The BBC reports that Israeli forces appear to have unintentionally killed a 16-year-old Palestinian girl amid a gun battle with militants in the occupied West Bank. The body of Jana Zakarneh was found on the roof of her house in Jenin after the firefight on Sunday night. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of killing the teenager “in cold blood”.

The Guardian reports on our main story, that Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has elected one of its members as temporary speaker of Israel’s Knesset, an unusual decision that will allow his incoming far-right and religious coalition to advance sweeping legislative changes before a government is officially sworn in.

Reuters reports that the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Israel have ratified their comprehensive economic partnership agreement, as announced by UAE minister of state for foreign trade, Thani Al Zeyoudi, on Twitter on Sunday. The free trade agreement, which was first signed in May, will remove, or reduce tariffs on 96% of goods traded between the nations.

Reuters also reports Israel’s Energy Ministry said it would seek bids on four zones in the east Mediterranean from energy companies interested in exploring for natural gas. Large gas deposits were discovered in the area over the past decade and a half, and Israel hopes more will be found to increase reserves and advance a deal to supply gas to Europe, which is looking for new energy sources.

The Guardian reports that courts in and around the Iranian capital have jailed 400 people on charges related to recent protests, for terms of up to 10 years. Ali Alghasi-Mehr, the judiciary chief for Tehran province, said judges had handed down the rulings to “rioters” – a term officials use for all demonstrators who defy Iran’s hardline theocratic rule.

Reuters and the Daily Mail report that Iran appears set to be ousted from a U.N. women’s body on Wednesday for policies contrary to the rights of women and girls, but that several countries are expected to abstain from the vote requested by the United States. The 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution to “remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term.”

Israeli media reports the IDF saying that there is a “high probability” that the death of Jana Zakarna in Jenin on Sunday was caused by an Israeli forces’ bullet fired during exchanges of gunfire with armed Palestinian militants. The army stated that it “regrets any harm to non-involved people, even those who are in a combat environment and in the exchange of fire near the armed terrorists”, adding that “the claim that the security forces shot at non-involved people on purpose is unfounded and baseless.”

Maariv discusses disagreements between the IDF and the Border Police over the report into Zakarna’s death. The army’s quickly-published initial findings suggested that the bullet was fired by a Border Police member, a conclusion the Border Police feel has been hastily reached. The IDF stands behind its findings and argues that its report implies no blame to the officer in question.

Army Radio reports IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi’s claimed responsibility for November’s attack on a convoy of oil tanker trucks on the Syrian-Iraqi border, one of which contained Iranian weapons bound for Syria and Lebanon.

Yediot Ahronot’s Elisha Ben Kimon describes likely points of friction with the US and European nations over the incoming government’s potential West Bank policy. Pushback would come, they say, from: “lethal Israeli military operations in the West Bank; a decision to evict the residents of Khan al-Ahmar [a Bedouin settlement along Route 1, to the east of Jerusalem]; a decision to evict the residents of Masafer Yatta [a collection of Palestinian villages in Area C and known to the IDF as Firing Zone 918]; a decision to evict the residents of Sussiya [a group of Palestinian communities in Area C, whose residents are due to present a petition to remain before the High Court in January]; and a decision to build in E1 [adjacent to Maale Adumim and a point of connection between Bethlehem and Jericho].”

Maariv’s Anna Barsky reports on MKs Yuli Edelstein (Likud, and a former Knesset speaker) and Orit Struck (Religious Zionism) attempting to enable the resettlement of Homesh and perhaps three other former settlements that were removed by the Sharon government in 2005, by tabling a bill in Knesset to repeal the application of the disengagement law to the northern West Bank. The bill has been signed by 35 MKs representing all factions of the incoming government. Ynet quotes Edelstein as saying “we gave up territories and we received missiles. If we give up the Disengagement Law, we will get life”.

On a related theme, Makor Rishon reports optimism from West Bank settler officials regarding the incoming coalition’s likely authorisation of expanded settlement construction in the territory. According to the terms of the coalition agreement reached between Likud and Religious Zionism, the latter’s newly-created role in the Defence Ministry will have oversight over the authorisation of new settlement building, but will need the agreement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yediot Ahronot reports former Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh’s commenting that if the proposed measures giving incoming National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir unprecedented control over the force had been implemented during his own period of service, he would have resigned. “I would not agree to be the commissioner of a political party”, Alsheikh said. “I know what the law says and the danger is very simple. I can guarantee that he [Ben Gvir] will achieve the opposite result of what he’s seeking vis-à-vis personal security… I am concerned for the fate of the State of Israel… When the law enforcement system is subject to external political interference, then my trust and the trust of many of the citizens of the State of Israel will drop dramatically, and when it drops, we will in an anarchy here.” The same source reports that Labour leader Merav Michaeli and her colleague, outgoing Minister of Internal Security Omer Barlev, are working to scupper the subordfination of the force to Ben Gvir’s ministry.

Maariv reports on the serious injuries sustained by a 16-year-old at a school in Rehovot yesterday, when a group of assailants jumped the school’s fence before stabbing him. Director General of the Ministry of Education, Dalit Strauber, said of the incident (which is not terrorism-related) that “both students and teachers feel the lack of protection. This is due, among other things, to the devaluation of the teacher’s status and the aggressive discourse against them.”

Ynet reports on Czech President Miloš Zeman’s request to Prime Minister Petr Fiala that his country’s embassy in Israel be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Zeman would like to see the move made before his term in office ends in the coming months, but is likely to face opposition both from within the governing coalition and from the EU, on whom the Czech’s are heavily dependent, particularly with regard to Russia and energy supplies.