West Bank legalisations and Smotrich's strategy

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Legal and settlements reporter Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Defense Minister Israel Katz told settlements leaders on Tuesday that, “With God’s help when the time comes, we will also establish… pioneer groups in northern Gaza, in place of the settlements that were evacuated.” He later walked back his statements, but not before Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich doubled down on them and also pushed for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convince US President Donald Trump to recognize annexation of the West Bank in his upcoming US trip. We dive into the issues of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in the first half of the program.

The IPC famine monitoring organization stated on Friday that food security conditions in the entire Gaza Strip “remain critical,” in a new report covering the second half of October and all of November that classified the territory as being in its “Emergency” Phase 4 category — the fourth highest of its five levels of food insecurity. Sharon explains Israel's criticism of the report and raises the question of whether the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry has been manipulating its numbers of war casualties.

Earlier this month, the High Court of Justice ruled unanimously 7-0 to annul the government’s decision to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, asserting that the government had failed to provide legal justification for its decision to change the way an AG is fired, and determining that the new system it designed was fundamentally flawed. Sharon reviews the decision and updates us on the ongoing existential crisis between the government and the court.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Katz vows Israel will build settlements in northern Gaza, later walks back comments

Dozens of settler activists enter Gaza, plant Israeli flags in bid to resettle enclave

PA accuses Israel of ‘tightening colonial control’ over West Bank with new settlements

Government announces 19 new West Bank settlements and legalized outposts

IPC monitor says ‘famine conditions’ over but Gaza food security still ‘critical’; Israel rejects findings

Israel says famine monitor did not seek aid facilitators’ input for upcoming Gaza report

High Court annuls firing of attorney general; cabinet ministers urge defiance of ruling

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IMAGE: A tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, December 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

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