“Stop the genocide now,” said Bethlehem Pastor Munther Isaac, as churches across Palestine cancel Christmas celebrations.
The pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church has called for peace in Gaza in a Liturgy of Lament delivered before Christmas.
“If Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza,” Munther Isaac told his congregation from his church in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
“When we rely on power might and weapons… when we rationalise the bombing of children, Jesus is under the rubble,” he added.
“Stop this genocide now,” Isaac said.
Meanwhile health Ministry in Gaza says 166 Palestinians killed, 384 wounded in Israeli attacks in last 24 hours.
UNRWA said it “cannot deliver meaningful aid” under intense Israeli bombardments of Gaza after the UN Security Council called for increased access.
More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7.
