Gaza Strip (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians said they felt "no joy" this Christmas as Israel bombed the besieged Palestinian territory on Monday, with no end in sight to the war that Hamas says has claimed more than 20,000 lives.
Issued on: 25/12/2023 -
Eighty percent of Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN, many fleeing south and now shielding against the winter cold in makeshift tents
© SAID KHATIB / AFP
Festivities were effectively scrapped in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, with few worshippers or tourists on the usually packed streets.
In the Gaza Strip, the Hamas militant group reported 50 strikes in central areas early on Monday, including in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
At a hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, the centre of recent fighting, Fadi Sayegh -- whose family has previously received permits to travel to Bethlehem for celebrations -- said he would not be celebrating Christmas this year.
"There is no joy. No Christmas tree, no decorations, no family dinner, no celebrations," he said while undergoing dialysis. "I pray for this war to be over soon."
Sister Nabila Salah from the Catholic Holy Church in Gaza -- where two Christian women were killed by an Israeli sniper earlier this month according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem -- struck a sombre tone.
Palestinians in Bethlehem hold up banners calling for an end to the conflict © HAZEM BADER / AFP
"All Christmas celebrations have been cancelled," she told AFP. "How do we celebrate when we are... hearing the sound of tanks and bombardment instead of the ringing of bells?"
The war broke out when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7 and killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and seized 250 hostages, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas in response and its military campaign, which has included massive aerial bombardment, has killed 20,424 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Pope Francis kicked off global Christmas celebrations on Sunday with a call for peace, as the war cast a shadow over one of the world's favourite holidays.
Festivities were effectively scrapped in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, with few worshippers or tourists on the usually packed streets.
In the Gaza Strip, the Hamas militant group reported 50 strikes in central areas early on Monday, including in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
At a hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, the centre of recent fighting, Fadi Sayegh -- whose family has previously received permits to travel to Bethlehem for celebrations -- said he would not be celebrating Christmas this year.
"There is no joy. No Christmas tree, no decorations, no family dinner, no celebrations," he said while undergoing dialysis. "I pray for this war to be over soon."
Sister Nabila Salah from the Catholic Holy Church in Gaza -- where two Christian women were killed by an Israeli sniper earlier this month according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem -- struck a sombre tone.
Palestinians in Bethlehem hold up banners calling for an end to the conflict © HAZEM BADER / AFP"All Christmas celebrations have been cancelled," she told AFP. "How do we celebrate when we are... hearing the sound of tanks and bombardment instead of the ringing of bells?"
The war broke out when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7 and killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and seized 250 hostages, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas in response and its military campaign, which has included massive aerial bombardment, has killed 20,424 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Pope Francis kicked off global Christmas celebrations on Sunday with a call for peace, as the war cast a shadow over one of the world's favourite holidays.
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa arrives in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank © HAZEM BADER / AFP
"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," the Catholic leader said.
The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arrived Sunday at the Church of the Nativity, clad in the traditional black and white keffiyeh.
"Our heart goes to Gaza, to all people in Gaza but a special attention to our Christian community in Gaza who is suffering," he said.
"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," the Catholic leader said.
The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arrived Sunday at the Church of the Nativity, clad in the traditional black and white keffiyeh.
"Our heart goes to Gaza, to all people in Gaza but a special attention to our Christian community in Gaza who is suffering," he said.
Christmas eve strike
The Hamas-run health ministry said at least 70 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on Sunday at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the "toll is likely to rise" as many families were thought to be in the area at the time of the strike.
A giant Palestinian flag is unfurled outside the Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Christmas Eve © HAZEM BADER / AFP
In a separate incident, the ministry said 10 members of one family were killed in an Israeli strike on their house in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza.
AFP was unable to independently verify either toll.
A giant Palestinian flag is unfurled outside the Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Christmas Eve
© HAZEM BADER / AFP
Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people have endured dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine due to an Israeli siege, alleviated only by the limited arrival of aid trucks.
Eighty percent of Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN, many fleeing south and now shielding against the winter cold in makeshift tents.
The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, urged an end to the suffering in the third month of the war.
"A humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is the only way forward," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "War defies logic and humanity, and prepares a future of more hatred and less peace."
Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people have endured dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine
And World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus similarly renewed calls for a ceasefire, saying: "The decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy."
The Jordanian army said its air force had air dropped aid to about 800 people sheltering at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in northern Gaza.
'No choice'
The war was exacting a "very heavy price", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, as the death toll of soldiers killed in the conflict continued to mount.
And World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus similarly renewed calls for a ceasefire, saying: "The decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy."
The Jordanian army said its air force had air dropped aid to about 800 people sheltering at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in northern Gaza.
'No choice'
The war was exacting a "very heavy price", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, as the death toll of soldiers killed in the conflict continued to mount.
\
Israeli advance in the Gaza strip
© Patricio ARANA, Jean-Michel CORNU, Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA / AFP
"But we have no choice but to keep fighting," he said, adding: "This will be a long war."
Another soldier was killed on Sunday, the army said, taking to 15 the number of troops killed since Friday and 154 since Israel's ground assault began on October 27.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus indicated that forces were close to gaining control in northern Gaza and that now "we focus our efforts against Hamas in southern Gaza".
The two men were among hundreds detained by Israeli forces over alleged links with Hamas during Israel's ground offensive.
About 20 men released from Israeli custody "have bruises and marks of blows on their bodies", Marwan al-Hams, hospital director in the southern city of Rafah, told AFP.
© 2023 AFP
"But we have no choice but to keep fighting," he said, adding: "This will be a long war."
Another soldier was killed on Sunday, the army said, taking to 15 the number of troops killed since Friday and 154 since Israel's ground assault began on October 27.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus indicated that forces were close to gaining control in northern Gaza and that now "we focus our efforts against Hamas in southern Gaza".
The two men were among hundreds detained by Israeli forces over alleged links with Hamas during Israel's ground offensive.
About 20 men released from Israeli custody "have bruises and marks of blows on their bodies", Marwan al-Hams, hospital director in the southern city of Rafah, told AFP.
© 2023 AFP
Grim Christmas Eve in Bethlehem as war rages in Gaza
Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Gaza's deadliest ever war cast a pall of gloom over Bethlehem on Christmas Eve Sunday, as the death toll spiralled and Israel shifted its efforts against Hamas to the besieged territory's south.
Issued on: 24/12/2023 -
Sister Nabila Salah from the Catholic Holy Church in Gaza -- where two Christian women were killed by an Israeli sniper earlier this month according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem -- struck a sombre tone.
"All Christmas celebrations have been cancelled," she told AFP. "How do we celebrate when we are... hearing the sound of tanks and bombardment instead of the ringing of bells?"
At a hospital in Khan Yunis, where much of the fighting has been concentrated recently, Fadi Sayegh, whose family has previously received permits to travel to Bethlehem for celebrations, said he would not be celebrating Christmas this year.
"There is no joy. No Christmas tree, no decorations, no family dinner, no celebrations," he said, while undergoing dialysis. "I pray for this war to be over soon."
'More hatred, less peace'
Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people have endured dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine due to an Israeli siege, alleviated only by the limited arrival of aid trucks.
Bethlehem nearly deserted as Christmas celebrations suspended over Israel-Hamas war
The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists who gather each year to mark the holiday.
Issued on: 24/12/2023 -
By: NEWS WIRES
Dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty square.
The gift shops were slow to open on Christmas Eve, although a few did once the rain had stopped pouring down. There were few visitors, however.
“This year, without the Christmas tree and without lights, there’s just darkness,” said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who has lived in Jerusalem for six years.
He said he always comes to Bethlehem to mark Christmas, but this year was especially sobering, as he gazed at a nativity scene in Manger Square with a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the hundreds of children killed in the fighting in Gaza. Barbed wire surrounded the scene, the grey rubble reflecting none of the joyous lights and bursts of color that normally fill the square during the Christmas season.
“We can’t justify putting out a tree and celebrating as normal, when some people (in Gaza) don’t even have houses to go to,” said Ala’a Salameh, one of the owners of Afteem Restaurant, a family-owned falafel restaurant just steps from the square.
Salameh said Christmas Eve is usually the busiest day of the year. “Normally, you can’t find a single chair to sit, we’re full from morning till midnight,” said Salameh. This year, just one table was taken, by journalists taking a break from the rain.
Salameh said his restaurant was operating at about 15% of normal business and wasn’t able to cover operating costs. He estimated that even after the war ends, it will take another year for tourism to return to Bethlehem as normal.
The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town’s economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all of that during the Christmas season.
With many major airlines canceling flights to Israel, few foreigners are visiting. Local officials say over 70 hotels in Bethlehem have been forced to close, leaving thousands of people unemployed.
Over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded during Israel’s air and ground offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers, according to health officials there, while some 85% of the territory’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced. The war was triggered by Hamas’ deadly assault Oct. 7 on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages.
The fighting in Gaza has also affected life in the West Bank. Since Oct. 7, access to Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in the Israeli-occupied territory has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass military checkpoints. The restrictions have also prevented tens of thousands of Palestinians from exiting the territory to work in Israel.
(AP)
Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Gaza's deadliest ever war cast a pall of gloom over Bethlehem on Christmas Eve Sunday, as the death toll spiralled and Israel shifted its efforts against Hamas to the besieged territory's south.
Issued on: 24/12/2023 -
Palestinian youth members of the scouting movement hold up banners calling for an end of the conflict in the Gaza Strip
© HAZEM BADER / AFP
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip said an Israeli strike late Sunday killed at least 70 people in Al-Maghazi refugee camp, in central Gaza, and destroyed several houses.
AFP was unable to independently verify the toll, which suggests one of the deadliest strikes since the war began on October 7. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it was "checking" the report.
Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the "toll is likely to rise" as many families were thought to be in the area at the time of the strike.
Christmas celebrations were effectively cancelled in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, where the Latin patriarch offered a message of solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.
And Pope Francis kicked off mass at Saint Peter's Basilica with a call for peace.
"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," the Catholic leader said.
US President Joe Biden earlier stressed the "critical need" to protect civilians, in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed Israel would "continue the war until all of its goals have been achieved", according to official statements.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip said an Israeli strike late Sunday killed at least 70 people in Al-Maghazi refugee camp, in central Gaza, and destroyed several houses.
AFP was unable to independently verify the toll, which suggests one of the deadliest strikes since the war began on October 7. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it was "checking" the report.
Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the "toll is likely to rise" as many families were thought to be in the area at the time of the strike.
Christmas celebrations were effectively cancelled in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, where the Latin patriarch offered a message of solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.
And Pope Francis kicked off mass at Saint Peter's Basilica with a call for peace.
"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," the Catholic leader said.
US President Joe Biden earlier stressed the "critical need" to protect civilians, in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed Israel would "continue the war until all of its goals have been achieved", according to official statements.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv on December 24, 2023
© Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL/AFP
As heavy fighting raged on, the Israeli army said 154 troops had died in Gaza since it launched its ground invasion on October 27.
Ten soldiers were killed in battles on Saturday, one of the deadliest days for the Israeli side.
"The war is exacting a very heavy price... but we have no choice but to keep fighting," said Netanyahu.
Christmas 'cancelled'
The war broke out when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7 and killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and seized 250 hostages, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The army said soldiers had raided a northern Gaza compound near schools, a mosque and a clinic and found explosives, weapons "and intelligence documents".
Hamas rejected the Israeli claims, saying they are meant "to justify their massacring of innocent civilians and their destructive aggression".
The Gaza health ministry reported late Sunday a strike that killed 10 members of one family in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza.
As the war rages on, Christians around the world mark Christmas Eve.
A giant Palestinian flag is unfurled outside the Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Christmas Eve © HAZEM BADER / AFP
Festivities are usually held in Bethlehem, where faithful believe Jesus was born, but this year the city is almost deserted, with few worshippers around and no Christmas tree erected, after church leaders decided to forego "any unnecessarily festive" celebrations in solidarity with Gazans.
The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arrived Sunday at the Church of the Nativity, clad in the traditional black and white keffiyeh.
"Our heart goes to Gaza, to all people in Gaza but a special attention to our Christian community in Gaza who is suffering," he said.
"We are here to pray and to ask not only for a ceasefire, a ceasefire is not enough... violence generates only violence."
As heavy fighting raged on, the Israeli army said 154 troops had died in Gaza since it launched its ground invasion on October 27.
Ten soldiers were killed in battles on Saturday, one of the deadliest days for the Israeli side.
"The war is exacting a very heavy price... but we have no choice but to keep fighting," said Netanyahu.
Christmas 'cancelled'
The war broke out when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7 and killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and seized 250 hostages, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The army said soldiers had raided a northern Gaza compound near schools, a mosque and a clinic and found explosives, weapons "and intelligence documents".
Hamas rejected the Israeli claims, saying they are meant "to justify their massacring of innocent civilians and their destructive aggression".
The Gaza health ministry reported late Sunday a strike that killed 10 members of one family in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza.
As the war rages on, Christians around the world mark Christmas Eve.
A giant Palestinian flag is unfurled outside the Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Christmas Eve © HAZEM BADER / AFP
Festivities are usually held in Bethlehem, where faithful believe Jesus was born, but this year the city is almost deserted, with few worshippers around and no Christmas tree erected, after church leaders decided to forego "any unnecessarily festive" celebrations in solidarity with Gazans.
The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arrived Sunday at the Church of the Nativity, clad in the traditional black and white keffiyeh.
"Our heart goes to Gaza, to all people in Gaza but a special attention to our Christian community in Gaza who is suffering," he said.
"We are here to pray and to ask not only for a ceasefire, a ceasefire is not enough... violence generates only violence."
Sister Nabila Salah from the Catholic Holy Church in Gaza -- where two Christian women were killed by an Israeli sniper earlier this month according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem -- struck a sombre tone.
"All Christmas celebrations have been cancelled," she told AFP. "How do we celebrate when we are... hearing the sound of tanks and bombardment instead of the ringing of bells?"
At a hospital in Khan Yunis, where much of the fighting has been concentrated recently, Fadi Sayegh, whose family has previously received permits to travel to Bethlehem for celebrations, said he would not be celebrating Christmas this year.
"There is no joy. No Christmas tree, no decorations, no family dinner, no celebrations," he said, while undergoing dialysis. "I pray for this war to be over soon."
'More hatred, less peace'
Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people have endured dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine due to an Israeli siege, alleviated only by the limited arrival of aid trucks.
A child stands amid the rubble in a room overlooking a building destroyed by a strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 24, 2023
© SAID KHATIB / AFP
The Jordanian army said its air force had air dropped aid to about 800 people sheltering at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in northern Gaza.
Eighty percent of Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN, many fleeing south and now shielding against the winter cold in makeshift tents.
Two Palestinian men who had been held by the Israeli army in Gaza and a medic alleged that detainees have been subjected to torture in Israeli custody, including beatings and food deprivation --- charges the army has denied.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus indicated that forces were close to gaining control in northern Gaza and that now "we focus our efforts against Hamas in southern Gaza".
The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, urged an end to the suffering in the third month of the war.
"A humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is the only way forward," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "War defies logic and humanity, and prepares a future of more hatred and less peace."
And World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus similarly renewed calls for a ceasefire, saying: "The decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy."
On Friday, the United States allowed the passage of a UN Security Council resolution that effectively called on Israel to allow "immediate, safe and unhindered" deliveries of life-saving aid to Gaza "at scale".
World powers had wrangled for days over the wording and, at Washington's insistence, toned down some provisions -- including removing a call for a ceasefire.
The Jordanian army said its air force had air dropped aid to about 800 people sheltering at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in northern Gaza.
Eighty percent of Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN, many fleeing south and now shielding against the winter cold in makeshift tents.
Two Palestinian men who had been held by the Israeli army in Gaza and a medic alleged that detainees have been subjected to torture in Israeli custody, including beatings and food deprivation --- charges the army has denied.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus indicated that forces were close to gaining control in northern Gaza and that now "we focus our efforts against Hamas in southern Gaza".
The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, urged an end to the suffering in the third month of the war.
"A humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is the only way forward," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "War defies logic and humanity, and prepares a future of more hatred and less peace."
And World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus similarly renewed calls for a ceasefire, saying: "The decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy."
On Friday, the United States allowed the passage of a UN Security Council resolution that effectively called on Israel to allow "immediate, safe and unhindered" deliveries of life-saving aid to Gaza "at scale".
World powers had wrangled for days over the wording and, at Washington's insistence, toned down some provisions -- including removing a call for a ceasefire.
People inspect the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 24, 2023
© SAID KHATIB / AFP
The Gaza war has heightened tensions across the Middle East. Yemen's Huthi rebels have fired at cargo vessels in the Red Sea, leading the United States to build a naval taskforce to deter the missile and drone strikes.
burs-jd/ami/jsa
© 2023 AFP
The Gaza war has heightened tensions across the Middle East. Yemen's Huthi rebels have fired at cargo vessels in the Red Sea, leading the United States to build a naval taskforce to deter the missile and drone strikes.
burs-jd/ami/jsa
© 2023 AFP
Bethlehem nearly deserted as Christmas celebrations suspended over Israel-Hamas war
The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists who gather each year to mark the holiday.
Issued on: 24/12/2023 -
The belltowers of the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on December 24, 2023.
© Hazem Bader, AFP
By: NEWS WIRES
Dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty square.
The gift shops were slow to open on Christmas Eve, although a few did once the rain had stopped pouring down. There were few visitors, however.
“This year, without the Christmas tree and without lights, there’s just darkness,” said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who has lived in Jerusalem for six years.
He said he always comes to Bethlehem to mark Christmas, but this year was especially sobering, as he gazed at a nativity scene in Manger Square with a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the hundreds of children killed in the fighting in Gaza. Barbed wire surrounded the scene, the grey rubble reflecting none of the joyous lights and bursts of color that normally fill the square during the Christmas season.
“We can’t justify putting out a tree and celebrating as normal, when some people (in Gaza) don’t even have houses to go to,” said Ala’a Salameh, one of the owners of Afteem Restaurant, a family-owned falafel restaurant just steps from the square.
Salameh said Christmas Eve is usually the busiest day of the year. “Normally, you can’t find a single chair to sit, we’re full from morning till midnight,” said Salameh. This year, just one table was taken, by journalists taking a break from the rain.
Salameh said his restaurant was operating at about 15% of normal business and wasn’t able to cover operating costs. He estimated that even after the war ends, it will take another year for tourism to return to Bethlehem as normal.
The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town’s economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all of that during the Christmas season.
With many major airlines canceling flights to Israel, few foreigners are visiting. Local officials say over 70 hotels in Bethlehem have been forced to close, leaving thousands of people unemployed.
Over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded during Israel’s air and ground offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers, according to health officials there, while some 85% of the territory’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced. The war was triggered by Hamas’ deadly assault Oct. 7 on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages.
The fighting in Gaza has also affected life in the West Bank. Since Oct. 7, access to Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in the Israeli-occupied territory has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass military checkpoints. The restrictions have also prevented tens of thousands of Palestinians from exiting the territory to work in Israel.
(AP)
Palestinians recount 'torture' in Israeli army custody
Rafah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians held by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip had suffered torture, two freed detainees and a medic said Sunday, a charged denied by the military.
Issued on: 24/12/2023 -
Rafah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians held by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip had suffered torture, two freed detainees and a medic said Sunday, a charged denied by the military.
Issued on: 24/12/2023 -
A Palestinian man, released after detention by Israeli forces in Gaza, awaits treatment at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah
© SAID KHATIB / AFP
The two men were among hundreds detained by Israeli forces over alleged links with armed group Hamas during Israel's ongoing ground offensive in the besieged Hamas-run territory.
Israel vowed to defeat Hamas after a deadly attack by militants on October 7, launching a relentless military campaign in Gaza.
About 20 men released from Israeli custody "have bruises and marks of blows on their bodies", Marwan al-Hams, hospital director in the southern city of Rafah, told AFP.
Hams said the freed Palestinians were admitted to Al-Najjar hospital upon their release.
The Israeli army rejected the claims, saying detainees are "treated in accordance with international law".
"While detained, the suspects are given sufficient food and water and treated according to protocol," the army told AFP in a statement.
Nayef Ali, 22, said he was detained in Gaza City's eastern Zaitun suburb and later taken to an Israeli detention facility, and showed cuts on his wrists and other parts of his body.
"They (Israeli troops) tied our hands behind our backs for two days," he said.
"We were not allowed to eat or drink, neither were we allowed to use the toilet," he added.
"There were only beatings and beatings."
Ali said the detainees were put in an area along the border with Israel where it was "freezing cold".
"They threw cold water on us before transferring us to a prison, where it was again torture and beatings."
Khamis al-Bardini, 55, also alleged torture by Israeli soldiers, saying they poured "cold water on our heads through the night" along with "beatings during the day".
In recent weeks, the army has faced international criticism after viral footage of detainees stripped down to their underwear and blindfolded with their hands tied behind the backs.
The army has said it was investigating the deaths of "terrorists in military detention centres" after Israeli media reported that several detainees had died in custody.
© 2023 AFP
The two men were among hundreds detained by Israeli forces over alleged links with armed group Hamas during Israel's ongoing ground offensive in the besieged Hamas-run territory.
Israel vowed to defeat Hamas after a deadly attack by militants on October 7, launching a relentless military campaign in Gaza.
About 20 men released from Israeli custody "have bruises and marks of blows on their bodies", Marwan al-Hams, hospital director in the southern city of Rafah, told AFP.
Hams said the freed Palestinians were admitted to Al-Najjar hospital upon their release.
The Israeli army rejected the claims, saying detainees are "treated in accordance with international law".
"While detained, the suspects are given sufficient food and water and treated according to protocol," the army told AFP in a statement.
Nayef Ali, 22, said he was detained in Gaza City's eastern Zaitun suburb and later taken to an Israeli detention facility, and showed cuts on his wrists and other parts of his body.
"They (Israeli troops) tied our hands behind our backs for two days," he said.
"We were not allowed to eat or drink, neither were we allowed to use the toilet," he added.
"There were only beatings and beatings."
Ali said the detainees were put in an area along the border with Israel where it was "freezing cold".
"They threw cold water on us before transferring us to a prison, where it was again torture and beatings."
Khamis al-Bardini, 55, also alleged torture by Israeli soldiers, saying they poured "cold water on our heads through the night" along with "beatings during the day".
In recent weeks, the army has faced international criticism after viral footage of detainees stripped down to their underwear and blindfolded with their hands tied behind the backs.
The army has said it was investigating the deaths of "terrorists in military detention centres" after Israeli media reported that several detainees had died in custody.
© 2023 AFP
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