Reda Abu Zarada, 50, displaced from Jabaliya in nothern Gaza, sits by a fireplace along with her grandchildren at a camp by the ocean in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/AP
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Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/AP
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes throughout the Gaza Strip in a single day and into Sunday killed at the very least 20 individuals, together with 5 kids, Palestinian medical officers stated.
Israeli authorities in the meantime allowed Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the chief of the Catholic Church within the Holy Land, to enter Gaza and have a good time a pre-Christmas Mass with members of the territory’s small Christian group.
A strike on a faculty housing displaced individuals in Gaza Metropolis killed at the very least eight individuals, together with three kids, in keeping with Gaza’s Well being Ministry. The Civil Protection, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run authorities, had earlier stated 4 kids had been amongst these killed.
The Israeli navy stated it carried out a exact strike on Hamas militants sheltering there.
A strike on a house within the central metropolis of Deir al-Balah late Saturday killed at the very least eight individuals, together with three girls and two kids, in keeping with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which obtained the our bodies. A person and his spouse had been killed in a strike within the southern metropolis of Khan Younis on Sunday, simply after midnight, in keeping with the close by Nasser Hospital. A strike on a automobile in Gaza Metropolis killed two individuals, in keeping with the Well being Ministry.
There was no fast remark from the navy on these strikes.
Israel has continued to hold out every day strikes in Gaza greater than 14 months into the conflict with Hamas. It says it solely targets militants, accusing them of hiding amongst civilians, however the bombings continuously kill girls and kids.
Israel and Hamas have just lately appeared to attract nearer to a ceasefire settlement that would come with the discharge of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, however a number of obstacles stay, and the long-running oblique talks have repeatedly stalled.
Vatican envoy celebrates Mass with Gaza’s Christians
Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he exchanges season greetings with Vatican staff, within the Paul VI Corridor on the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024.
Andrew Medichini/AP/AP
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Andrew Medichini/AP/AP
Dozens of worshippers gathered within the Holy Household Church in Gaza Metropolis as Pizzaballa and different clergy celebrated Mass. A Christmas tree was embellished with golden ornaments and twinkling white lights, and altar boys sporting purple and white robes held candles.
“For Christmas, we celebrate the light and we are wondering where the light is. This is one of the places where the light is,” Pizzaballa stated.
The excitement of Israeli drones circling overhead, a sound that has grown ubiquitous throughout Gaza in the course of the conflict, might be heard all through the Mass.
The uncommon go to to Gaza by the Latin Patriarch got here a day after Pope Francis had once more criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza. Francis stated Saturday that his envoy had been unable to enter the territory due to Israeli bombing.
“Yesterday children have been bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” Francis stated throughout his annual Christmas greetings on the Vatican.
The pope just lately known as for an investigation to find out if Israel’s actions in Gaza represent genocide, a conclusion later reached by Amnesty Worldwide and Human Rights Watch. The Worldwide Court docket of Justice is investigating genocide allegations introduced towards Israel by South Africa.
Israel, which was based as a refuge for Jews after the Nazi Holocaust, adamantly rejects such allegations. It says it has made nice efforts to spare civilians and is barely at conflict with Hamas, which it accuses of genocidal violence within the assault that ignited the conflict.
Conflict grinds on as winter units in
Reda Abu Zarada wraps herself and her grandchildren in blankets as they put together to sleep of their tent at a camp in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday Dec. 19, 2024.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/AP
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Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/AP
Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a shock assault on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 individuals, principally civilians, and abducting round 250. Round 100 hostages are nonetheless in Gaza, at the very least a 3rd of whom are believed to be lifeless.
Israel’s subsequent bombardment and floor invasion have killed over 45,000 individuals in Gaza, greater than half of them girls and kids, in keeping with the Gaza Well being Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between fighters and civilians in its rely.
The offensive has precipitated widespread destruction and displaced some 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million individuals, usually a number of occasions. Lots of of 1000’s are packed into squalid tent camps alongside the coast because the chilly, moist winter units in.
Israel has been finishing up a significant operation in northern Gaza since early October, battling Hamas in essentially the most remoted and closely broken a part of the territory. Tens of 1000’s have fled because the navy has ordered a whole evacuation and allowed virtually no humanitarian assist to enter.
The Israeli navy physique overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, generally known as COGAT, stated it had facilitated the evacuation of over 100 sufferers, caregivers and others from the Kamal Adwan Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital within the far north, which have struggled to operate. COGAT stated it had additionally facilitated the supply of 5,000 liters of gasoline and meals packages to the hospitals.
