Updates: Israel launches strikes as Netanyahu joins Gaza ‘board of peace’

For more on Netanyahu joining Trump’s “board of peace”, look here.

To see how Palestinians view the ceasefire’s second phase, read this.

And for all our coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict, look here.

This live page will soon close. Here are the day’s main developments:

• Israel’s deadly attacks continue with at least five Palestinians killed – despite the President Trump-brokered ceasefire.
• The latest victims, a 13-year-old boy and a woman, 32, were killed by Israeli gunfire east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
• Israeli forces shelled areas in northern, central and southern Gaza while an attack helicopter opened fire on Palestinians in the middle area.
• Palestinian officials and residents say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appointment to President Trump’s “board of peace” is a hurdle to peace that could help Israel delay the withdrawal of its troops in Gaza.
• Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, says Israel has no legal right to seize the UN compound in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

China says it stands by the United Nations’ central role in the international order, following a remark by Trump that his new board of peace might some day replace the organisation.

Without rejecting the idea outright, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun, pushed back when asked about Trump’s comment at a news conference in Beijing today.

“No matter how the international landscape may evolve, China will stay firmly committed to safeguarding the international system with the UN at its core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” he said.

Trump was asked whether the board might someday replace the UN during a news conference at the White House on Tuesday. The president replied, “Well, it might.”

Beijing on Tuesday acknowledged receiving an invitation from the United States to join the board but declined to say whether it would accept when asked about it today.

Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti says it appears ⁠problematic for Italy to join the so-called board of peace promoted by US President Donald ⁠Trump to govern Gaza.

Speaking at an event in Rome to present the ‌Winter Olympics being held in Italy next month, Giorgetti ‌said, judging ‌from news reports ⁠he read, “it seems there are some ‌problems” regarding Italy’s participation.

He didn’t elaborate.

Criticism is growing in the international community that Trump intends to use his Gaza “board of peace” to eventually replace the United Nations.

For Palestinians, the appointment of Benjamin Netanyahu to the “board of peace” is not just shocking but deeply offensive – he is seen by many as the mastermind of the genocide.

He is viewed as responsible for mass killings, displacement and the destruction of civilian life. From that perspective, how can someone accused of these crimes be branded a peacemaker?

The population is still burying its dead – this is impunity dressed up as diplomacy.

It raises questions about international peace mechanisms, the role of the board of peace, and how it would contribute to long-term stabilisation. There is a growing sense of frustration among families here in Gaza.

Egypt has accepted an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join the “Board of Peace”, according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

“The Arab Republic of Egypt welcomes the invitation extended by US President Donald Trump to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to join the Board of Peace,” it said.

“Egypt announces its acceptance of the invitation and its commitment to fulfilling the relevant legal and constitutional procedures.”

The statement praised Trump’s role in Gaza diplomacy, saying Egypt “reiterates its appreciation for the leadership of US President Donald Trump and his commitment to ending the war in Gaza and establishing security, peace, and stability in the Middle East”.

Egypt said it supports the board of peace’s mission as part of what it described as “the second phase of the comprehensive plan to end the conflict in Gaza”.

Norway’s government says it will not join the “Board of Peace” initiated by President Trump, who has vented his frustration at the Nordic country after being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.

“The American proposal raises a number of questions” requiring “further dialogue with the United States”, State Secretary Kristoffer Thoner said in a statement.

“Norway will therefore not join the proposed arrangements for the board of peace, and will therefore not attend a signing ceremony in Davos,” Thoner added.

In a message to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Monday, Trump said that, since having been denied the Nobel Peace Prize, he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of peace”.

Azerbaijan has accepted an invitation from Trump to become a founding member of the “board of peace”.

The committee was unveiled as part of phase two of the ceasefire with Hamas to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Numerous world leaders have been invited to join the body, which Trump envisages overseeing governance in the battered Palestinian enclave.

“The Republic of Azerbaijan accepted the said invitation and informed the US side of its intention to become a founding member state of the Peace Council,” a government statement said.

An official letter confirming Azerbaijan’s membership will be sent to Washington and “relevant measures will be taken within the framework of the required procedures,” it added.

“Azerbaijan, as always, is ready to actively contribute to international cooperation, peace and stability,” the statement said.

The Israeli military said its forces shot and killed a person in the southern Gaza Strip overnight, claiming the individual crossed a “restricted line” and approached soldiers.

No further details were provided.

More than 480 Palestinians – including at least 169 children and 64 women – have been killed since the ceasefire with Israel came into effect in October 2025, Gaza’s Health Ministry says. Most have been killed in army attacks, while others have died due to severe weather conditions in the war-battered Strip.

Palestinian officials and residents see Netanyahu’s appointment to the “board of peace” as a hurdle to peace that could help Israel delay the withdrawal of its troops in Gaza beyond the yellow line by appeasing Trump.

Although Palestinian officials have not officially responded to the Israeli leader’s acceptance of the invitation to join the board, they see Netanyahu as an obstacle to any attempt by the Trump administration to move forward on phase two of the ceasefire.

The key point, really, is the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which is something that the Israelis are not intending to do. But can Netanyahu say “no” bluntly to Trump? We don’t think so, and that’s why he’s accepting this membership.

Whether he’s going to fulfil the duties that were presented by the Trump peace plan, that’s yet to be seen. But there’s a lot, a lot of scepticism here.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has told reporters in Davos his country will not participate ⁠in Trump’s “board of peace” initiative ⁠under the text presented so ‌far.

Norway and France have also said they won’t join the initiative, which was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of post-war Gaza, amid concerns Trump intends for the body to replace the UN, which he has repeatedly criticised.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday: “Yes to implementing the peace plan presented by the president of the United States, which we wholeheartedly support, but no to creating an organisation as it has been presented, which would replace the United Nations.”

The rejections have come amid soaring tensions between Washington and its European NATO partners over Trump’s stated intention to annex Greenland.

As we reported earlier, Netanyahu said he accepted the invitation to join the board, which would comprise world leaders and be chaired for life by Trump.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, says Israel has no legal right to seize the UN compound in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, calling the move a blatant violation of international law.

“Contrary to reports in the media, the Israeli Government does not own or have rights to the property that houses UNRWA’s Sheikh Jarrah compound in East Jerusalem,” Lazzarini said in a statement.

“The Israeli Government’s claims are false and illegal. There has never been a transfer of property.”

UNRWA has leased the land from the Jordanian government since 1952, and it is now being seized “in blatant breach of international law”, Lazzarini said.

He also pointed to international rulings on Israel’s presence in East Jerusalem, saying: “The International Court of Justice and the UN General Assembly have determined that Israel’s presence in East Jerusalem is illegal and must end as rapidly as possible.”

The Israeli military says it carried out an attack on Burj Shemali, near the southern city of Tyre, claiming it targeted a member of Hezbollah.

The area includes a Palestinian refugee camp.

In a separate statement, the army said it launched an air strike on the Sidon region of southern Lebanon, targeting what it described as a Hezbollah fighter. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 300 people in Lebanon since the November 2024 ceasefire, including at least 127 civilians.