JERUSALEM, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Israel's cabinet has decided to give legal ​status to 19 settlements in the ​occupied West Bank, including two that were vacated 20 years ago under ⁠a pullout aimed at boosting the country's security and the economy, Israeli media reported.

The Palestinian Authority on Friday condemned the move, announced ​late on Thursday.

Some of the settlements are newly established, ‍while others are older, Israeli ​media said.

Gaza's civil defence agency on Friday said at least 16 people had died in the last 24 hours, including three children who died from exposure to the cold, as a winter storm batters the territory.

Heavy rain from Storm Byron has flooded tents and temporary shelters across the Gaza Strip since late Wednesday, compounding the suffering of the territory's residents, nearly all of whom were displaced during more than two years of war.

A raft of proposed measures from Israel's ruling coalition targeting the media has sparked outrage, with critics warning the planned reforms would deliver a blow to press freedom.

Suggested changes to public broadcasting, coupled with a bid to give permanent powers to the government to ban foreign TV channels which are deemed a threat, come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to seek another term next year.

Iranian authorities have freed a woman who was condemned to hanging over the killing of her husband who she married while a child, in a case that sparked international concern over the plight of women sentenced to death in the Islamic republic, rights activists said on Friday.

Iranian authorities confirmed the freeing of Goli Kouhkan from prison in the northern Golestan province after her death sentence was revoked earlier this week under an accord with the dead man's family.

By Steve Holland and Michelle Nichols

WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early ​as next month to form a U.N.-authorized stabilization force, two ​U.S. officials told Reuters, but it remains unclear how Palestinian militants Hamas will be disarmed.

BEIJING, Dec 12 (Reuters) - China said on Friday it had ​driven away a Philippine aircraft ​and multiple vessels near disputed atolls in South China Sea, ⁠in the latest in a series of confrontations in the strategic waterway in recent years.

The Chinese military said it ​issued strong warnings and "expelled" a Philippine aircraft ‍that "invaded" airspace above the Scarborough ​Shoal, without giving a date for the incident.

By Dave Sherwood and Marianna Parraga

HAVANA/HOUSTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. move this week to seize an oil tanker out of ​Venezuela is poised to make a bad situation worse for a ​crisis-stricken Cuba already struggling to source enough oil to power its ailing economy and electrical grid.

The Communist-run nation, a nearby neighbor and ⁠long-time foe of the United States, suffers daily, hours-long rolling blackouts that have decimated productivity and tested the patience of its exhausted residents.

Former Iraqi president Barham Salih is set to become the next United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, according to a document seen by AFP on Friday, taking over an agency tackling swingeing budget cuts.

Salih, 65, was president of Iraq from 2018 to 2022. He will replace Filippo Grandi, who is leaving at the end of December after 10 years as the UN refugees chief.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of ​displaced Gazans face flooding of ​their tents and shelters by heavy rains, and materials for shelters ⁠and sandbags are not being allowed to enter the enclave, the UN International Organization for Migration said on Friday.

Torrential rain ​swept across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, flooding ‍hundreds of tents sheltering families ​displaced by two years of war, and leading to the death of a baby girl due to exposure, local health officials said.

GENEVA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - ​Iraq's former ​president Barham ⁠Salih has been chosen as the ​next high ‍commissioner for ​refugees for the United Nations, a letter ⁠showed on Friday.

The letter signed by United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres ​and dated ⁠Dec. ⁠11 says Salih has been appointed for a ‌five-year term ​beginning January 1, 2026.

The appointment is provisional ‍and needs to be approved ‌by UNHCR's ‌Executive Committee, the document showed.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, ⁠Editing by Friederike Heine)