Israel strikes Gaza, targeting Hamas leader

Israeli police on Monday raided the East Jerusalem headquarters of UNRWA, the U.N. agency representing Palestinian refugees, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, an action that Israeli officials said was instead carried out under the authority of the Jerusalem Municipality over what it alleged were unpaid property taxes.

Lazzarini said that property, including IT equipment, was seized, and he said the U.N. flag was pulled down and replaced by an Israeli flag.

"This latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect & respect the inviolability of UN premises," Lazzarini wrote on social media.

An Israeli police spokesperson told ABC News, "The referenced action is being carried out by the Jerusalem Municipality as part of a debt-collection procedure. Police are present to secure the municipality’s activity." ABC News has asked the Israeli police for additional information.

The seizure of UNRWA equipment by the municipality followed years of accusations against the U.N. agency by Israeli officials, who have said the organization's ranks include members of Hamas or other terror groups. Twelve members of UNRWA staff were fired for their alleged involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, according to the U.N.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called in January 2024 for the agency to be replaced, saying, "UNRWA is totally infiltrated with Hamas."

Israel's legislative body, the Knesset, voted in October 2024 to ban UNRWA from operating in Israel, including in East Jerusalem. Another bill passed at the same time prohibited Israeli government agencies, including those operating in the West Bank or Gaza, from working with UNRWA.

Lazzarini said in a statement that the East Jerusalem compound was vacated near the beginning of 2025, when that “anti-UNRWA legislation” came into effect.

Officials with the U.N. pushed back on the Israeli clam that the agency's compound had been subject to debt collection. Lazzarini in his statement on Monday said the U.N. "property and assets [are] immune from legal process" under the U.N.'s 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities.

Under that convention, which Israel ratified in September 1949, a few months after it joined the U.N. as a full member state, the Israeli government was obligated to not tax local U.N. property. The International Court of Justice in an advisory opinion issued in October 2025 said that Israel continued to be subject to its obligations under that convention.

That advisory opinion said the U.N. had not been able to substantiate Israel's January 2024 claims that UNRWA had had lost its neutrality and that about 1,462 of UNRWA staffers -- more than 10% of the agency -- were members or Hamas or other terror organizations. As such, the advisory opinion said, Israel continued to be obligated to facilitate UNWRA in its efforts to bring aid to the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian areas.

The Jerusalem Municipality in a statement published by Reuters said the UNRWA compound had unpaid property taxes totalling about $3.4 million.

The municipality reportedly said in a statement that it had not received replies to "repeated requests, warnings and numerous opportunities given to settle" the alleged debt, though the U.N. disputed that.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called the raid an "unauthorized entry," saying he "strongly" condemned the action.

"This compound is inviolable & immune from any other form of interference," Guterres said in a statement posted to social media. "I urge Israel to immediately take all necessary steps to restore, preserve & uphold the inviolability of UNRWA premises & to refrain from taking any further action with regard to these premises."

-ABC News' Guy Davies

This post has been updated.

Israel Defense Forces chief Eyal Zamir addressed troops in Gaza on Sunday, referring to the "yellow line" currently splitting Gaza in half as a "new border line."

"We will not allow Hamas to reestablish itself," Zamir said. "We have operational control over extensive parts of the Gaza Strip and we will remain on those defense lines. The yellow line is a new border line -- serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity."

Israeli forces withdrew to the yellow line in October as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas. That partial withdrawal left Israeli forces in control of more than half of the strip.

The yellow line was intended as the first of three demarcation lines, to which Israeli forces would withdraw as the ceasefire progressed through its three stages.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Victoria Beaule

In a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel cannot accept a Palestinian state.

He stressed that Israel will retain full security control from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, rejecting any arrangement that would allow a Palestinian state to threaten its existence.

"The goal of a Palestinian state is to destroy the only Jewish state. They already had a state in Gaza, a de facto state, and it was used to try to destroy the only Jewish state," Netanyahu said.

While he said broader peace with Arab states remains possible, Netanyahu added that Israel will not agree to the creation of a state that will "commit to the destruction" of Israel at its doorstep. He also warned of a resurgence in global antisemitism and defended Israel’s military actions as a response to existential threats from Iran and its proxies.

Netanyahu highlighted a historic shift in Israel–Germany relations, noting that 80 years after the Holocaust, Israel is now helping to defend Germany – a historic change, as he described it.

Answering press questions, when asked if he would leave politics in exchange for a pardon, Netanyahu responded in Hebrew: "No, no."

Regarding the second phase of the peace plan, he emphasized that Hamas must disarm and said the second phase of the peace plan is "close."

“We’ll be having very important conversations at the end of the month on how to ensure that this second stage is achieved," Netanyahu said, referring to his planned visit to the White House to meet President Trump at the end of the month.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

The U.S. is preparing to announce a transition into the second phase of its Gaza 20-point peace plan in the coming weeks, according to a U.S. official, as the U.S. and its allies seek to maintain a fragile ceasefire brokered between Hamas and Israel in October.

The announcement would include the unveiling of a new governance structure in Gaza led by a Board of Peace, along with the launching of an International Stabilization Force to help secure the area.

President Donald Trump is expected to soon reveal the individuals and countries involved in those mechanisms as part of his announcement.

Ahead of the planned announcement, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz will head to the Middle East on Saturday. He is expected to travel to Jordan and Israel.

The 20-point Gaza peace plan was bolstered by a mandate secured by the United Nations Security Council in November, after member-countries voted in support of a resolution approving the plan.

Under the resolution, the ISF will work with Israel and Egypt, along with a newly trained and vetted Palestinian police force, to help secure border areas and ensure the process of permanently disarming non-state armed groups, including Hamas.

Waltz told the council that the ISF would be "tasked with securing the area, supporting the demilitarization of Gaza, dismantling the terrorist infrastructure, removing weapons, and ensuring the safety of Palestinian civilians."

The U.N. Security Council approved the creation of a transitional governance body called the Board of Peace that would supervise governance of a Palestinian technocratic, apolitical committee and oversee the reconstruction of Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Financing for reconstruction of Gaza following two years of war would come from a trust fund backed by the World Bank, according to the resolution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly expected to meet President Trump in the U.S. before the end of the month to discuss the next phase of the Gaza peace plan.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan