VATICAN CITY: People donned Santa caps on beaches, ski slopes and streets around the globe on Monday to celebrate Christmas, as Pope Francis called for an end to the war in Gaza.
In his annual Christmas Day "Urbi and Orbi" mass at the Vatican, Pope Francis called for an end "to war, to every war, to the very mindset of war, an aimless voyage, a defeat without victors, an inexcusable folly".
May peace "come in Israel and Palestine, where war is devastating the lives of those peoples", he said.
"I reiterate my urgent appeal for the liberation of those still being held captive. I plead for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims, and call for a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid", he said.
The Gaza war made for a sombre Christmas in Bethlehem, the biblical city in the occupied West Bank.
The town did away with its giant Christmas tree, marching bands and flamboyant nativity scene that normally draw tourists, settling for just a few festive lights.
In the centre of town, a huge Palestinian flag had been unfolded with a banner declaring that "The bells of Bethlehem ring for a ceasefire in Gaza".
"A lot of people are dying for this land," said Nicole Najjar, an 18-year-old student.
"It's really hard to celebrate while our people are dying."
Inside Gaza, the horrid conditions were driving "rising desperation due to acute hunger," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
Israel retaliated with a sustained bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, that has killed more than 20,400 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.
An unusual silence fell over the streets of Zababdeh, a Palestinian village that is home to one of the biggest Christian communities in the occupied West Bank.
On any other Christmas Day, Palestinian Christians would have flocked from surrounding towns to enjoy the fairy lights and a festive market in the village of some 5,000 people.
But as the war rages in Gaza and violence also surges in the West Bank, the Christian community here is in no mood to celebrate Christmas on Monday.
This year its members are praying for peace and mourning the dead, worried too about violence even closer to home. — AFP
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