Christmas Day Marked Israel’s Strike On Bethlehem, Jesus' Place
Without any pause to its reinforced attack on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Army on Monday, the day when the world was celebrating the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ, continued its offensive on Gaza, ramping up its attacks on the region. According to the latest updates from the Gaza ministry, a total of 250 were dead in the past 24 hours. The statement from the ministry said that at least 70 people were killed in the Christmas Eve strike on a residential square in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.
Strangely, the world is witnessing the brutal killing in a region which is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ. As millions of people around the world celebrate Christmas Day as the birth anniversary of Jesus today (December 25), around 50,000 Christians in Palestine are desperately pushing each day, hoping for an immediate end of the war. The attack by Israel on Gaza’s oldest Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in October has posed a grave threat to the safety of Christians in Palestine, killing around 18 people.
This year, there is no joy, events, or rituals but grief, mourning and cries everywhere, shedding light on the condition of the ground in Gaza. The Christian school of thought says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, situated in the current Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian pastor Reverend Munther Isaac says that the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is confirmed by archaeology as well as scripture such as Luke’s Gospel.
“It’s the year 2023, and you’ve got, on Christmas day, all over the world, millions of, so many, hundreds of millions, if not more, of Christians going to church, reading about Bethlehem, singing about Bethlehem and thinking maybe of Bethlehem as a mythical place, as a fairytale, not realising it’s a real place with people, with a Christian community that has kept the tradition alive for 2,000 years,” Isaac said to Al Jazeera.
However, as the birthplace and the holy land of Jesus Christ are burning with fire, many Christians around the world are not celebrating the day. Christmas celebrations were cancelled in Bethlehem, with Pastor Munther Ishaq saying: “It’s impossible to celebrate when there’s a massacre, a genocide, taking place in Gaza with our people.”
According to a report by Al Jazeera, Christmas Day in the occupied West Bank was marked by attacks on Bethlehem city, where Jesus was born. The raid on Monday morning followed several others across the territory, which saw dozens of arrests and the shooting in the neck of a 17-year-old boy. The strikes, among the towns, hit Bethlehem too.
However, the Israeli back-to-back attack has been crippling Gaza as the scenes of people under the rubble are shared on social media even this time.
One social media post read: “People still under the rubble and it”s difficult to extract them out due to the lack of tools, and the heavy rubble above them. The removal of people from under the rubble has been going on since yesterday night.”
Latest situation in Al-Maghazi refugee camp
People still under the rubble and its difficult to extract them out due to the lack of tools, and the heavy rubble above them.
The removal of people from under the rubble has been going on since yesterday night.
via: Mohammed Zaanoun pic.twitter.com/W92o1dH1aa— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) December 25, 2023
The skyrocketing human casualties in Gaza are still continuing, with fresh attacks each day, claiming thousands of innocent lives.
