Palestinian group Hamas has announced its readiness to hand over administrative responsibilities in Gaza to an independent committee. The group also stated that it does not intend to be part of any future governing structure in the territory. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said on Thursday that they are waiting for the formation of the independent committee to oversee Gaza’s administration and that Hamas will facilitate the transfer process and assist the committee’s work.

Qassem emphasized that Hamas has decided to remain outside any administrative framework managing the Gaza Strip. His statement follows the decision made at the emergency Arab summit on Gaza in March 2024, which rejected any forced displacement of Palestinians. The summit’s plan proposed forming a temporary administrative committee for six months to manage Gaza during a transitional period.

According to the plan, the interim body will be independent, composed of neutral technocrats, and operate under the Palestinian government’s authority.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported on Wednesday that Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank have created a suffocating environment for Palestinians. The report stated that Israel has systematically implemented discriminatory measures targeting Palestinians, including severe restrictions on their movement, disrupting normal life across the territory. It called on Israel to withdraw all Jewish settlements from the West Bank, comparing the situation to apartheid-era racial segregation in South Africa.

The report highlighted that two separate legal systems are applied to Jewish settlers and Palestinians, resulting in land confiscation and deprivation of resources for Palestinians. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Palestinians’ rights in the West Bank are being systematically suppressed, and that Israel’s discriminatory laws and practices have imposed control over all aspects of life in the occupied territory.

The report also noted that since Israel’s military actions in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has intensified, leaving over 1,100 Palestinians dead and at least 21,000 arrested. Israel has also approved plans for 19 new Jewish settlements in December.

Israeli forces carried out multiple airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday despite an ongoing ceasefire, killing at least 14 Palestinians, including five children, according to a Friday report by Al Jazeera. The attacks targeted several areas, including Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, where four displaced Palestinians living in tents were killed. Four more deaths were reported in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, while additional strikes in Bureij and Nuseirat in central Gaza killed four others. In northern Gaza’s Jabalia area, an 11-year-old boy named Hamsa Hausu was shot dead.

The ceasefire agreement has been in effect since October 10, but Israeli military operations have continued. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) condemned Thursday’s attacks on displaced Palestinians, calling them war crimes. The group accused Israel of violating the ceasefire and pursuing a plan to displace and eliminate Palestinians under false security pretexts.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israeli attacks since October 11 have killed at least 425 Palestinians and injured 1,206 others.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it has laid off 571 Palestinian employees due to a severe financial crisis. The agency, which has supported Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria for over seven decades, said the layoffs were unavoidable as donations have sharply declined. UNRWA’s spokesperson described the financial situation as unprecedented.

According to the agency, it spent about 880 million dollars in 2025 but received only 570 million in donations, leading to a major deficit. The spokesperson warned that a significant shortfall is expected in 2026 as well. All dismissed employees were based in Gaza but had left before the war began on October 7, 2023, and had been unpaid for more than ten months. The spokesperson said it was impossible to predict when or if they could resume their duties.

Since the war began, more than 300 UNRWA staff members have been killed in Gaza, while about 12,000 continue to work in Palestinian territories. Israel has accused the agency of harboring Hamas members and obstructed its operations in Palestine.

At least two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday in Gaza, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military said the strike was carried out in response to an earlier attack on its soldiers and was aimed at a senior Hamas fighter. Doctors reported that several others were injured when the strike hit a house in Gaza City, but the identities of the deceased were not immediately confirmed. Hamas did not issue any immediate comment on the incident.

The Israeli army stated that Hamas fighters had opened fire on its troops earlier in the day, prompting the retaliatory airstrike. The military claimed the targeted Hamas member had led attacks against Israeli forces, though no Israeli casualties were reported. On the same day, a pro-Israel Palestinian militia in Rafah, southern Gaza, claimed responsibility for killing two Hamas members.

The events reflect continuing hostilities in Gaza, with both Israeli forces and local militias reporting deadly exchanges.

Israeli forces carried out a large-scale detention campaign across the occupied West Bank, arresting numerous Palestinians including a journalist and a teenager, according to Middle East Eye citing local media on Monday. More than 25 people were detained from the Aida refugee camp north of Bethlehem, while journalist Anas Ikhlavi was taken from his home in Idhna near Hebron. A 15-year-old boy, Yazan al-Aloul, was also arrested during a raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm. Additional arrests occurred in Qalqilya, Ramallah, and Tubas.

Residents described the operations as extensive house searches and intimidation tactics. The report noted that Israeli forces regularly conduct night raids in the West Bank, detaining Palestinians during each operation. Since the Gaza war began in 2023, such raids and arrests have increased significantly.

Over the past two years, more than 21,000 Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank, with around 9,250 currently held in Israeli prisons, including 350 children and about 50 women. Human rights groups allege that many detainees face physical and psychological abuse, including torture, starvation, denial of medical care, and solitary confinement.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate reported that Israel committed 99 violations against Palestinian journalists in December 2025, including killings, physical assaults, arrests, and restrictions on news gathering. The report, released on Sunday and cited by Anadolu Agency, stated that Israeli forces continued a systematic policy of targeting Palestinian journalism, resulting in serious breaches of law across the occupied territories.

According to the syndicate’s Freedom Committee, one journalist was killed and two were seriously injured by shelling in Gaza, where two relatives of journalists also died. In the occupied West Bank, 48 journalists were detained. The report documented 15 attacks using tear gas and stun grenades, two attempted vehicle assaults, nine incidents of armed threats, and six verbal threats. It also recorded two cases of beatings, destruction of journalistic equipment, and demolition of two journalists’ homes.

Earlier, Gaza’s Government Media Office said 257 Palestinian journalists had been killed since October 2023. The Gaza Health Ministry added that Israeli forces violated the ceasefire hundreds of times, killing 420 Palestinians and injuring 1,184 since the truce took effect.

Israeli military operations continued in Gaza despite an ongoing ceasefire, as residents faced worsening weather conditions. On Friday, marking the 84th day of the truce, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly instructed the army to prepare for intensified strikes. The military confirmed no orders had been received to reopen the Rafah crossing with Egypt. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, one person was killed and another injured in the past 24 hours, bringing the ceasefire-period toll to 416 dead and 1,153 wounded, with 683 bodies recovered. Over two years of conflict have left 71,271 Palestinians dead and 171,233 injured.

The Palestinian Meteorological Department reported cold and unstable weather across Gaza, warning of heavy rainfall and possible flooding. A child died from severe cold in the Nuseirat refugee camp, raising the death toll from cold-related causes to 18 since December. Separately, a fire in a Gaza refugee camp killed three people, including a woman and a child, and injured five others.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces and settlers jointly attacked Palestinian communities, damaging property and farmland, and arrested over 100 people in one week.

Hollywood actress and former UNHCR special envoy Angelina Jolie visited Egypt’s Rafah border crossing on Friday as part of a humanitarian mission, according to a statement from her representatives. The visit came as Israel announced the suspension of several international aid organizations operating in Gaza for failing to renew registration, requiring them to submit personal data of their staff working in the enclave.

Aid groups have expressed concern that providing such personal data could pose security risks. During her visit, Jolie met with humanitarian workers and inspected a warehouse filled with medical supplies that had been barred from entering Gaza. She emphasized the need to maintain a ceasefire and ensure safe, continuous delivery of aid, fuel, and medical materials without delay.

Ten countries have warned that Gaza’s humanitarian situation is deteriorating further, while Israel claims the new rules aim to prevent Hamas from misusing aid. The UN and aid agencies have rejected that justification, and a U.S. review reportedly found no evidence of large-scale aid theft by Hamas. Gaza remains in crisis amid harsh winter weather, with heavy rain and cold worsening conditions.

Israel has removed Palestinian authority over the historic Ibrahimi Mosque, transferring planning and construction powers to Israeli institutions, according to reports on January 2, 2026. Palestinian officials warned that this move would strengthen Israel’s control over the occupied West Bank city and risk permanently altering the site’s status.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the decision, calling it a direct violation of the mosque’s legal and historical status. The ministry said the cancellation of municipal and Islamic Waqf jurisdiction was part of a broader effort to impose unilateral Israeli control. Palestinian officials also denounced Israel’s approval to build a roof over the mosque’s courtyard, describing it as illegal and contrary to international law and UN resolutions.

The ministry emphasized that the move was not about development but a deliberate attempt to consolidate occupation and forcibly change the character of one of Palestine’s most significant religious and cultural landmarks.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) reported that Israel detained 42 Palestinian journalists during 2025, including eight women. According to the PJS report, arrests occurred across the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and other areas, often during home raids or while journalists were covering news events.

The report noted that although the number of detentions decreased compared to 2023 and 2024, Israeli authorities continued to repeatedly detain prominent journalists without charges or trial, subjecting them to physical and psychological abuse. The PJS documented several cases where journalists were arrested while reporting on military operations and settler attacks.

The syndicate alleged that Israel’s actions aimed to obstruct the dissemination of factual information and truth by targeting journalists engaged in field reporting.

Israeli forces on Wednesday demolished at least 25 buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank. The buildings had housed around 100 families. The Israeli military said the operation was part of an effort to eliminate armed groups operating in the area.

Nur Shams camp has long been a flashpoint for clashes between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces. According to reports, bulldozers and cranes were used in the early morning to destroy the structures, filling the air with thick dust as residents watched from a distance. Resident Mutaz Mahr described the destruction as deeply painful, saying the occupying forces were trying to exhaust and pressure them.

Nihaya al-Jundi, a member of the camp’s popular committee, said hundreds of families had already been displaced earlier in the year before the latest military operations began. She added that more than 1,500 families still cannot return to their homes, calling the situation a major disaster and a severe humanitarian crisis for Palestinian refugees.

Residents of war-torn Gaza are facing extreme hardship amid cold and hostile weather, according to Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). In a post on social media platform X, Lazzarini described worsening conditions with more rainfall, despair, and death, saying Palestinians are living in flooded tents and ruins while essential aid deliveries remain blocked. He added that UNRWA could greatly expand its relief efforts if restrictions on aid supplies were lifted.

Gaza authorities reported that nearly 200,000 prefabricated housing units are urgently needed to meet the humanitarian needs of displaced people affected by the severe weather. Winter storms have flooded thousands of tents across the region, with some blown away, further worsening the crisis. Recent months have seen Gazans struggling against harsh weather, building collapses, and flooding.

According to the report, since October 2023, Israeli military actions in Gaza have killed more than 71,200 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,200 others.

A Palestinian woman was killed and several of her family members were injured when a building collapsed during a severe storm in Gaza City on Sunday, according to medical sources cited by Anadolu Agency. The wall of a damaged house in the Al-Rimal area fell onto the woman’s tent. The house had previously been damaged in an Israeli airstrike.

Heavy rain and strong winds overnight flooded or destroyed thousands of tents sheltering displaced people across Gaza, eyewitnesses and reporters said. In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis coastal area, hundreds of tents were inundated by high waves caused by a low-pressure system. The harsh weather has created serious danger for displaced Palestinians living in fragile tents or damaged buildings, many of which were hit repeatedly since October 2023.

International organizations have accused Israel of blocking aid and essential supplies from entering Gaza since the start of its military operations. The report said more than 71,200 people have been killed and over 171,200 injured in Gaza since October 2023, most of them women and children.

Thousands of Palestinians displaced by two years of Israeli military operations in Gaza are facing severe hardship as winter rains flood their makeshift tents. A strong low-pressure system brought heavy rain and gusty winds across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, further worsening conditions for families already living in temporary shelters. Meteorologist Laith al-Allami told Anadolu Agency that this was the third low-pressure system of the season, with a fourth expected to begin on Monday.

Since Israeli attacks began in 2023, many families have been living in tents after their homes were destroyed or damaged. Local authorities warned that continued rainfall could escalate into a full storm. Displaced residents described collapsing tents, lack of income, and difficulty obtaining clothing and bedding for children. Earlier this month, heavy rains inundated camps and temporary shelters across Gaza.

At least 15 people, including three children, have died this December due to hypothermia and collapsing structures amid the cold, wet weather. Humanitarian organizations have urged that more shelters and relief supplies be allowed into the territory.