Overview
- Masses and prayers replace public festivities, with the Latin patriarch’s visit to Holy Family Parish marking a restrained start to Christmas.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry reports nearly 71,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023, and residents say fear and trauma persist despite reduced strikes.
- Churches continue to shelter displaced families, and several Christian compounds were hit during the war, with Israel saying one strike targeted a nearby Hamas site.
- The enclave’s Christian population has fallen from about 1,000 before the war to only a few hundred as people flee or are displaced.
- Israel and Hamas trade accusations of violating the October truce, and a planned second phase of the ceasefire remains unimplemented.