Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

Israeli forces arrested five Palestinians during a raid in the town of Beit Jala, west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported.

The arrests were part of a series of raids and detentions carried out across the West Bank that evening.

Israel’s army does not have enough combat soldiers and is working to recruit ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, the military chief said on Thursday, Haaretz reported.

Speaking at a Hanukkah event, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said Israel’s security needs are “extensive” and the Israeli military is aiming to expand its ranks.

While most Jewish men and women are expected to serve at least two years in the army, ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as the Haredim, have always been exempt.

In June 2024, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled they could be conscripted, leading to mass opposition from the Haredim.

Related: Israel's genocide in Gaza: Why are ultra-Orthodox Jews against conscription?

The Israeli Supreme Court has decided to set 4 January as the final deadline for Israel to respond to a petition by the Foreign Press Association (FPA) for media access to Gaza.

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.

Israel has only allowed a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the Palestinian territory under Israeli blockade on a case-by-case basis.

The FPA in Jerusalem, which represents international media in Israel and the Palestinian territories and has hundreds of members, asked the Israeli justice system more than a year ago to allow immediate access to Gaza.

On 23 October, the Court held a first hearing on this request and decided to grant the Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan allowing this access.

Since then, the Court has granted several extensions to the Israeli authorities to present their plan, but it set Saturday as the final deadline.

Israeli settlers threw stones at vehicles near the village of al-Maniya, southeast of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank on Sunday evening, Wafa news agency reported, citing security sources.

The sources told Wafa the settlers gathered at the al-Maniya roundabout, damaging several cars.

Israeli settlers attacked residents in the town of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, on Sunday evening, injuring three Palestinians, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said.

PRCS said its teams treated the injured on site and transferred them to a hospital for further care.

World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said conditions in Gaza have improved since an October ceasefire, but warned that “progress remains extremely fragile” and acute malnutrition continues to threaten thousands of people.

"Over 100,000 children and 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are still projected to suffer acute malnutrition through April next year,"

Only about half of Gaza’s health facilities are partially functioning and face shortages because of Israeli restrictions, he said, calling for the urgent and expedited approval and entry of essential supplies, equipment and prefabricated hospital structures.

The latest @theIPCinfo analysis for #Gaza confirms that no areas of the Strip are currently classified as being in famine following the recent October ceasefire and improved humanitarian and commercial access.

But this welcome progress remains extremely fragile as the… pic.twitter.com/e0XrH0cujy

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 21, 2025

Israeli forces have shot and injured two young men near a separation wall in the town of ar-Ram in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the men were taken to hospital.

Israeli strikes in south Lebanon on Sunday killed one person and wounded another, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel's military claimed it targeted Hezbollah members.

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure or operatives, despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the group.

It has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas that it deems strategic.

The health ministry in Beirut said "two Israeli enemy strikes today, on a vehicle and a motorbike in the town of Yater", killed one person and wounded another.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has proposed creating a “detention facility surrounded by crocodiles” to hold Palestinian prisoners, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

Channel 13 said the Israel Prison Service (IPS) is reviewing what it described as "an unusual proposal" aimed at preventing jailbreak attempts.

Orly Noy, the chair of Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem, said the plan is "another grotesque example of the cannibal stage in which Israel is at right now".

"For decades, Israel has been digging trenches and building walls and fences and gates, yet people's sense of security is still deteriorating," Noy told Middle East Eye.

"They will try anything before trying justice and peace. One can only wonder what will be the next stage after this.

Read more: Israel's Ben Gvir proposes prison ‘encircled by crocodiles’ for Palestinians

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in the Kafr Qaddum area in the northern West Bank, local media reported.

Israeli soldiers reportedly shot and wounded several Palestinians. 

Israeli soldiers have raided the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.

According to local media, several military vehicles entered the town and patrolled the streets.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned Israel's shelling of a school in Gaza sheltering displaced people, which killed seven Palestinians and injured dozens more.

The OIC said the United Nations Security Council should take action to end Israel's violations of the ceasefire in Gaza.

It further called for Israeli officials to be investigated and held accountable for crimes committed by the government and military.

Israel's security cabinet has approved a new proposal by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz to recognise 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. 

The settlements are spread across five regional councils. A total of 69 settlements have been recognised under Smotrich.

Reacting to the decision, the finance minister said: “We are preventing the establishment of a Palestinian terror state on the ground.”

All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.

Israeli bulldozers have razed roughly a hectare of land near the village of Yasuf in the central West Bank province of Salfit.

Wael Abu Madi, head of the Yasuf village council, told the Wafa news agency that Israeli bulldozers razed land owned by local farmers and planted with olive trees.

He said the bulldozing was carried out under the protection of the Israeli military.

The Israeli military killed three Palestinians in the Shujaiya neighbourhood east of Gaza City on Sunday morning, according to local medical sources.

Two of the Palestinians were killed after Israeli drones targeted them near a fuel station.

Another Palestinian was killed separately when an Israeli drone attacked a group of people.