Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

A Palestinian child was injured on Sunday evening by live bullet shrapnel fired by Israeli forces in the town of Burqin, west of Jenin, Wafa news agency reported.

According to local sources, Israeli forces entered the town and opened fire on residents, injuring a 12-year-old boy in the knee with bullet shrapnel while he was riding his bicycle.

Israeli soldiers shot at three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and killed one of them, the Israeli military said. 

The army claimed they were throwing stones toward a main road near Azzun.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said one person had been killed and one wounded in the incident.

The Israeli military said that apart from the fatality, one other person was killed and one arrested.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), called Israeli attacks on Lebanon a “constant and blatant violation of Resolution 1701”.

Major General Diodato Abagnara, the commander of the Unifil told Israeli media that, “the situation is really, really fragile” in Lebanon, and “a simple mistake could create a big escalation”.

“Any kind of direct attack against Unifil troops is unacceptable,” he said, apparently referring to past Israeli strikes on the peacekeepers.

The UN organisation said Israel violated the ceasefire deal with thousands of air and ground attacks inside Lebanon.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will remain in the territories it seized in Syria, Haaretz reported.

"We very much hope that we will be able to reach a demilitarisation agreement for southern Syria and also take care of our Druze brothers," Netanyahu said at a meeting with Israeli ambassadors.

"But we want to keep these assets," he added.

His comments came after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa reiterated his call for Israel to withdraw from territories seized by Israel since December last year, and said negotiations were underway with the United States for an Israeli withdrawal.

Israeli forces crossed into southern Syria following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government on 8 December 2024, and continue to occupy a United Nations buffer zone - the strategic heights of Mount Hermon - which overlooks Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Sunday it had facilitated the transfer of five Palestinian detainees, released via the Karm Abu Salem crossing, to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah.

The ICRC said its access to Palestinian detainees held in Israeli detention centres remains suspended and reiterated its call to be notified of the identities of all detainees and granted immediate access to them.

The organisation said it is continuing talks with Israeli authorities to reinstate visits to all Palestinian detainees, adding that international humanitarian law requires humane treatment, adequate detention conditions and the ability for detainees to stay in contact with their families.

"Dozens" of soldiers from the Israeli navy and the US Fifth Fleet began joint naval exercises today that will continue through the week, according to the Israeli army.”

“The aim of the exercise is to strengthen strategic and operational cooperation between the two navies and practice dealing with various regional threats”, the army said on X.

Israel's army chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, said Sunday the demarcation line where Israeli troops have withdrawn behind in Gaza is a "new border", according to a military statement.

"We have operational control over extensive parts of the Gaza Strip and we will remain on those defence lines. The Yellow Line is a new border line - serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity," the army quoted Zamir as saying to reserve soldiers in Gaza.

Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli forces have withdrawn to positions behind the so-called Yellow Line.

Gaza's hospitals received bodies of six Palestinians and 17 wounded others in the last 24-hour reporting period, the health ministry in the enclave said.

According to the health ministry, at least 373 people have been killed and 970 wounded by Israeli attacks since the start of the ceasefire in October.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would not retire from politics if he receives a pardon from the country’s president in his years-long corruption trial.

Asked by a reporter whether he planned to leave political life if granted a pardon, Netanyahu replied: “No.”

Last month, Netanyahu asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon. His lawyers argued that the prime minister’s frequent court appearances were hindering his ability to govern and that granting a pardon would serve the country’s interests.

Pardons in Israel are typically granted only after legal proceedings have concluded and the accused has been convicted. There is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.

The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, and the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, were both visiting Jordan on Sunday to discuss humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Waltz said on X that he was in the Jordanian capital, Amman, to discuss speeding up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and "to see the vital work Jordanian and UN partners are doing".

"We're ready to move forward with the rebuilding of Gaza... So we're here to knock down those bureaucratic barriers and get things moving," he added.

Kallas was also in Amman on Sunday, where she held talks with King Abdullah II on the Gaza ceasefire and regional developments, the royal palace said in a statement.

The Jordanian king notably reiterated "the need to adhere to the terms of the agreement to end the war on Gaza and ensure the flow of relief aid", the palace said.

South Africa cancelled visa exemptions for Palestinians following an investigation into a mysterious charter flight that brought dozens of people from Gaza into the country without proper documentation last month.

In a statement, South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs said investigations had confirmed “the deliberate and ongoing abuse of the 90-day visa exemption for Palestinian ordinary passport holders by Israeli actors linked to ‘voluntary emigration’ efforts for residents of the Gaza Strip”.

The controversy began in mid-November, when 153 men, women and children arrived in Johannesburg on a flight from Nairobi. They were held on the aircraft for more than 12 hours because their passports did not carry Israeli exit stamps.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Israeli forces have killed at least 373 people and wounded 970 others since the start of the ceasefire in October. 

Officials said the death toll in Gaza since October 2023 has increased to 70,360, with 171,047 people wounded. 

The ministry added that more than 50 percent of medicines remain out of stock despite the ceasefire deal. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Israel's war on Gaza has presented "Germany with a certain dilemma" during his first visit to Israel. 

Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Merz reiterated Germany's support for a two-state solution and its support for Israel's war against Hamas.

However, he balanced his remarks by stating that "as a country at war, as a democratic constitutional state, Israel must also be measured against international law".

The German chancellor also called on Israel to take steps to ensure no further "annexation [of the West Bank], whether formal, structural, or otherwise, that would amount to annexation".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel is close to completing the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan.

His comments were made during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was in Israel for his first official visit.

Netanyahu's announcement comes after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that negotiations on the Gaza stabilisation force remain ongoing.