Palestinians in Gaza are reacting to a possible shift in the world's attention away from the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to a new regional conflict with Iran. Israel closed all crossings into the territory of over 2 million people in the wake of its new strikes on Tehran. The Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza said it closed the crossings because they cannot not be safely operated under fire. It said crossings would reopen as soon as the security situation allows. Palestinians fear new lack of access to food and other basic necessities from the outside world. Memories of hunger during last year's Israeli blockade remain fresh. The latest conflict comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump rallied billions of dollars in pledges for Gaza's reconstruction.

Israeli forces have targeted two United Nations facilities as part of their crackdown on the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. On Tuesday, crews bulldozed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's offices in Sheikh Jarrah and fired tear gas at a vocational school in Qalandia. The agency's West Bank director, Roland Friedrich, said this marks the culmination of two years of measures against UNRWA in east Jerusalem. Israel's Foreign Ministry said the demolition enforced a new law banning UNRWA, claiming the agency has ties with militant groups. The U.N. has denied these claims. Israel has long claimed the agency has an anti-Israel bias, often with little evidence.

Israeli settlers are celebrating the inauguration of a new settlement in the West Bank on land where Israel and the U.S. once hoped to build a hospital for Palestinian children. The new settlement is called Yatziv and it was inaugurated on Monday at a ceremony attended by key settler leaders, including Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. To settlers, the site is emblematic of how far their movement has come and how emboldened they are now under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government and with President Donald Trump in office. Palestinians nearby say the land was originally theirs and the ever-expanding construction hems them in and makes it nearly impossible to establish a viable independent state.

A grandmother and her 5-year-old grandson have burned to death in Gaza when their tent caught fire. Thousands of Palestinians are enduring colder weather in makeshift housing. The shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. But the death toll continues to grow and aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza. American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Friday. Rafah is the only crossing between the territory and a country other than Israel. And it remains closed despite Palestinian requests to reopen it to people and aid.

Thousands of people have flocked to Bethlehem's Manger Square on Christmas Eve, after two years of subdued Christmas celebrations because of the war in Gaza. The giant Christmas tree returned, and scouts groups marched and played festive music on Wednesday. Bethlehem had canceled celebrations the past two years due to the Israel-Hamas war. The city where Christians believe Jesus was born relies heavily on tourism that has been severely impacted. Residents are hopeful as domestic tourism slowly returns. Christmas has always been crucial for Bethlehem's economy. Many are thrilled to celebrate Christmas again, hoping for a brighter future and lasting peace.

Israel says it has received remains handed over by Palestinian militants in Gaza to the Red Cross. They are believed to be of one of two dead hostages still in Gaza, an Israeli and a Thai national. Israel's government said Tuesday the remains had been taken for forensics testing. Palestinian media say they were found in Gaza's northern town of Beit Lahiya. Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire began on Oct. 10, 20 living hostages and the remains of 26 others have already been returned to Israel.

The U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, set up to distribute aid to Gaza as an alternative to the United Nations but which Palestinians said endangered the lives of civilians as they tried to get food, has said it will shutter operations. The company had already closed distribution sites after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect six weeks ago in Gaza. It announced Monday that it was permanently shutting down, claiming it had fulfilled its mission. Also Monday, Israel's defense minister and its military's chief of staff clashed publicly over the army's latest probes of its failures in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian militants that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.

The U.N. Security Council has backed the United States' plan for the future of the Gaza Strip. How and when it will be carried out remains largely unknown. In a twist unimaginable across the tumultuous history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the plan would mean U.S. President Donald Trump becomes the de facto ruler of Gaza. The territory remains devastated by Israel's campaign to eliminate Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. An international body chaired by Trump is to govern Gaza and oversee reconstruction under a 2-year, renewable U.N. mandate. An armed International Stabilization Force is to keep security and ensure the disarming of Hamas. Major questions hang over nearly every part of the plan.