Updates: Israel kills 7 Palestinians in Gaza as deadly violations intensify

See how an Israeli drone chased and killed an elderly woman in Gaza as attacks continue here.

Read our story on Bethlehem lighting up its Christmas tree for the first time in three years here.

You can keep up to date on Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and the dire situation in the occupied West Bank here.

This live page will be closing soon. Here are the day’s top developments:

• At least seven Palestinians were killed in northern Gaza, including a 70-year-old woman and her son, who were stalked and then attacked by an Israeli quadcopter drone.
• At least 367 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the first full day of the truce on October 11, the Health Ministry announced.
• The Israeli army announced two “terrorists” were killed in Hebron, the occupied West Bank, after a vehicle raced towards a military checkpoint.
• Qatar and Egypt called for the swift deployment of the so-called Gaza stabilisation force after warning the truce is at a “critical moment”.
• Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said at the Doha Forum that the Rafah crossing will not become a “displacement gateway”, days after Israel said it would open the crossing “exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt”.
• Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said the international community has continued to “neglect its responsibilities” as Israel maintains restrictions on the free-flow of aid to Gaza.

A senior official from Saudi Arabia says a two-state solution is the only way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Manal Radwan, an official in the Foreign Ministry, told the Doha Forum 2025 that US President Trump’s peace plan is clear and there should not be efforts to diverge from it.

“We cannot be open to redefinition and renegotiation of what we have already agreed to and also what was issued as a Security Council resolution that was passed and welcomed by all parties,” Radwan said.

“So we cannot go back and redefine what we mean by ceasefire, what we mean even by disarmament, what we mean by a Palestinian-led process in governing Gaza,” she added.

“Almost everyone in the international community agrees that the two-state solution is the only solution forward. If that is so, then it is asking people what it is that they are going to do to bring this implementation and make it possible.”

The group says an alleged car-ramming incident in Hebron that saw the Israeli army fatally shoot two people reflects mounting anger over Israel’s occupation and “daily crimes” against Palestinians.

“The continuation of the criminal Zionist occupation in its oppressive practices, its continuous attacks on citizens, its desecration of holy places, and its attempts to annex and displace” will bring “more confrontation”, Hamas said.

Israeli forces have stormed the town of Hizma, north of East Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank.

Soldiers also set up a military checkpoint at the entrance to the town, checking the identity cards of Palestinian residents and searching their cars. So far, no arrests have been reported, according to the Wafa news agency.

The incursion is the latest in the occupied Palestinian territory as Israeli troops continue violent assaults and mass arrests. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced over the past two years.

A United Nations delegation visiting Lebanon says it came to Beirut to explore options for territory along the border with Israel after a UN peacekeeping force’s term ends at the end of next year.

The comments by the team representing the 15 members of the UN Security Council came a day after Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told them his country will need a follow-up force in southern Lebanon to fill the vacuum once the UN peacekeepers’ term expires.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously in August to terminate the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, at the end of 2026 – nearly five decades after the force was deployed.

The multinational force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in the region, including during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year.

One of UNIFIL’s main missions has been the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006. The same resolution was used again to end the latest 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November last year.

“We wanted to use [the] opportunity of this visit to also examine options for implementation of resolution 1701 following UNIFIL’s departure from Lebanon,” said Samuel Zbogar, permanent representative of Slovenia to the UN and president of the Security Council.

“We are looking forward to the secretary general recommendations on this one as well,” Zbogar said in a statement. “As you can imagine, this is a topic that will deserve a thorough conversation during 2026.”

The European Union has renewed sanctions against eight Israeli settlers and four groups for another year, extending measures targeting those accused of violence against Palestinians and blocking aid to Gaza.

The December 4 decision extends existing sanctions until December 2026 on activist group Tzav 9, which the EU says has violently blocked humanitarian aid trucks since January 2024, and radical settler group Hilltop Youth, accused of systematic attacks on Palestinian communities.

Among those sanctioned are Baruch Marzel, founder of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party now led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Yinon Levi, who shot and killed human rights defender Awdah Hathaleen in July.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for Gulf countries has announced a new Qatar Red Crescent donation for a field hospital in Rafah.

The $1.2m contribution “will help sustain critical medical services for civilians in Gaza”, the ICRC said in a social media post.

The Israeli army has announced two people have been killed in Hebron, the occupied West Bank, during “operation activity”.

In a short statement on Telegram, the army said two people accelerated their car towards soldiers at a security checkpoint.

“The soldiers fired at the terrorists and eliminated them,” it said.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty’s remarks at the Doha Forum come after Israel this week said it would open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt “exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt”.

Egypt has denied agreeing to such a move, insisting the crossing be opened both ways – as prescribed under the ceasefire agreement.

Israel’s announcement drew criticism from Muslim-majority nations that said on Friday they opposed “any attempts to expel the Palestinian people from their land”.

Rafah “is not going to be a gateway for displacement”, Abdelatty reiterated.

Friedrich Merz is making his first visit to Israel since taking office as German chancellor.

Germany has long been one of Israel’s staunchest allies – and one of its largest providers of military aid.

But with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for his military’s actions in Gaza, Merz’s Middle East trip is causing divisions at home.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane reports from Berlin:

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has praised the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip following talks with King Abdullah in the Jordanian city of Aqaba.

“We share relief that the ceasefire in Gaza has stabilised after more than two months. But now, the start of the second phase must begin. This includes that we finally remove the support base for Hamas’s terror,” Merz said.

He called for more humanitarian aid in Gaza before winter. Israel continues to block crucial items such as tents, tarpaulins, and blankets. It also continues deadly attacks on Gaza with more than 360 Palestinians killed since the ceasefire began on October 10.

On the occupied West Bank, the chancellor said Berlin is not losing sight of the situation and ongoing settlement expansion, adding, “There can be no steps towards annexation in the West Bank.”

Following his visit, Merz flew to West Jerusalem and was welcomed by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He’ll meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

Israeli soldiers seized a farm tractor east of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank.

The Wafa news agency, citing local sources, reported Israeli troops stormed the northern area of the town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya, and seized the tractor belonging to Palestinian farmer Muhammad Ayman Majd after detaining him for hours.

Earlier, Israeli forces arrested five young men from the town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya, after raiding their homes.

Let’s bring you up to speed on the latest developments:

• At least seven Palestinians have been killed across Gaza as Israel launched drone attacks and opened machine-gun fire despite last month’s ceasefire agreement.
• Among the dead was a 70-year-old woman and her son, 25, who were chased by a quadcopter and then gunned down from the air.
• At least 367 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the first full day of the truce on October 11, according to the latest figures from the enclave’s Health Ministry.
• Mediators Qatar and Egypt have called for the swift deployment of the so-called Gaza stabilisation force after warning the truce is at a “critical moment”.
• Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians across the occupied West Bank with violence reported near East Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem.

The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) says it filed a criminal complaint in Spain requesting the “urgent arrest” of Benayau Nahum, an Israeli soldier it accused of war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

HRF said Nahum served in the 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the 900th Kfir Brigade, which it said was involved in the destruction of northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoon in late 2024 and early this year.

“The evidence in HRF’s possession places Benayau Nahum directly on the ground during these operations,” it said.

“It shows his participation in systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, including homes and public buildings, at a time when Beit Hanoon was already largely depopulated and defenseless.”

The Hind Rajab Foundation has sought multiple international arrest warrants for Israeli military members, as well as political leaders, for alleged involvement in war crimes in Gaza.

Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide says the Gaza stabilisation force and Board of Peace must be put in place this month, adding the current ceasefire is “fragile and cannot hold for many more weeks in its current phase”.

Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the international military contingent needs to function as a peacekeeping force.

The international stabilisation force is envisioned as a multinational unit that would deploy to Gaza to secure the borders, maintain security by helping demilitarise Gaza, to help train police, and protect civilians and humanitarian operations, including securing humanitarian corridors.

What countries will contribute troops for the force has yet to be decided.