Israel kills four in Gaza City attack, including Hamas commander Raed Saed

Hamas has condemned the Israeli strike on a moving vehicle in Gaza City, which killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saed on Saturday, calling it a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire in the enclave.

"This crime reaffirms that the Israeli occupation is deliberately seeking to undermine and sabotage the ceasefire agreement through its escalating and continuous violations," the group said on Telegram.

Three Americans were killed Saturday in Syria in an ambush attack by an Islamic State group member, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

"Two US service members and one US civilian were killed, and three service members were injured, as a result of an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman in Syria. The gunman was engaged and killed," CENTCOM, which oversees the American military in the Middle East, said on X.

The Israeli army says it has put planned strikes on southern Lebanon village on hold, after the Lebanese army requested access.

Israel said it killed the head of weapons production in Hamas's military wing in a strike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

"In response to the activation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded our forces today... Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz instructed the elimination of the terrorist Raad Saad, head of Hamas' force-buildup," the premier and the defence minister said in a joint statement.

The Israeli military described Saad as "one of the architects" of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The military earlier on Saturday said two reserve soldiers were lightly injured after the device detonated "during an operation to clear the area" in southern Gaza.

Israel killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saed in a strike on Gaza on Saturday, several Israeli media outlets reported, citing sources. 

The Israeli military struck a car in Gaza City on Saturday carrying senior Hamas commander Raed Saed, according to an Israeli defence official and Israeli media.

The strike killed four people, according to Gaza health authorities. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas or medics whether Saed was among the dead.

The Israeli military said it had targeted a senior Hamas commander in Gaza City, without given a name or further details.

If Saed was killed, it would be the highest-profile assassination of a senior Hamas figure since a ceasefire deal came into effect on 10 October.

Hamas sources have also described him as the second-in-command of the group's armed wing, after Izz eldeen Al-Hadad.

A convoy of Syrian military forces and US forces from the American-led coalition fighting Islamic State came under fire on Saturday while on patrol in the central Syrian town of Palmyra, two local Syrian officials told Reuters.

The officials said there were casualties. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adreaee on Saturday issued an evacuation warning for the village of Yanouh in southern Lebanon ahead of a planned strike.

The Media Office in Gaza has provided some details concerning the impact of Storm Byron on the enclave.

The office said 11 bodies were recovered by civil defence teams since yesterday morning, while rescue efforts remain underway for at least one more missing person.

A total of 13 buildings collapsed across Gaza due to the severe weather conditions, while 53,000 tents have sustained damage. 

A total of 250,000 Palestinians are impacted by the aftermath of Storm Byron, while 1.5 million remain partially affected.

Transportation has been severely disrupted due to damage on roads and streets, as well as puddles of water with sewage systems damaged.

A Palestinian man has succumbed to his injuries sustained in Israeli attack from weeks ago in the al-Mawasi area, near Khan Younis.

Palestinian media, citing medical sources, identified the man as Muhammad Abu Hussein.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 70,654, medical sources said on Saturday, as cited by Palestinian media.

Those injured number at 171,095, while an unknown number of people remain trapped under rubble across the war-battered territory.

The Israeli army says it has killed a Palestinian person on Friday who it claimed "crossed" the so-called Yellow Line demarcating the Gaza Strip.

According to the military, cited by the Times of Israel, two men were identified crossing the Yellow Line and approaching troops of the 7th Armored Brigade, and killed one of them

The army claimed that the two "posed an immediate threat".

UNICEF warned on Saturday of a risk of disease outbreaks among children in the Gaza Strip, calling for an urgent delivery of humanitarian aid, particularly winter clothing and tents, amid harsh weather conditions exacerbated by Storm Byron.

In a statement on its official website, the organisation said that the current situation threatens children's safety as severe weather continues and the delivery of essential supplies remain stagnant. 

UNICEF urged that humanitarian aid, including the large quantities of winter supplies currently stockpiled at the Gaza border, to be allowed into the Strip safely, quickly, and without Israeli obstruction.

The Anera NGO has issued a stark warning concerning conditions Palestinians are being subject to in Gaza following Storm Byron.

Entire sections of makeshift camps have been swallowed by rising water, while floods have  swept through low-lying areas, carrying away tents and what little people managed to hold onto.

Strong winds have torn through the already-fragile shelters, exposing families to the cold, the NGO said, adding that children are most vulnerable to freezing temperatures. Families are lacking warm clothing and blankets, risking illnesses and deaths.

Medical staff have reportedly already detected pneumonia in chilren.

Rainwater from the storm also has nowhere to go, as the drainage network in Gaza is destroyed in most places.

"Pools of water now sit between the shells of collapsed buildings, turning neighborhoods into dangerous, impassable terrain," Anera said.

Israeli settlers wreaked havoc in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, in their targeting of Palestinian olive groves and farmland.

Settlers bulldozed olive groves in the Turmusaya plain north of Ramallah, destroying them, while others let their livestock graze on Palestinia-owned land in the village of Al-Maniya, south of Bethlehem.

Israeli settlers let their livestock graze on Palestinian land near the village of Al-Maniya, south of Bethlehem, a widely used tactic aimed at gradually taking over the land. pic.twitter.com/A6x6DJ3ja7

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 13, 2025

The Israeli army carried out an incursion in southern Syria on Saturday, entering the village of Saida al-Hanout in the Quneitra countryside, searching homes, and setting up checkpoints.

The official Syrian news channel, Al-Ikhbariya, reported that "Israeli occupation forces entered the village of Saida al-Hanout in the southern Quneitra countryside this morning with six military vehicles, before searching four homes and setting up four checkpoints".

Israel has repeatedly violated Syrian sovereignty by carrying out frequent incursions in the area, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Israeli forces carried out an incursion in the Old City of Nablus early on Saturday, in the latest incident in the West Bank.

Several Israeli patrols entered Nablus and raided areas within the Old City, deploying a large number of infantry units throughout its alleyways, the Palestinian Wafa agency said, citing local sources.

No arrests were reported.