Updates: Baby freezes to death in Gaza as Israeli aid restrictions continue

That’s a wrap from us.

You can read our story on the impact of severe weather on war-torn Gaza here.

Or learn more about Israel’s expansion push in the occupied West Bank here.

And for all our coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the ongoing ceasefire process, go here.

This live page will soon be closed. Here were today’s top updates:

• An infant died from the cold, and another victim died in a building that collapsed due to rain, as storms continue to afflict displaced Palestinians in Gaza.
• Israel said it targeted two Hezbollah members in separate attacks, in the latest violation of the year-old ceasefire agreement.
• Several UN Security Council members decried a record year in Israeli settlement expansion and violence, saying it could undermine a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.
• A Hamas official decried Israeli violations of the ceasefire, saying it could derail the agreement as phase two is negotiated.

In al-Mufaqara, a village in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, the night feels different.

Instead of rest or sleep, it is marked by vigilance and worry for the village’s men who guard against attacks by Israeli settlers from nearby illegal settlements and outposts.

Al-Mufaqara is home to about 23 families comprising 220 people, including 50 children. Its inhabitants rely on herding, agriculture, and animal husbandry.

When the sun sets, their vigil begins as they gather on a high hill overlooking the village, where they sit surrounded by old tyres, stacked to make a wall to protect them from the cold wind.

Their laughter pierces the darkness, but it cannot hide the fear that pervades the space.

“Our task isn’t easy, but it’s also not impossible,” one of them says.

“The night is ours, as long as we guard it.”

Read more here.

Health authorities have said two infants have died from cold in Gaza in recent days, with another man killed by a building that collapsed due to rain.

Storm Byron has underscored the vulnerability of thousands of displaced Palestinians, as the UN and other aid groups appeal for Israel to allow the material needed for shelters to enter the enclave.

Watch more below:

The White House has released a fact sheet detailing a “proclamation” signed by Trump that further restricts the rights of certain passport holders from entering the US.

On the list are people with passports issued by the Palestinian Authority (PA).

“Several US-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens,” the fact sheet read.

American citizens have recently been killed by the Israeli government and settlers in the occupied West Bank during ongoing daily attacks against Palestinians there.

“In light of these factors, and considering the weak or nonexistent control exercised over these areas by the PA, individuals attempting to travel on PA-issued or endorsed travel documents cannot currently be properly vetted and approved for entry into the United States,” the statement said.

Mourners crowded the streets of Tuqu in the occupied West Bank to say goodbye to 16-year-old Ammar Sabah, who was killed by Israeli troops on Monday.

Watch below for scenes from the ground:

A Muslim American group has sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for designating it a “foreign terrorist organisation”, accusing the right-wing politician of violating its free speech rights over its Palestine advocacy.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its Florida chapter filed the lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday to revoke the state decree that blacklisted the organisation.

CAIR, which has been a leading organisation in pro-Palestine advocacy in the US, said DeSantis had no legal basis to make the designation, which “rests on political rhetoric and imposes sweeping legal consequences on a domestic civil rights organisation because of its viewpoints and advocacy”.

The lawsuit was filed amid a spike in Islamophobia and right-wing calls for targeting Muslim groups in the United States.

Read more here.

Netanyahu’s office has decried the International Criminal Court’s rejection on Monday of its bid to block an ongoing investigation into war crimes in Gaza.

In a statement, the office called the decision by the court’s appeals chamber “political and not judicial”. The appeals chamber decided not to overturn a decision by the ICC’s pre-trial chamber to allow the investigation.

“This ruling will not deter Israel from fulfilling its fundamental duty, defending its citizens and its state, in full accordance with the genuine principles of international law, as we have always done, and as we always will,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Israel is not a member of the ICC, but Palestine is. Court officials have determined that Israel’s conduct in Palestinian territory, therefore, may be investigated.

Read more about Monday’s decision here.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in  occupied Palestinian territory says the “space to monitor and document human rights violations and abuses, seek accountability for injustices, or organise and advocate for human rights is steadily shrinking”.

It pointed to intensified repression of journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and local and international nongovernmental organisations.

That has included the killing of at least 289 journalists in Gaza by the Israeli military throughout the war, according to the report. It also includes Israel using a 2016 counterterrorism law and emergency defence powers against Palestinian organisations to “justify raids of their offices, constrain funding and operations, and arrest staff”.

The report added that the Palestinian Authority is partially to blame “through its unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, arbitrary detentions, torture and other ill-treatment of journalists, human rights defenders, and government critics”.

The Israeli prime minister is to hold a “decisive” meeting on a US proposal for phase two of the Gaza ceasefire on Thursday, Israel’s Channel 13 reports.

The report said the Israeli army will present possible scenarios at the meeting, including options for accepting Trump’s plan and preparations to resume fighting.

While a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel went into effect in October, the second phase of the deal – which concerns the future governance of Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the deployment of an international stabilisation force – has only been agreed to in principle.

Netanyahu is to visit the US and meet Trump this month.

Health authorities in Gaza say at least two infants have died from exposure.

As we’ve been reporting, that included the death of two-week-old Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair announced today.

Officials said Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries have made preparing for the rain and cold of winter impossible.

“People have reportedly died due to the collapse of damaged buildings where families were sheltering. Children have reportedly died from exposure to the cold,” UNRWA said in its latest statement.

“This must stop,” it added. “Aid must be allowed in at scale, now.”

Storm Byron is worsening the already dire living conditions of thousands of people living in tents or damaged shelters.

While #UNRWAworks to support displaced families, the Israeli Authorities have been blocking UNRWA from directly bringing aid into the #Gaza Strip for months.… pic.twitter.com/gVP0ZM9uc7

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 16, 2025

Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 54 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to a report published by the Defense for Children International’s Palestine (DCIP) organisation.

It said Israeli forces used live ammunition during raids across the West Bank, resulting in the deliberate killing of children. The organisation documented multiple cases of children shot during military operations.

Among them was eight-year-old Jannat Mutawar, who was shot in the head while inside her home in Hebron during an Israeli raid. The DCIP said she was trying to pull her younger brother away from a window and now faces permanent vision loss.

Thirteen-year-old Amr Ali Ahmad Qabha was shot seven times after unknowingly approaching an Israeli military position, the DCIP said. Soldiers allegedly blocked paramedics and his father from reaching him for 40 minutes while he was still alive, allowing access only after his death.

The organisation added that Israeli authorities have withheld the bodies of at least 62 Palestinian children from their families since June 2016.

Israeli forces have detained two Palestinians in the latest round of raids and demolitions across the occupied West Bank.

One man in his 50s was detained at a home in Azzun village near Qalqilya, according to the Wafa news agency. Another man was detained at a checkpoint south of Bethlehem.

As we reported earlier, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society reports about 9,300 Palestinians are in Israeli detention.

At least 3,500 of the detainees from the West Bank remain held as “administrative detainees” without charges or trials.

The army says in a statement on X that it has ordered the demolition of “several structures” in the refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

This confirms what local officials said yesterday, when Abdallah Kamil, the governor of the Tulkarem governorate where Nur Shams is located, told the AFP news agency that he was informed of the planned demolition by the Israeli Defence Ministry body COGAT.

Faisal Salama, the head of the popular committee for the Tulkarem camp, which is near Nur Shams, said the demolition order would affect 100 family homes.

Israel launched Operation Iron Wall in the occupied West Bank in January. It says the campaign is aimed at combating armed groups in refugee camps in the northern West Bank.

Lawyers representing eight Palestine Action hunger strikers held in UK prisons say the lives of the detainees are at risk.

The hunger strikers are charged in connection with direct action protests against a defence firm and an air force base.

Watch below for more:

Riyad Mansour has warned the Security Council against any efforts to separate Gaza from the West Bank before the long-awaited second phase of the ceasefire.

“Gaza is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory and of the State of Palestine, as affirmed by this council. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip constitute a single territorial unit. Their unity, integrity and status must be preserved,” Mansour said.

“Israel must fully and without delay withdraw from the Gaza Strip, as affirmed by this council. This is essential for the success of any international stabilisation force,” he said.

He referred to reported comments last week by the Israeli army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, who said the “yellow line”, which demarcates the area of Gaza still occupied by Israeli forces, is Israel’s new “borderline” with Gaza.

“Israel is confessing its aim to transform the yellow line into a border and to partition and annex Gaza and continues to pursue the forced displacement of its population,” Mansour said. “This must end.”

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has confirmed that one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the Marjayoun district in the country’s south.

It also reported that one person was killed and five others were wounded in a separate strike on a truck between the towns of Siblain and Jadra in the Chouf district.

Israel earlier said it had targeted Hezbollah fighters in two separate strikes. Repeated Israeli violations of the year-old ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel have threatened renewed escalation.