Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

Pakistan and Egypt have again aligned on the need for an independent Palestinian state, as their top diplomats met in Islamabad to discuss the deepening regional crisis and ongoing aggression against Palestinians.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar held talks with visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, according to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, with the two sides exchanging assessments on regional and international developments.

During the meeting, Pakistan “appreciated Egypt’s pivotal diplomatic and humanitarian role in Gaza, including its efforts toward ceasefire arrangements and facilitation of humanitarian assistance”, the statement said, as Gaza remains under a Israeli siege.

Both governments also reaffirmed their “principled support for the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders”, underscoring a shared position in contrast to Israel’s continued rejection of Palestinian self-determination

Pope Leo XIV has reiterated that a genuine and lasting end to the occupation and decades of bloodshed can only come through the establishment of a Palestinian state, restating the Vatican’s long-held position as Israel continues to reject that outcome.

“We all know that at this time Israel still does not accept that solution, but we see it as the only solution,” Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, told reporters while speaking to journalists on his flight from Türkiye to Lebanon.

He added that the Vatican continues to maintain relations with Israel while positioning itself as a voice pushing for justice and accountability on both sides. “We are also friends with Israel, and we are seeking to be a mediating voice between the two parties that might help them close in on a solution with justice for everyone,” he said, speaking in Italian.

The pope’s remarks come as Israel faces growing international isolation over its Gaza genocide, its illegal settlement expansion and its refusal to recognise Palestinian statehood under any meaningful terms.

Israeli occupation authorities have issued a six-month ban preventing a Jerusalem resident, Nawaf Al-Salaymeh, from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian media reported, following an earlier one-week exclusion.

The move forms part of what Palestinian officials describe as a systematic attempt to push Palestinians out of the holy site and gradually empty it of Jerusalem’s worshippers, tightening Israel’s control over one of Islam’s most sacred places.

According to the Jerusalem Governorate, October alone saw 17 deportation orders issued against Palestinians, including 16 directly linked to Al-Aqsa, as Israeli restrictions on access to the compound continue to intensify.

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.

The ministry said Israeli attacks have damaged vital diagnostic and surgical equipment, sharply reducing the number of procedures doctors can perform and forcing patients to endure longer and more dangerous waiting times.

Stocks of essential eye medication are now “very limited”, leaving hospitals unable to meet even the most urgent cases as Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure teeters on the brink.

In response to the rapidly deteriorating situation, the ministry urged “all relevant authorities to intervene urgently” to allow diagnostic tools and specialised eye medicines to enter the besieged enclave

Israeli forces on Sunday evening raided and set up checkpoints in the towns of Aqraba and Sebastia in the occupied West Bank's Nablus. 

Troops also reportedly obstructed Palestinians' movement in Qalqilya, according to Wafa news agency.

Eyewitnesses told Wafa that Israeli forces established a military checkpoint at the eastern entrance of Qalqilya, stopping vehicles and checking the IDs of passengers, causing a traffic jam.

A UN report has accused Israel of having a "de facto" state policy of torture for Palestinian prisoners.

The UN Committee Against Torture said on Friday that use of torture by the Israeli state was "organised and widespread" and had greatly increased since the beginning of the war on Gaza on 7 October 2023.

The report noted that Israel had no legislation criminalising torture, and said its legislation allowed public officials to be exempted from criminal culpability under the principle of "necessity".

"The committee was deeply concerned about reports indicating a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture and ill-treatment during the reporting period, which had gravely intensified since 7 October 2023," the report said.

"It also expressed its concern that a range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, if implemented in the manner alleged, would amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population."

Read more: UN report accuses Israel of 'de facto' state policy of torture

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.

Local Palestinian media reported that several Palestinians from the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan were detained.

In the town of Al-Zawiya, Israeli troops detained at least 14 Palestinians, including a father and his three sons. Most of those detained were later released.

Israeli soldiers also detained a number of Palestinian residents in the village of Mas'ha.

Later on Sunday, Israeli forces closed a number of key entrances to the towns of Deir Ballut, Rafat, Al-Zawiya and Mas'ha in Salfit. 

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.

Palestinian security and medical sources told Wafa that settlers broke into the house the activists were staying in and assaulted them. Three were left with moderate injuries, while one critically wounded. 

According to the sources, around 10 masked Israeli settlers stormed the activists' residence at dawn, beat them, and stole personal belongings, including passports and mobile phones.

Three of the wounded activists are Italian nationals, while the other holds Canadian citizenship.

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. 

The ministry said that number of wounded during that time had reached 170,985.

Over the past 24 hours, two people were killed by Israeli forces, while one body was recovered from under the rubble. 

Since a ceasefire commenced on 11 October, Israeli forces have killed at least 356 people and wounded 908 others. A further 607 bodies have been recovered during that time.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally requested a pardon from President Isaac Herzog over his ongoing corruption charges.

In the request, Netanyahu argues that it would be in the "public interest" for him to be pardoned, as he says it would reduce tension in Israeli society.

"Out of a public responsibility as prime minister to try to bring about reconciliation between the parts of the people, I have no doubt that the end of the trial will help to reduce the intensity of the flames in the debate that has arisen around it," he wrote.

"Faced with the security challenges and political opportunities currently facing the State of Israel, I am committed to doing everything in my power to heal the rifts, achieve unity among the people, and restore trust in the state's systems, and I expect all heads of state agencies to do the same."

Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust, to which he has entered a plea of "not guilty".

Read more: Netanyahu formally asks for pardon from Israeli president

Pope Leo travels to Lebanon on Sunday, where he is expected to appeal for peace in a country that is a continued target of Israeli air strikes.

The first American pope will arrive from Turkey, where he has been visiting for four days and warned that humanity's future was at risk because of the number of bloody conflicts and condemned violence in the name of religion.

Leo is due to land at Beirut's Hariri International Airport at 3:45pm (1345 GMT), ahead of meetings with the Lebanese president and prime minister and an address to national leaders.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Friday that he hoped Leo's visit would help bring an end to Israeli attacks. Despite a ceasefire agreed a year ago, Israeli forces carry out near daily strikes on Lebanon.

Lebanon's diverse communities have also welcomed the papal trip, with leading Druze cleric Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna saying Lebanon "needs the glimmer of hope represented by this visit".

The pope has a crowded itinerary in Lebanon, visiting five cities and towns from Sunday to Tuesday, when he returns to Rome. Leo will not travel to the south, the target of Israeli strikes.

His schedule includes a prayer at the site of a 2020 chemical explosion at the Beirut port that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.

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.

Israeli troops conducted intense shelling and aerial attacks from helicopters east of al-Bureij refugee camp, in central Gaza. Israeli warplanes also carried out six air strikes east of Rafah, in southern Gaza.

In Khan Younis, Israeli forces shelled a house in the town of Bani Suheila. There were no immediate reports of casualties in any of the attacks.

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

• The toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023 has surpassed 70,000, the Palestinian health ministry has announced. 

• Wafa news agency reported that two brothers, both children, were killed on Saturday morning by Israeli gunfire in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

• The Palestinian Red Crescent said that 10 Palestinians were injured on Saturday by Israeli settlers and security forces near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

• Israel’s army and Shin Bet have pulled out of Tubas after four days of raids across the occupied West Bank’s northeastern governorate, leaving behind mass arrests, injuries and widespread damage, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

• Hezbollah has urged Pope Leo XIV to reject Israeli "injustice and aggression" against Lebanon, in a message to the pontiff who arrives in Beirut this weekend.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire, saying it is hiding behind “flimsy pretexts” as its forces continue to violate the truce on the ground.

• Marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara is working to push more humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, where Israel’s assault has shattered daily life and left families struggling through winter with almost nothing.

• Athens has seen another show of public solidarity with Palestine as hundreds of people rallied in the city centre to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

• Paris 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.

Paris 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.

Organisers estimated the crowd at roughly 50,000. Marchers carried Palestinian flags and held banners reading “Palestine, we will not be silent” and “Stop the genocide”, while chants of “Gaza, Gaza, Paris is with you” and “From Paris to Gaza, the resistance” echoed through the city.

The demonstration added to growing public anger in Europe over Israel’s assault on Gaza and the staggering scale of Palestinian suffering under siege.