Palestinians feel "no joy" as Christmas canceled amid more Israeli bombing
Gaza City, Gaza - Palestinians said they felt "no joy" this Christmas as Israel bombed Gaza on Monday, with no end in sight to the brutal war that has claimed more than 20,000 lives.
Festivities were effectively scrapped in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, with few worshipers or tourists on the usually packed streets.
In the besieged Gaza Strip, the ministry of health said early Monday Israeli strikes had killed at least 18 people in the southern city of Khan Yunis, the center of recent fighting.
At a hospital in the city, Fadi Sayegh – whose family has previously received permits to travel to Bethlehem for celebrations – said he would not be celebrating Christmas this year.
"There is no joy. No Christmas tree, no decorations, no family dinner, no celebrations," he said while undergoing dialysis. "I pray for this war to be over soon."
Sister Nabila Salah from the Catholic Holy Church in Gaza – where two Christian women were killed by an Israeli sniper earlier this month according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem – struck a somber tone.
"All Christmas celebrations have been cancelled," she told AFP. "How do we celebrate when we are... hearing the sound of tanks and bombardment instead of the ringing of bells?"
Pope Francis on Sunday again issued a call for peace.
"Our heart goes to Gaza, to all people in Gaza but a special attention to our Christian community in Gaza who is suffering," he said.
Israel bombs refugee camp on Christmas Eve
Just ahead of Christmas, at least 70 people were reportedly killed in an Israeli air strike on Sunday at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said the "toll is likely to rise" as many families were thought to be in the area at the time of the strike.
In a separate incident, the ministry said 10 members of one family were killed in an Israeli strike on their house in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza.
The death tolls could not be independently verified.
Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people have endured dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine due to an Israeli siege, alleviated only by the limited arrival of aid trucks.
Some 80% of Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN, many fleeing south and now shielding against the winter cold in makeshift tents.
The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, called for an end to the suffering.
"A humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is the only way forward," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "War defies logic and humanity, and prepares a future of more hatred and less peace."
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also renewed calls for a ceasefire, saying: "The decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy."
Cover photo: REUTERS