Live: Israeli forces fatally shoot Palestinian in southern Gaza

Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, has told AFP that as long as Israel continues to evade its commitments, it won't be possible to implement the ceasefire's second phase. 

Badran, according to Haaretz, also rejected Israel's recent comments concerning the Israeli imposed "Yellow Line" in Gaza. 

On Sunday, Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said that the line - which demarcates the area Israeli troops are still occupying - would become the Gaza Strip's new border. Such a move would half Gaza’s current territory. 

According to Al Jazeera, the Israeli military has violated the ceasefire agreement at least 738 times, killing over 370 people since the ceasefire began on 10 October.

Following US pressure, Israel is set to reopen the only border between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, after it had been closed in September when a Jordanian aid truck driver fatally shot two Israeli soldiers. 

A week after the incident, the border was reopened for passenger use only. 

Jordan investigated the case, and said it would implement stricter security and screening procedures for drivers and cargo.

The Allenby Bridge crossing, called the King Hussein Bridge in Jordan, is jointly handled by the Israel Airports Authority and Jordan's Public Security Directorate. It is the only exit and entry point for Palestinians from the West Bank, and is a key trade route for cargo between Jordan and occupied Palestine.

Haaretz reported that 21 percent of aid deliveries reaching Gaza rely on the Allenby Bridge crossing.

Reporters Without Borders reported on Tuesday that Israeli forces were responsible for almost half of all journalist deaths worldwide this year, with 29 Palestinian reporters killed in Gaza alone.

The Paris-based media freedom group recorded 67 journalist fatalities globally from December 2024 to November 2025, marking a slight rise from 66 in 2024. RSF said Israel accounted for 43 percent of the total, describing its military as “the worst enemy of journalists.”

The deadliest single attack occurred on 25 August, when a so-called “double-tap” strike hit a hospital in southern Gaza, killing five journalists, including contributors to Reuters and the Associated Press.

Since the October 2023 war in Gaza, following the Hamas attack on Israel, nearly 220 journalists have been killed, making Israel the leading global killer of media workers for three consecutive years, RSF data shows.

The Gaza Media Office says 257 journalists have been killed since October 2023. Mahmoud Wadi was the latest to be killed on 2 December in an Israeli air strike on Khan Younis.

Access to Gaza remains heavily restricted, with foreign journalists allowed only on controlled tours organised by the Israeli army despite calls for unrestricted press coverage.

In a time of deep Palestinian anguish, the national football team's successive victories in the Arab Cup, currently taking place in Qatar, have ignited a rare and precious sense of unity.

This joy begins in the rain-soaked tents of displaced families in Gaza, stretches to refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and ripples across Palestinian communities worldwide.

From Rafah comes Ihab Abu Jazar, the team's coach, whose family home was destroyed and whose mother was moved to a tent in the Mawasi area. He becomes, suddenly, a beacon of hope.

For a fleeting moment, his squad delivers triumph on the green pitch, qualifying for the next round and dedicating the victory first to Gaza and then to Palestinians everywhere.

Behind the Fida'i, the team's nickname meaning fighter, a collective spirit emerges. It transcends sport, reflecting a profound yearning among Palestinians to reclaim an unfragmented identity, free from the suffocating grip of political division and despair.

Read more: At the Arab Cup, Palestinian football is uniting what politics has divided

British Minister of State for the Middle East, Hamish Faulkner, criticised Israel for storming the Unrwa compound in East Jerusalem, calling the move a “flagrant violation” of its duty to safeguard UN facilities.

In a tweet late on Monday, Faulkner emphasised that Unrwa must be allowed to carry on its crucial work supporting millions of Palestinians across the occupied territories.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club reported that Israeli forces detained 40 Palestinians across various West Bank locations on Tuesday, part of a continuing campaign of arrests under occupation, Wafa reported.

The escalation comes amid rising violence across the territory. According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, West Bank communities suffered 2,144 attacks in November alone, with Israeli soldiers responsible for 1,523 incidents and settlers for 621.

The assaults ranged from physical attacks to property destruction, highlighting the daily pressures faced by Palestinians under occupation.

Israel is conducting such extensive surveillance at a new US command centre in southern Israel that US forces and allies have expressed concern, according to a report in The Guardian on Monday.

The Israeli military has been openly and covertly recording meetings and discussions at the Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) in the town of Kiryat Gat, which is 12 miles from the Gaza frontier, the report says.

The US commander of the CMCC, Lieutenant General Patrick Frank, summoned his Israeli counterpart to tell him that “recording has to stop here”, according to sources briefed on disputes about the recordings.

Staff and visitors from other countries - who were not identified in the report - have also expressed concern about Israel’s intelligence-gathering inside the CMCC. 

The Guardian also reported that some staff and visitors were told to avoid sharing sensitive information because of the possibility that it could be recorded and leaked.

Read more: Israel conducting surveillance of US and allies at southern command centre: Report

Israeli forces stormed two West Bank universities at dawn on Tuesday, detaining five campus security guards in what Palestinian officials condemned as a fresh assault on academic life under occupation.

Troops entered Birzeit University, north of Ramallah, at around 4am, shutting all gates, smashing doors and seizing student placards, Dean of Student Affairs Ghassan Barghouti told Al Araby. The raid forced the campus to suspend activity as staff assessed the damage.

Hours later, Israeli forces moved on Al Quds University in Abu Dis, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, widening what Palestinians describe as an escalating campaign to intimidate students and dismantle spaces of political and cultural expression.

The Government Media Office in Gaza says Israel has carried out 738 violations in the 60 days since the ceasefire agreement was announced, accusing the occupation of repeatedly breaching the deal’s basic humanitarian provisions.

Officials said Israel has honoured less than 40 percent of its humanitarian obligations, a failure they argue has deepened the crisis for Palestinians already living under a suffocating blockade and ongoing military pressure.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has issued an executive order branding the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) a “foreign terrorist organisation”, mirroring a move taken by Texas last month. He extended the same label to the Muslim Brotherhood, even though neither group appears on the US government's official terrorist list.

The order, posted on X, instructs Florida agencies to block Cair, the Muslim Brotherhood, or anyone accused of supporting them from receiving state contracts, jobs or funding.

Cair, along with its Florida chapter, said in an emailed statement that it will sue DeSantis, calling the move an “unconstitutional” and “defamatory” proclamation. The organisation, founded in 1994, now operates 25 chapters across the United States.

The group has already taken legal action against a similar proclamation from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, arguing in court filings that the order is “not only contrary to the United States Constitution, but finds no support in any Texas law”.

Although the issue focuses on US domestic policy, the broader context is hard to ignore: Israel and its supporters have long targeted Cair and other Muslim advocacy groups, often smearing them with baseless “terror” accusations in retaliation for their criticism of Israeli apartheid, occupation and US complicity.

In its official statement, the organisation said it has always denounced terrorism and antisemitism, and that Abbott's move is ultimately designed to curtail criticism of Israel. 

“Greg Abbott is an Israel First politician who has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government," Cair said. 

"By defaming another prominent American Muslim institution with debunked conspiracy theories and made-up quotes, Mr Abbott has once again shown that his top priority is advancing anti-Muslim bigotry, not serving the people of Texas. His latest publicity stunt has no basis in fact or law, nor can it stop our civil rights work," the statement read.

Israeli settlers have torched a Palestinian farmer’s tractor and vehicle in the Wadi al-Rakhim area of Masafer Yatta, deep in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

The settlers also scrawled anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian slogans across the site, in yet another attack targeting communities that have faced months of escalating settler violence under the protection of Israeli forces.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Israel after its police forces stormed the Unrwa headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem, calling the move a blatant violation of international law.

In a statement on Monday evening, Guterres said: "I strongly condemn the unauthorized entry by Israeli authorities today into the Unrwa headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem. This headquarters remains a UN building, and enjoys immunity and is protected from any interference."

He stressed that international agreements clearly prohibit any “executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action” targeting property belonging to the United Nations, underscoring that Israel is bound by these obligations.

Guterres urged Israel to “act immediately” to restore the inviolability of Unrwa’s facilities, safeguard its staff, and halt any further interference.

The raid comes as Israel continues its escalating campaign against Unrwa, an agency already under immense pressure as it struggles to support Palestinians living under siege and military occupation.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

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

• Palestinian media say Israeli warplanes launched a fresh round of intense strikes on Rafah overnight, with ground forces firing near the Morag axis. Residents reported heavy bombardment across southern Gaza as the occupation expanded its attacks on the besieged city.

• In the village of Ar’ara, in the occupied West Bank Israeli forces forced a Palestinian man to demolish his two homes, citing the usual pretext of missing building permits. Local communities say these demolitions are part of Israel’s ongoing effort to push Palestinians off their land under the guise of planning regulations.

• Reporters Without Borders says 67 journalists were killed worldwide in the last year, almost half of them in Gaza at the hands of Israeli forces. The organisation warned that the scale of media deaths in Palestine exposes a pattern of targeting press workers during Israel’s genocide.

• Israeli forces stormed Birzeit University before dawn, entering through three gates and detaining campus guards, according to WAFA. University officials postponed classes and administrative work until 9am, citing concerns for the safety of students and staff after the raid.

• Israeli jets carried out a new series of air attacks in southern Lebanon late on Monday, striking Mount Safi, Jbaa, the Zefta Valley, and areas between Azza and Rumin Arki. Local media described several waves of strikes as tensions rose along the border.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers, 

Israel continued to attack the Gaza Strip despite the two month old ceasefire in the enclave. At least two Palestinians were killed and several others injured on Monday evening by Israeli strikes, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

Meanwhile,  a report by Channel 12 said US President Donald Trump wants Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to attend meetings in Florida at Mar-a-Lago when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting in late December.

Here is what else you need to know:  

• Israeli soldiers stormed the neighborhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa
• Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is not being considered for membership on a “board of peace” for Gaza chaired by US President Donald Trump, The Financial Times reported
• Israel is conducting such extensive surveillance at a new US command centre in southern Israel that US forces and allies have expressed concern, according to a report in The Guardian