Updates: Israel escalates strikes on Lebanon, displaces dozens in Jerusalem

This live page is closed. Thanks for joining our coverage.

To learn about Israel’s latest deadly attack on Gaza, go here.

For an explainer on how Israel is redrawing the occupied West Bank via illegal settlement, go here.

And for all our coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, go here.

This live page will close soon. But before we go, here’s a look at some of the latest developments:

• The Israeli army carried out a large-scale demolition operation in the southern city of Khan Younis, Gaza.
• Earlier, the army killed two Palestinians in Gaza City, in another violation of the fragile ceasefire.
• Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he would raise the issue of what he calls Iran’s aggressive actions during his upcoming meeting with US President Trump. Behind the scenes, it’s reported that he will try to convince Trump to ramp up pressure on Iran, and even to let Israel mount another offensive against the country.
• Israel also launched attacks near the outskirts of Sidon, Lebanon, killing at least three people. The city of Sidon is only about 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Beirut.
• Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he expects the second phase of the Gaza truce to start in early 2026.

Israeli forces have raided the centre of Tulkarem, as well as the towns of Anabta and Kafr al-Labad, east of Tulkarem, Wafa reported.

The military fired live ammunition and stun grenades, but no injuries were reported. A Palestinian man from the town of Anabta, who had been released from jail, was arrested, according to the Palestinian outlet.

Separate raids were also reported across the occupied West Bank, including in the towns of Kobar, Kardala and Silwad.

The Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, says his country should be allowed to end Hamas’s existence in Gaza, according to Israeli media.

Smotrich called on Netanyahu to convince US President Trump on the issue during his meeting with him next week.

The finance minister made the remarks before his hard-right Religious Zionist Party’s weekly meeting in the Knesset.

Israel’s two-year genocidal war on Gaza has killed nearly 71,000 people. Though Israel continues to kill Palestinians in Gaza daily, the casualty rate has significantly fallen since the Trump-backed ceasefire went into effect on October 11 this year.

The non-partisan think tank says the move by the Israeli cabinet effectively wipes out half of Israel’s independent public news broadcasts and that such a sweeping measure must be brought before parliament.

“The decision to shut down a public media organisation is not an isolated move. It is part of a broader and worrying pattern of ongoing harm to Israeli democracy,” the IDI said in a statement published online.

Israel’s cabinet voted on Monday to shut down the popular national radio station, one in a series of measures by the government that critics see as blows to democracy.

Here’s a look at the latest developments:

• Two Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli forces near the Shujayea court, in the east of Gaza City, according to medical sources cited by the Wafa news agency.
• The Gaza Media Office said Israel violated the truce 875 times since it went into effect in October.
• Israeli bulldozers have demolished a residential building in occupied East Jerusalem, displacing dozens of Palestinians.
• Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he expects the second phase of the Gaza truce to start in early 2026.
• Three people have been killed by an Israeli air strike in the Sidon district of southern Lebanon.
• Netanyahu said Israel is aware that Iran has been conducting “exercises” recently, adding that Tehran’s nuclear activities will be discussed with US President Donald Trump.

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israel’s military carried out a large-scale demolition operation in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, using explosives to demolish several residential buildings.

Israeli bombardment and ground operations in Gaza have transformed entire neighbourhoods into rubble-strewn wastelands.

Additionally, satellite imagery revealed that Israeli forces in Gaza have continued to demolish civilian buildings during the ceasefire in areas under their control, in breach of the truce deal.

Israel’s defence industry is making record profits, with its weapons manufacturers marketing their products as “battle-tested”, using images of strikes on Gaza as proof of their purported success.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reports:

An Israeli army drone has fired a sound grenade towards the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab, extremely close to the Israeli border in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon, the country’s state-run National News Agency reported.

The military then proceeded to conduct search operations in the area, according to the Lebanese news agency, reaching the outskirts of the town of Aitaroun.

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, says he plans to visit Israel next year along with several other countries and regions.

In his first interview with international media since declaring his presidential ambitions earlier this month, the senator told the Reuters news agency that he was planning to travel abroad in January.

Stops may include the United States, Argentina, Chile, Israel, Europe and the Middle East, he said.

Bolsonaro also said he planned a presidential campaign next year to moderate the family legacy while delivering smaller government, tax cuts and privatisations.

Bloomberg reports that the US is pushing to hold a conference on the reconstruction of Gaza, as Trump looks to renew momentum behind the ceasefire there.

Israel violates the ceasefire daily and has killed hundreds of Palestinians since it went into effect on October 10.

Bloomberg reported that the conference could take place in Washington, DC, as early as next month. Egypt is also being considered to host the conference.

Israel is seen as being opposed to movement towards the second phase of the ceasefire, as well as any international involvement in the governance of Gaza.

Six prisoners currently on remand and linked to the banned group Palestine Action have gone on hunger strike, prompting warnings from hundreds of United Kingdom healthcare professionals that they face an immediate risk to their lives.

The prisoners are accused of involvement in break-ins at a UK factory operated by Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit, near Bristol and a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire last year, during which two military planes were spray-painted.

All six individuals deny the charges, which relate to criminal damage and unauthorised entry. Some have been held in custody for more than a year while awaiting trial.

Two of the hunger strikers were hospitalised last week, as family members raised concerns about prison conditions and a lack of government action.

So why are the six prisoners on hunger strike?

Read more here.

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians who were forced out of their homes in occupied East Jerusalem as Israeli forces demolished a four-storey residential building, displacing about 100 people on Monday.

It was the latest in a series of demolitions targeting Palestinian homes in the area.

Watch our NewsFeed video below:

Protesters closed down Route 4 in central Israel – a vital highway – in both directions as they decry the arrest of a Haredi draft dodger, police quoted by the Israeli media say.

While Israeli law requires everyone over the age of 18 to perform compulsory military service, the exemption of Haredi men has been a subject of debate in the country for years.

On June 25, 2024, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that there was no legal basis for exempting Haredi men from compulsory military service and that those eligible should be conscripted.

Israeli authorities have issued demolition orders for six homes in Tarqumiyah, west of Hebron, the office of the Palestinian prime minister has said.

Netanyahu’s government has made the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory a priority. The United Nations has said Israeli settlement expansions in 2025 have reached their highest level since 2017.

Human rights organisations have warned that Israel is using home demolitions to seize and control territory across the occupied West Bank. Under the current far-right government, the number of settlements and outposts in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem has risen by nearly 50 percent – from 141 in 2022 to 210 now.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is aware Iran has been conducting “exercises” recently, adding that Tehran’s nuclear activities will be discussed with US President Donald Trump.

In his remarks alongside the Greek and Cypriot leaders in West Jerusalem, Netanyahu was quoted as saying by the Israeli media: “We are monitoring this and making the necessary preparations. I want to make it clear to Iran: any action against Israel will be met with a very harsh response.”

Netanyahu did not elaborate on his reference to Iranian exercises.

Israeli settlers have opened fire on a vehicle near the entrance to the village of Marah Rabah, south of Bethlehem, injuring one of its passengers, the Wafa news agency reported.

Hussain al-Sheikh, head of the Marah Rabah village council, told the Palestinian outlet that the settlers were also travelling in a car when they opened fire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement as he was speaking during a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in West Jerusalem.

Netanyahu also said the three countries intended to advance the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, an initiative to connect India to Europe via the Middle East by sea and rail.

Over this summer, dock workers and other protesters at Piraeus port in Athens rallied against unloading a shipment they claim included steel destined for Israeli military projects. Other ships tied to Israel were blocked as well.