Newborn freezes to death in Gaza as Israel keeps aid blocked

Lebanon’s army is prepared to move into the second phase of efforts to place all weapons under state authority in the area stretching from the Litani River south to the Awali River, Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri has said.

Speaking in Beirut, Mitri said the plan consists of five phases. He added that the army is close to completing its initial mission south of the Litani and is now preparing to proceed with the next stages.

Lebanon approved the plan in August, based on a draft proposal put forward by US special envoy Tom Barrack, which calls for all weapons in the country — including those held by Hezbollah — to be brought under state control.

Twelve Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have been released from Israeli detention, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office.

In a statement shared on Telegram, the office said the detainees were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the Karem Abu Salem crossing.

Emergency and ambulance services in Gaza say nine Palestinians were injured in an Israeli drone strike in central Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Al Jazeera Arabic cited a source at al-Ahli Arab Hospital as saying that several Palestinians were wounded after Israeli forces shelled the al-Samar neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Dozens of residents from the West Bank's emptied Nur Shams refugee camp returned on Wednesday to retrieve belongings ahead of the Israeli military's demolition of 25 residential buildings there.

Early this year, the military launched an ongoing operation it said was aimed at rooting out Palestinian armed groups from camps in the northern occupied West Bank -- including Nur Shams, Tulkarem and Jenin.

Loading furniture, children's toys and even a window frame onto small trucks, Palestinian residents hurried Wednesday to gather as much as they could under the watchful eye of Israeli soldiers, according to AFP news agency.

Troops performed ID checks and physical searches, allowing through only those whose houses were set to be demolished.

Some who were able to enter salvaged large empty water tanks, while others came out with family photos, mattresses and heaters.

More than 32,000 people remain displaced from the now-empty camps, where Israeli troops are stationed, according to the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

15 Israeli Air Force reservists who were reportedly barred from being called up for reserve duty after signing a letter urging an end to the war in Gaza will now be allowed to return to service.

According to Israel’s Ynet news outlet, the reservists had not been summoned for duty since April, after they signed a letter calling for a deal to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and to end the war.

The Israeli army has denied that the reservists were formally suspended, saying that “decisions regarding the calling up of reservists for service were and remain subject to orders and the discretion of commanders, with operational readiness and unit cohesion at the top of the priorities.”

The military added: “Reservists who signed the letter will be returned to service in accordance with the decisions of their direct commanders, based solely on these criteria, and therefore, there is no change in policy.”

The April letter did not call for a refusal to serve, but urged the government to prioritise the release of hostages over continuing the war in Gaza, which the signatories said served “political and personal interests” rather than national security.

After the letter was made public, the military initially said it would dismiss all 60 active reservists who signed it, arguing that soldiers could not use the “Israeli Air Force brand” to protest political issues. However, none were ultimately dismissed, though 15 were not called up for service by their commanders.

A leading German church organisation has criticised Berlin’s decision to resume arms deliveries to Israel, describing the move as “premature”.

Karl Jüsten, co-chair of the Joint Conference Church and Development, said at a news conference in Berlin that the body, which represents both Catholic and Protestant churches, had urged the German government “not to supply Israel with any military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip, even after the very fragile ceasefire, until the situation in Gaza has stabilised sufficiently and there is no longer a clear risk that this military equipment could be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law”.

Germany announced on 17 November that it would lift restrictions on arms exports to Israel, citing what it described as a stabilised ceasefire in Gaza and recent diplomatic progress in the region.

At least four Palestinians were injured after Israeli forces opened fire during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Wafa news agency.

Citing Palestine Red Crescent Society emergency director Amjad Ahmad, Wafa reported that Israeli troops stormed the Aqqaba neighbourhood in the Old City as well as the Ras al-Ain area, sparking clashes.

Additional Israeli raids were reported in the West Bank cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqilya.

More than 100 buildings in Gaza have either partially or completely collapsed after severe storms battered the enclave, according to Palestinian Civil Defence.

Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said at least 17 residential buildings were totally destroyed, while around 90 others suffered partial collapse following days of heavy rain and strong winds.

He added that winter flooding inundated about 90 percent of tents housing displaced families, leaving thousands without adequate shelter.

Civil Defence teams have responded to more than 5,000 emergency calls since the storms began affecting Gaza last week, Basal said.

At least 17 people, including four children, have died from exposure to the cold, while dozens more were killed after buildings gave way during the storms.

Israeli authorities are set to push forward plans to construct around 9,000 housing units in an illegal settlement on the site of the former Qalandiya airport in occupied East Jerusalem, a move widely seen as further entrenching the fragmentation of Palestinian land.

The proposed development, referred to by Israeli officials as the Atarot neighbourhood, is due to be discussed on Wednesday by the District Planning and Building Committee, with outline approvals expected, according to the Israeli watchdog group Peace Now.

Peace Now said the project mirrors the controversial E1 settlement plan in its impact, warning that it would sever remaining territorial links between Palestinian communities and further undermine prospects for a viable Palestinian state.

The settlement would be built in the middle of a densely populated Palestinian area extending from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank through Kafr Aqab, the Qalandiya refugee camp, ar Ram, Beit Hanina and Bir Nabala.

By inserting a large Israeli enclave into this corridor, the plan would block Palestinian urban development and isolate East Jerusalem from its natural Palestinian hinterland.

Peace Now described the proposal as "a destructive plan" that would effectively eliminate any chance of territorial continuity between East Jerusalem and the surrounding Palestinian areas, making the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel unworkable.

At least one Palestinian was killed and another wounded in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The latest casualties bring the number of people killed since the 10 October ceasefire to 394, with 1,075 others injured, according to the ministry.

The ministry said Israel’s war on Gaza has killed a total of 70,668 Palestinians and wounded 171,152 since 7 October 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with relatives and survivors of the Bondi Beach shooting, while blaming Australian authorities for the attack, according to a statement from his office.

Netanyahu spoke to Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, the father-in-law of Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in the shooting on Sunday, as well as Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer who was wounded in the attack.

According to the statement, Netanyahu claimed the attack was “the result of rampant antisemitism in the face of a weak policy by the authorities.”

The Israeli government has blamed Australia after 15 people were killed during a Hanukkah event in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that he rejected Netanyahu’s attempt to link Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state to the attack.

Israeli forces have carried out a series of raids across the occupied West Bank, arresting at least 40 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

The advocacy group said those detained included a child as well as former prisoners. The arrests were reported across several governorates, including Salfit, Jenin, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarem and Hebron.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, the PPS says more than 21,000 Palestinians have been arrested.

Some pushed cars through the Gaza Strip's flooded streets, while others took to donkey-pulled carts to wade through the floodwaters after fresh winter rains lashed the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The rains have flooded tents and makeshift shelters in Gaza, where most of the buildings have been destroyed or damaged by two years of war.

The UN said on Monday that an estimated 1.3 million people currently need shelter assistance in Gaza and warned of the increasing risk of hypothermia.

It said babies were in particularly "high danger" from the winter conditions.

"With heavy rain and cold brought in by Storm Byron, people in the Gaza Strip are freezing to death," the UN Palestinian relief agency's head Philippe Lazzarini said in an X post on Monday.

"Our supplies have now been waiting for months to enter Gaza. They would cover the needs of hundreds of thousands of people in desperation," he added.

US President Donald Trump accused members of Congress of harbouring antisemitic views during a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at the White House on Tuesday, claiming that support for Israel on Capitol Hill has declined in recent years.

Speaking at the event, Trump said Congress was “becoming antisemitic”, adding: “If you go back 10, 12, 15 years ago at the most, the strongest lobby in Washington was the Jewish Lobby, it was Israel. That's no longer true.”

He said: “As president of the United States, I will always support Jewish Americans and I will always be a friend and a champion of the Jewish people.” Trump went on to single out specific lawmakers, stating: “Congress in particular […] is becoming antisemitic. You have AOC-plus-three. You have those people, Ilhan Omar, she hates Jewish people. There's been a big change.”

Trump further claimed that there are “antisemites” in Congress and lawmakers who oppose Israel, saying: “You have a lot of people in Congress that don't like Israel. They hate Israel. It's getting progressively worse. Bad things are happening and you see what goes on in Australia or October 7, and you have people that deny it ever happened.”

Israeli forces carried out a dawn raid in the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin on Wednesday, making widespread arrests, according to the Wafa news agency, citing local sources.

The sources said the operation was followed by military reinforcements entering the area from the Jalameh checkpoint. Israeli forces reportedly raided a home and converted it into a military post, while another house was placed under siege.

The Jenin Education Directorate said the start of classes at government and private schools, as well as kindergartens, was delayed on Wednesday to ensure students’ safety.

A Palestinian infant has died from exposure to extreme cold in the Gaza Strip, according to local officials.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Tuesday that the two-week-old baby, Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair, died the previous day after being treated for acute hypothermia caused by freezing temperatures across the enclave.