Posted on Dec 25, 2023
Deserted streets and shuttered stores as Israel-Hamas war looms over Bethlehem at Christmas
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The mood was somber, streets were deserted and stores were shuttered on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, the Israeli-occupied West Bank city where Christian tradition says Jesus was born in a stable 2,000 years ago.
Set amid rubble and barbed wire, a striking Nativity scene was placed in the city’s central Manger Square, not far from a giant tree that in Christmas season is typically surrounded by revelers and pilgrims visiting the holy site.
Set amid rubble and barbed wire, a striking Nativity scene was placed in the city’s central Manger Square, not far from a giant tree that in Christmas season is typically surrounded by revelers and pilgrims visiting the holy site.
Deserted streets and shuttered stores as Israel-Hamas war looms over Bethlehem at Christmas
Posted from nbcnews.com
Israel
Palestine
Christmas
Posted 4 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."In recent weeks, Israel has faced pressure from Washington and its Western allies to minimize the number of civilian casualties in Gaza, as the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have warned of starvation amongst large swaths of the enclave population, almost 90% which have been displaced since the conflict began.
Health officials say more than 20,000 civilians — or about 1% of the prewar population — have died since Oct. 7, many of them women and children.
But while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the “heavy cost” of the war on Sunday, he said there was “no choice” but to continue to fight deeper into Gaza until “total victory” over Hamas. Visiting his troops in northern Gaza on Monday, he vowed: “The war continues until the end.”
..."In recent weeks, Israel has faced pressure from Washington and its Western allies to minimize the number of civilian casualties in Gaza, as the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have warned of starvation amongst large swaths of the enclave population, almost 90% which have been displaced since the conflict began.
Health officials say more than 20,000 civilians — or about 1% of the prewar population — have died since Oct. 7, many of them women and children.
But while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the “heavy cost” of the war on Sunday, he said there was “no choice” but to continue to fight deeper into Gaza until “total victory” over Hamas. Visiting his troops in northern Gaza on Monday, he vowed: “The war continues until the end.”
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