Gaza

Eight European nations, Japan, and Canada on Tuesday expressed “serious concerns” about the renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports.

In a joint statement, foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK recalled the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave.

The statement mentioned the appalling conditions that are exacerbated by winter, noting that 1.3 million Gazans still require urgent shelter assistance.

The foreign ministers cited the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, which was published earlier in December, as evidence that the situation remains desperate.

The statement expressed their appreciation for the ceasefire in Gaza but stated that they will not lose sight of the plight of Gaza’s civilian population.

It called on Israel to ensure that the UN, its partners, and NGOs can continue their vital work and lift unreasonable restrictions on imports considered to have a dual use.

Saying that many established international NGO partners are at risk of being deregistered because of Israel’s restrictive new requirements, it warned that deregistration could result in the forced closure of humanitarian operations within 60 days in Gaza and the West Bank.

“This would have a severe impact on access to essential services including healthcare,” said the statement.

READ: Israeli Knesset passes bill halting electricity, water supply to UNRWA facilities

Ensuring UN, its partners can continue their vital work is ‘essential’

It also underlined that ensuring the UN and its partners can continue their vital work is “essential” to the impartial, neutral, and independent delivery of aid throughout Gaza.

“This includes UNRWA, which provides essential services, such as healthcare and education, to millions of Palestinian refugees,” said the foreign ministers.

The statement also called on Tel Aviv to open crossings and increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“The target of 4,200 trucks per week, including an allocation of 250 UN trucks per day, should be a floor not a ceiling,” it said, adding that these targets should be lifted so they can be sure the vital supplies are getting in at the vast scale needed.

The nations also underlined that ongoing restrictions limit the capacity for aid to be delivered at the scale needed, in accordance with international humanitarian law, or for repairs to be made to support recovery and reconstruction efforts.

“We now urge the Government of Israel to remove these humanitarian access constraints, and to deliver and honour the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict,” it added.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to keep Gaza’s crossings largely closed, preventing the entry of mobile homes and reconstruction materials and worsening the humanitarian crisis affecting over 2 million people.

Palestinian officials say that at least 414 people in Gaza have been killed since the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas took place on Oct. 10.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 71,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.

READ: 25 Palestinians die in Gaza amid severe weather since start of December

Israel says it will suspend more than two dozen humanitarian organisations, including Doctors Without Borders, for failing to meet its new rules for aid groups working in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

Organisations facing bans starting on Thursday didn’t meet new requirements for sharing information on their staffs, funding and operations, Israeli authorities said.

Other major organisations affected include the Norwegian Refugee Council, CARE International, the International Rescue Committee and divisions of major charities such as Oxfam and Caritas.

Israel accused Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, of failing to clarify the roles of some staff members, alleging they cooperated with Hamas.

“The message is clear: Humanitarian assistance is welcome. The exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said.

MSF – one of the largest medical groups operating in Gaza, where the health sector has been targeted and largely destroyed – said Israel’s decision will have a catastrophic impact on its work in the enclave, where it supports about 20 percent of the hospital beds and one-third of births. The organisation also denied Israel’s accusations about its staff.

“MSF would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity,” it said.

International organisations said Israel’s rules are arbitrary. Israel said 37 groups working in Gaza didn’t have their permits renewed.

‘Appalling conditions’

Aid organisations help with a variety of social services, including food distribution, healthcare, mental health and disability services, and education.

Amjad Shawa from the Palestine NGOs Network said the decision by Israel is part of its ongoing effort  “to deepen the humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

“The limitations on the humanitarian operations in Gaza are in order to continue their project to push out the Palestinians, deport Gaza. This is one of the things Israel continues doing,” Shawa told Al Jazeera.

Israel’s move comes as at least 10 countries expressed “serious concerns” about a “renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation” in Gaza, describing it as “catastrophic”.

“As winter draws in civilians in Gaza are facing appalling conditions with heavy rainfall and temperatures dropping,” Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland said in a joint statement.

“1.3 million people still require urgent shelter support. More than half of health facilities are only partially functional and face shortages of essential medical equipment and supplies. The total collapse of sanitation infrastructure has left 740,000 people vulnerable to toxic flooding.”

The countries urged Israel to ensure international NGOs can operate in Gaza in a “sustained and predictable” way and called for the opening of land crossings to boost the flow of humanitarian aid.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the joint statement “false but unsurprising” and “part of a recurring pattern of detached criticism and one-sided demands on Israel while deliberately ignoring the essential requirement ‌of disarming Hamas”.

‘Needs in Gaza are enormous’

Four months ago, more than 100 aid groups accused Israel of obstructing life-saving aid from entering Gaza and called on it to end its “weaponisation of aid” as it refused to allow aid trucks to enter the battered Gaza Strip.

More than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. Hundreds have died from severe malnutrition and thousands more from preventable diseases because of a lack of medical supplies.

Israel claims it’s upholding the aid commitments laid out in the latest ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, but humanitarian groups dispute Israel’s numbers and say a lot more aid is desperately needed in the devastated enclave of more than two million Palestinians.

Israel changed its registration process for aid groups in March, which included a requirement to submit a list of staff, including Palestinians in Gaza.

Some aid groups said they didn’t submit a list of Palestinian staff for fear those employees would be targeted by Israel.

“It comes from a legal and safety perspective. In Gaza, we saw hundreds of aid workers get killed,” said Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Desperately needed lifelines

The decision not to renew aid groups’ licences means their offices in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem will close and organisations won’t be able to send international staff or aid into Gaza.

“Despite the ceasefire, the needs in Gaza are enormous, and yet we and dozens of other organisations are and will continue to be blocked from bringing in essential lifesaving assistance,” Low said. “Not being able to send staff into Gaza means all of the workload falls on our exhausted local staff.”

Israel’s decision means the aid groups will have their licences revoked on Thursday and, if they are located in Israel, they will need to leave by March 1, according to the ministry.

This isn’t the first time Israel has tried to crack down on international humanitarian organisations. Throughout the war, it accused the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, of being infiltrated by Hamas and Hamas of using UNRWA’s facilities and taking its aid. The UN has denied that.

In October, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion saying Israel must support UN relief efforts in Gaza, including those conducted by UNRWA.

The court found Israel’s allegations against UNRWA – including that it was complicit in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel – were unsubstantiated.

The court also said Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure the “basic needs” of the Palestinian population of Gaza are met, “including the supplies essential for survival”, such as food, water, shelter, fuel and medicine.

A number of countries halted funding for UNRWA after Israel’s accusations, jeopardising one of Gaza’s most desperately needed lifelines.

Israeli attacks, violating a ceasefire agreement, are reported across Gaza, as Palestinian misery compounded by rains.

Israeli forces have carried out strikes across the Gaza Strip as they continue with their near-daily violations of the ceasefire agreement, with Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged enclave continuing apace and displaced Palestinians enduring the destruction of their few remaining possessions in flooding brought about by heavy winter rains.

Israeli air strikes on Tuesday targeted locations north of Rafah and east of Khan Younis, the Maghazi camp in central Gaza and Beit Lahiya in the north of the Strip, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported.

Reporting from Gaza City, Khoudary said artillery shelling had been reported in the territory’s southern and central regions, while there had also been an attack in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Shujayea, striking close to the tent of a displaced family.

She said the latest attacks, in violation of the United States-brokered ceasefire that came into force in October, numbering nearly 1,000 now, were coming at a time of immense hardship for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, as heavy rains and strong winds had ravaged their makeshift camps, destroying the few possessions they had left.

Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Sunday that Israel had committed 969 ceasefire violations since it came into effect on October 10, resulting in the deaths of 418 civilians and injuries to more than 1,100.

“Palestinians are still very traumatised and anxious,” Khoudary said. “The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate as the rain continues.”

Calls to allow supplies in

Aid groups have repeatedly called for Israeli authorities to lift restrictions to allow more supplies, including shelter equipment, into the territory, where displaced families have been trying to stay dry in flimsy, battered tents that offer scant protection from the elements after months of use.

“Families here are helpless while the Israeli authorities continue to restrict all kinds of shelter into the Gaza Strip,” Khoudary said.

Officials have warned that the severe conditions also bring new dangers, with the threat of disease and illness as overwhelmed and damaged sewage systems contaminate floodwaters, as well as the risk that buildings could collapse amid heavy rain and wind.

At least two people have been killed by damaged structures falling amid the severe weather in recent days.

‘We are still suffering’

In a displacement camp east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, heavy rain in recent days has left tents submerged in muddy water, destroying the few possessions that the families had taken with them from their homes.

Inside the tents, an Al Jazeera team found essential items like pillows, mattresses and bedcovers soaked in muddy water.

“The tent has been flooded,” said Mohammed al-Louh, a resident.

“I took my family out, but I couldn’t even get a blanket, a mattress or a bag of flour. I have no way to sleep with my children or keep them warm.”

Another man, Haitham Arafat, said he had lost his son and daughter as well as his home to Israel’s genocidal war, and was still suffering amid the severe conditions.

“I fled to this place. Does this mean the war is over?” he said.

“No, we are still suffering. We haven’t slept for two days because of the heavy rain.”

Reporting from the camp, Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili said the winter storms had brought a new “chapter of suffering” for Palestinians who had been plunged into a humanitarian crisis by Israel’s war.

“What was meant to be a temporary shelter for them has turned into a flooded trap,” he said.

Dec. 29 (UPI) — The United States has pledged to contribute $2 billion to U.N. humanitarian efforts, slashing its funding to about one-fifth of its average annual financial commitment over the past decade, the U.S. State Department announced Monday.

The memorandum of understanding makes good on President Donald Trump‘s promises to dramatically reduce the amount of the United States’ foreign aid and save taxpayers’ money.

“The United States remains the most generous nation in the world for lifesaving humanitarian assistance — but under @POTUS’s leadership taxpayer dollars will never fund waste, anti-Americanism, or inefficiency,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X.

“This new model will better share the burden of U.N. humanitarian work with other developed countries and will require the U.N. to cut bloat, remove duplication, and commit to powerful new impact, accountability and oversight mechanisms.”

In addition to reducing funding, the agreement narrows what countries and projects benefit from the U.S. aid. The $2 billion will go into a fund administered by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among the areas not receiving any of the U.S. funding are Gaza, Yemen and Afghanistan.

“These agreements will focus funding on hyper-prioritized life-saving activities; provide for powerful new impact, accountability, and oversight mechanisms; enhance the efficiency and flexibility of humanitarian operations; and better share the burden of humanitarian work across major donors,” a release from the U.S. State Department said.

Tom Fletcher, the U.N. under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and coordinator for Emergency Relief, offered his thanks to the United States for the commitment as “a powerful act of leadership and generosity that will help save millions of lives.”

“At a moment of immense global strain, the United States is demonstrating that it is a humanitarian superpower, offering hope to people who have lost everything.”

The newly announced funding, though, is a dramatic decrease from annual U.S. contributions over the past decade — from $6.5 billion in 2017 to a high of $17.25 billion in 2022. The average yearly contribution over the decade ending in 2024 was around $10 billion, five times the size of the funding announced Monday, according to data on the OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service.

This reduction in U.S. aid comes weeks after the United Nations launched an appeal to raise $33 billion to support operations for 2026. OCHA said the total would provide aid to 135 million people in 23 countries, and six projects serving refugees and migrants.

“The highly prioritized appeal follows a year when humanitarian lifelines strained and, in some places, snapped due to brutal funding cuts,” a release from the OCHA on Dec. 7 said.

“Funding for the appeal in 2025 — $12 billion — was the lowest in a decade and humanitarians reached 25 million less people than in 2024. The consequences were immediate: Hunger surged, health systems came under crushing strain, education fell away, mine clearance stalled and families faced blow after blow: no shelter, no cash assistance, no protection services.”

PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday, as Washington looks to create fresh momentum for a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza that could be in danger of stalling before a complicated second phase.

Trump could use the face-to-face at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to try to leverage his strong relationship with Netanyahu and look for ways to speed up the peace process. Before that, Netanyahu met separately with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Trump championed has mostly held, but progress has slowed recently. Both sides accuse each other of violations, and divisions have emerged among the U.S., Israel and Arab countries about the path forward.

The truce’s first phase began in October, days after the two-year anniversary of the initial Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people. All but one of the 251 hostages taken then have been released, alive or dead.

The Israeli leader has signaled he is in no rush to move forward with the next phase as long as the remains of Ran Gvili are still in Gaza. Netanyahu’s office said he met with Gvili’s parents in Florida.

Now comes the next, far more complicated part. Trump’s 20-point plan — which was approved by the U.N. Security Council — lays out an ambitious vision for ending Hamas’ rule of Gaza.

Iran and other topics likely to come up

The two leaders also are expected to discuss other topics, including Iran, whose nuclear capabilities Trump insists were “completely and fully obliterated” after U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites in June. Israeli officials have been quoted in local media as expressing concern about Iran rebuilding its supply of long-range missiles capable of striking Israel.

There are many key facets of the ceasefire’s second phase that Israel’s leader doesn’t support or has even openly opposed, said Mona Yacoubian, director and senior adviser of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“This is going to be a really tall order, I think, for President Trump to get Netanyahu to agree,” she said.

“How he does that, what kind of pressure he puts on Netanyahu, I think, is going to be important to watch for,” said Yacoubian, who also said the two could exhibit ”a broader clash of approaches to the region.”

Next phase is complex

If successful, the second phase would see the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision by a group chaired by Trump and known as the Board of Peace. The Palestinians would form a “technocratic, apolitical” committee to run daily affairs in Gaza, under Board of Peace supervision.

It further calls for normalized relations between Israel and the Arab world, and a possible pathway to Palestinian independence. Then there are thorny logistical and humanitarian questions, including rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza, disarming Hamas and creating a security apparatus called the International Stabilization Force.

The Board of Peace would oversee Gaza’s reconstruction under a two-year, renewable U.N. mandate. Its members had been expected to be named by the end of the year and might even be revealed after Monday’s meeting, but the announcement could be pushed into next month.

Netanyahu was the first foreign leader to meet Trump at the White House in his second term, but this will be their first in-person meeting since Trump went to Israel in October to mark the start of the ceasefire’s initial phase. Netanyahu has been to Mar-a-Lago before, including in July 2024 when Trump was still seeking reelection.

Much remains unsettled

Their latest meeting comes after U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, recently huddled in Florida with officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have been mediating the ceasefire.

Two main challenges have complicated moving to the second phase, according to an official who was briefed on those meetings. Israeli officials have been taking a lot of time to vet and approve members of the Palestinian technocratic committee from a list given to them by the mediators, and Israel continues its military strikes.

Trump’s plan also calls for the stabilization force, proposed as a multinational body, to maintain security. But it, too, has yet to be formed. Whether details will be forthcoming after Monday’s meeting is unclear.

A Western diplomat said there is a “huge gulf” between the U.S.-Israeli understanding of the force’s mandate and that of other major countries in the region, as well as European governments.

All spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that haven’t been made public.

The U.S. and Israel want the force to have a “commanding role” in security duties, including disarming Hamas and other militant groups. But countries being courted to contribute troops fear that mandate will make it an “occupation force,” the diplomat said.

Hamas has said it is ready to discuss “freezing or storing” its arsenal of weapons but insists it has a right to armed resistance as long as Israel occupies Palestinian territory. One U.S. official said a potential plan might be to offer cash incentives in exchange for weapons, echoing a “buyback” program Witkoff has previously floated.

Questions about Gaza reconstruction

One displaced man in Khan Yunis, Iyad Abu Sakla, said Trump needed to urge Netanyahu to allow Palestinians to return to their homes. Under the agreement, most Palestinians are permitted in a zone just under half the size of Gaza.

“We are exhausted. This displacement is bad; it’s cold and freezing. Enough lying to us and enough insulting our intelligence,” Sakla said.

Israeli bombardment and ground operations have transformed neighborhoods across Gaza into rubble-strewn wastelands, with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris stretching in all directions.

Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are pressing for a negotiated deal on disarming Hamas and on additional Israeli withdrawal from Gaza before moving to next elements of the plan, including deployment of the international security force and reconstruction, three Arab officials said.

Three other officials, including two Americans, said the United Arab Emirates has agreed to fund reconstruction, including new communities, although they said plans have not been settled.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations between the various countries. The UAE did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Weissert, Mednick and Magdy write for the Associated Press. AP writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Lee Keath and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

Dec. 29 (UPI) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit with President Donald Trump Monday in Florida to discuss the peace plan with Gaza.

Netanyahu is also likely to lobby the president for help with Iran as it continues its work on nuclear weapons.

The meeting will happen at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. On Sunday, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the resort to continue working on a peace plan between Ukraine and Russia.

Local officials have said that more than 400 people have been killed in Gaza since the cease-fire, NBC News reported.

The Trump administration wants to see progress on the plan’s second phase in January. That means a Palestinian technocratic government would be created. Hamas would disarm, and the Israeli Defense Forces would pull out of Gaza.

But some believe that Netanyahu will stall the process and demand Hamas fully disarm before the IDF withdraws. Hamas has said it will disarm as progress moves toward an independent Palestinian state.

Netanyahu and his staff have repeatedly rejected Palestinian statehood since October.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that Israel will build settlements in Gaza and “never fully withdraw” even as Hamas disarms, the BBC reported. This would violate the cease-fire agreement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Netanyahu before Trump’s meeting.

Two other tenets of the cease-fire haven’t yet emerged: A “Board of Peace” led by Trump is planned for governance of Gaza, and the International Stabilization Force, led by the United Nations, which will help with peacekeeping in Gaza.

Rubio has said those measures will be in place “very soon.”

Israeli officials are concerned that Iran is moving forward with its plans for ballistic missiles, and Netanyahu is expected to discuss options with Trump at Monday’s meeting.

Israel damaged the operations in June, but it wants to attack again, NBC News reported.

Severe weather conditions are bringing further misery to displaced Palestinians in Gaza, who have already suffered relentless bombardment, siege and loss in Israel’s genocidal war for more than two years, as Israel continues to block critical shelter and aid supplies into the territory.

Flimsy tents were flooded and makeshift camps engulfed in mud on Monday following heavy winter rains lashing the enclave in recent days.

The harsh conditions have added to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are reduced to sheltering in tents and other makeshift structures since Israel’s war destroyed an estimated 80 percent of the buildings there.

Officials are warning that severe conditions also bring new dangers, with the threat of disease and illness as overwhelmed and damaged sewage systems contaminate floodwaters, and the risk that damaged buildings could collapse amid heavy rainfall.

On Sunday, a 30-year-old woman was killed when a partially destroyed wall collapsed onto her tent in the Remal neighbourhood to the west of Gaza City amid fierce winds, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Officials have warned people not to shelter in damaged buildings, but the tents offer limited protection from the heavy rain and no real protection against flooding.

At least 15 people, including three babies, have died this month from hypothermia following the rains and plunging temperatures, according to the authorities in Gaza.

Two-month-old baby Arkan Firas Musleh was the latest infant to die as a result of the extreme cold.

Contaminated floodwater

Reporting from Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, where most of the buildings have been reduced to rubble by Israeli attacks, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said the heavy rains had created deep puddles and thick mud that was difficult to pass in places.

“People are struggling to walk in those mud puddles,” she said. “These are not only water, but it’s also sewage, rubbish.”

A team of municipal workers were trying to pump sewage from the overwhelmed network, amid reports of flooded tents from residents.

“Families are saying that sewage water has been coming into their tents,” she said.

Calls for aid deliveries

Aid groups have called for the international community to pressure Israel to lift restrictions on life-saving aid deliveries into the territory, which they say are falling far short of the amount called for under the US-brokered ceasefire.

“More rain. More human misery, despair and death,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, the top United Nations group overseeing aid in Gaza, wrote on social media on Sunday.

“Harsh winter weather is compounding more than two years of suffering. People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents and among ruins.”

There was “nothing inevitable about this”, he added. “Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required.”

More Israeli attacks

Meanwhile, despite the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, Israeli attacks on Palestinians have continued in Gaza.

Three Palestinians were injured on Monday when Israeli forces targeted the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, a medical source told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Witnesses said the attack happened in an area from which Israeli forces had withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement.

Witnesses also reported an Israeli air raid on the eastern areas of the Bureij camp in central Gaza, artillery shelling east of Rafah and further Israeli attacks east of Gaza City, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

A 20-point plan proposed by United States President Donald Trump in September called for an initial truce followed by steps towards a wider peace. So far, as part of the first phase, there has been the exchange of captives held in Gaza and prisoners in Israeli jails, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave. However, it still occupies almost half of the territory.

However, Israeli attacks have not stopped, while humanitarian aid flows into the territory have not been what was promised.

Since the truce went into effect, more than 414 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,100 wounded in ceasefire violations, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Winter rain has lashed the Gaza Strip over the weekend, flooding displacement camps with ankle-deep water as Palestinians struggled to stay dry in flimsy, worn-out tents. These Palestinians have been displaced after more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war, which has destroyed much of the besieged enclave.

In Khan Younis, soaked blankets and swamped clay cooking ovens added to the misery. Children in flip-flops navigated through puddles while adults desperately used shovels and tin cans to remove water from tents or extracted collapsed shelters from mud.

“Puddles formed, and there was a bad smell,” said Majdoleen Tarabein, displaced from Rafah in southern Gaza. “The tent flew away. We don’t know what to do or where to go.”

She and her family attempted to wring sodden blankets dry by hand.

“When we woke up in the morning, we found that the water had entered the tent,” said Eman Abu Riziq, also displaced in Khan Younis. “These are the mattresses. They are all completely soaked.”

She added that her family is still grieving her husband’s death less than two weeks ago.

“Where are the mediators? We don’t want food. We don’t want anything. We are exhausted. We just want mattresses and covers,” pleaded Fatima Abu Omar while trying to stabilise a collapsing shelter.

At least 15 people, including three babies, have died this month from hypothermia following the rains and plunging temperatures, according to the authorities in Gaza.

Emergency workers have warned against staying in damaged buildings due to collapse risks, yet with most of the territory in rubble after relentless and ongoing Israeli bombardment, shelter options are scarce. United Nations estimates from July indicate nearly 80 percent of Gaza’s buildings have been destroyed or damaged.

Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded, with the overall Palestinian death toll reaching at least 71,266, according to the Health Ministry.

Aid deliveries to Gaza fall significantly short of ceasefire-mandated amounts, humanitarian organisations report. The Israeli military authority overseeing humanitarian aid stated that 4,200 aid trucks entered Gaza in the past week, along with sanitation equipment and winter supplies, but refused to specify the quantity of tents provided. Aid groups emphasise that current supplies cannot meet overwhelming needs.

Since the ceasefire, approximately 72,000 tents and 403,000 tarps have entered Gaza, according to Shelter Cluster, an international aid coalition led by the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents and among ruins,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN refugee aid organisation in Gaza, said on social media. “There is nothing inevitable about this. Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required.”

A Palestinian woman in Gaza has died as a winter storm threatens the lives of nearly 900,000 Palestinians living in tents across the devastated coastal enclave.

The 30-year-old, identified as Alaa Marwan Juha, died on Sunday when a wall collapsed onto her tent in the Remal neighbourhood to the west of Gaza City, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

The incident occurred amid heavy rain and strong winds that have battered the Gaza Strip since Saturday evening, flooding and blowing away thousands of tents sheltering the forcibly displaced Palestinians.

Al Jazeera Arabic, citing witnesses, reported that the partially destroyed wall gave way under the force of the wind, crashing down on the tent beside it. The wall collapse also injured several members of Juha’s family, the network reported.

Many Palestinian families have been living in tents since late 2023 as Israel waged its genocidal war on Gaza. The enclave is imminently facing freezing temperatures, rain and strong winds, as the authorities warn the downpour could intensify into a full-blown storm.

‘Disaster area’

Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO), told Al Jazeera Arabic that the severe weather conditions are exacerbating an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.

“This low-pressure system will complicate matters further … and poses a danger to the lives of citizens,” Shawa said.

He said the tents offer no real protection against flooding and called for an urgent entry of mobile homes, or caravans, and equipment to repair destroyed sewage networks.

“Tents represent neither a choice nor a solution,” he said, noting that agreed humanitarian protocols stipulate the provision of adequate shelter.

Shawa urged the international community to pressure Israel to lift restrictions on life-saving aid, describing the entire Gaza Strip as a “disaster area”.

At least 15 people, including three babies, have died this month from hypothermia following the rains and plunging temperatures, according to the authorities in Gaza.

Emergency workers have warned people not to stay in damaged buildings, several of which have completely collapsed. But with much of the Palestinian territory reduced to rubble, there are few places to escape the rain.

Meanwhile, the healthcare system in Gaza is on the brink of total collapse, and the absence of much-needed aid, including medicine and medical supplies, is exacerbating the situation.

Ceasefire violations

Separately on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left Tel Aviv for the United States, as negotiators and others discuss the second stage of the ceasefire, the first phase of which took effect on October 10.

Israel continues to violate the ceasefire agreement and block desperately needed humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged coastal enclave, even though these are stipulated in the first phase of the agreement.

A 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump in September called for an initial truce followed by steps towards a wider peace. So far, as part of the first phase, there has been the exchange of captives held by Hamas in Gaza and prisoners in Israeli jails, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.

However, Israeli attacks continue. Since the truce went into effect, more than 414 Palestinians have been killed and 1,142 wounded in ceasefire violations, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 71,266 Palestinians and wounded 171,219 since October 2023.

Israel has held Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safia for an entire year without charge. His son is pleading for his release, describing his father’s mistreatment in detention and recalling his refusal to abandon his patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the United States to meet with President Donald Trump as regional turmoil approaches a boiling point amid Israel’s attacks in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria and mounting tensions with Iran.

Netanyahu is to hold talks with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday as Washington pushes to complete the first phase of the Gaza truce.

The visit comes as the US continues to pursue its 20-point “peace plan” in the Palestinian enclave despite near-daily Israeli violations of the truce.

Israel is also escalating attacks in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Syria as Israeli officials suggest that another war with Iran is possible.

What will Netanyahu discuss with Trump, and where do US-Israel ties stand?

Al Jazeera looks at the prime minister’s trip to the US and how it may play out.

When will Netanyahu arrive?

The Israeli prime minister will arrive in the US on Sunday. However, the talks will not take place at the White House. Instead, Netanyahu will meet Trump in Florida, where the US president is spending the holidays.

The meeting between the two leaders is expected to take place on Monday.

How many times has Netanyahu visited Trump?

This will be Netanyahu’s fifth visit to the US in 10 months. The Israeli prime minister has been hosted by Trump more than any other world leader.

In February, he became the first foreign leader to visit the White House after Trump returned to the presidency.

He visited again in April and July. In September, he also met with Trump in Washington, DC, after the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

What has the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu been like so far?

Netanyahu often says Trump is the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House.

During his first term, Trump pushed US policy further in favour of Israel’s right-wing government. He moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognised and claimed Israeli sovereignty over Syria’s occupied Golan Heights and cut off funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Since returning to the White House this year, Trump has shown a greater willingness to publicly disagree with Netanyahu. Still, his administration has provided unflinching support for Israel, including the decision to renew the genocidal war on Gaza in March after a brief ceasefire.

Trump joined the Israeli attack on Iran in June to the dismay of some segments of his base. And he pushed to secure the current truce in Gaza.

The US president also opposed the Israeli attack on Doha in September. And he swiftly lifted sanctions against Syria despite some apparent Israeli reservations.

The ties between the two leaders have seen some peaks and valleys. In 2020, Trump was irked when Netanyahu rushed to congratulate Joe Biden on his election victory against Trump, who has falsely insisted the election was fraudulent.

“I haven’t spoken to him [Netanyahu] since,” Trump told the Axios news site in 2021. “F*** him.”

The strong ties between the two leaders were rekindled after Trump won the presidency again in 2024 and unleashed a crackdown on Palestinian rights activists in the US.

In November, Trump formally asked Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, who is facing corruption charges at home.

The two leaders, however, are not in complete alignment, and cracks in their positions are showing up over issues that include Gaza, Syria and the US partnerships with Turkiye and the Gulf states.

During his US visit, Netanyahu may seek to flatter Trump and project a warm relationship with the US president to advance his agenda and signal to his political rivals in Israel that he still enjoys support from Washington.

How has Netanyahu dealt with the US since October 7, 2023?

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Netanyahu has asked for unchecked US diplomatic and military support.

Then-President Biden travelled to Israel 11 days after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel, and he declared that support for the US ally is “vital for America’s national security”.

His “bear hug” of Netanyahu on arrival at the airport in Tel Aviv would set the stage for the US backing of Israel as it unleashed horror and destruction on Gaza, which has translated into more than $21bn in military aid and multiple vetoes at the UN Security Council over the past two years.

Netanyahu has seized on the notion that Israel is an extension of US interests and security structure. In a speech to the US Congress last year, the prime minister argued that Israel is fighting Iran indirectly in Gaza and Lebanon.

“We’re not only protecting ourselves. We’re protecting you,” he told US lawmakers.

Throughout the war, there have been countless reports that Biden and Trump have been displeased or angry with Netanyahu. But US weapons and political backing for Israel have continued to flow uninterrupted. And Netanyahu makes a point of always expressing gratitude to US presidents, even when there may be apparent tensions.

Where does the US stand on the Gaza truce?

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that the top priority for the Trump administration is to complete the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire and move from mere cessation of hostilities to long-term governance, stabilisation and reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave.

Israel has been violating the ceasefire in Gaza regularly, recently killing at least six Palestinians in an attack that targeted a wedding.

But Trump, who claims to have brought peace to the Middle East for the first time in 3,000 years, has focused on broadly moving the truce forward rather than on Israel’s daily conduct.

“No one is arguing that the status quo is sustainable in the long term, nor desirable, and that’s why we have a sense of urgency about bringing phase one to its full completion,” Rubio said last week.

The top US diplomat has also suggested that there could be some flexibility when it comes to disarming Hamas under the agreement, saying the “baseline” should be ensuring that the group does not pose a threat to Israel rather than removing the guns of every fighter.

But Israel appears to be operating with a different set of priorities. Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that the country is looking to re-establish settlements in Gaza, which are illegal under international law.

He later walked back those comments but stressed that Israel would maintain a permanent military presence in the territory, which would violate the Trump plan.

Expect Gaza to be a key topic of discussion between Netanyahu and Trump.

Can a Syria agreement be reached?

Trump has literally and figuratively embraced Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa over the past year, lifting sanctions against the country and beginning security cooperation with his government’s security forces.

But Israel is pursuing its own agenda in Syria. Hours after the collapse of the government of former President Bashar al-Assad a year ago, Israel began expanding its occupation of Syria beyond the Golan Heights.

Although the new Syrian authorities stressed early on that they did not seek confrontation with Israel, the Israeli military launched a bombardment campaign against Syria’s state and military institutions.

Israeli forces have also been conducting raids in southern Syria and abducting and disappearing residents.

After the Israeli military killed 13 Syrians in an air raid last month, Trump issued a veiled criticism of Israel.

“It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous state,” he said.

Syria and Israel were in talks earlier this year to establish a security agreement short of full diplomatic normalisation. But the negotiations appeared to collapse after Israeli leaders insisted on holding onto the land captured after al-Assad’s fall.

With Netanyahu in town, Trump will likely renew the push for a Syria-Israel agreement.

Why is Iran back in the headlines?

Netanyahu’s visit comes amid louder alarm bells in Israel about Iran rebuilding its missile capacity after their 12-day war in June.

NBC News reported last week that the Israeli prime minister will brief the US president about more potential strikes against Iran.

The pro-Israel camp in Trump’s orbit seems to be already mobilising rhetorically against Iran’s missile programme.

US Senator Lindsey Graham visited Israel this month and called Iran’s missiles a “real threat” to Israel.

“This trip is about elevating the risk ballistic missiles pose to Israel,” Graham told The Jerusalem Post.

Trump authorised strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites during the June war, which he said “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear programme.

Although there is no evidence that Iran has been weaponising its nuclear programme, fears about a possible Iranian atomic bomb were the driving public justification for the US involvement in the conflict.

So it will be hard for Netanyahu to persuade Trump to back a war against Iran, said Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.

The president is portraying himself as a peacemaker and prioritising a possible confrontation with Venezuela.

“It could just as well backfire on Netanyahu,” Toossi said of the push for more strikes against Iran. But he underscored that Trump is “unpredictable”, and he has surrounded himself with pro-Israel hawks, including Rubio.

What is the state of US-Israel relations?

Despite growing dissent on the left and right of the US political spectrum, Trump’s support for Israel remains unwavering.

This month, the US Congress passed a military spending bill that includes $600m in military aid to Israel.

The Trump administration has continued to avoid even verbal criticism of Israel’s aggressive behaviour in the region, including Gaza ceasefire violations and the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

At a White House Hanukkah celebration on December 16, Trump bemoaned the growing scepticism of unconditional support for Israel in Congress, falsely likening it to anti-Semitism.

“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,” Trump said.

“You have to be very careful. You have a Congress in particular which is becoming anti-Semitic.”

Despite Trump’s position, analysts said the gap between the strategic priorities of the US and Israel is growing.

While Washington is pushing for economic cooperation in the Middle East, Israel is seeking “total dominance” over the region, including US partners in the Gulf, Toossi said.

“Israel is pushing this uncompromising posture and strategic objective that I think is going to come to a head more with core US interests,” Toossi told Al Jazeera.

What’s next for the US-Israel alliance?

If you drive down Independence Avenue in Washington, DC, you will likely see more Israeli than American flags displayed on the windows of congressional offices.

Despite the shifting public opinion, Israel still has overwhelming support in Congress and the White House. And although criticism of Israel is growing within the Republican base, Israel’s detractors have been pushed to the margins of the movement.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is leaving Congress; commentator Tucker Carlson is facing constant attacks and accusations of anti-Semitism; and Congressman Tom Massie is facing a Trump-backed primary challenger.

Meanwhile, Trump’s inner circle is filled with staunch Israel supporters, including Rubio, megadonor Miriam Adelson and radio show host Mark Levin.

But amid the erosion of public support, especially among young people, Israel may face a reckoning in American politics in the long term.

On the Democratic side, some of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress are facing primary challenges from progressive candidates who are centring Palestinian rights.

The most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is increasingly becoming a toxic brand for Democrats.

On the right, the faultlines in the consensus in support of Israel are growing wider. That trend was put on display at the right-wing AmericaFest conference this month when debates raged around support for Israel, a topic that was a foregone conclusion for conservatives a few years ago.

Although the Trump administration has been pushing to codify opposition to Zionism as anti-Semitism to punish Palestinian rights supporters, Vice President JD Vance has presented a more nuanced view on the issue.

“What is actually happening is that there is a real backlash to a consensus view in American foreign policy,” Vance recently told the UnHerd website.

“I think we ought to have that conversation and not try to shut it down. Most Americans are not anti-Semitic – they’re never going to be anti-Semitic – and I think we should focus on the real debate.”

Bottom line, the currents are changing, but the US commitment to Israel remains solid – for now.

From displaced Palestinian families struggling in the cold winter in makeshift tents in Gaza, Christmas celebrations in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, to the historic gathering of more than one million people in Dhaka welcoming home Bangladesh’s opposition leader Tarique Rahman after his 17-year self-imposed exile, here is a look at the week in photos.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, surrounded by tents and debris, are suffering through more winter rains after two years of Israeli bombardment destroyed much of the Strip.

A polar low-pressure system accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds swept across the Gaza Strip on Saturday. It is the third polar low to affect the Palestinian territory this winter, with a fourth low-pressure system forecast to hit the area starting on Monday, meteorologist Laith al-Allami told the Anadolu news agency.

Many families have been living in tents since late 2023, for most of the duration of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

The enclave is imminently facing freezing temperatures, rain and strong winds, as the authorities warn the downpour could intensify into a full-blown storm.

Mohammed Maslah, a displaced Palestinian now in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera in his rugged tent that he did not have a choice but to stay there.

“I could not find anywhere to live in Gaza, except Gaza Port,” he told Al Jazeera. “I’m forced to stay here because my home is under Israeli control. After just a few hours of rain, we were soaked.”

In Deir al-Balah, Shaima Wadi, a mother of four children who was displaced from Jabaliya in the north, spoke to the Associated Press. “We have been living in this tent for two years. Every time it rains and the tent collapses over our heads, we try to put up new pieces of wood,” she said. “With how expensive everything has become, and without any income, we can barely afford clothes for our children or mattresses for them to sleep on.”

The heavy rains earlier this month flooded tents and makeshift shelters across Gaza, where most of the buildings have been destroyed or damaged by Israeli attacks.

So far in December, at least 15 people, including three babies, died from hypothermia following rains and plunging temperatures, with several buildings collapsing, according to the authorities in Gaza. Aid organisations have called for Israel to allow more shelters and other humanitarian aid into the territory.

Ibrahim Abu al-Reesh, head of field operations for the Civil Defence in the Gaza Port area, said that his teams responded to various distress calls as weather conditions got harsher in places where displaced people set up fragile tents.

“We worked hard to cover some of these damaged tents with plastic sheets after they were flooded by rainwater,” he told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Al Khalili, reporting from Gaza City, said that winter has been adding to the suffering of tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians who do not have safe shelters.

“The same misery repeats as each rain fills neighbourhoods with muddy water,” he said.

Ceasefire talks

As Palestinians face dire conditions in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit Washington, DC, in the coming days while negotiators and others discuss the second stage of the ceasefire that took effect on October 10.

The progress in the peace process has been slow. Challenges in phase two of the ceasefire include the deployment of an international stabilisation force, a technocratic governing body for Gaza, the proposed disarmament of Hamas and further Israeli troop withdrawals from the territory.

So far, the agreement has partially held despite Israel’s repeated violations.

Since the ceasefire went into effect, more than 414 Palestinians have been killed and 1,142 wounded, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

It also said the bodies of 679 people were pulled from the rubble during the same period, as the truce makes it safer to search for the remains of people killed earlier.

The ministry on Saturday said that 29 bodies, including 25 recovered from under the rubble, had been brought to local hospitals over the past 48 hours.

The overall Palestinian death toll from Israel’s war has risen to at least 71,266, the ministry said, and another 171,219 have been wounded.

Dec. 27 (UPI) — Nine people who are accused of raising more than $8 million in Italy to help fund Hamas have been arrested by Italian authorities.

The nine are accused of raising $8.2 million over the past two years to help fund Hamas after it carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israeli civilians and started the war in Gaza.

“The operation completed this morning by the State Police and the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) is a very important and significant one, with the arrest of nine people, including the most well-known Mohammad Hannoun,” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in a post on X on Saturday.

“Despite the necessary presumption of innocence that must always be recognized at this stage, the veil has been torn away on behaviors and activities that, behind the facade of initiatives to benefit the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in organizations with actual terrorist aims of an Islamist nature,” Piantedosi said.

“This is a danger to which our government is paying the utmost attention,” he added.

A joint investigation by Italy’s counter-terrorism and financial police forces started after the 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Investigators uncovered a fundraising system with headquarters in Genoa and associates in Milan that raised the funds under the pretext of supporting Gazans.

“The suspects collected donations intended for the civilian population of Gaza,” a police statement said.

“However, it emerged that 71% of these funds were diverted to Hamas’ coffers to finance its military wing and support the families of suicide bombers or those detained for terrorism,” the police officials said.

Central to the investigation is Hannoun, who is the president of the Palestinian Association that is based in Italy and has denied being a financier for Hamas.

The funds allegedly were raised by Hannoun and eight other defendants through three charities and laundered to hide their true destination.

Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization by the United States and many other nations.

Incursion follows Israeli defence minister’s order for military to ‘act forcefully’ against the Palestinian town.

Israeli forces have carried out mass arrests and forced dozens of families from their homes in the town of Qabatiya in the occupied West Bank, on the second day of a sweeping military operation ordered by Israel’s defence minister.

Israeli forces sealed off entrances to Qabatiya while rounding up and interrogating dozens of residents on Saturday, local sources told Al Jazeera. They converted several homes into military interrogation centres, displacing their occupants, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

Israel’s Army Radio reported that the town is subject to a “full curfew”.

The crackdown follows an order by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ​to “act forcefully … against the village of Qabatiya”, where he claims a Palestinian alleged of carrying out a stabbing and car-ramming attack in northern Israel hails from.

In a statement on Friday, Israel’s military said it had deployed troops from multiple divisions, along with border police and members of the Shin Bet security service, into Qabatiya. It said forces had raided the attack suspect’s home and were preparing to demolish it.

Rights groups have long condemned Israel’s practice of demolishing the family homes of Palestinians accused of attacks against Israelis, describing it as an illegal form of collective punishment.

Israel’s military claimed its forces would “scan additional locations in the village” and “work to arrest wanted individuals and locate weapons”.

“There is a sense of fear among people in town,” one resident told Al Jazeera. “There are Israeli threats and Israeli incitement.”

The Israeli military raids on Saturday also extended elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, including to several villages surrounding Ramallah and Hebron, Wafa reported. Israeli forces assaulted and arrested eight people from the towns of Dura, Abda and Imreish near Hebron, according to the news agency.

Israeli military incursions and attacks across the occupied West Bank have been a near-daily occurrence during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have arrested nearly 21,000 Palestinians. As of December 1, some 9,300 Palestinian prisoners were in Israeli jails, more than a third of them detained without charges.

Palestinian prisoners have been tortured, sexually abused and even killed in custody.

Gaza City – Dr Hussam Abu Safia, 52, remains in an Israeli prison a year after Israel detained him without charges or trial.

His family and supporters are demanding his release as his health deteriorates amid reports of the inhumane conditions under which he is being held.

Abu Safia, known for his steadfast presence as director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, has become central in international discussions on the protection of medical personnel in armed conflicts.

He insisted on staying at the hospital, along with several medical staff, despite continuous Israeli attacks on the facility.

Israel eventually surrounded the hospital and forced everyone to evacuate. Since then, Abu Safia has been in detention, and the hospital has been out of service.

He was transferred between Israeli prisons, from the notorious Sde Teiman holding facility to Ofer Prison, being mistreated continuously.

No charges have been brought against Abu Safia, who is held under the “unlawful combatant” law, which allows detention without a standard criminal trial and denies detainees access to the evidence against them.

A family’s suffering

Abu Safia is being held in extreme conditions and, according to lawyers, has lost more than a third of his body weight.

His family is worried about him as he also suffers from heart problems, an irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, skin infections and a lack of specialised medical care.

His eldest son, Ilyas, 27, told Al Jazeera via Zoom from Kazakhstan, where the family fled a month ago, about their grief over Abu Safia’s detention, adding that his father’s only “crime” was being a doctor.

Ilyas, his mother Albina and four siblings stayed with his father at Kamal Adwan through the Israeli attacks, despite opportunities to leave Gaza, especially as Albina is a Kazakh citizen.

On October 26, 2024, Israel killed Ilyas’s brother, Ibrahim, 20, while it shelled the hospital.

“The entire medical staff cried in grief for [my father] and for Ibrahim,” Ilyas said.

The taking of Dr Abu Safia

At dawn on December 27, 2024, the hospital woke up to a tightened Israeli siege with tanks and quadcopter drones.

Israeli tanks had been around Kamal Adwan since mid-October 2024, gradually moving closer – destroying parts of the infrastructure like water tanks – until that day when they were so close nobody could move outside.

Patients and staff gathered in the emergency reception corridor, according to Dr Walid al-Badi, 29, who stayed with Abu Safia until his arrest, and spoke to Al Jazeera on December 25 at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.

“The situation was extremely tense, loudspeakers were calling on everyone to evacuate, but Dr Abu Safia asked us to remain calm. Then the loudspeakers called Dr Abu Safia to come to the tank.”

Abu Safia was ordered to enter an armoured vehicle. According to al-Badi, the doctor returned carrying a sheet of instructions, dishevelled, his clothes dusty and a bruise under his chin.

Everyone rushed to check on him, and he told them that he had been assaulted.

“Israeli media showed a video claiming they … treated him with respect, but they didn’t show … how he was assaulted in the tank, threatened,” al-Badi said.

Abu Safia was ordered by the Israelis to prepare a list of everyone in the hospital, which he did and returned to the armoured vehicle, where he was told that only 20 staff could remain. The rest had to leave.

“Around 10am, the Israelis allowed some ambulances to take patients, wounded people, some displaced civilians, and the doctor’s family to the Indonesian Hospital [about 1km away] while the medical teams left on foot,” al-Badi recounts.

However, several patients remained, besieged along with the medics.

“The doctor told me to go, but I told him I would stay with him until the end.”

The only female medic who remained was intensive care unit head, Dr Mai Barhouma, who spoke to Al Jazeera from the Baptist Hospital.

Barhouma had been working with critical patients dependent on medical equipment and oxygen, and her conscience would not allow her to leave, despite Abu Safia asking her to.

The Israeli army repeatedly summoned Abu Safia for new instructions, once, according to Drs Barhouma and al-Badi, offering a safe exit for him alone.

He refused, insisting that he would stay with his staff. At about 10pm, the quadcopters ordered everyone to line up and evacuate.

During this time, Israel shelled and set fire to the upper floors and turned off the electricity.

“We were heartbroken as Dr Abu Safia led [us] out,” al-Badi recalled. “I hugged Dr Abu Safia, who was crying as he left the hospital he tried so hard to stay in.”

Testimonies from that day say medical staff were taken to al-Fakhoura School in Jabalia, where they were beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers during interrogations.

Barhouma left in an ambulance with an ICU patient, but the ambulance was held for hours at the school.

“The soldiers bound our hands and forced us to walk towards al-Fakhoura school, [2km away] from the hospital. Our colleagues who had left in the morning were still there, being tortured,” al-Badi recalled, adding that they arrived at about midnight.

“They ordered us to strip down to our underwear, tied our hands and began severely beating us with boots and rifle butts, insulting and verbally abusing us.”

The interrogation and beatings of the medics in the freezing cold continued for hours while Barhouma was in the ambulance with the critically ill patient.

“The oxygen ran out, so I started using a manual resuscitation pump. My hands swelled from pumping nonstop, terrified that the patient would die,” she said.

She described hearing the screams of the male medics being tortured, and then being ordered out of the ambulance by Israeli soldiers.

“The soldier asked for my ID and took an eye scan, then ordered me to get out, but I refused and told him I had a critical patient who would die if I left them.”

Eventually, the Israelis released the medics, including al-Badi and Abu Safia, ordering them to head for western Gaza, while sending the ambulance with Barhouma in it on an alternate route westwards.

But the relief didn’t last. They had only walked a few metres when an Israeli officer called out to Abu Safia.

“Our faces froze,” al-Badi said. “The doctor asked what was wrong. The officers said: ‘We want you with us in Israel.’”

Al-Badi and a nurse tried to pull the doctor away, but he rebuked them and told them to keep walking.

“I was crying like a child being separated from his father as I watched the doctor being arrested and dressed in the white nylon uniform for detainees.”

Calls for his release

Abu Safia’s family are appealing to human rights and legal bodies for his immediate release.

“My father’s lawyers visited him around seven times over the past year, [each visit allowed only] after exhausting attempts with the prison administration. Each time, my father’s condition has deteriorated significantly,” Ilyas told Al Jazeera.

“[He] has fractures in his thigh and shrapnel in his foot from an injury while at the hospital before his arrest. He also suffers other health problems and is subjected to severe psychological and physical abuse that does not befit his age.

“Israel is trying to criminalise my father’s work, his continued service to people and his efforts to save the wounded and the sick in an area Israel itself considered a ‘red zone’ at the time.

“My father’s presence and steadfastness inside the hospital posed a major obstacle to the Israeli army and its plan to empty the north of its residents.”

Ilyas is proud of his father.

“My father is a doctor who will be held up worldwide as an example of adherence to medical ethics and courage.

“I am proud beyond words, and I hope to embrace him soon and see him emerge from the darkness of prison safe and well.”

Somalia has demanded Israel reverse its recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland, condemning the move as an act of “aggression that will never be tolerated”.

Ali Omar, Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs, told Al Jazeera in an interview on Saturday that the government would pursue all available diplomatic means to challenge what it described as an act of “state aggression” and Israeli interference in the country’s internal affairs.

The sharp rebuke came a day after Israel became the first nation in the world to formally recognise Somaliland, triggering swift condemnation across African and Arab nations, and raising concerns about whether the move was part of an alleged Israeli plan to forcibly displace Palestinians.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 following a brutal civil war but has never secured recognition from any United Nations member state. The self-declared republic has established its own currency, flag and parliament, though its eastern territories remain disputed.

“This will never be acceptable or tolerable to our government and people who are united in defending our territorial integrity,” Omar said. “Our government strongly advises the State of Israel to rescind its divisive actions and abide by international law.”

Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known locally as Cirro, had been signalling for weeks that recognition by an unnamed state was imminent, though he didn’t clarify which country. Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa had been dotted with billboards in recent weeks, telling residents that recognition was coming.

Omar said the strategic importance of the Horn of Africa was driving foreign interference and interest. “The importance of this region isn’t new. It is still important for international trade today,” he said.

‘Displacement of Palestinians’

Omar accused Israel of pursuing Somaliland’s recognition in order to further displace Palestinians from Gaza. “One of the motivating factors is the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera. “It has been widely known – Israel’s goal on that issue.”

Palestine’s foreign ministry backed Somalia, recalling that Israel had previously identified Somaliland as a potential destination for forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza, which it described as a “red line”.

On Saturday, Somaliland’s Cirro defended the Israeli move, insisting it was “not directed against any state, nor does it pose a threat to regional peace”.

Hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the recognition on Friday, Somalia’s prime minister’s office issued a statement describing Israel’s action as a deliberate attack on Somalia’s sovereignty and an unlawful step, and emphasising that Somaliland remains an integral and “inseparable” part of the Somali territory.

Netanyahu framed the diplomatic breakthrough with Somaliland as being in the spirit of the Abraham Accords and said he would champion Somaliland’s cause during his meeting with United States President Donald Trump on Monday. Netanyahu also invited Cirro to Israel, which the latter has accepted.

But Trump has distanced himself from close ally Netanyahu on the issue, telling The New York Post newspaper he would not follow Israel’s lead.

Somalia’s Public Works Minister Ayub Ismail Yusuf welcomed Trump’s stance, writing on social media: “Thank you for your support, Mr. President.”

Trump’s comments marked a shift from August, when he told a news conference his administration was working on the Somaliland issue. In recent weeks, the US president has frequently attacked the Somali community in the US and Somalia.

The US has also expressed frustration with Somalia, saying at a recent UN Security Council meeting that Somali authorities had failed in improving security in the country despite billions in aid, and signalling it will not continue to fund a costly peacekeeping mission.

Meanwhile, the African Union’s chairperson, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, rejected any initiative aimed at recognising Somaliland as an independent nation, warning it would set a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications. The continental bloc cited a 1964 decision on the intangibility of borders inherited at a country’s independence as a fundamental principle.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit also condemned what he described as a provocative Israeli assault on the sovereignty of an Arab and African state. He said the Israeli recognition was a clear violation of international law and a flagrant infringement of the principle of state sovereignty.

Despite the international reactions, thousands poured onto the streets of Hargeisa on Friday to celebrate what many saw as the end of 30 years of diplomatic isolation. The Israeli flag was emblazoned on the national museum as residents welcomed the breakthrough.

Somalia has historically had contentious relations with Israel, stemming from Israel’s historic ties with Somalia’s regional rival, Ethiopia.

During the Cold War, Israel provided Ethiopia with military training, intelligence and weapons, while Somalia, aligned with Arab states hostile to Israel, was defeated in the 1977 Ogaden War, a setback that helped fuel decades of civil unrest.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 following persecution under former leader Mohammed Siad Barre, but Somalia has never recognised the breakaway region.

Earlier this month, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel revealed there had been communication with Somalia’s government about shared concerns over Houthi influence in the region.

But Omar, the Somali state minister for foreign affairs, strongly denied any ties with Israel, stating that the country’s position on Israeli policies remained unchanged.

Celebrated director of ‘Jenin, Jenin’ documentary leaves behind legacy of artistic resistance.

Acclaimed Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammad Bakri has died in northern Israel, ending a five-decade career that established him as one of the most influential voices in Palestinian cinema.

Bakri died on Wednesday at Galilee Medical Centre in Nahariya after suffering from heart and lung problems, hospital officials said.

His passing removes a towering figure whose work directly challenged Israeli narratives and whose decades-long legal battles over censorship became a defining chapter in Palestinian cultural resistance.

The 72-year-old was best known for his 2002 documentary, Jenin, Jenin, which captured testimonies from Palestinian residents following a devastating Israeli military operation in the refugee camp that killed 52 Palestinians.

The film ignited years of controversy in Israel but elevated Bakri’s status as a creative and would overshadow the remainder of his life.

Israeli authorities banned the documentary from screening in 2021, with the Supreme Court upholding the prohibition in 2022, deeming it defamatory.

“I intend to appeal the verdict because it is unfair, it is neutering my truth,” Bakri told the Walla News website at the time.

Five soldiers sued Bakri, and courts eventually fined him hundreds of thousands of shekels while ordering all copies seized and online links removed.

In an interview with the British Film Institute earlier this year, Bakri said, “I don’t see Israel as my enemy … but they consider me their enemy. They see me as a traitor … for making a movie.”

Born in 1953 in the Galilee village of Bi’ina, Bakri was a Palestinian citizen of Israel who studied Arabic literature and theatre at Tel Aviv University. He made his striking film debut at age 30 in Costa-Gavras’s Hanna K, playing a Palestinian refugee attempting to reclaim his family’s home.

His role as a Palestinian prisoner in the 1984 Israeli film Beyond the Walls earned international acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for the production.

But it was Bakri’s commitment to telling Palestinian stories that defined his career. He appeared in more than 40 films and directed several documentaries examining the experiences of Palestinians living under occupation and within Israel.

His solo theatrical performance of The Pessoptimist, based on Emile Habibi’s novel about Palestinian identity, was performed more than 1,500 times worldwide and cemented his status as a cultural icon.

Bakri is survived by his wife Leila and six children, including actors Saleh, Ziad and Adam, who have followed him into cinema. His funeral was held the same day in Bi’ina.

Dec. 24 (UPI) — Christians in Israel and Palestine are celebrating Christmas for the first time in two years now that Israel and Hamas have entered a cease-fire.

In Bethlehem, in the West Bank, tourism normally boosts the economy this time of year as Christians come from around the world to see the city where Jesus was born. But due to the fighting, tourists have avoided the region.

This year, the cease-fire emboldened Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati to bring back the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, which drew visitors from around the region, but very few from international locations.

“[In] Bethlehem, you know, we are living from tourists, from tourism and from pilgrims who come to stay in our hotels, to eat in our restaurants, to buy our souvenirs that we’re producing here,” Canawati told CBS News. “And there was a complete halt on tourism for the past two years.”

The lack of tourists has driven Bethlehem unemployment to 70%.

Muhammad Abu Jurah’s Bethlehem souvenir shop has been in his family for generations, but he’s had to lay off all his staff.

“We don’t have a lot of tourists because, you know, the war,” he told CBS. “So, this is why they have a big problem in Bethlehem without tourists.”

Bethlehem tour guide Matthew Qasis said he wants the tourists to return.

“Come back, because Bethlehem belongs to everyone, and Bethlehem is a message of love and peace, a message needed now more than ever, and a prayer of hope that the faithful return to the place where it’s believed Christmas began,” he told CBS.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic Church’s top leader in the Holy Land and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, led a procession Wednesday from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.

One day earlier, he led a Christmas Eve Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City, at which he baptized a new member: Marco Nader Habshi, The Washington Post reported.

Gaza Christians have been unable to celebrate their holidays openly for years. The Christian population in Gaza, mostly Catholic and Greek Orthodox, has dropped from 1,000 to 500.

“The celebrations of Christian and Muslim festivals were shared,” said Yousef AlKhouri, a Gaza native and dean at Bethlehem Bible College in the West Bank, about when he was young. He told The Post that there was always a sense of solidarity among “Palestinian Christians and Muslims in Gaza: going to school together, playing together, going to the YMCA.”

But since Hamas took control of the enclave, Christians have mostly celebrated privately.

“There is an assumption that Gaza has no Christian population, or no Christian history,” AlKhouri said. “And that’s not true.”

Holy Family Church served as a sanctuary for many Christians during the war. Elias al-Jilda, an Orthodox Christian in Gaza, had to shelter at the Catholic church after his home was destroyed one month into the war, he told The Post. He and his family now have a rented home but are still working to furnish it.

The holiday celebration “will not be full of joy, but it is an attempt to renew life,” Jilda, 59, who serves on the council of the Arab Orthodox Church in Gaza, said of this season’s holiday celebration. He told The Post he remembers Christmas in Gaza when Muslims and Christians came together to celebrate city-wide. “It was a special occasion; an opportunity for us to breathe.”

At the Sunday Mass at Holy Family, Pizzaballa told the Christians in Gaza to hold on to hope.

“We are called not only to survive, but to rebuild life,” he said. “We must bring the spirit of Christmas — the spirit of light, tenderness and love. It may seem impossible, but after two years of terrible war, we are still here.”

Pope Leo has decried conditions ‍for Palestinians in ‍Gaza in his first Christmas sermon as pontiff, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Leo, the first American ⁠pope, said on Thursday that the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God ​had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world.

“How, then, ‍can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” he asked.

Leo, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the ‍world’s cardinals to ⁠succeed the late Pope Francis, has a quieter, more diplomatic style than his predecessor and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons.

But the new pope has also lamented the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza several times recently and told journalists last month that the only solution in the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine must include a Palestinian state.

Israel ​and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October ‌after two years of intense bombardment and military operations in Gaza, but humanitarian agencies say there is still too little aid getting into the largely destroyed Strip, where nearly the entire population is homeless after being displaced by Israeli attacks.

In Thursday’s service with thousands in ‌St Peter’s Basilica, Leo also lamented conditions for the homeless across the globe and the destruction caused by the wars ‌roiling the world.

“Fragile is the flesh of defenceless ⁠populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” said the pope.

“Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the ‌front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths,” he ‍added.

In a later appeal during the “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message and blessing given by the pope at Christmas and Easter, Leo called for an end to all global wars, lamenting conflicts, ‌political, social or military, in Ukraine, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, and Thailand and Cambodia, among others.

‘The wounds are deep’

Ahead of the pope’s mass, in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Christian community began celebrating its first festive Christmas in more than two years, as the Palestinian city and biblical birthplace of Jesus emerges from the shadow of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Throughout the war, a sombre tone had marked Christmases in Bethlehem. But celebrations returned on Wednesday with parades and music. Hundreds of worshippers also gathered for mass at the Church of the Nativity on Wednesday night.

With pews filled long before midnight, many stood or sat on the floor for the traditional mass to usher in Christmas Day.

At 11:15 pm (21:15 GMT), organ music rang out as a procession of dozens of clergymen entered, followed by Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who blessed the crowd with signs of the cross.

In his homily, Pizzaballa urged peace, hope and rebirth, saying the Nativity story still held relevance in the turbulence of modern times.

He also spoke of his visit to Gaza over the weekend, where he said “suffering is still present” despite the ceasefire. In the Strip, hundreds of thousands of people face a bleak winter in makeshift tents.

“The wounds are deep, yet I have to say, here too, there too, their proclamation of Christmas resounds,” Pizzaballa said. “When I met them, I was struck by their strength and desire to start over.”

In Bethlehem, hundreds also took part in the parade down the narrow Star Street on Wednesday, while a dense crowd massed in the square. As darkness fell, multi-coloured lights shone over Manger Square and a towering Christmas tree glittered next to the Church of the Nativity.

The basilica dates back to the fourth century and was built on top of a grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born more than 2,000 years ago.

Bethlehem residents hoped the return of Christmas festivities would breathe life back into the city.

Gaza City – The Holy Family Church in Gaza has lit its Christmas tree for the first time after two years of Israel’s genocidal war on the Strip. It is Christmas Eve mass, and the worshippers have packed the main prayer hall. Many of them are excited and happy – not just because it is Christmas but because they are still alive.

The glow of lights on the big Christmas tree and holiday decorations could not hide the harsh reality left by the war on Gaza. The church decided to limit the celebrations to a prayer service and brief family gatherings, but the bells rang loud, and that alone filled people with joy.

One of those people is 58-year-old Dmitri Boulos, who missed celebrating Christmas during the war. He was displaced along with his wife and two children in the early days of the fighting after heavy Israeli shelling hit around his home in the Tal al-Hawa area, south of Gaza City.

“We fled to the church seeking safety at the time, but it turned out there was no safe place,” Boulos said. “The church was hit twice while we were inside, and we lost friends and loved ones during that period.

“Nothing had any taste at all,” he recalled. “There was immense fear and grief for those we lost. How can we celebrate when everything around us is wounded and sad?”

Boulos hopes this Christmas and the new year will bring an end to all the suffering and lift restrictions on Gaza.

“We are trying to make ourselves and our children feel that what’s coming will be better, even though the reality is extremely hard,” he said. “We hope things will return to how they were before.”

The Holy Family Church, the only Catholic parish in Gaza, has long held symbolic importance beyond the Strip. Throughout the war, the late Pope Francis called the parish almost daily, maintaining a direct line to the besieged community.

Most of Palestine’s Christians live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, totalling approximately 47,000 to 50,000, with an additional 1,000 in Gaza before the war.

The number of Christians in Gaza has dwindled in recent years. Today, there are a few hundred left, a sharp drop from the 3,000 registered in 2007.

During the war, Israeli attacks targeted several Christian places of worship where many displaced Palestinians were taking shelter.

Although the Holy Family Church was not placed by Israel in the zones marked for expulsions, the other churches in Gaza City, including the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius and the Anglican St Philip’s Church, were.

But the nearly 550 displaced people sheltering in the Holy Family Church still mistrust the Israeli military. The church has been attacked so many times before – despite Israeli guarantees that it does not target places of worship.

Many of those people remain traumatised and try to rebuild the semblance of a normal life.

“My heart is still heavy with the tragedies and exhaustion we lived through during the war,” Nowzand Terzi told Al Jazeera, as she stood outside the Holy Family Church’s courtyard watching the worshippers without engaging them.

“We were displaced here under bombardment two years ago. I lost my home in an Israeli strike, and then I lost my daughter, who fell suddenly ill last year and passed away,” said Terzi as her voice choked after remembering her 27-year-old daughter – who did not make it on time to hospital because of the war.

“May God help those who have lost their loved ones, and may conditions in the Gaza Strip calm down,” she said, wishing peace and safety for all.

It’s a wish that resonates across the Gaza Strip, where nearly two million people are dealing with continued Israeli attacks and violations of the ceasefire, lack of food, lack of medicine, lack of shelter and basic services.

More than 288,000 families in Gaza are enduring a shelter crisis as Israeli restrictions on humanitarian supplies worsen conditions for Palestinians displaced by the war, the territory’s Government Media Office says.

More than 80 percent of buildings across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during the war, according to UN figures, forcing enormous displacement.

Edward Sabah is just 18 years old, but he knows well the tragedy of war and displacement. He was forced to leave his home during the war and took shelter in the Saint Porphyrius Church in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City. The church was bombed on October 19, 2023, in an Israeli attack that killed 18 people.

“We were gathered in the church courtyard … We were talking normally with other displaced people when suddenly a massive explosion hit one of the church buildings,” Sabah recalls.

“We never expected the church to be targeted, but it happened. Everything unexpected happened during the war. Bombing was everywhere,” he said, adding that he and his family survived and later moved to another church, where they lived for a year and a half.

“During the past two Christmases, we tried very hard to create an atmosphere, but it was extremely sad,” he said. But he is also full of hope and the desire to live.

“This year it’s less intense, but we’re still afraid of what might happen. Still, we decorated the church and tried to create a joyous atmosphere,” Sabah said, adding that he hopes to complete his high school education.

This Christmas has brought joy and a sense of relief to many Christians in the Gaza Strip and in the rest of Palestine. Many Palestinians talk about their sense of belonging and attachment to their land despite all the hardships, tragedies and wars.

That’s why Janet Massadm, a 32-year-old woman from Gaza, decided to style her hair and put on new clothes to celebrate Christmas for the first time in two years.

“We are tired of grief, loss, displacement, and fear that have taken so much from our lives and our years,” Massadm said emotionally.

“Inside, I am completely exhausted because of what we have witnessed,” she added. “But what can we do? We must try to create joy and happiness.”

Like many Christians in Gaza, Massadm was displaced to the church with her family, her parents, brother, and sister, fleeing bombardment in the Remal neighbourhood of central Gaza City.

“I hope the war does not return,” she said. “That people reunite with their loved ones, that we witness a better future, and that Gaza is rebuilt soon.”

Gaza’s Christians reflected on the loss they’ve experienced after two years of Israel’s devastating war, as Palestinians marked the first Christmas since the fragile ceasefire deal.