Palestinian Christians are witnessing a somber Christmas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem amid the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
More than 120 people have been martyred in Israeli air raids overnight in central Gaza, Al-Manar correspondent reported on Monday.
Strikes on central Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp killed at least 90 people. Attacks on the Bureij refugee camp saw the number of casualties rise to more than 120.
Rescue teams continue in the meantime their efforts to rescue targeted civilians after Israel’s army targeted Al Maghazi and Al Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza.
The massacres come following reports about Israel’s failure to reach the military goals of the offensive. pic.twitter.com/SGio3lh89u
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 24, 2023
Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said the death toll at the Maghazi refugee camp was likely to rise.
“What is happening at the Maghazi camp is a massacre that is being committed on a crowded residential square,” he said.
Bodies have been piling up at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Dozens more are reported to be injured, and several houses have been destroyed in the attack. Families have been digging through the rubble in an attempt to find survivors.
The Bureij refugee camp has been also pounded overnight, Palestinian media reported.
The Israeli occupation continues to bombard the territory for a third month, killing more than 20,400 Palestinians since October 7 and displacing more than 80 percent of the 2.3 million people who live there.
Somber Christmas
Meanwhile, Bethlehem, the birthplace of Prophet Issa A.S. (Jesus Christ), marks somber Christmas as the Palestinian city decided to forego Christmas celebrations in solidarity with people in Gaza.
The decision to tone down the Christmas festivities amid the ongoing war was taken last month.
The normally bustling Bethlehem on Christmas Eve was compared to a ghost town, on Sunday (Dec 24) as festive lights and Christmas tree decorated the city’s Manger Square were missing and so were the thousands of tourists who gather each year to mark the holiday.
This year a Nativity scene in Manger Square showed a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the hundreds of children killed in the fighting in Gaza. The scene was also surrounded by barbed wire, the grey rubble in contrast to the joyous lights and bursts of color that normally fill the square during Christmas.
“This Christmas comes to Bethlehem in a different shape. Nowadays Bethlehem, as any other Palestinian city, is in mourning. We feel sad,” said town mayor Hanna Hanania, lighting a candle in Manger Square.
During a live streamed worship session in the Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, Reverend Dr. Munther Isaac gave a Christmas message criticizing those who are complicit in the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
listen and feel the words of Rev. @MuntherIsaac in #Bethlehem. We wish you a peaceful Christmas. pic.twitter.com/0bKFy4rT47
— Anwar Md Hossain (@anwarh216) December 24, 2023
Source: Al-Manar English Website
