Amid settlement expansions, Security Council members say Israel must be held to account

Today’s Security Council meeting is hoping to shed light on new numbers released in Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s latest report. It shows the highest level of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank since the UN has been tracking this dating back to 2017.

They’re really focused on the linkage between the violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and how it could potentially derail what many diplomats and UN officials are calling a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza.

Right before the meeting started, five members of the Security Council – Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia and the UK – came out to the microphones at a media stakeout.

They called on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law. But going a little further, they said this must be translated into concrete action that addresses the root causes of the violence and holds those responsible to account.

UN deputy special coordinator warns Gaza ceasefire remains fragile after Israeli strikes

The deputy UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process warns that the ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile after continued Israeli military strikes, urging all sides to show restraint and seize what he describes as a critical opportunity to prevent further escalation.

Briefing the Security Council, Ramiz Alakbarov said the ceasefire has “largely held” but stressed that Israeli strikes in Gaza are continuing. He condemned the killing of civilians, including women and children.

“The ceasefire remains fragile,” Alakbarov said, adding that it nevertheless “offers a critical opportunity” and the UN stands ready to support efforts to stabilise the situation.

He welcomed the release of captives by Hamas and called for the return of the remains of the last deceased captive.

Alakbarov said the UN is continuing to distribute supplies in Gaza but warned that conditions remain dire. He cited the death of a two-week-old boy from exposure as an example of the humanitarian crisis.

He said supplies remain critically low and largely stored in warehouses in Jordan, urging Israel to allow “life-saving assistance into Gaza”.

Alakbarov also condemned the removal of the UN flag and the hoisting of an Israeli flag over an UNRWA facility.

‘Phase two of ceasefire unlikely to start in January’

Yusuf Alabarda, a former NATO officer and columnist for Turkiye’s Aksam newspaper, has told Al Jazeera he is not confident that phase two of the ceasefire will start in January as planned.

That phase would concern stabilisation, demilitarisation and reconstruction, as well as the deployment of an international stabilisation force.

But Israel has repeatedly signalled it is dragging its feet, he said, pointing to the refusal to move forward until the final captive’s body is returned, as stipulated in the first phase of the deal.

“This is only for creating an excuse”, Alabarda said. “Palestinian authorities have many times clearly declared that… due to the Israeli bombings, they do not know where the dead bodies of the captives have been buried.”

“It is understandable, because the air bombardment, which was done by the Israeli air forces, was heavier than during the Second World War”, he said.

US official says ceasefire ‘cannot move forward’ until final captive body returned

The deputy US envoy to the United Nations, Jennifer Locetta, has told the Security Council that the ceasefire in Gaza cannot move forward until the body of the final remaining Israeli captive has been returned.

The statement echoes the position of Israeli officials, who have said the second phase of the ceasefire cannot begin until all the captives’ bodies have been returned.

Hamas has said recovering the remains of Israeli police officer Ran Gvili remains difficult due to the widespread destruction wrought by Israel’s air strikes. Critics have accused Israel of using the situation to delay beginning the second phase of the deal.

“The world knows that Hamas and its affiliates knew the location of every hostage, and President Trump was clear as part of the comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict, every hostage must come home,” said Locetta, the alternative representative for special political affairs at the UN.

“Ran’s body must be returned to his parents and siblings. Now, we cannot move forward until he is home.”

Palestinian envoy to UN says unity of territory must be preserved

Riyad Mansour has warned the Security Council against any efforts to separate Gaza from the West Bank before the long-awaited second phase of the ceasefire.

“Gaza is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory and of the State of Palestine, as affirmed by this council. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip constitute a single territorial unit. Their unity, integrity and status must be preserved,” Mansour said.

“Israel must fully and without delay withdraw from the Gaza Strip, as affirmed by this council. This is essential for the success of any international stabilisation force,” he said.

He referred to reported comments last week by the Israeli army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, who said the “yellow line”, which demarcates the area of Gaza still occupied by Israeli forces, is Israel’s new “borderline” with Gaza.

“Israel is confessing its aim to transform the yellow line into a border and to partition and annex Gaza and continues to pursue the forced displacement of its population,” Mansour said. “This must end.”

UN rights office says civic space ‘steadily shrinking’ in occupied territories

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in  occupied Palestinian territory says the “space to monitor and document human rights violations and abuses, seek accountability for injustices, or organise and advocate for human rights is steadily shrinking”.

It pointed to intensified repression of journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and local and international nongovernmental organisations.

That has included the killing of at least 289 journalists in Gaza by the Israeli military throughout the war, according to the report. It also includes Israel using a 2016 counterterrorism law and emergency defence powers against Palestinian organisations to “justify raids of their offices, constrain funding and operations, and arrest staff”.

The report added that the Palestinian Authority is partially to blame “through its unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, arbitrary detentions, torture and other ill-treatment of journalists, human rights defenders, and government critics”.

At least 54 Palestinian children killed in West Bank in 2025: Report

Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 54 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to a report published by the Defense for Children International’s Palestine (DCIP) organisation.

It said Israeli forces used live ammunition during raids across the West Bank, resulting in the deliberate killing of children. The organisation documented multiple cases of children shot during military operations.

Among them was eight-year-old Jannat Mutawar, who was shot in the head while inside her home in Hebron during an Israeli raid. The DCIP said she was trying to pull her younger brother away from a window and now faces permanent vision loss.

Thirteen-year-old Amr Ali Ahmad Qabha was shot seven times after unknowingly approaching an Israeli military position, the DCIP said. Soldiers allegedly blocked paramedics and his father from reaching him for 40 minutes while he was still alive, allowing access only after his death.

The organisation added that Israeli authorities have withheld the bodies of at least 62 Palestinian children from their families since June 2016.

Hamas official condemns Israeli plans to make Jerusalem army hub

Mahmoud Mardawi has condemned an agreement signed between the Israeli Defence Ministry and the Jerusalem Municipality to establish a new military headquarters in the city.

The plan calls for the creation of a 30-storey military complex at the entrance to the city that is to house Defence Ministry offices. It also calls for the relocation of military personnel to Jerusalem, the creation of a military museum and the establishment of related housing.

The move is symbolically significant because occupied East Jerusalem has long been envisioned as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Mardawi said the plan “represents a dangerous escalation in the policy of militarisation of the occupied city” and is an effort to change the city’s “demographic features”. He added that it “tightens the noose” on the city’s Palestinian population.

He called on the UN and regional powers to increase pressure on Israel to change course.

Israeli army orders demolitions in Nur Shams

The army says in a statement on X that it has ordered the demolition of “several structures” in the refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

This confirms what local officials said yesterday, when Abdallah Kamil, the governor of the Tulkarem governorate where Nur Shams is located, told the AFP news agency that he was informed of the planned demolition by the Israeli Defence Ministry body COGAT.

Faisal Salama, the head of the popular committee for the Tulkarem camp, which is near Nur Shams, said the demolition order would affect 100 family homes.

Israel launched Operation Iron Wall in the occupied West Bank in January. It says the campaign is aimed at combating armed groups in refugee camps in the northern West Bank.

‘This must stop,’ UNRWA says as children die from Gaza cold

Health authorities in Gaza say at least two infants have died from exposure. As we’ve been reporting, that included the death of two-week-old Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair announced today.

Officials said Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries have made preparing for the rain and cold of winter impossible.

“People have reportedly died due to the collapse of damaged buildings where families were sheltering. Children have reportedly died from exposure to the cold,” UNRWA said in its latest statement.

“This must stop,” it added. “Aid must be allowed in at scale, now.”

Storm Byron is worsening the already dire living conditions of thousands of people living in tents or damaged shelters.

While #UNRWAworks to support displaced families, the Israeli Authorities have been blocking UNRWA from directly bringing aid into the #Gaza Strip for months.… pic.twitter.com/gVP0ZM9uc7

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 16, 2025

Civil Defence searches collapsed Gaza house for survivors


_{A search and rescue operation is conducted on December 16, 2025, in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City at the site of a house that was damaged during Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians and collapsed recently due to heavy rains}

Palestinians reel after harsh storm causes flooding in displacement camp

Bondi Gunmen Motivated by Islamic State, Says Australian PM

More details emerge on the Bondi Beach gunmen .

Plus: MI6 warns of a possible Russian war with Europe, and Donald Trump confirms his plans to sue the BBC for $10bn.

Netanyahu isolated as prominent Australians reject remarks on Bondi Beach attack

Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to link the Bondi Beach attack with the Australian recognition of the Palestinian statehood has received more setback as top Australian names from media and academia have come out in the open to reject his controversial statements. Much to Netanyahu’s disappointment, these people are from his own community. Rifat Jawaid says this is another sign of rejection of western propaganda against Gaza victims.

EXPOSED: Why UK Is SPYING On Gaza For Israel

Six Palestinians rescued after war-damaged home collapses in Gaza’s Shati camp

The Palestinian Civil Defence says its crews have rescued six people, including two children, after a family home collapsed in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp.

الدفاع المدني بغزة: تمكنا من إنقاذ 6 اشخاص من بينهم طفلين من عائلة (دبابش ) بعد إنهيار سقف منزلهم في مخيم الشاطئ غربي مدينة غزة pic.twitter.com/eynzQWmYqI

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) December 17, 2025

Save the Children unable to bring own supplies into Gaza

The UK-based humanitarian organisation Save the Children says it has not been able to bring its own aid supplies into Gaza since March, when Israel imposed a total blockade on the Strip.

Despite a ceasefire having entered into effect on October 10, Israel has largely continued to block aid, including tents, blankets and other shelter supplies, as storms ravage the enclave.

Only a trickle of aid supplies has been let through via the United Nations, but this amount is insufficient to provide the people of Gaza “with the basic, fundamental needs”, Shurouq, Save the Children’s Gaza media manager, told Al Jazeera.

The aid worker, whose surname has been withheld for security reasons, said Palestinians were “in desperate need to find a [place] to shelter”. The organisation provided locally procured shelter items, but “this is a drop in the ocean of needs,” Shurouq said.

Khan Younis mayor describes dire humanitarian situation in Gaza’s southern city

Alaa al-Batta, the mayor of Khan Younis, has spoken to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic about the dire humanitarian situation in the southern Gaza city:

Here are his translated comments:

More than 100 buildings partially or fully collapsed in Gaza during recent storm: Civil Defence

Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal has said at least 17 residential buildings have completely and 90 partially collapsed since the heavy rains and high winds lashed the enclave.

Winter rains also flooded 90 percent of tents in the war-torn enclave, leaving thousands of families without shelter, the spokesperson said in a statement.

Civil Defence teams received more than 5,000 calls for help from citizens since the storms began affecting the Gaza Strip last week.

At least 17 people died from the cold, including four children, while dozens of others died as a result of buildings collapsing, he said.

If this happened in any other part of the world, it would be covered as a major disaster, instead totally ignored.

Israeli army shells several areas in Gaza despite ceasefire

Israeli forces have shelled southeastern Khan Younis and the vicinity of the so-called Morag Corridor, north of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC).

In central Gaza, Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers moved into the northeast of Deir el-Balah city and conducted bulldozing operations amid intense gunfire in the area, it added.

The eastern parts of the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City were also shelled, PIC said.

Gaza death toll rises

At least one Palestinian has been killed and another injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.

The announcement brought Gaza’s death toll since the October 10 ceasefire to 394, with 1,075 injured, the ministry said. Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed a total of 70,668 Palestinians and injured 171,152 since October 7, 2023, the ministry said.

One died of direct fire, many more died in collapsed homes from the storm...

UNRWA says high level of malnutrition still registered in Gaza

Despite a ceasefire that came into effect in Gaza on October 10, high levels of malnutrition continue to be registered among children in the Gaza Strip, according to UN agencies.

UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, called in a post on X for the scale of its relief work to be “restored to its fullest capacity” to aid children “who face enormous hardship”, including war, displacement and malnutrition.

Israel has severely restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, leading to famine being confirmed in August by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

Last year, Israel accused UNRWA of having been complicit in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks and banned the agency from the enclave. In October, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion saying the allegations were unsubstantiated and stressing that Israel must ensure that the “basic needs” of the Palestinian population of Gaza are met.

High levels of malnutrition continue to endanger the lives and wellbeing of children in the #Gaza Strip, according to @‌UNICEF, despite progress in treating and preventing acute malnutrition.

Yazan and Mahmoud are children who face enormous hardship. Amid war and displacement,… pic.twitter.com/FYYj7KvNNv

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 17, 2025

Gaza children face worsening hardship amid restrictions on aid: UNRWA

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has warned that children in Gaza face “no respite” as severe weather, due to Storm Byron, worsens the already dire humanitarian situation.

“Whilst the storm is a natural hazard, its consequences are man-made for a population forced to live amid collapsing ruins in makeshift shelters or in flimsy tents,” Philippe Lazzarini posted on X.

“Much, much more could be done if aid was allowed to flow in unimpeded.”

No respite for the children in #Gaza as the bitter cold & floods brought by Storm Byron turn deadly.

Whilst the storm is a natural hazard, its consequences are man-made for a population forced to live amid collapsing ruins in makeshift shelters or in flimsy tents.

Thousands of… pic.twitter.com/MJojGBwrsN

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) December 17, 2025

Nine Palestinians injured in Israeli drone attack on Gaza City: Emergency services

The ambulance and emergency services in Gaza say nine Palestinians were injured in an air attack by an Israeli drone in the centre of Gaza City, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

Israeli army says Gaza shelling being investigated

In a brief statement, the military says a mortar shell fired near Gaza’s yellow line has “missed its target”.

“The incident is being investigated,” it said.

Medical sources in the enclave told Al Jazeera that at least 11 Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli shelling in central Gaza City.

2 months of 'ceasefire' later during which aid was supposed to flood in...

Palestinians queue for food at southern Gaza community kitchen

_{Displaced Palestinians gather to receive donated food at a charity kitchen in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 17}

Gaza storm-related deaths caused by Israel’s genocidal policy: Amnesty

Amnesty International says recent deaths in Gaza linked to winter storms that flooded tent encampments and brought down damaged buildings cannot be blamed solely on bad weather.

Instead, “they are the foreseeable consequences of Israel’s ongoing genocide and deliberate policy of blocking the entry of shelter and repair materials for the displaced,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, the group’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns.

Amnesty noted that Israel has allowed only “extremely limited” humanitarian supplies into Gaza despite the ceasefire outlining deliveries of 600 truckloads of aid per day.

As a result, Palestinians are living “in extreme deprivation and amidst complete destruction”, the rights group said.

“This is further indication that Israeli authorities are continuing to deliberately inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction, an act prohibited under the Genocide Convention,” Amnesty said.

_{Palestinians try to clear floodwater and mud from a tent camp in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah after winter storms}

Israeli artillery shelling in southern Gaza

Our colleagues on the ground are reporting Israeli artillery shelling in the east of the southern city of Khan Younis.

Israeli forces arrest 40 Palestinians across West Bank

Israeli forces have conducted raids across the occupied West Bank and arrested at least 40 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

Among those arrested were a child and former prisoners, the advocacy group added.

The raids took place in the governorates of Salfit, Jenin, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarem, and Hebron.