Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

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

• Fourteen countries, including Britain, Canada, Denmark and France, have condemned Israel’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning the decision is illegal and threatens regional stability.

• In a joint statement, the countries said Israel’s actions “violate international law” and risk derailing the fragile Gaza ceasefire, as mediators attempt to push talks towards a second phase.

• The signatories warned that settlement expansion undermines “long-term peace and security across the region”, coming as Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed almost 71,000 Palestinians.

• Israeli occupation forces assaulted a young man in the town of Kafr al-Balad, east of Tulkarm, on Wednesday evening, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

• Local sources told Wafa that Israeli forces stormed the town, deployed across streets and alleys, stopped residents, detained several people and severely beat one young man.

• Settler violence was also reported near Hebron, where settlers threw stones at a house on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Sa'ir, Palestinian sources said.

• The attack injured a toddler, who reportedly suffered head wounds after a stone smashed through a window of the house.

• Reports said settlers also attempted to set a vehicle on fire during the incident.

• Belgium has formally joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, adding to mounting legal pressure over Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• Member states of the Group of 7 (G7) - the world's wealthiest industrialised democracies - on Wednesday condemned the decision by Israel to approve a swathe of new settlements in the occupied West Bank.

• Israel’s Knesset approved a one-year extension of a temporary order allowing the Israeli military and Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet to hack into private security cameras without owners’ knowledge, Haaretz reported.

• An Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle in the southern Lebanese town of Jannata, killing one and injuring others, Al Jadeed News reported.

• Israeli settlers set fire to a home in the town of al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya in the occupied West Bank and left a threatening message on the property, The Times of Israel reported.

• Israeli authorities barred Hussein al-Sheikh, the vice president of the Palestinian National Authority, from attending the Christmas Eve mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, preventing his convoy from entering the city, Wafa reported.

• Insurance companies Allianz and Aviva have reportedly ended their coverage of Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems, according to campaigners.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would spend $110 billion on developing its own arms and reducing dependency on other countries.

• Israeli military on Wednesday targeted civilians, including women and children, with smoke bombs in the northern Quneitra countryside of Syria, local media reported. 

• Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network director Amjad al-Shawa said on Wednesday that about one and a half million citizens lost their homes as a result of the Israeli aggression.

Member states of the Group of 7 (G7) - the world's wealthiest industrialised democracies - on Wednesday condemned the decision by Israel to approve a swathe of new settlements in the occupied West Bank. 

The settlements are illegal under international law.

The US was the only G7 member not to partake in the joint statement. Additional European nations signed on. 

"We, states of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom condemn the approval by the Israeli security cabinet of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank," the statement read.

"We recall that such unilateral actions, as part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk fueling instability."

Read more: With the exception of US, all G7 nations condemn newly-approved Israeli settlements

Israel’s Knesset approved a one-year extension of a temporary order allowing the Israeli military and Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet to hack into private security cameras without owners’ knowledge, Haaretz reported.

The original order limited such access to cases involving “significant military activities.”

The updated legislation removed this restriction, allowing the order to be used regardless of a state of war, while narrowing the grounds for its activation. In the third and final vote, ten Knesset members supported the measure and none opposed it.

An Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle in the southern Lebanese town of Jannata, killing one and injuring others, Al Jadeed News reported.

#عاجل غارة تستهدف سيارة في بلدة جناتا قضاء صور pic.twitter.com/M9y1U2OhTM

— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) December 24, 2025

Israel's parliament gave the initial go-ahead on Wednesday for a government-empowered inquiry into the 7 October, 2023 attack led by Hamas on southern Israel, instead of the independent investigation sought by families of those affected.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed creating a state commission to examine Israel’s failures before the attack and has not taken responsibility for it.

His ruling coalition voted on Wednesday to advance a bill which grants parliament members the authority to pick panel members for an inquiry and gives Netanyahu's cabinet the power to set its mandate.

Critics say the move circumvents Israel's 1968 Commissions of Inquiry Law, under which the president of the Supreme Court appoints an independent panel to investigate major state failures.

Survivors and relatives of those hurt in the attack have launched a campaign against the proposed probe, saying only a state commission can bring those accountable to justice.

Fourteen countries, including France, Britain, and Germany, condemned on Wednesday Israel's recent approval of new settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"We, States of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom condemn the approval by the Israeli security cabinet of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank," said a joint statement released by the French foreign ministry.

"We recall our clear opposition to any form of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policies," it added.

On Sunday, Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Employees at Israel’s military radio network said dozens of on-air hosts at Army Radio and its affiliated music station, Galgalatz, had been told their contracts could be suspended as soon as next week, a claim later rejected by the Defence Ministry.

The row follows a cabinet decision, taken unanimously two days earlier, to adopt defence minister Israel Katz’s plan to close Army Radio, with transmissions due to cease by 1 March.

In a message shared among staff, presenters, who work on a freelance basis,  said halting their contracts would in effect begin dismantling the broadcaster within days.

An Israeli delegation met officials from mediating countries in Cairo on Wednesday, where they discussed efforts to return the remains of the last Israeli captive still held in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister's office said.

It is tempting to distill all the chaos, hatred, and blood spilled in 2025 into the small frame of one man: Donald Trump.

It is true that Trump richly deserves the accolade of being the worst, but also the most consequential president in modern US history. 

This president has bombed Iran, allowed Israel to invade Southern Syria, finished the decimation of Gaza and embarked on the annexation of the occupied West Bank. The Emirati-funded and armed ethnic cleansing of Sudan means little to him. A death toll of up to half a million Sudanese is of no consequence.

Three months after unveiling his "big beautiful peace plan",  a reality is established on the ground in Gaza that is its parametrical opposite - an ugly, petty recipe for war without end. 

Israel is not even content to leave over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza shivering and starving in tents. When storms flooded them out, Israelis cheered. 

Read more: Arrogance, hubris and ideology: How 2025 capped a quarter century of US failures by David Hearst

Israeli settlers set fire to a home in the town of al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya in the occupied West Bank and left a threatening message on the property, The Times of Israel reported.

Footage published by the Ramallah municipality showed a charred garage, with an adjacent stairwell also badly burned. Debris was scattered across the floor.

A message written in Hebrew on the wall read: “Price tag”, “revenge”, and “regards from the ‘peripheral youth’”.

Israeli authorities barred Hussein al-Sheikh, the vice president of the Palestinian National Authority, from attending the Christmas Eve mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, preventing his convoy from entering the city, Wafa reported.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian National Authority, had entrusted the vice president to represent him at the event and attend the mass.

Insurance companies Allianz and Aviva have reportedly ended their coverage of Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems, according to campaigners.

Pro-Palestine activists said on Tuesday that the two insurers no longer provide policies to Elbit Systems following months of direct action and protests. The campaign was initially organised by the group Palestine Action in October 2024, before it was proscribed as a terrorist group in July. 

Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, told Novara Media that “this victory is testament to the power of direct action, and also exemplifies why Palestine Action was proscribed”, adding that “it was banned because it was effective at disrupting the Israeli weapons industry”.

Campaign groups Defend Our Juries and Prisoners for Palestine, which oppose the proscription of Palestine Action and the imprisonment of its activists, said in a social media post that the development demonstrates that “direct action gets results”.

According to activists, Allianz’s insurance coverage of Elbit Systems ended on 1 November, while Aviva’s employment liability insurance for UAV Engines Ltd - a subsidiary of Elbit - ended on 7 September.

Read more: Allianz and Aviva drop Elbit Systems insurance after pro-Palestine protests

The renowned Palestinian actor and director Mohammad Bakri died on Wednesday at the age of 72.

He passed away in a hospital in the Israeli city of Nahariya after suffering from heart-related illnesses, according to his family. His health had deteriorated in recent days.

Bakri was best known for his 2002 documentary Jenin, Jenin, which documented the Israeli invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. 

The film drew on interviews with Palestinian residents who survived the military assault.

The 11-day offensive killed 52 Palestinians, including women, the elderly and children, and nearly 300 homes were demolished by Israeli bulldozers.

The documentary sparked controversy in Israel and led to years of legal action against Bakri, including repeated attempts to ban the film. In 2021, an Israeli court prohibited its screening nationwide.

Despite sustained incitement and legal pressure, Bakri repeatedly affirmed his determination to convey the oppression faced by the Palestinian people to a global audience through his art. 

Read more: Mohammad Bakri, renowned Palestinian director of Jenin, Jenin, dies at 72