Pope Francis has opened global Christmas celebrations with a lament – that Jesus’ message of peace is being drowned out by the “futile logic of war” in the land where he was born.

Israel’s deadliest war against Gaza cast a shadow as the pope presided over Sunday’s evening mass attended by 6,500 people in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

“Tonight our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once again rejected by the futile logic of war, by the battle of arms that, even today, prevents him from finding his place in the world,” said the Catholic leader.

The 87-year-old Pope said this real Christmas message is peace and love and urges people not to be obsessed with worldly success and the “idolatry of consumerism.”

He spoke of “the all-too-human thread that runs through history: the pursuit of worldly might and power, fame and glory, measuring everything in success, results, figures and figures, a world obsessed with achievement.”

“Tonight, love changes history,” he said, draped in white robes.

Bethlehem, the biblical city in the occupied West Bank where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born in a manger more than 2,000 years ago, effectively repealed the annual Christmas celebrations that usually attract thousands of tourists.

This year, the city ditched its giant Christmas tree, brass bands and extravagant nativity scene in favor of a few festive lights.

A huge Palestinian flag was unfurled in the center of the city with the words: “The bells of Bethlehem ring for a ceasefire in Gaza.”

“A lot of people are dying for this country,” said Nicole Najjar, an 18-year-old student. “It’s really hard to celebrate while our people are dying.”

Francis spoke hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to push deeper into the Palestinian enclave of Gaza after his troops suffered one of the worst days of losses in their ground war.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported an Israeli attack late Sunday at least 70 people killed in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza and destroyed several houses.

According to the territory’s Ministry of Health, a total of at least 20,424 people have been killed in the enclave since the war began, most of them women and children.

“Bethlehem celebrates Christmas with sadness and grief over what is happening in Gaza and throughout the West Bank and all Palestinian territories,” said Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maayah.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arrived at the Church of the Nativity on Sunday wearing a traditional black and white keffiyeh.

“Our hearts go out to Gaza, to all the people of Gaza, but our special attention goes to our Christian community in Gaza, which is suffering,” he said.

“We are here to pray and not just to ask for a ceasefire, a ceasefire is not enough…violence only begets violence.”

Francis has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict and called for the release of all prisoners.

As Christmas Eve Mass ended, the pope moved through the basilica in a wheelchair, with the life-size statue of the baby Jesus on his lap and flanked by children carrying bouquets of flowers.

The statue was placed in a manger in a manger in the basilica.

At noon on Monday (11:00 GMT), Francis will deliver his Christmas message and blessing “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world).