father Issa Thaljieh, a Greek Orthodox parish priest in Bethlehem, told Middle East Eye.
Read more: No Christmas cheer in Bethlehem for second year amid war on Gaza
Israeli forces arrested 25 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank last night and this morning, according to the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
The commission reported arrests in the governorates of Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Tubas, Tulkarm and Salfit.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that the "security control in Gaza will remain in the hands" of the military.
Katz made his remarks during a visit to the Egypt-Gaza border, also known as the Philadelphi Corridor, according to the Israeli media outlet Haaretz.
He said his country will ensure "security areas, buffer zones and controlling positions that will guarantee the safety of the communities" near the border.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying Hamas "continues to lie" and is "reneging on understandings that have already been reached" in Gaza ceasefire talks.
The statement further claimed that Hamas is "continuing to create difficulties in the negotiations" and that "Israel will continue its relentless efforts to return all of our hostages".
Earlier, Hamas issued a statement saying that Israel had set new conditions, causing delays in reaching a ceasefire agreement. The conditions reportedly pertain to the withdrawal from Gaza, the Israeli hostages and the return of displaced Palestinians.
The Palestinian group said, however, that it was showing flexibility and that the talks on a ceasefire, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, are progressing.
A Palestinian artist and her husband were killed in an Israeli strike on their home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Wednesday morning.
Walaa Jumaa al-Afranji and Ahmed Saeed Salama were pronounced dead after being taken to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an Israeli attack on a residential building near the Ain Jalut Towers in Nuseirat.
Afranji, who was from Gaza City, had been displaced to the camp after Israel's war on the enclave began in October 2023.
She was a novelist, artist and fashion enthusiast.
Read more: Palestinian artist and husband killed in Israeli strike on Christmas Day
Palestinian group Hamas said on Wednesday Israel has set new conditions which have led to delays in reaching a Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Hamas said, however, that it was showing flexibility and that the talks on a ceasefire, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, are going in a serious direction.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 45,361 Palestinians have been killed and 107,803 injured since Israel's war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.
Pope Francis condemned the “extremely grave” humanitarian crisis in Gaza and called for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas during his traditional Christmas address in Rome.
"I think of the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave. May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war," he said on Wednesday.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said on Wednesday that one child is killed every hour in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire in a post on X.
"These are not numbers. These are lives cut short," Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini was quoted as saying in the post.
The Israeli parliament in October passed two laws banning Unrwa from operating inside Israel and occupied Palestine, despite international pressure urging Israel not to implement the ban.
Unrwa is the primary source of humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in both Palestine and neighbouring countries hosting Palestinian refugees.
In #Gaza, "one child gets killed every hour. These are not numbers. These are lives cut short."
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 25, 2024
— @UNLazzarini
Every child needs a #CeasefireNow. pic.twitter.com/S4uOkZr5l3
Lebanon's state media reported that an Israeli air strike targeted the eastern Baalbek region before dawn on Wednesday, calling it a “violation” of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The truce went into effect on November 27 after more than a year of hostilities that began with Israel's war on Gaza.
Wednesday's strike near the town of Tarya did not result in casualties, the state-run National News Agency said, calling the attack the "first violation of the ceasefire agreement" in the Baalbek area.
A Lebanese security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strike targeted "warehouses believed to belong to Hezbollah".
Israeli forces brought a Palestinian prisoner from an Israeli prison and used him as a human shield during their ongoing raid of al-Amari refugee camp south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to eyewitnesses cited by the Wafa news agency.
Meanwhile, injuries from the raid increased early Wednesday, with three people wounded, including a young Palestinian man who was shot as Israeli forces opened fire while storming the camp.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its crews treated a young man who was shot in the foot, along with two others - one who was run over by a military vehicle and another who was assaulted.
During their ongoing raid of the Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, the Israeli occupation forces brought a Palestinian prisoner from an Israeli prison and are using him as a human shield. pic.twitter.com/fY8SzTnoOD
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 25, 2024
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority's security services said today that a captain from the General Intelligence Service had died in Jenin, occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera has reported.
The captain succumbed to injuries sustained while trying to defuse an explosive device during an operation in Jenin.
At least seven Palestinians have been killed in Jenin over the past two weeks.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) mourned the loss of its volunteer EMT, Alaa al-Derawi, describing him as “a martyr of humanitarian work” in a tweet.
Derawi, a staff member of PRCS, was returning from a mission to transport patients to his post at the Red Crescent ambulance station at the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah when he was fatally shot in the chest, it said.
Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 medical staff in Gaza since October 7 of last year, according to Palestinian officials.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society mourns the tragic loss of its volunteer EMT, Alaa Al-Derawi, a martyr of humanitarian work. He was fatally shot in the chest today in the Khan Younis area while returning from a mission to transport patients to his post at the Red Crescent… pic.twitter.com/47Vb3mVxsx
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 4, 2024
