Israel approves nearly 800 homes in West Bank settlements

Israel has given final approval for 764 houses to be built in three settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move condemned by the Palestinian Authority as undermining regional peace efforts.

The announcement was made by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist who opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.

He said that, since late 2022, when his term in office began, 51,370 housing units have been approved by the government's Higher Planning Council in the West Bank.

The territory is sought by Palestinians for a future state.

The Palestinian Authority and state news agency WAFA called on US President Donald Trump's administration to pressure Israel over its settlement policies.

Washington should urge Israel to "reverse their settlement policies, attempts at annexation and expansion, and the theft of Palestinian land, and to compel them to abide by international legitimacy and international law," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The housing units will be spread out between Hashmonaim, just over the Green Line in central Israel, and Givat Zeev and Beitar Illit near Jerusalem.

Most world powers deem Israel's settlements - on land it captured in a 1967 war - illegal and numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.

"For us, all the settlements are illegal ... and they are contrary to all the resolutions of international legitimacy," said Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee.

Israel said the settlements are critical to its security and cites biblical, historical and political connections to the territory.

Attacks by settlers on Palestinians have been increasing. At least 264 incidents were reported in the West Bank in October, the biggest monthly total since UN officials began tracking such attacks in 2006.

Aid flow into Gaza falls short of ceasefire terms, analysis shows

Aid deliveries into Gaza are falling far short of the amount called for under a US-brokered ceasefire, according to an Associated Press analysis of the Israeli military's figures.

As part of the truce agreement with Hamas, Israel agreed to allow 600 trucks of supplies into the territory each day.

But an average of just 459 lorries a day entered Gaza between 12 October, when the aid flow restarted, and 7 December, according to AP analysis of figures by Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of co-ordinating aid entry.

Cogat said that roughly 18,000 food trucks crossed the border between the ceasefire taking effect and last Sunday, amounting to 70% of all aid that had entered the territory since the truce began.

It estimates that just over 25,700 lorries with supplies have crossed into Gaza - well under the 33,600 that should have entered by Sunday, under the terms of the ceasefire.

Throughout the conflict, the UN and aid groups have said the amount of aid entering the territory is far lower than Cogat claims.

The UN says that 6,545 trucks have been offloaded at Gaza crossings between the start of the ceasefire and 7 December, amounting to about 113 trucks a day, according to its online database.

The UN figures do not include aid lorries sent bilaterally by organisations not working through its network.

A Hamas document on Saturday provided to AP put the number of trucks that have entered at 7,333.

This week, the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs stressed a "dire" need for more Gaza aid, saying that Israeli restrictions have bottlenecked recovery efforts.

Humanitarian groups say a lack of supplies has had harsh effects on many of the terriitory's two million residents, most of whom were forcibly displaced by war.

Food remains scarce as the Palestinian territory struggles to recover from famine, which hit parts of Gaza during the war.

Starving mothers in Gaza are giving birth to malnourished babies, some of whom have died in hospital, according to a recent report by UNICEF.

As winter rain increases, displaced families living in tents have been left exposed to the elements and without supplies to cope with floods and the biting cold.

"Needs far outpace the humanitarian community’s ability to respond, given persistent impediments," the agency wrote in a report on Monday.

"These obstacles include insecurity, customs clearance challenges, delays and denials of cargo at the crossings, and limited routes available for transporting humanitarian supplies within Gaza."

Israel temporarily stopped all aid entry at least once in response to alleged Hamas violations of the ceasefire.

Additional reporting PA