Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

Countries including Britain, Canada and Germany and others condemned the Israeli security cabinet's approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they violated international law and risked fuelling instability.

"We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements," said a joint statement released by Britain, which also included Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.

"We recall that such unilateral actions, as part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk fuelling instability," the statement added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of violating the Gaza ceasefire by refusing to disarm, and said Israel would retaliate after a military officer was wounded by what the military described as a bomb.

In a speech at a graduation ceremony for Air Force pilots, Netanyahu mentioned the attack in Rafah, part of Gaza where Israeli forces still operate, and said Hamas had made clear it had no plan to disarm as foreseen under the October truce deal.

"Israel will respond accordingly," he said.

The Israeli army said that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip.

Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas's armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad.

The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in "a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet", Israel's internal security agency.

Zaqut "belonged to the financial department of the armed wing" of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.

"Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel," he said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Hamas political bureau officials in Ankara to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and advancing the agreement to its second phase, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.

The source said the Hamas officials told Fidan that they had fulfilled their requirements as part of the ceasefire deal, but that Israel's continued targeting of Gaza aimed to prevent the agreement from moving to the next phase.

The Hamas members also said humanitarian aid entering Gaza was not sufficient, and that goods like medication, equipment for housing, and fuel were needed, the source added. 

The UN has warned of deepening humanitarian needs in Palestine amid Israeli military aggression and illegal settler violence which continue to put Palestinians at risk, reported TRT World.

"Over the past two weeks, OCHA has documented further incidents resulting in the killing and injury of Palestinians," said UN's OCHA, adding that six Palestinians were killed, including five by Israeli forces and one by an Israeli settler, from December 9  to December 22.

The UN further pointed out that over 100 Palestinians [were] displaced due to demolitions and evictions over the past two weeks, including 63 in East Jerusalem and the rest in Area C.

Belgium on Tuesday joined a case brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The UN's highest court, based in The Hague, said in a statement that Brussels had filed a declaration of intervention.

But Belgium's intervention does not mean it fully supports South Africa's accusations, nor that it defends Israel, but that it intends to clarify its interpretation of international law in the context of the case.

Several countries including Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Turkey have already joined the case.

In December 2023, South Africa brought a case to the United Nations' highest court in The Hague, alleging Israel's Gaza offensive breached the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Israel denies the accusation.

Israel's defence minister denied any intention to resettle the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after earlier remarks that suggested Israel would one day want to do so, comments at odds with US President Donald Trump's plan for the Palestinian enclave.

Defence Minister Israel Katz, speaking at a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the military would never leave all of Gaza and planned to station a type of unit — Nahal — that has historically played a role in establishing Israeli communities, including settlements.

After some Israeli media reported the comment as a plan to resettle Gaza, where Israel dismantled settlements in 2005, Katz issued a statement saying, "The government has no intention of establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip."

According to the US-backed Gaza plan signed by Israel and Hamas in October, the Israeli military will gradually withdraw completely from the coastal enclave and Israel will not re-establish civilian settlements there.

British police said on Tuesday they would take no further action over comments made about the Israeli military during a performance by punk duo Bob Vylan at the Glastonbury music festival in June.

"We have concluded, after reviewing all the evidence, that it does not meet the criminal threshold outlined by the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) for any person to be prosecuted," Avon and Somerset Police said.

The performance by Bob Vylan included on-stage chants by lead singer Bobby Vylan of "death, death to the IDF", a reference to the Israel Defense Forces which was heavily involved in fighting in Gaza.

There was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction, the police said.

The force said it interviewed a man in his mid-30s and contacted about 200 members of the public during the investigation.

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.