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Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

Live
Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid
Meanwhile, Hamas reveals new military spokesman after predecessor's death
Key Points
Gaza hospital on brink of suspending services is gifted two days' worth of diesel at the eleventh hour
168 doctors graduate in the ruins of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza
Pope Leo highlights Palestinian suffering in Gaza in Christmas address
Members of the clergy pray inside the Grotto, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Live Updates

6 months ago

An Israeli tank fired in the direction of United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, the UN force operating in the country said. 

The UN force in southern Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired "a burst of gunfire" on Wednesday at a convoy of its vehicles. 

Israel has continued to bomb Lebanon despite signing a year-old ceasefire with Hezbollah. 

6 months ago

Julius Van der Walt, chief of the Mine Action Programme in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said in a press statement that the remnants of war and unexploded ordnance in Gaza pose a threat to civilians returning to normal life, stressing that children are most at risk.

More than two years of systematic Israeli attacks have contaminated the Strip with explosive materials, impacting the humanitarian sector and reconstruction efforts.

Van der Walt noted there is still no exhaustive data on the full extent of explosive contamination in Gaza, but said that since the Mine Action Programme started operating in October 2023, it identified 650 hazardous items.

He also stressed that Gaza’s limited geographical area and high population density make the situation more difficult compared to other conflict zones.

Given the impossibility to wholly avoid these remnants under current conditions, he warned residents returning to their homes to exercise extreme caution and to report any suspicious or movable objects immediately.

6 months ago

Trucks carrying aid and cargo have resumed crossing over Allenby Bridge, known as King Hussein Bridge in Jordan, the only transit point between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.

It was closed in September after a Jordanian driver fatally shot two Israeli soldiers. It was reopened to passenger traffic briefly after, however commercial traffic, including aid trucks to Gaza, remained halted. 

6 months ago

The Arab League's General Secretariat has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to include the systematic medical negligence of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons in the ongoing investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel. This appeal follows the recent death of a young Palestinian detainee.

Abdul Rahman Sufian Mohammed al-Sabateen, 21, died on Tuesday night after his health deteriorated due to poor conditions in Israeli detention. His condition had remained stable until a court hearing at the end of November.

The Arab League has characterised Israel's treatment of Palestinian detainees as a form of "slow killing and torture". The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has issued a warning regarding the worsening conditions in Israeli prisons as winter approaches, saying that the prison administration is withholding blankets and winter clothing from detainees.

Israel has not yet released Sabateen's body, a practice often employed for months or even years with deceased prisoners.

Sabateen’s death comes amid a push in the Israeli parliament to pass a law legalising the execution of Palestinian prisoners. Since Itamar Ben Gvir's appointment as national security minister, there has been a marked increase in detainee deaths in prisons.

Currently, over 9,300 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, with hundreds more detained in Israeli military camps.

6 months ago

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with King Felipe VI of Spain in Madrid, reported Wafa news agency.

The meeting aimed to strengthen bilateral relations, particularly following Spain's recognition of the State of Palestine. The leaders engaged in discussions concerning efforts to secure a durable ceasefire in Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. 

The two also discussed reconstruction and Israeli withdrawal from the strip. These steps are considered essential to prevent further displacement and annexation of the territory.

Abbas expressed his profound gratitude to Spain, its government, and its "friendly" people for their unwavering support of the Palestinian cause.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas meets King Felipe VI of Spain, 10 December 2025 (REUTERS/ Ana Beltran)
PA President Mahmoud Abbas meets King Felipe VI of Spain, 10 December 2025 (Reuters/ na Beltran)

6 months ago

A Palestinian child, identified as Zahir Nasser Shamiya, was shot and killed, then run over by an Israeli military vehicle in Jabalia, northern Gaza, Wafa reported. Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching his body.

6 months ago

Three Palestinians, including a child, were killed by Israeli forces in Jabalia, northern Gaza, this afternoon, Wafa news agency reported. 

The death toll in Gaza since the ceasefire began on 10 October has thus risen to 383 people.

Jabalia is one of several residential neighbourhoods in Gaza that fall under the "Green Zone" – where the Israeli army is still stationed – and are facing systematic demolition, in violation of the ceasefire.

6 months ago

Teams working with Gaza’s Civil Defence have found a mass grave on the grounds of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which has been attacked multiple times by Israeli forces since October 2023, Al Jazeera reported.

The Civil Defence said in a Telegram post that the teams are working to recover more than 30 bodies from the site as part of a broader effort to retrieve an estimated total of around 300 bodies from across the Gaza Strip.

6 months ago

Roughly 190 Israeli settlers, protected by Israeli forces, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.

Local sources said the settlers streamed into the mosque’s courtyards in groups and performed “provocative” tours and Talmudic rituals as Israeli soldiers and police watched on.

The status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque is defined by a set of rules and regulations considered a binding international norm and long recognised by world powers. It designates the mosque as an exclusively Islamic site, where only Muslims are permitted to worship.

6 months ago

Israel has given final approval for 764 housing units to be built in three settlements in the occupied West Bank, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday.

The ultra-nationalist Smotrich said that since the beginning of his term in late 2022, some 51,370 housing units have been approved by the government's Higher Planning Council in the West Bank.

The units will be spread out between Hashmonaim, just over the Green Line in central Israel, and Givat Zeev and Beitar Illit near Jerusalem.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.

6 months ago

Two people were killed and five others wounded in the Gaza Strip, with the injured transferred to local hospitals, the Gaza health ministry said.

A third body was also recovered from the rubble, according to Al Jazeera.

Since a ceasefire took effect in October, Israeli attacks have killed 379 people and wounded 992, with 627 bodies recovered, the health authority said.

Displaced Palestinians mourn the death of a relative killed in Israeli strikes, outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on 20 November, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians mourn the death of a relative killed in Israeli strikes, outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on 20 November, 2025. (AFP)

6 months ago

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for "increasing international pressure" on Israel to prevent Gaza from being dragged back into conflict, Turkey's Anadolu Agency reported.

“The atrocities we face in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories unfortunately persist despite all the efforts of the international community,” the president said on Wednesday in a statement in commemoration of Human Rights Day.

“The path to a just and lasting peace in Gaza lies in strengthening the ceasefire - which was established with the contribution of our country - and in implementing the two-state solution model,” he added.

6 months ago

More than 18,500 patients, including 4,000 children, are currently waiting to leave the Gaza Strip for urgent specialised medical care amid an “immense and growing” need for medical evacuations, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

On Monday, the WHO evacuated 25 people and 92 companions out of Gaza to countries including Belgium, Italy, Norway and Romania, director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media.

“The number of people needing medical evacuation has been increasing,” Tedros said

“The increase is partly because people previously unable to reach health facilities due to the insecurity are now able to present to hospitals for medical assessment, and consideration for evacuation for health care,” he added.

The chief also called for more countries to take patients from Gaza and for medical evacuations to the occupied West Bank to be restored.

6 months ago

The second round of the Chilean presidential elections due to take place on 15 December may become highly significant for Palestine.

The two candidates, Jose Antonio Kast, who represents a far-right political party, and Jeanette Jara, representing a centre-left coalition - both hold opposing visions of how Chile’s foreign policy should be conducted.

Around 16 million eligible voters will decide over the two options mainly based on security, immigration and economic matters.

Home to the largest Palestinian community outside the Arab world, estimated at around 500,000 people in 2023, Chile may soon join the group of far-right leaders such as Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Argentina’s Israel-loving President Javier Milei, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who consistently oppose Palestinian rights and undermine international agreements and the principles of the UN Charter.

On 19 November, the UN General Assembly voted on the extension of Unrwa’s mandate. Only ten states voted against the extension, including Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, the United States, and Israel - countries governed by members of the same ideological camp as the far-right Chilean presidential candidate.

Read more: Chile elections: Far right candidate may break with historic support for Palestine Opinion by Xavier Abu Eid

A woman holds a sign during a pro-Palestine demonstration in Santiago, on 14 June 2025 (AFP)
A woman holds a sign during a pro-Palestine demonstration in Santiago, on 14 June 2025 (AFP)

6 months ago

Displaced people living in tents in the Gaza Strip are facing severe hardship after a rainstorm destroyed thousands of shelters, local sources reported.