Palestinian health officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 78 people in Gaza
The Archbishop of Canterbury will use his Christmas Day sermon to highlight the suffering of children caught up in the Israel-Hamas war, PA Media reports.
Referring to Jesus Christ’s birthplace, which is now in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Most Rev Justin Welby will say “the skies of Bethlehem are full of fear rather than angels and glory”.
In his sermon at Canterbury Cathedral, he will say:
Today a crying child is in a manger somewhere in the world, nobody willing or able to help his parents who desperately need shelter.
Or in an incubator, in a hospital low on electricity, like Al-Ahli (hospital) in Gaza, surrounded by conflict.
Maybe he lies in a house that still bears the marks of the horrors of 7 October, with family members killed, and a mother who feared for her life.
Also referring to Ukraine and Sudan, the Archbishop will say: “So many parts of the world seem beset with violence.”
Early on Christmas Day, AFP journalists said they heard gunfire and sirens in the West Bank city of Jenin, which has seen near daily raids by Israeli forces.
“How can we celebrate?” Nazeria Yousef Deabis, 76, who has lived in Zababdeh all her life, said.
“People don’t feel festive – they’ve lost friends and relatives in Gaza,” she said.
“The occupation (Israel) is destroying Jenin and children are being brutally killed.”Airstrikes across Gaza kill 78 people, says health officials
Palestinian health officials have said Israeli airstrikes, that began hours before midnight and persisted into Christmas Day, have killed at least 78 people in Gaza.
Residents and Palestinian media said Israel stepped up air and ground shelling against al-Bureij in central Gaza.
As we reported earlier, at least 70 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting Maghazi in central Gaza, health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qidra, said.
Medics said an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed eight Palestinians, according to Reuters.
