Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

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.

The Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs called on the international community to immediately intervene to halt Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in the city, reported Middle East Eye.

In a statement, the ministry said demolition in the East Jerusalem neighbourhoods represents the “blatant” sense of racial discrimination in Israeli policies regarding displacing Palestinians and evacuating the city.

The Israeli military said on Monday that it conducted an air strike in southern Lebanon, targeting two members of Hezbollah in the Sidon area.

In a post on X, the military said targeted members were attempting to “rehabilitate Hezbollah military infrastructure in the area. These attempts constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon".

Palestinian Health Ministry said at least four people were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza during 48 hours, bringing the total death toll to 405 since the ceasefire on October 10, reported Middle East Eye.

At least eight bodies were recovered from beneath tonnes of rubble in the same period, bringing the total number of recovered bodies to 649.

Israeli bulldozers tore through a four-storey residential building in east Jerusalem on Monday, displacing scores of Palestinians in what activists said was the largest such demolition in the area this year.

The building, located in the Silwan neighbourhood near the Old City, comprised a dozen apartments housing approximately 100 people, many of them women, children and elderly residents.

It was the latest in a series of buildings to be torn down as Israeli officials target what they describe as unauthorised structures in annexed east Jerusalem.

"The demolition is a tragedy for all residents," Eid Shawar, who lives in the building, told AFP.

"They broke down the door while we were asleep and told us we could only change our clothes and take essential papers and documents," said the father of five.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney.

"Jews have the right to live in safety everywhere. But we see and fully understand what is happening, and we have a certain historical experience. Today, Jews are being hunted across the world," Saar said at a public candle lighting marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

"Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!" Saar said at the ceremony, held with leaders of Jewish communities and organisations worldwide.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced a surge in antisemitism in Western countries and accused their governments of failing to curb it.

Australian authorities have said the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah event on Sydney's Bondi Beach was inspired by the ideology of Daesh.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Western governments to better protect their Jewish citizens.

"I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide," Netanyahu said in a video address.

US Senator Lindsey Graham accused Hamas and Hezbollah of rearming during a visit to Israel on Sunday, and charged that the Palestinian resistance group was also consolidating power in Gaza.

"My impression is that Hamas is not disarming, they are rearming," Graham said in a video statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

"It’s my impression that they are trying to consolidate power (and) not give it up in Gaza."

"My impression is that Hezbollah is trying to make more weapons [...] That's not an acceptable outcome," he said.

"On both counts you are right," responded Netanyahu, praising the senator as a "great friend of Israel".