Israel strikes cities and refugee camps across Gaza Strip, demolishes homes

Israeli forces imposed a lockdown on the Palestinian village of Qabatiya in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, their second day of attacks there after a local resident killed two people in Israel.

"The IDF (Israeli army) is operating forcefully against terror hubs in the village of Qabatiya... accompanied by a lockdown and a complete cordon around the locality," Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement published by his office on Saturday.

"We will continue to pursue an uncompromising offensive policy against Palestinian terror," he added.

Bilal Hunaisha, a resident of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank, said the town "is being subjected to collective punishment by the Israeli occupation".

"As you can see, they blocked the way to my house and I am no longer able to move around," he told AFP, pointing to a pile of rubble obstructing the road.

Friday's deadly attack saw a 34-year-old Palestinian man kill two people in northern Israel.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 71,266, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza on Saturday.

A total of 171,219 have also been injured since the start of the war in Gaza on 7 October 2023.

292 people have been added to the death toll after the ministry completed identifying them and any relevant data to the registry. 

Israeli settlers attacked several Palestinians during a raid in the al-Maleh community in the northern Jordan Valley on Saturday.

A child was injured in the incident, while Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from reaching the scene, Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

The al-Maleh community has been subject to several attacks by Israeli settlers, who are seeking to force them off their land.

Renowned Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya was detained exactly one year on Saturday by Israeli forces from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip.

Abu Safiya has been subject to various forms of abuse while in Israeli detention, while his health has deteriorated rapidly.

The 52-year-old paediatrician has not been tried yet. He has also been beaten up multiple times while in jail.

One of his children marked the one year anniversary of his detention on X. "A full year of injustice has passed. Today, we ask for nothing but his freedom. Please share his story to keep his voice alive."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview published on Saturday that the United States, Israel and Europe were waging "total war" against his country.

"In my opinion, we are at total war with the United States, Israel and Europe. They want to bring our country to its knees," Pezeshkian told the official site of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, six months after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran.

France, Britain and Germany were behind the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran in late September connected to its nuclear programme.

A German journalist and activist said she was raped by Israeli soldiers while on one of the Freedom Flotilla vessels headed to Gaza to distribute symbolic aid to Palestinians.

Anna Liedtke said the incident occurred when the army intercepted her vessel, 'Conscience', when she was forcibly transferred from one prison to another.

The activist said she is telling her story to shed light on the frequent sexual abuse and rape Palestinian prisoners are subjected to while detained in Israeli prisons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart for the United States on Sunday and meet with President Donald Trump in Florida a day later, an Israeli official told AFP.

It will be Netanyahu's fifth visit to see Trump in the United States this year.

His trip comes as the Trump administration and regional mediators push to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Trump told reporters in mid-December that Netanyahu would probably visit him in Florida during the Christmas holidays.

"He would like to see me. We haven't set it up formally, but he'd like to see me," Trump said before leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday that a wide range of regional issues was expected to be discussed, including Iran, talks on an Israel-Syria security agreement, the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the next stages of the Gaza deal.

Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab vowed on Saturday to fight any attempt by Israel "to claim or use parts of Somaliland" following its recognition of the breakaway territory.

"We will not accept it, and we will fight against it," Al-Shabaab said in a statement.

It said Israel's recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state showed it "has decided to expand into parts of the Somali territories" to support "the apostate administration in the northwest regions".

Municipalities in the northern Gaza Strip said Israel has destroyed 90 percent of its wells and 80 percent of its water and sewage networks in two years of war, and warned such could pose grave heath risks for the enclave's population.

This came during a press conference held by the municipalities in the al-Fakhura area of ​​northern Gaza to highlight the humanitarian situation in the governorate, large parts of which are under Israeli control according to the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on 10 October.

The municipalities warned of an environmental and health catastrophe in the northern governorate, which the Israeli offensive has transformed into a "disaster area unfit for habitation".

Hamas on Saturday stressed its categorical rejection of any Israeli efforts to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to any overseas territories, in light of Israel's recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign nation on Friday.

Hamas rejected the Israeli move, calling it "a dangerous precedent and an unacceptable attempt to gain false legitimacy from a fascist entity occupying Palestinian land, implicated in war crimes and genocide, and facing increasing international isolation".

The Palestinian group's rejection comes amid months of speculation in Israeli media that Somaliland, as well as Somalia, would be where Palestinians from Gaza would be displaced to as the war raged.

Italian police said Saturday that they have arrested seven people suspected of raising millions of euros for Palestinian group Hamas.

Police also issued international arrests for two others outside the country.

Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are implicated in the investigation, ssaid a police statement.

The nine individuals are accused of having financed approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to "associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas."

While the official objective of the three associations was to collect donations "for humanitarian purposes for the Palestinian people," more than 71 percent was earmarked for the direct financing of Hamas" or entities affiliated with the Islamist movement, according to police.

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to media reports.

Syrian border guards arrested 12 people, including former officers and members of the ousted Assad regime, on Friday night who they say attempted to infiltrate the country from Lebanon, according to Syria's Al-Ekhbariya new channel.

The Ministry of Defense's Media and Communications Department added that those arrested would be handed over to the relevant authorities for further legal action, without disclosing their identities.

Saudi Arabia warned separatists in neighbouring Yemen on Saturday to stand down their forces and to return control of recently captured territory to the control of the Riyadh-backed government.

In a statement posted to social media, Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman said troops from the Southern Transitional Council should "peacefully hand over" two regional governorates to the government.

The warning came a day after Saudi Arabia conducted air strikes against positions held by the UAE-backed STC in Hadramawt province.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected on Friday of Israel's so-called recognition of Somaliland a an independent state, calling it a "threat to regional and Arab security".

In a statement, the Ministry affirmed its country's absolute support for the unity, sovereignty, and political independence of Somalia, "guaranteeing the Somali people's right to a dignified life, security, and stability, in accordance with international law, Arab and international consensus resolutions, and the resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation".

It stated: "this rejected recognition is part of Israel's attempts, as a colonial power, to destabilise international peace and security, especially regional and Arab security, and its insistence on threatening the region and keeping it in a state of instability".

It also warned that Israel has previously used Somaliland as a pretext to deliberately displaced Palestinians from Gaza to the breakaway region, amid the war in Gaza.

Israeli forces raised the town of Qabatiya in the northern West Bank, for the second day in a row on Saturday.

The Israeli military deployed new army reinforcements in the town, including vehicles and bulldozers, as well as placing earth mounds to block roads leading to the Palestinian city. 

The Israeli army is also imposing a curfew on Qabatiya, raiding homes and deliberately damaging infrastructure. 

The Israeli military has closed several entrances to villages in the vicinity of the city of Ramallah, central occupied West Bank, on Saturday.

Local media said the army closed the entrance to the village of Ni'lin, west of Ramallah, preventing residents and vehicles from leaving and entering.

The Israeli military also did the same in the village of Kharbatha Bani Harith.

The Atara military checkpoint was closed early this morning, disrupting the movement of Palestinians, particularly in the West Bank's northern governorates.