BETHLEHEM – Palestinians said they felt “no joy” this Christmas as Israel bombed Gaza on Monday, and there is no end in sight to the war that Hamas says has claimed more than 20,000 lives.

In the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, celebrations were effectively canceled and there were few worshipers or tourists on the normally crowded streets.

In the besieged Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli strikes early Monday killed at least 18 people in the southern city of Khan Yunis, the center of recent fighting.

At a hospital in the city, Fadi Sayegh – whose family had previously received permission to travel to Bethlehem for celebrations – said he would not celebrate Christmas this year.

“There is no joy. No Christmas tree, no decorations, no family dinner, no celebrations,” he said during his dialysis. “I pray this war will be over soon.”

Sister Nabila Salah of the Holy Catholic Church in Gaza – where the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said two Christian women were killed by an Israeli sniper earlier this month – struck a somber tone.

“All Christmas celebrations have been canceled,” she told AFP. “How do we celebrate when we…hear the noise of tanks and bombing instead of the ringing of bells?”

The war broke out when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and taking 250 hostages, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel has vowed to respond by eliminating Hamas and eliminating its military campaign, which has included massive airstrikes. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the campaign killed 20,424 people, mostly women and children.

Pope Francis opened the global Christmas celebrations on Sunday with a call for peace.

“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,” the Catholic leader said.

Christmas Eve strike

Just before Christmas, the Hamas-run Health Ministry announced that at least 70 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the number of victims was “likely to rise” as many families were believed to be in the area at the time of the strike.

In a separate incident, the ministry said 10 members of a family were killed in an Israeli attack on their home in Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

AFP was unable to independently verify either toll.

Vast areas of Gaza are in ruins and Gaza’s 2.4 million residents are suffering from severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine due to the Israeli siege, which has only been alleviated by the limited arrival of aid trucks.

According to the United Nations, 80 percent of Gaza residents have been displaced, with many fleeing south and now sheltering from the winter cold in makeshift tents.

The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, called for an end to the suffering.

“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.”

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also reiterated calls for a ceasefire, saying: “The decimation of the health system in Gaza is a tragedy.”

‘NO CHOICE’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the war was exacting a “very high price” as the death toll in the conflict continued to rise.

“But we have no choice but to keep fighting,” he said, adding: “It will be a long war.”

The army said two more soldiers were killed on Monday, bringing the number of soldiers killed since Friday to 17 and to 156 since the Israeli ground attack began on October 27.

Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus noted that the armed forces are close to taking control of the northern Gaza Strip and that we are now “concentrating our efforts against Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip.”

Two released detainees and a medic said on Sunday that Palestinians held by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip had suffered torture, an allegation denied by the military.

The two men were among hundreds arrested by Israeli forces over alleged ties to Hamas during Israel’s ground offensive.

About 20 men released from Israeli custody “have bruises and blow marks on their bodies,” Marwan al-Hams, hospital director in the southern city of Rafah, told AFP.