Live: Major clashes break out near Bethlehem after Israeli raid
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One of Hamas's most important public figures, Abu Obeida, served as the military spokesperson for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Palestinian group's military wing, for nearly two decades until being killed in an Israeli air strike in August.
His profile increased dramatically since the Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel in October 2023, and the subsequent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
Best known for his speeches, during which he provided battlefield updates, Abu Obeida would often boast about Hamas's military achievements, and taunt Israel, which in return made several attempts to kill him.
For that reason, Abu Obeida's real identity was never revealed. However on Monday, Hamas formally announced his death and said that his real name was Huthaifa Samir al-Kahlout.
While details about Abu Obeida’s early life are limited, in 2005, he told a reporter his family were forcibly expelled by Zionist militias from historic Palestine in 1948, arriving at a village in the Gaza Strip that he did not name. During the same interview, he implied he was in his early 20s, which indicated he was born in the early to mid-1980s.
A hero for many in the Arabic-speaking world, Abu Obeida's name was often chanted at pro-Palestine rallies and songs would also be sung in his honour.
His seniority in Hamas earned him a place on Washington's sanctions list, along with other leaders of the Palestinian movement.
Read more: Who was Abu Obeida, Hamas's military spokesman?
Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, introduced a new spokesman on Monday and confirmed the death of his predecessor in an Israeli strike on Gaza City in August.
In a prerecorded speech aired on Arab media, the new spokesman revealed that his predecessor, known by the nom de guerre Abu Obeida, was actually Huthaifa Samir al-Kahlout.
The new spokesman, whose identity is unknown, is also taking on the same nom de guerre.
This is the first time Hamas has officially confirmed Kahlout's identity, after he had served as the al-Qassam Brigades spokesman and head of its military unit for two decades without ever revealing his face.
“We mourn the great leader Huthaifa Samir al-Kahlout, Abu Ibrahim, the head of al-Qassam’s media apparatus, who passed away after two decades of frustrating the enemies and uplifting the hearts of the believers,” said the new Abu Obeida.
The African Union (AU) says it rejects any recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state.
The chief of the pan-African body, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, said the move endangered peace and stability across the continent.
"Any attempt to undermine the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Somalia… risks setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent,” he said in a statement.
He also said that Somaliland “remains an integral part of the Federal Republic of Somalia.”
Meanwhile, Somalia said the decision was a "deliberate attack" on its sovereignty that would undermine peace in the region.
Several other countries - including Saudi Arabia - also condemned Israel's decision. President Donald Trump told the New York Post that he had no plans to recognise the breakaway region as an independent state.
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has unsuccessfully for pushed for international recognition for more than three decades.
Students at Birzeit University organized a sit-in in response to students being denied registration, and to demand an improvement in conditions for the student body, Al Jazeera Arabic reported on Friday.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man on Friday near Gaza City in violation of the ceasefire, multiple news outlets reported.
The soldiers opened fire on Uday al-Maqadma as he sat in front of of Hafsa School, which serves as a shelter for displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp, east of Gaza city.
He later died in hospital from a machine gun shot to his head.
Soldiers also wounded a boy in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City on Friday.
Israeli soldiers have killed more than 400 Palestinians in Gaza since the 10 October ceasefire, and committed more than 1,000 violations of the ceasefire.
Israeli settlers attacked farmers plowing their land near Ramallah in the West Bank on Friday and left seven of them wounded, multiple news outlets reported.
The attackers are alleged to have damaged tractors at the site and opened fire on the farmers, leading to clashes that left seven Palestinians and one settler wounded.
Earlier on Friday, in another part of the West Bank, Israeli settlers assaulted farmers in Khirbet Yarza village and tried to prevent them from accessing their farmlands.
Israeli troops then arrived and detained the farmers. It is unclear how many are being detained.
Hundreds of demonstrators protested at a major shopping center in London in support of 24 imprisoned British activists on Friday.
The protestors blocked escalators and storefronts at Westfield Stratford during Boxing Day sales to support the activists from Palestine Action, who were arrested earlier this year for allegedly breaking in to factories owned Israeli military technology company Elbit Systems' and a Royal Air Force base in Oxford.
The activists face charges of aggravated criminal damage.
Shoppers expressed anger over access to stores being blocked.
No arrests were reported.
Eight of the activists started a hunger strike on 2 November over prison conditions and bail denials.
UN experts warned the hunger strikers are at risk of organ failure or death.
Four are now pausing their hunger strike, while the four remaining have vowed to continue.
Major clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers on Friday evening near Bethlehem, Wafa news agency reported.
Israeli soldiers stormed the town of Artas, four kilometres southwest of Bethlehem, sparking an uprising from Palestinian residents.
Israeli soldiers proceeded to launch stun grenades and fire tear gas on to residents.
The incident occurred one day after the town of Bethlehem - which is where Jesus is said to be born according to Christian tradition - resumed Christmas celebrations after two years of a war waged by Israel on Gaza.
The World Health Organisation provided a major Gaza hospital with enough fuel on Friday to operate for around two days after it announced it would have to suspend several services due to shortages.
Earlier on Friday, a senior official at Al-Awda hospital said it would have to suspend several services due to a diesel shortags and would only operate the emergency unit, maternity and paediatric wards.
The official - Ahmed Mehanna - said later on Friday that Al-Awda would resume some operations on Friday after receiving additional fuel but warned the supplies would only last about two days.
The Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza's Nuseirat district receives nearly 1,000 people seeking medical treatment each day, and cares for around 60 inpatients.
Under normal conditions, it consumes between 1,000 and 1,200 litres of diesel per day, but it only had around 800 litres available.
Mehanna said that 2,500 litres of fuel had arrived from the World Health Organisation and they had "immediately resumed operations."
Two years ago, more than two months into what became Israel's genocide in Gaza, Reverend Munther Isaac of Bethlehem's Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church proclaimed that "Christ is under the rubble".
The nativity display next to him, which lasted through 2024, said as much.
The figure of a newborn Jesus Christ, swaddled in a Palestinian keffiyeh, lay in a pile of rubble. No Christmas tree was lit, and the celebrations slated for Christ's birthplace were cancelled.
On 10 October 2025, a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in Gaza.
While there have been nearly 1,000 violations by Israeli forces since then, according to the Gaza Government Media Office, Palestinians have found reprieve from round-the-clock air strikes, and a suffocating blockade of food and medicine.
Now, Bethlehem has turned its Christmas lights back on, and its Palestinian leadership prayed the tourists, with Israel's permission, would return.
You can read more here.
A group of UN human rights experts warned the UK government that eight pro-Palestine activists on hunger strike in UK prisons risk organ failure and death after seven weeks of hunger strike.
The seven experts who work independently of each other said the activists' decision to refuse food reflected a "measure of last resort" taken by people who believe "their right to protest and effect remedy have been exhausted".
Among the UN experts who signed the statement are Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, and Gina Romero, UN special rapporteur on the freedom of peaceful assembly.
"The State's duty of care toward hunger strikers is heightened, not diminished," the experts said.
"Authorities must ensure timely access to emergency and hospital care when clinically indicated, refrain from actions that may amount to pressure or retaliation, and respect medical ethics."
You can read more here.
A major hospital in the Gaza Strip said on Friday it had suspended several services because of critical fuel shortages, AFP reported.
Ahmed Mehanna, a senior official involved in managing Al-Awda hospital said that most services have been temporarily stopped due to a shortage of the fuel needed for the generators.
"Only essential departments remain operational: the emergency unit, maternity ward and paediatrics," he said.
He added the hospital has been forced to rent a small generator to keep even those three departments running.
Under normal conditions, Al-Awda Hospital consumes between 1,000 and 1,200 litres of diesel per day. At present, however, it has only 800 litres available.
"We stress that this shutdown is temporary and linked to the availability of fuel," Mehanna said, warning that a prolonged fuel shortage "would pose a direct threat to the hospital's ability to deliver basic services".
The Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza's Nuseirat district cares for around 60 in-patients and receives nearly 1,000 people seeking medical treatment each day.
Khitam Ayada, 30, who has taken refuge in Nuseirat, said she had gone to the facility after days of kidney pain.
But "they told me they didn't have electricity to perform an X-ray... and that they couldn't treat me," the displaced woman told AFP.
"We lack everything in our lives, even the most basic medical services," she added.
Hospital official Mehanna urged local and international organisations to intervene swiftly to ensure a steady fuel supply.
Despite a ceasefire being in place since October 10, the Gaza Strip remains engulfed in a severe humanitarian crisis because Israel is not allowing the volume of aid agreed to in the ceasefire (600 trucks per day) to come into the territory.
Only 100 to 300 trucks carrying humanitarian assistance can currently enter, according to the United Nations and non-governmental organisations.
Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty conducted phone calls with his Somalian, Turkish and Djiboutian counterparts on Friday to discuss their concerns over Israel's recognition of Somaliland, Reuters reported.
The ministers criticised Israel's recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland and reaffirmed their full support for Somalia's unity.
The ministers warned that recognizing breakaway entities poses a threat to international peace and security.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 after Somalia descended into civil war.
The breakaway region has not received recognition from any other country.
Israeli soldiers detained Palestinian farmers near Tubas in the West Bank on Thursday.
The head of Khirbet Yarza village council, Mukhlis Masa'id, told Wafa news agency that Israeli troops have held the farmers for hours after they were attending to their land in the village. It is unclear how many are being detained.
Masa'id also said that prior to being detained by police, Israeli settlers assaulted the farmers and tried to prevent them from accessing their farmlands.
Attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have increased since Israel's war on Gaza commenced in 2023, with the highest number of incidencts on record being recorded in October.
Only half of Gaza’s health facilities are partially operational, due to medicine and equipment shortages, according to a statement by the World Health Organization.
The statement added that over 100,000 children and 37,000 pregnant and lactating women are vulnerable to acute malnutrition by April 2026.
The Organization called for the “urgent and unconditional” entry of medical aid in Gaza.
