Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

A team from the Red Cross and Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has begun searching for the body of an Israeli captive in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Meanwhile, Gaza's Ministry of Health announced the decision to bury the bodies of 15 Palestinians who were being held by Israel, as they could not be identified. 

Israeli forces detained 11 Palestinians, mostly former prisoners, on Monday during military raids on the villages of Al-Lubban al-Gharbi and Rantis, northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reported. 

Security sources reported that a large force of Israeli soldiers vandalised dozens of homes during the raids. 

Israeli army also forced several residents to evacuate their homes on Monday morning in the Jabriyat neighbourhood of Jenin refugee camp, the agency said.

On 27 September, I woke up at 5.10am in my apartment in Turkey, feeling suffocated and thirsty.

I was uneasy for no clear reason. I reached for my phone to read the latest updates from Gaza. I saw a message in my town's news-sharing group in Gaza that an Israeli air strike had targeted my family's home.

I texted my brother, Abood, but the message did not go through. Moments later, my mother, who now lives near me in Turkey, called. Her voice trembled with fear as she asked whether I had read the news. I walked straight out of my apartment and down the road to her house.

My heart froze, and my chest felt heavy. I refused to believe that my worst nightmare during the Gaza genocide had become real, but the feeling of suffocation would not go away.

On the way, I called a friend in Gaza. Together, we managed to reach my sister, Sarah. That small victory gave me hope that my family had survived.

Read more: Opinion: Overnight, an Israeli strike turned my family's home in Gaza into a graveyard by Yousef Aljamal

A Palestinian has been killed by Israeli fire near the so-called yellow zone in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing field medics.

The yellow line in Gaza demarcates the area in which Israeli troops can remain according to the ceasefire plan. It is an operational boundary imposed by the Israeli military, which has, since the US-brokered ceasefire came into effect last month, turned into a restricted-movement zone. 

The Israeli army has committed around 500 violations of the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on 10 October, according to the Gaza media office.

Italy condemned Israeli settler violence on Sunday after three Italians and one Canadian were injured in a settler attack in a Palestinian village near Jericho in the West Bank.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Sunday that Italy "is calling on the Israeli government to stop the settlers and prevent further violence, which does not serve the realisation of the peace plan we are all working on."

"The West Bank will not be annexed. We are completely opposed to that. The rights of the Palestinian civilian population must be respected. This is very serious," he said.

Israeli forces detained 44 Palestinians on Monday in the towns of Beit Fajjar and al-Ubeidiya in the Bethlehem Governorate in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reported.

Security sources said Israeli soldiers stormed Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, in large numbers, raided and searched several homes, detained 40 residents, interrogated them on the spot, and then released them.

The source added that occupation forces also detained four Palestinians in al-Ubeidiya, east of Bethlehem.

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said he will support prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu receiving a pardon for his corruption trial if he agrees to leave politics.

"In recent years, the State of Israel has been led to chaos and to the brink of a civil war that threatens its very existence," Bennett wrote on X.

"To rescue Israel from the chaos, I will support a binding agreement that will include a dignified withdrawal from political life alongside the end of the trial," he said.

"This way we will be able to put it behind us, unite and, together, restore the country."

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from Gaza and the region,

• Dublin councillors halted plans to rename a park currently honouring a past Israeli president that had drawn criticism from the Irish and Israeli governments, the city council said on Sunday.

• Canada's foreign ministry issued a statement condemning Israeli settler violence, saying it is "aware of a Canadian citizen injured in the West Bank."

• Israeli artillery shelling targets eastern areas of Khan Younis, inside the so-called Yellow Zone, the Palestinian Information Center reported.

• Israeli forces arrested multiple Palestinians in Samu‘ town in southern Hebron during a series of raids, Quds news agency reported. In a separate raid, the occupation forces also arrested a Palestinian from Qabatiya, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

• Britain’s Prince William made a private visit to Palestinian children from Gaza receiving treatment in UK hospitals, the BBC reported.

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

• Israeli forces have killed at least 70,103 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, since October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

• Israeli forces carried out attacks across multiple areas in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in breach of the ceasefire agreement, according to Wafa news agency.

• Almost 4,000 people living with glaucoma in Gaza now face the risk of losing their sight as Israel’s war and siege continue to cripple the territory’s overstretched health system, the Palestinian Health Ministry has warned.

• Four foreign activists were wounded on Sunday in an attack carried out by Israeli settlers in the Ein al-Duyuk community near Jericho, in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reported.

• Israeli forces made dozens of arrests overnight and early on Sunday in several towns in the central West Bank area of Salfit, amid a heightened military presence in the area.

• Israel’s Channel 14, citing security sources, reported that the Israeli army has allegedly killed all Palestinians fighters trapped in tunnels in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

• The Israeli military is facing a growing crisis in retaining career officers, according to The Times of Israel, which cited statistics from Channel 12.

• Reports indicate a shortage of roughly 1,300 lieutenants and captains, along with 300 majors, as internal surveys show only 63 percent of officers want to continue serving—down from 83 percent in 2018.

Thousands of demonstrators filled central London on Saturday as part of the “Free Palestinian Hostages” campaign, demanding the release of more than 9,100 Palestinians held in notorious Israeli prisons, including over 450 women and children.

Waving Palestinian flags and wearing red ribbons to signify detention without charge, protesters denounced Israel’s routine use of torture, rape, arbitrary arrest and inhumane treatment.

Protesters accused Israel of running a system rooted in apartheid and genocide, and calling for an immediate end to mass incarceration.

The crowd also directed anger at the British government, criticising it for prosecuting activists who oppose arms exports to Israel while continuing to fund and politically shield Israeli actions in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.

The campaign has spread across Europe. Paris and Athens saw a massive show of support for Palestine on Saturday as tens of thousands of people filled the streets to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Read more: Campaign to 'free Palestinian hostages' in Israeli jails gains momentum

Israeli settlers carried out an attack on a crucial water well east of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, cutting off supplies to several Palestinian communities, the Jerusalem Water Authority said.

The authority stated that, “on Sunday evening, settlers attacked well number (6) in the Ain Samiya area, east of Kafr Malek, which led to the cessation of water pumping from it.”

The incident has intensified fears over deliberate efforts to target essential Palestinian infrastructure, as water access in the occupied West Bank continues to shrink under Israel’s expanding settler violence and military protection.

Israel’s Channel 14, citing security sources, reported that the Israeli army has allegedly killed all Palestinians fighters trapped in tunnels in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sources added that Israeli forces intend to maintain control over the so-called yellow zone in Gaza in the coming period, reinforcing their military presence.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army announced it had killed 40 Palestinian resistance fighters in the tunnels in recent days, underscoring the continued intensification of its operations in southern Gaza.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Tel Aviv residence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, voicing opposition to a pardon request submitted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yediot Aharonot quoted Herzog’s office as saying the president would remain impartial, stating that “the president will not be influenced by any pressure from any party.”

Israeli occupation soldiers stormed towns of Aqraba, south of Nablus, and Sebastia, to the north-west in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian news agency reported.

Residents said several military vehicles entered the communities and carried out provocative patrols through residential streets. Although no clashes were reported, the presence of heavily armed troops created fear and disrupted daily life.

At the same time, Israeli soldiers established a checkpoint north of Nablus, stopping cars, searching vehicles and interrogating passengers, adding to already severe restrictions on Palestinian movement between nearby towns and villages.

In Qalqilya, eyewitnesses told Wafa that another checkpoint went up at the eastern entrance to the city on Sunday evening. Soldiers halted motorists, checked identity cards and conducted extensive searches, triggering long delays and a major traffic backlog that lasted for hours.

The latest incursions underline Israel’s tightening grip on the occupied West Bank, where routine military raids and roadblocks continue to suffocate Palestinian life.