Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

The foreign ministers of Muslim and Arab countries express their deep concern regarding the Israeli statements concerning the opening of the Rafah Crossing in one direction, with the aim of transferring residents of the Gaza Strip into the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar issued a joint statement on Friday, underscoring their absolute rejection of any attempts to expel the Palestinian people from their land.

They stressed the necessity of the full adherence to the plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, including its provisions on keeping the Rafah Crossing open in both directions, ensuring the freedom of movement for the population, and refraining from compelling any resident of the Gaza Strip to leave, rather to create the right conditions for them to stay on their land and participate in building their homeland, within a comprehensive vision aimed at restoring stability and improving their humanitarian conditions.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said that Israeli forces killed a man in the northern occupied West Bank on Friday.

"Bahaa Abdel-Rahman Rashid (38 years old) was killed by Israeli fire in the town of Odala, south of Nablus," the health ministry said in a statement.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said soldiers operating in the Odala area opened fire and hit one person after "a violent confrontation occurred in which terrorists hurled rocks" in the troops’ direction.

It told AFP that Rashid was not among the six individuals killed over the past two weeks.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Friday said his group supported the Lebanese state's pursuit of diplomacy to end Israeli attacks, while also criticising the inclusion of a civilian representative in recent talks with Israel.

The state has chosen "diplomacy to end the aggression and implement" the ceasefire deal "and we support it continuing in this direction", Qassem said in a televised address, but added it was a "misstep" to have appointed a civilian to a ceasefire monitoring committee.

Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades on Wednesday under the auspices of the year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism, a move Lebanon’s president said was to avoid prospects of another war in Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that ceasefire talks with Israel are primarily aimed at stopping Israeli hostilities on Lebanese territory, after the Israeli prime minister's office said the country seeks economic cooperation with its long-time foe.

Germany's opposition party Die Linke (The Left) has censured Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his upcoming visit to Israel this weekend, Al Jazeera reported.

"Merz’s trip to Israel is a declaration of war on international law. He is meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu even though there is an international arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes. A meeting with an alleged war criminal is not a normal state visit," said party's co-chair Jan van Aken.

The politician further termed the resumption of arms supply to Israel as a "political scandal" and said that no weapons should be provided to Tel Aviv as long as it does not publicly back a separate Palestinian state.

Israel's defence budget for 2026 has been set at 112 billion shekels ($34.63 billion), the defence minister's office said on Friday, up from 90 billion shekels budgeted in an earlier draft.

Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich agreed on the defence spending framework as the cabinet has begun debating next year's budget, which needs to be approved by March or could lead to new elections.

Ministers began what is usually a marathon session on Thursday ahead of a vote that could come early on Friday. If it passes, it heads to parliament for its initial vote.

NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has said he will review all of outgoing mayor Eric Adams’ last-minute executive orders once he takes office.

Adams has less than 30 days in office as new mayor's term begins on January 1, 2026.

Mamdani noted Adams is free to issue directives in his final days, but they will face scrutiny under the new administration.

Israel killed at least six people, including children and women, in multiple air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday as it continues to violate the ceasefire agreement on a near-daily basis, the Middle East Eye reported, citing an Al Jazeera report. 

In one strike, Israeli military incinerated a father Fathi Abu Hussein and his eight-year-old son Bilal and ten-year-old son Mohammed in their tent after they targeted the Al-Mawasi tent camp in a 'safe' zone as people slept and then struck the vicinity of a nearby hospital a short while later, Al Jazeera reported.

The strikes also wounded 16 others.