Christmas bloodshed: Israeli air strike kills at least 70 in refugee camp, say Gaza officials

CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM – Israeli air strikes killed at least 78 people in Gaza, said Palestinian health officials, in one of the besieged enclave’s deadliest nights of Israel’s 11-week-old battle with Hamas.

Strikes that began hours before midnight persisted into Christmas Day on Dec 25. Residents and Palestinian media said Israel stepped up air and ground shelling against al-Bureij in central Gaza.

Pope Francis lamented that Jesus’ message of peace was

being drowned out by the “futile logic of war”

in the very land where he was born.

At least 70 people were killed in an Israeli air strike targeting the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said, adding that many were women and children.

The Israeli army said it was reviewing the report of a Maghazi incident and was committed to minimising harm to civilians. Hamas denies the Israeli charge that it operates in densely populated areas or uses civilians as human shields.

The Palestinian Red Crescent published footage of the wounded being transported to hospitals. It said Israeli warplanes were bombing main roads between central Gaza, hindering the passage of ambulances and emergency vehicles.

Medics said a separate Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed eight Palestinians.

Clergy cancelled celebrations in Bethlehem, the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank city where tradition has it that Jesus was born in a stable 2,000 years ago.

“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,” Pope Francis said, presiding at Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Palestinian Christians earlier held a Christmas vigil in Bethlehem

with candle-lit hymns and prayers for peace in Gaza instead of the usual celebrations.

There was no large tree, the usual centrepiece of Bethlehem’s Christmas celebrations. Nativity figurines in churches were placed amid rubble and barbed wire in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

At a hospital in the city, Mr Fadi Sayegh – whose family 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.”

‘Difficult morning’

Hamas and smaller militant ally Islamic Jihad are believed to be holding more than 100 hostages from among the 240 they captured on Oct 7.

That was the day they attacked southern Israel

and killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, Israel has besieged the narrow Gaza Strip and laid much of it to waste.

The operation has killed at least 20,000 people, according to the authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Thousands more are believed to be dead under the rubble.

The vast majority of the 2.3 million Gazans have been driven from their homes, and the United Nations says conditions are catastrophic.

Since

a week-long truce collapsed

at the start of December, fighting has only intensified on the ground, with war spreading from the north of the Gaza Strip to the full length of the densely populated enclave.

The Israeli military said on Dec 24 that two of its soldiers were killed in the past day, bringing to 158 the number killed since ground operations began on Oct 20.

“This is a difficult morning, after a very difficult day of fighting in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Dec 24. “The war is exacting a very heavy cost from us; however, we have no choice (but) to continue to fight.”

In a later video message, he said troops would fight on deeper into Gaza until “total victory” over Hamas.

Israel has been under pressure from its closest ally, the United States, to shift its operations into a lower-density phase and reduce civilian deaths.

On Dec 23, Israel’s military chief of staff said his forces had largely achieved operational control in the north of Gaza and would expand operations farther in the south.

But residents say fighting has only intensified in northern districts.

Diplomatic efforts, mediated by Egypt and Qatar,

on a new truce to free the remaining hostages held by militants in Gaza have yielded little public progress, although Washington described the talks last week as “very serious”.

Islamic Jihad said a delegation led by its exiled leader Ziad al-Nakhlala was in Cairo on Dec 24. His arrival followed talks attended by Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in recent days.

The militant groups have said they would not discuss any release of hostages unless Israel ends its war in Gaza, while the Israelis say they are willing to discuss only a pause in fighting. REUTERS, AFP