Israeli strikes continue in the Gaza Strip. A bombing left 12 dead near the small town of al-Zawaida, in the center of the Palestinian enclave, on Christmas morning, Monday, December 25, according to the report from the Hamas Ministry of Health. During the night, a bombing in Khan Younes (south) caused at least 18 victims, he added in a press release. Follow our live stream.
• A particularly deadly weekend. In total, the center of the Gaza Strip suffered around fifty successive strikes this weekend. At least 70 people were killed in a bombing on the al-Maghazi refugee camp on Sunday, according to the Hamas government. This assessment could not be independently confirmed by AFP. This overpopulated strip of land has been controlled since 2007 by Hamas, an organization considered terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
• More than 15 Israeli soldiers killed in three days. On the Israeli side, more than fifteen soldiers have died in the last three days. On Monday morning, the army announced the death of two more soldiers, bringing to 156 its casualties since its troops operated on the ground in Gaza. “We are paying a very heavy price for the war, but we have no choice but to continue fighting”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Sunday. “We are facing monsters”he insisted in his Christmas message addressed to Christians around the world.
• No festivities in Bethlehem for Christmas. “Our heart this evening is in Bethlehem”declared Pope Francis during Christmas mass in Rome, denouncing the “losing logic of war”. “We must stop these hostilities and turn the page”, pleaded Sunday the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who came to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, with a black and white keffiyeh around his neck. In this city where Jesus was born, according to Christian tradition, Christmas celebrations have been largely canceled by the Palestinian municipality, and sadness dominates.
A catastrophic humanitarian situation. In the Gaza Strip, most hospitals are out of service. In the next six weeks, the entire population risks experiencing a high level of food insecurity, including famine, according to the UN. “The decimation of Gaza’s health system is a tragedy,” lamented the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Sunday. Despite the vote on Friday by the UN Security Council of a resolution calling for the delivery “immediate” And “in large scale” humanitarian aid, this has not seen a significant increase. The Jordanian army announced Sunday evening that its air forces had dropped aid to around 800 people taking refuge in St. Porphyry Church in northern Gaza.