TRANSCRIPT
As much of the world prepares to celebrate Christmas, Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem have traded their usual festivities for a a candlelit vigil in the biblical birthplace of Jesus, praying for peace in Gaza.
Instead of its usual decorated Christmas tree in Manger Square, the municipality of Bethlehem this year decided to unveil an artwork called, 'Nativity Under the Rubble'.
Bethlehem churches placed the nativity models amid rubble and barbed wire in solidarity with the people of Gaza who are living through blockade and air bombardments only 50 kilometres away.
The Palestinian Minister for Tourism Rula Maayah says it sends a message that while the whole world is celebrating, Bethlehem is not.
"Bethlehem this year is celebrating Christmas in a different way with a message to the whole world that Palestine is suffering, that Bethlehem is suffering, that Bethlehem is celebrating Christmas from the rubble, not like all other people in the world."
Early reports suggest Israeli forces have since began to storm Bethlehem, the city of Tulkarem and the town of Beita in the West Bank.
At least 200 Palestinians have been killed and 360 others injured in two separate attacks across the Gaza Strip as Israel continues to expand its offensive.
76 members of an extended family in Gaza have reportedly been killed in an airstrike on Gaza City.
A spokesman for Gaza's civil defence department says it is among the deadliest they've seen in the Israel-Hamas war.
Thick smoke hung could be seen handing over the northern town of Jabalia - home to Gaza's largest refugee camp - with residents reporting persistent aerial bombardment and shelling from Israeli tanks, which they said had moved further into the town.
Israeli officials say they have arrested 200 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups over the past week and taken them in for questioning.
Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari says his country's troops are fighting in 'complex areas' in Khan Younis.
"An area like Khan Younis is also a dense area. We also locate the terrorist infrastructure, especially underground. We work very hard underground, in Khan Younis, we expanded the engineering forces there. This division has a larger number of forces than the usual number for Division 98, this is what the activity requires, and we will also expand the division's capabilities in the coming days."
Israel's chief military spokesperson said its forces had achieved almost complete operational control of northern Gaza and were preparing to expand the ground offensive to other areas in the Strip, with a focus on the south.
In other developments, thousands of Israelis have rallied in Tel Aviv to protest their own government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The demonstration comes amid growing tension over the soaring death toll in Gaza, the Israeli Defence Forces mistakenly killing three hostages, and a New York Times report suggesting Israeli intelligence acquired Hamas' October 7 attack plan over a year before the violence but did not make preparations.
Participants called for justice over what they believe to be an Israeli security failure in response to Hamas militants who rampaged through the south of the country killing almost 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.
Combat officer Lior Sela spoke at the rally, blaming his government and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the loss of Israeli life.
"As soon as I'm released from the army, I'm going to sue those responsible for this huge failure, this abandonment. And the first in line are the Israeli government and Benjamin Netanyahu."
In Australia, hundreds of people gathered in southwest Sydney for a candlelight vigil for Palestinians killed in the 11 weeks of conflict in Gaza.
Supporters flooded Paul Keating Park in Bankstown with thousands of candles in honour of each of the victims, about 70 per cent of whom are reported to be women and children.
Minister for Industrial Relations Tony Burke was spotted attending the sombre event, where organisers encouraged attendees to remember the human toll of the violence.
"Tonight, let us feel their presence. Let us see their faces, hear their laughter and embrace the spirit of every individual no longer with us. Let their stories be etched in our hearts, reminding us of the fragility of life and the resilience of the human spirit."
The event followed a now-regular weekly protest where thousands of people marched the streets of Sydney calling for a ceasefire to the conflict and supporting the Palestinian people.
More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war to destroy Hamas and more than 53,000 have been wounded, according to health officials in Gaza.
Israel launched its retaliatory operation on Gaza following an attack by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on October 7, where they killed 1,200 people and took around 240 people hostage.
