Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans face flooding of their tents and shelters by heavy rains, and materials for shelters and sandbags are not being allowed to enter the enclave, the UN International Organization for Migration said on Friday.

A total of 12 people dead or missing as a result of the storm, with at least 13 buildings having collapsed and 27,000 tents flooded, the media office of the Hamas-run Gaza government said.

Nearly 795,000 displaced people are at heightened risk of potentially dangerous flooding in low-lying, rubble-filled areas where families are living in unsafe shelters, the IOM said. Insufficient drainage and waste management also heightened the risk of disease outbreak, the UN agency added.

Policy lead of Oxfam in the occupied Palestinian territory Bushra Khalidi has blamed the aid restrictions for devastation by the Storm Byron in Gaza. She said that Palestinians are “wading through sewage, mud and debris” due to the ongoing storm, Al Jazeera reported.

“This is not a failure of preparedness or capacity; it’s the direct result of the systematic obstruction of aid,” Khalidi said.

“The Israeli authorities continue to block the entry of basic shelter materials, fuel and water infrastructure, leaving people exposed to entirely preventable harm. When access is denied, storms become deadly. This suffering is being manufactured by policy, not weather,” she added.

• Storm Byron caused the deaths of at least 14 Palestinians in Gaza after already-damaged structures gave way, leaving people exposed with nothing more than fragile tents for protection.
• The UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on Israel to permit unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza, as Israeli authorities prevented the entry of tents and other critical supplies during the storm.
• Israel carried out widespread air attacks across Lebanon, marking another breach of the ceasefire, and said the strikes targeted Hezbollah facilities.
• A representative for UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that ongoing Israeli operations in the occupied West Bank are causing severe harm, while Israel simultaneously authorized 19 additional settlements deemed illegal under international law.
• Officials at the International Criminal Court, including judges and prosecutors, are facing financial isolation and other obstacles after the United States imposed sanctions in response to the court’s investigation into Israel.

The expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is at its highest level since at least 2017, when the United Nations began tracking such data, according to a report by the UN chief seen by AFP on Friday.

In 2025, "plans for nearly 47,390 housing units were advanced, approved, or tendered, compared with some 26,170 in 2024," the report said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the "relentless" expansion, saying it "continues to fuel tensions, impede access by Palestinians to their land and threaten the viability of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State."

"These figures represent a sharp increase compared to previous years," he added, noting an average of 12,815 housing units were added annually between 2017 and 2022.

Excluding east Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, along with about three million Palestinian residents.

"These developments are further entrenching the unlawful Israeli occupation and violating international law and undermining the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination," Gutteres said.

Guterres also condemned the "continued escalation of violence and tensions in the occupied West Bank," pointing out operations by the Israeli Defence Forces in the northern West Bank that have killed a "high number" of people, displaced residents and destroyed homes and other infrastructure.

International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month to form a UN-authorised stabilization force, two US officials told Reuters, but it remains unclear how Palestinian group Hamas will be disarmed.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the International Stabilisation Force would not fight Hamas. They said lots of countries had expressed interest in contributing and US officials are currently working out the size of the ISF, composition, housing, training and rules of engagement.

Gaza's civil defence agency has said at least 16 people had died in the last 24 hours, including three children who died from exposure to the cold, as a winter storm batters the territory.

Heavy rain from Storm Byron has flooded tents and temporary shelters across the Gaza Strip since late Wednesday, compounding the suffering of the territory's residents, nearly all of whom were displaced during more than two years of war.

Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, told AFP three children had died from exposure to the cold - two in Gaza City and one in Khan Yunis in the south.

Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City confirmed the deaths of Hadeel al-Masri, aged nine, and Taim al-Khawaja, who it said was just several months old.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on Thursday said eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Jazar had died in the nearby tented encampment of Al-Mawasi due to the cold.

The United States Central Command will host a conference in Doha on December 16 with partner nations to plan the International Stabilisation Force for Gaza, two US officials told Reuters on Friday.

More than 25 countries are expected to send representatives to the conference, which will include sessions on the command structure and other issues related to the Gaza force, the officials said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Interior and National Security said that Storm Byron claimed at least 14 lives in Gaza, including women and children, Al Jazeera reported.

The storm unleashed heavy rainfall and winds on the Palestinian enclave, leaving several buildings collapsed and infrastructure damaged.