Today, as the world celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, Palestinian Christians, both in Bethlehem and beyond, find themselves overwhelmed with helplessness, pain, and worry amid Israel's war on Gaza.
“Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," said Pope Francis on Monday as he called for the release of hostages and an end to the war during his annual Christmas Day Mass.
So far, more than 20,674 people have been killed and 54,536 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7.
Today on the 80th day of war on Gaza, bloodshed continues and here are the latest 10 updates:
1. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed speculation of a halt to the ongoing Gaza war on Monday, stating that fighting is far from over.
2. The Gaza health ministry reported approximately 250 Palestinians killed, predominantly women and children, with 500 injured in the past 24 hours.
3. The Israeli army on Monday acknowledged engaging in a "complex and complicated war," with a notable number of soldiers killed over the past few days.
4. Hamas and Islamic Jihad reportedly reject an Egyptian proposal that they give up control of the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent ceasefire.
5. Israel’s Finance Ministry announces the war, which it foresees lasting through February, will likely incur an additional cost of at least $14bn in 2024.
6. Sayyed Razi Mousavi, a senior adviser in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp, has been killed by an Israeli air strike on the outskirts of Syria’s Damascus.
7. Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed in a Sunday statement that they killed at least 48 Israeli soldiers over the last four days.
8. United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said on Sunday that “genocide is a process, not a single act”, which the world is allowing in Gaza.
9. On Saturday, Iran refuted US accusations of involvement in planning attacks by Yemen's Tehran-aligned Houthi movement on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, as reported by the semiofficial Mehr news agency.
10. Demonstrators in Rabat, Morocco, organised one of the largest pro-Palestine marches on Sunday, demanding an end to Morocco's diplomatic ties with Israel, as reported by Reuters.
