Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

A senior Hamas commander has been killed in an Israeli drone strike in Gaza City on Saturday, the Israeli military has confirmed.

Raad Saad was killed alongside three others when his car was targeted near al-Nabulsi square in western Gaza City, according to Israeli media reports.

Gaza's health ministry said that four people were killed in the attack, with at least 25 others wounded.

Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting that at least five people were killed in the attack.

The Israeli military confirmed in a statement that Saad had been killed in an attack on Hamas' production headquarters in Gaza, adding that the strike was coordinated with the Israeli intelligence agency, Shin Bet.

Read more: Israeli military confirms killing of top Hamas commander Raad Saad in Gaza City drone strike

The Israeli army says it killed a Palestinian near the so-called yellow line in northern Gaza, an area where Israeli forces have redeployed under the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on Palestinians who approach the unmarked demarcation line, a pattern that has resulted in the killing and wounding of civilians, including women and children, since the October ceasefire.

The head of the World Health Organization says Israeli restrictions continue to obstruct the entry of laboratory and diagnostic equipment into Gaza, hampering urgent medical response efforts.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that his agency faced “challenges” from Israel when attempting to bring essential medical supplies into the besieged territory.

“Many items have been denied entry on the grounds of being classified as dual-use,” he said, stressing that the equipment is “vital” for the “timely detection, response, and treatment of people” suffering from acute respiratory illnesses.

Tedros also expressed concern over deaths reported in Gaza over the past day during severe weather, suggesting that many of them could have been avoided if Israel had not restricted the flow of humanitarian aid.

Jordan's foreign ministry says it “strongly condemns the Israeli government’s ratification of the establishment and legalisation of 19 illegal colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank”.

In a statement, the ministry described the decision as “a blatant violation of international law” and “international humanitarian law”, warning that it directly undermines “efforts for a two-state solution”.

The statement added that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied West Bank”, rejecting any legal or political basis for the move.

Israel’s cabinet approved the establishment and retroactive legalisation of the 19 settlements on Friday. Settlements across the occupied West Bank are regarded as illegal under international law.

Israeli forces have detained a 14-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, according to the Wafa news agency.

Local sources told the Palestinian outlet that soldiers arrested Taim Raed Hamayel during the operation, which took place in the occupied West Bank.

The detention comes as Palestinians across the West Bank continue to face a sharp rise in Israeli military raids and settler violence, unfolding alongside Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.

Six Palestinian families have left their homes in the at-Taawon neighbourhood of Nablus after Israel’s High Court ordered the buildings to be demolished by the end of the year, according to the Wafa news agency.

Residents said they evacuated after receiving final demolition notices, as Israeli authorities insist the properties fall within Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and remains under full Israeli control.

One of the affected residents, Laith Abed, told the Palestinian outlet that officials based their decision on this classification.

The families, however, reject the claim, saying the homes are located in Area B, where Palestinians hold civil authority, although Israel retains overarching security control.

The forced displacement comes amid mounting concern from the United Nations. The UN’s humanitarian agency warned this week that Israeli demolition orders have displaced more than 1,000 Palestinians in Area C since the start of the year, marking the second highest figure recorded since 2009.

US Central Command said on Saturday that an Islamic State (IS) fighter carried out an armed ambush targeting US personnel in Syria.

The command said US troops came under fire in the Palmyra area of central Syria, prompting an immediate response. US forces engaged the attacker and killed the gunman responsible for the ambush.

The Pentagon said the attack took place while US soldiers were holding a meeting with local leaders in Palmyra, underscoring the risks facing troops during engagement missions on the ground.

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack condemned the attack, describing it as a “cowardly terrorist ambush” that targeted a joint US-Syrian patrol.

A senior Palestinian official has condemned comments by the US ambassador to Israel that appeared to justify Israeli approval for 19 new settlements, calling the stance a clear breach of international law and a dangerous attempt to legitimise illegal land grabs.

Rouhi Fattouh, chairman of the Palestinian National Council, said the remarks by Ambassador Mike Huckabee amounted to political cover for settlement expansion, which international law explicitly prohibits. He said Israel’s settlement drive, regardless of whether it is framed as licencing, urban growth or administrative planning, remains illegal under international humanitarian law.

Fattouh pointed to UN Security Council resolution 2334, which affirms that all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and must cease immediately. He said attempts to portray new settlements as falling short of annexation rely on manipulating legal language and do not alter the reality on the ground.

He said settlements function as a tool to impose irreversible facts, erode Palestinian self-determination and entrench Israel’s occupation system. Rebranding such measures, he added, does nothing to change their colonial nature.

An Israeli military official has confirmed the killing of senior Hamas commander Raad Saad in an Israeli drone strike in Gaza City.

Saad, who was considered second-in-command to the group's latest military chief, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, was killed alongside three others when his car was targeted near Nabulsi square in western Gaza City, according to Israeli media reports.

Gaza's health ministry said that four people were killed in the attack, with at least 25 others wounded.

Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting that at least five people were killed in the attack.

The Israeli military previously reported that it had targeted a senior Hamas commander in Gaza City, without giving a name or details. 

Israeli media is reporting that Israeli forces killed senior Hamas commander Raad Saad, along with at least four other people, in a strike on Gaza on Saturday.

The Israeli army issued a statement earlier claiming it had targeted a "key" Hamas member in Gaza City.

It followed reports that an Israeli drone had struck a vehicle in Gaza City.

Wafa news agency is reporting, citing local sources, that Israeli soldiers detained an elderly man in the occupied West Bank's northern Jordan Valley.

The sources reported that Rafe’ Muhammad Abdul Karim Faqha was arrested when Israeli forces stormed a gathering.

Wafa said that several communities had been raided by settlers accompanied by the Israeli army across the northern Jordan Valley.

The Israeli army has issued a statement claiming it conducted an attack targeting a "key" Hamas member in Gaza City.

The military alleged in a post on Telegram that the member had been operating in an attempt to re-establish Hamas's capabilities.

Wafa news agency reported earlier that several Palestinians had been killed or wounded in an Israeli drone strike targeting a vehicle in Gaza City. The number of casualties is currently unknown.

Several Palestinians have been killed or injured in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle west of Gaza City, Wafa news agency has reported, citing local sources.

According to the sources, the attack occurred near the Nabulsi junction. The report does not specify the number of casualties.

It added that emergency and rescue teams had arrived at the scene to transfer the injured to hospital.

The Israeli military has warned it plans to imminently attack the Lebanese village of Yanuh, in southern Tyre.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the attack was targeting "Hezbollah infrastructure", posting a map of a building in the village and instructing residents to flee.

A Palestinian man has died from wounds sustained in an Israeli attack on a tent weeks ago in al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Wafa news agency is reporting, citing medical sources.

The enclave's health ministry reported earlier that the bodies of three Palestinians had been transferred to hospitals in the past 24 hours.

The latest figures have pushed the overall number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023 to 70,654.