The US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Representative for Syria, Tom Barrack, will visit Israel in the coming days. Barrack will meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other officials.
Britain has threatened to withhold funding from the International Criminal Court over the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
Thomas Brain, Ireland’s Secretary of State for European Union and Security, told Reuters that the Israel boycott law will apply only to imports from the settlements. He declined to provide a date for the law to come into force, but said it “won’t happen this year.” He added that he categorically rejects any accusation that the Irish government is acting in an anti-Semitic manner.
Netanyahu will visit Egypt for the first time in 15 years. The implementation of the second phase of the economic and energy agreements will be discussed.
Yesterday evening, Israel approved Smotrich’s proposal to establish 19 new settlements in Sabra and Shatila, with Trump’s support. Hamas protested, issuing a statement that read: “The announcement by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approving the legalization of 19 new settlements in the West Bank represents a dangerous escalation in the annexation and Judaization project. It reflects the extremist nature of the government, which treats Palestinian land as colonial spoils and desperately seeks to consolidate the settlement system, ultimately aiming for complete control of the West Bank. We affirm that this decision, and similar previous decisions, are a continuation of the policy of land theft and the forcible imposition of colonial realities. This includes the construction of new settlements and the expansion of existing outposts, in clear violation of international law and Security Council resolutions prohibiting settlement activity in all its forms.”
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji: “We have received warnings from Arab and international sources that Israel is preparing for a large-scale military operation against Lebanon.” The warnings to Lebanon began after the US greenlighted Hezbollah’s disarmament, requested by Israel, which is encountering difficulties due to Hezbollah’s refusal.
And now a look at the scenarios opened by Israel, updated at 3:30 PM on December 12. Israeli forces arrested two young men at a checkpoint they set up between Umm Batna and the village of Al-Ajraf, in the Quneitra countryside. The 60 checkpoints set up by Israel in the Quneitra region towards the Hemron Mountains remain active. Finally, the latest group, called “Pioneers of the Basin,” founded in April, is composed of a core of Israeli settlers from the Golan Heights and the West Bank. About two weeks ago, they crossed the border and entered the separation zone in Syria, at two different points, and not for the first time. The settlers gathered to hold a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for a new settlement in the area called the “Naveh El Basin,” in southern Syria, in the Daraa Governorate. Members of the Basin Pioneers say that “settlement in the entire Basin is a natural continuation of the settlement in the Golan Heights and will help stabilize the region, strengthen Israel’s security, and fulfill our historic right to the lands stolen from us.”
A clearing operation from the Ruwaysat al-Alam site toward Kfarshouba in southern Lebanon. Three Israeli artillery shells were recorded hitting Wadi Alma. An Israeli reconnaissance drone is flying low over Qabrikha, Bani Hayyan, Taybeh, Adshit al-Qusayr, and surrounding areas. Israel attacked the Reihan Heights in southern Lebanon.
Israel Army Radio reported a stone-throwing attack in Gush Etzion: an “Israeli” was slightly injured after being hit by stones. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. The car window was shattered, and he sustained a hand injury.
An “Israeli” military vehicle broke down in the northern Gaza Strip due to the storm. “Israeli” soldiers climbed into the vehicle to call for help, and tanks rushed to search for them, but they remained stuck in the mud for hours. According to the Gaza Interior Ministry: “The number of martyrs has risen to 14 since last Wednesday due to the storm.”
According to Hamas: “The collapses and deaths in Gaza are an extension of the war of extermination and a testament to the inability of the international community to provide aid to the Gaza Strip.”
The Palestinian Resistance Committees are on the same wavelength. “Our people need genuine and effective aid and serious solidarity, far from empty slogans.” “We call on our brothers, mediators and guarantors of the agreement, to accelerate the delivery of shelter materials, particularly caravans, prefabricated houses, and tents, to save our displaced people who are braving the cold and rain of winter in harsh humanitarian conditions.”
Israeli helicopter gunships opened fire north of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Jewish sources report the wounding of 110 settlers during clashes with Palestinians and in response to attacks by gangs in “pastoral settlements” in various areas of the West Bank since the beginning of 2025.
Hamas fighters claim responsibility for the attack on Silat al-Harithiya: “by detonating a bomb “Sijjil” guided explosive device targeting an “Israeli” military jeep during the IDF incursion into the city.
The Israeli government has approved the creation of 19 new settlements in the West Bank.
Some of these settlements are completely new, while others have received official approval for formal organization.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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