Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was released from custody after being arrested on Tuesday in London at a pro-Palestinian protest, police said.

UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign that said "I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide". The British government has proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group.

City of London Police said Thunberg had been bailed until March.

Defence Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday vowed Israel will remain in Gaza and pledged to establish outposts in the north of the Palestinian territory, according to a video of a speech published by Israeli media.

Speaking at an event in the Israeli settlement of Beit El in the occupied West Bank, Katz said: "We are deep inside Gaza, and we will never leave Gaza — there will be no such thing."

"We are there to protect, to prevent what happened (from happening again)," he added, according to a video published by Israeli news site Ynet.

"When the time comes, God willing, we will establish in northern Gaza, Nahal outposts in place of the communities that were uprooted," Katz said, referring to military-agricultural settlements set up by Israeli soldiers.

"We will do this in the right way and at the appropriate time."

When her children, trembling with fear, ask where the family can go to escape Israel's continued bombardment in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis area, Umm Ahmed has no answer.

In her small, devastated village near Khan Yunis city, recent Israeli strikes shattered the tenuous sense of peace delivered by a ceasefire that has largely held since October 10.

Residents say the attacks have targeted neighbourhoods east of the so-called Israeli-controlled Yellow Line — a demarcation established under the truce between Israel and Hamas.

Many fear being forced from their homes, compelled to move west of the Yellow Line.

"We don't sleep at night because of fear. The bombardments in the east are relentless," said Umm Ahmed, 40.

"My children tremble at every explosion and ask me, 'Where can we go?' And I have no answer."

"Staying close to our destroyed home is easier than facing the unknown," Umm Ahmed said.

Crossing the Yellow Line to Al Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis, is not an option for them.

"There is no place left for anyone there, and not enough food or water," Umm Ahmed said, as Gaza remains trapped in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

Israel's cabinet voted on Monday to shut down a popular national radio station, one in a series of measures by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition that critics see as blows to democracy.

Defence Minister Israel Katz had proposed that Army Radio, broadcasting since the early days of the state, will be shut down by March 1, 2026, in what he described as an attempt to preserve the military's nonpartisan character.

Its original purpose, Katz said in a statement, had been to broadcast for Israel's soldiers but that with time it served as a platform for views that "attack the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) and the IDF soldiers themselves".

Army Radio is among two state-funded news outlets in Israel, the other being public broadcaster KAN that operates a television news channel, several radio stations and a popular digital platform. Both are editorially independent.

Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa mosque complex on Sunday under heavy military protection, carrying out rituals inside the compound, with footage circulating online as the visit coincided with the seventh day of Hanukkah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he will discuss Iran's nuclear activities during his visit next week with US President Donald Trump.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel was aware Iran had been conducting "exercises" recently, without elaborating.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian state media reported Iran had held missile drills in various cities during the day, the second such reported exercise in a month.

Western powers regard Iran's ballistic missile arsenal as both a conventional military threat to Middle East stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons should Tehran develop them. It denies any intent to build atomic bombs.

Turkiye expects the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal to begin early in 2026, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday, following talks with US, Qatari and Egyptian officials in Miami over the weekend.

Speaking at a press conference in Damascus, Fidan said the discussions focused on obstacles to advancing the deal to its next phase, adding that the priority was for Gaza’s governance to be taken over by a Palestinian-led group.