Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

Hello Middle East Eye readers,

Here are some of the key updates this morning:

• The Israeli military killed three Palestinians in the Shujaiya neighbourhood east of Gaza City, according to local media.
• Three women from the same family were killed and two others are missing after their house collapsed in Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City.
• Israeli forces razed land north of the village of Yasuf in the West Bank area of Salfit on Sunday morning.
• Turkish intelligence officials met a Hamas delegation on Saturday to discuss the measures that need to be taken to proceed to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan. 

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

• Israel urged the US to keep some US sanctions on Syria in place as a bargaining chip in future talks, but Trump declined the request, Kan public broadcaster reported.

• Civil defence teams rescued a child from beneath the rubble of a residential building that collapsed on its residents in the Al Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, Quds News Network reported.

• Over 500,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza have lost their livelihoods since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, Anadolu Agency reported.

• The US was joined by Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in urging parties in the Gaza ceasefire to uphold their obligations and exercise restraint, the chief US envoy said after talks in Miami.

• The Israeli military said in a post on X that it killed two Palestinians in the northern West Bank on Saturday evening.

• The Israeli military said it killed two Palestinians in a strike, claiming they crossed the so-called yellow line in the northern Gaza Strip.

• The Israeli army on Friday shelled a school being used as a shelter, where displaced Palestinian families had gathered for a wedding, killing at least six people, including a five-month-old baby.

• The first phase of the plan to confiscate weapons south of the Litani River will end in a "few days", Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a statement.

• Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said children in Gaza are dying from the cold weather, urging Israel to allow more aid into the enclave.

Advisers to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged US President Donald Trump to keep some US sanctions on Syria in place as a bargaining chip in future talks, but Trump declined the request, Haaretz reported, citing the Kan public broadcaster.

The US Congress on Wednesday approved the final lifting of sanctions, with the repeal of "Caesar Act", adopted in 2019 during the time of former leader Bashar al-Assad, ousted from power in December 2024.

Civil defence teams rescued a child from beneath the rubble of a residential building that collapsed on its residents in the Al Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, Quds News Network reported.

Seven members of the same family are still believed to be trapped under the debris, the report said.

Civil defense teams rescued a child from beneath the rubble of a residential building that collapsed on its residents in Al Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.
Seven members of the same family are still believed to be trapped under the rubble. pic.twitter.com/9a634rSlnv

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 20, 2025

Over 500,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza have lost their livelihoods since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday.

The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions said on Saturday that Israeli-imposed blockades, frequent closures, and daily military raids have left workers unable to earn a living, describing the policies as a “compounded crime” that violates Palestinians’ fundamental right to work and live with dignity.

“Israeli occupation policies over more than two years of continuous aggression have led to more than 500,000 Palestinian workers losing their livelihood, with unemployment rates rising to unprecedented levels exceeding 50 percent in the West Bank and more than 84 percent in the Gaza Strip,” the statement said.

The statement said Palestinian workers have suffered losses of over $9 billion, both from being prevented from reaching their workplaces and from the destruction of various sectors.

A total of 44 workers have been killed, hundreds injured, and over 34,000 others detained by the Israeli army since October 2023, the federation said.

A residential building collapsed in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, north of Gaza City, causing injuries, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing the ambulance and emergency services.

The United States was joined Saturday by Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in urging parties in the Gaza ceasefire to uphold their obligations and exercise restraint, the chief US envoy said after talks in Miami.

Top officials from each nation met with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy, to review the first stage of the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.

"We reaffirm our full commitment to the entirety of the President’s 20-point peace plan and call on all parties to uphold their obligations, exercise restraint, and cooperate with monitoring arrangements," said a statement posted by Witkoff on X. 

The meeting came after Gaza’s civil defence reported that Israeli fire killed six people on Friday in the Strip, raising the total number of Palestinians killed since the deal took effect to 400.

We earlier reported that Israeli forces killed a 22-year-old Palestinian in the west of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military said in a post on X that it killed two Palestinians in the northern West Bank on Saturday evening.

Palestinian health officials said one of the victims, a teenager identified as Rayan Abu Mualla, was killed in the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin.

الهيئة العامة للشؤون المدنية تبلغ وزارة الصحة باستشهاد الطفل ريان محمد عبد القادر أبو معلا (١٦ عاما) برصاص الاحتلال، في قباطية، وتحتجز جثمانه. pic.twitter.com/czTu0S09Zl

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) December 20, 2025

Israeli forces shot and killed a young Palestinian on Saturday evening in the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Information Centre reported, citing the Palestinian ministry of health.

The ministry identified the victim as 22-year-old Ahmed Saed Shehadeh Ziyoud.

The Israeli military said it killed two Palestinians in a strike, claiming they crossed the so-called yellow line in the northern Gaza Strip.

The army is accused of moving boundary lines in Gaza and violating the ceasefire.

The Israeli army on Friday shelled a school being used as a shelter, where displaced Palestinian families had gathered for a wedding, killing at least six people, including a five-month-old baby.

The Palestinian civil emergency service said several people were also wounded when an Israeli tank shells hit the second floor of the Gaza Martyrs School in the Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City. 

Witnesses reported that an Israeli tank had advanced into the area and approached the school before firing. 

They also said Israeli forces blocked ambulance and civil defence teams from reaching the site for more than two hours, delaying the evacuation of victims. 

Read more: Israel kills six Palestinians in strike on Gaza school hosting wedding

Turkey's intelligence agency chief met Hamas's negotiating team head Khalil Al-Hayya on Saturday and discussed necessary measures to be taken for proceeding to the second phase of the Gaza peace plan, Turkish security sources said.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met the Hamas delegation in Istanbul within the scope of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and they discussed steps to be taken to prevent what they said were Israel's ceasefire violations.

They also discussed measures to be taken to resolve existing issues for proceeding to the second phase of the plan, the sources also said, without giving details.

The first phase of the plan to confiscate weapons south of the Litani River will end in a "few days", Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a statement.

A US-backed ceasefire agreed in November 2024 required the disarmament of Hezbollah, beginning in areas south of the river, the area adjacent to Israel.

US President Donald Trump is set to be briefed by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any expansion of Iran's ballistic missile program poses a threat that could necessitate swift action, NBC News reported.

Israeli officials are concerned that Iran is reconstituting nuclear enrichment sites the US bombed in June, and are preparing to brief Trump for options on attacking the missile program again, the NBC report added.