Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

The foreign ministers of eight Muslim and Arab countries issued a statement of support on Friday for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa).

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar affirmed “the indispensable role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in protecting the rights of Palestinian refugees and caring for their affairs”.

The statement follows a report by Reuters that the Trump administration has discussed slapping a terror designation on Unrwa. 

Gaza's civil defence says its teams have recovered 11 bodies and six wounded Palestinians from the rubble of collapsed walls and homes amid the storm.

Rescue teams reported that 13 houses collapsed in the storm, killing at least 14 people.

Emergency workers evacuated 52 people from damaged shelters and transported them to safety, they added.

At least 14 Palestinians have died in the last 24 hours from plummeting temperatures and collapsing buildings amid Storm Byron in Gaza, Wafa news agency is reporting.

The figure includes at least three children who died from hypothermia.

Civil defence services reported that six people died when a house collapsed in the Bir al-Naaja area in northern Gaza. They added that two others had died after a wall collapsed in Gaza City's al-Rimal neighbourhood, while another died in Shati refugee camp- also from a wall collapse.

They added that around 15 houses have collapsed across Gaza, leaving rescue teams scrambling to recover people from the rubble.

Israel has approved the “establishment and regulation” of 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli news outlets say the plan includes two settlements in the northern West Bank that were dismantled in 2005.

According to Ynet, the plan “was coordinated with the US in advance."

Israeli forces detained a woman from the town of Deir Samet, west of Hebron, after raiding the area with several military vehicles, the Wafa news agency reported.

Troops stormed the home of former prisoner Atef al-Awawdeh, searched the property and ransacked its contents before arresting his wife, according to local security sources.

At least 11 Palestinians have died in storm-hit Gaza from cold and collapsing buildings within the last 24 hours.

Two children - nine-year-old Hadeel Hamdan and an infant, Taim Khawaja - died from cold in Gaza City on Friday, according to medical sources.

Another child, eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Jazar, died in Khan Younis on Thursday after rainwater leaked into her family’s tent during overnight storms.

Five people were killed when a damaged house in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, collapsed under floods and strong winds. Several others were injured.

Two more deaths occurred when a wall collapsed on tents of displaced Palestinians in the al-Rimal neighbourhood, west of Gaza City. One further death from a crumbling wall was reported in al-Shati refugee camp, north Gaza.

Read more: At least 11 die in storm-hit Gaza from cold and collapsing buildings

The Gaza government media office said on Friday that 12 people have been killed or gone missing, 13 homes collapsed, and more than 27,000 tents for displaced families were flooded or swept away amid the ongoing storm.

The disaster has directly affected over 250,000 people across the Strip.

Authorities warned that 1.5 million displaced residents remain at risk of drowning or structural collapses amid harsh weather, calling on the UN and international organisations to urgently deliver emergency shelters and aid, as Israeli restrictions continue to block access to the territory.

The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) says families in Gaza are facing a worsening crisis as Storm Byron hits, with many displaced multiple times and living in fragile shelters.

Jonathan Fowler, a Unwra spokesperson, told Al Jazeera from Amman that supplies for over a million people are being held outside Gaza, with Israel preventing their entry.

“It is a political choice to deny us the possibility of bringing that aid in,” he said.

Fowler added that teams on the ground are doing what they can with existing resources and aid from partner organisations, including pumping away lakes of untreated sewage left by destroyed infrastructure.

A strong storm, currently hitting Gaza, has killed at least nine Palestinians and injured several others, according to the Wafa news agency, as heavy rains cause flooding and structural collapses.

Local sources told Wafa that five Palestinians died overnight when a house sheltering displaced families collapsed in the Bir an-Naaja area of North Gaza.

Earlier on Friday morning, two more were killed after a large wall fell onto tents housing displaced people in the Rimal neighbourhood of western Gaza City.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called upon the international community on Friday to provide strong support to ensure the Gaza ceasefire holds.

He described the situation in the Strip as “fragile” amid ongoing Israeli violations of the truce.

Erdogan made the remarks at the International Forum for Peace and Trust in Ashgabat, emphasizing the need to involve Palestinians in all stages of the peace process and reaffirming that a two-state solution remains the ultimate goal.

He added that the current Gaza ceasefire requires robust international backing to ensure its continuation despite Israeli breaches.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from Israel's war on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank:

•  Gaza’s Civil Defence said two people were killed early Friday after a large wall collapsed onto the tents of displaced families in western Gaza City, as a cold weather storm battered the enclave. The storm has piled yet more pressure on Palestinians already struggling to survive in makeshift shelters.

• UN chief Antonio Guterres said that 2025 saw the biggest surge in Israeli settlement expansion on record, condemning escalating settler violence and reiterating that all settlements are illegal. He warned saying that Gaza is in a catastrophic state, with airstrikes still killing civilians and more than 80% of buildings destroyed or severely damaged.

• US President Donald Trump said Washington is “deeply involved” in the situation in Gaza, claiming the United States now has “real peace in the Middle East” backed by 59 countries.

• Netanyahu held on Thursday a “tense” security cabinet meeting in occupied Jerusalem under mounting US pressure to lead Gaza’s reconstruction and cover costs reportedly running into billions, as Arab states refuse to fund the effort

• Jordan and the UAE called Thursday for full implementation of the Gaza ceasefire, stressing the need to honour all its provisions. The push came during talks in Abu Dhabi between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Emirati counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed, which also focused on strengthening bilateral ties and regional developments.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face "another layer of misery" as Storm Byron bears down on the enclave, the United Nations Agency for Palestinians said on Thursday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said that only a trickle of tents and shelters has been allowed into the Gaza Strip and that  850,000 people at hundreds of displacement sites are at risk of flooding. 

Meanwhile, Israel launched new raids across the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to Arabic media reports. 

Here is what else you need to know:

• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to say on Thursday when the US would unveil phase two of its Gaza ceasefire plan
• The US plans to appoint a two-star American general to oversee an international stabilisation force in Gaza, axios reported
• Israel will pay for the clearance of some rubble in Gaza as a result of US lobbying, according to a report by Israeli news site Ynet
• Nemo, the Swiss singer and winner of the 2024 Eurovision contest, has returned his trophy in protest against Israel's participation in the contest

Israel will pay for the clearance of rubble in Gaza as a result of US lobbying, according to a report by Israeli news site Ynet. 

The US requested Israel pay the cost of clearing rubble from the Gaza Strip and the large engineering operation it entails, Ynet said. 

Ynet said the rubble clearance could cost up to $312m.

The United Nations estimates Gaza's total reconstruction at $70bn. There are, in total, around 68 million tonnes of debris in Gaza, according to the UN. 

It's unclear what specific project Israel is paying for. Israeli soldiers currently occupy about 58 percent of Gaza.

Israel's GDP in 2024 was around $540bn.