Live Updates: Israeli 'massacre' on Christmas Eve at refugee camp kills 70

Monday, December 25, 2023

05:00 GMT - Israeli airstrike kills dozens at refugee camp

An Israeli airstrike on Al Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza has killed at least 70 people, a spokesman for the health ministry in the enclave said Sunday.

Ashraf Al Qudra said what was happening at the Maghazi camp was a "massacre" that was committed on a crowded residential block.

He added that the death toll is likely to climb, give n the large number of families residing there.

04:19 GMT - 'Our hearts are in Bethlehem' : Pope Francis

Pope Francis appealed for peace while leading Christmas Eve mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as the Israeli war on Gaza relentlessly raged on.

"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war,” he told about 6,500 faithful, referring to Jesus Christ.

03:30 GMT - 'Christ is under the rubble' in Gaza: Bethlehem reverend

As Christmas Eve celebrations in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem were halted due to the Israeli aggression in Gaza, a reverend asked: "Where is God?"

"Christ is under the rubble. We are angry. We are broken. This should have been a time of joy. Instead, we are mourning. We are fearful," Munther Isaac started his address during the "Christ in the Rubble: A Liturgy of Lament" service at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem.

"Gaza as we know it no longer exists. This is an annihilation. This is a genocide. The world is watching. Churches are watching," Isaac continued, saying the Western world does not see Palestinians as "equal."

For our live updates from Sunday, December 24, click here.