Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass
LA TimesPalestinians pray Sunday over the bodies of the victims of an Israeli strike on a home in Deir al Balah. Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 22 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said, while Gaza’s small Christian community celebrated a pre-Christmas Mass. One of the latest Israeli strikes hit a school housing displaced people in Gaza City and killed at least eight, including three children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. A strike on a home in the central city of Deir al Balah late Saturday killed at least eight, including three women and two children, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. The pope recently called for an investigation to determine whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, a conclusion later reached by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.