Bethlehem marks a somber Christmas Eve amid war in Gaza

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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Palestinian city of Bethlehem is preparing for a somber Christmas Eve under the shadow of war in Gaza, with most festivities cancelled and crowds of tourists absent Tuesday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Winter is hitting the Gaza Strip and many of the nearly 2 million Palestinians displaced by the devastating 15-month war with Israel are struggling to protect themselves from the wind, cold and rain.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel in October 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists.

A 78-year-old Israeli woman who was among those hostages, and who was freed during a brief ceasefire last year, has died, her family said Tuesday.

Here’s the latest:

Syrian Christians protest to demand greater protections after a Christmas tree is burned

DAMASCUS — Scores of Syrian Christians protested in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, demanding greater protections for their religious minority after a Christmas tree was set on fire in the city of Hama a day earlier.

Many of the insurgents who now rule Syria are jihadis, although Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of the main rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has renounced longtime ties to al-Qaida and spent years depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance.

It remains unclear who set the Christmas tree on fire Monday, which was condemned by a representative of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who visited the town and addressed the community.

“This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations,” the HTS representative said in a video widely shared on social media. “The Christmas tree will be fully restored by this evening.”

On Tuesday, protesters marched through the streets of Bab Touma in Damascus, shouting slogans against foreign fighters and carrying large wooden crosses.

“We demand that Syria be for all Syrians. We want a voice in the future of our country,” said Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church as he addressed the crowd in a church courtyard, assuring them of Christians’ rights in Syria.

Since HTS led a swift offensive that overthrew President Bashar Assad earlier this month, Syria’s minority communities have been on edge, uncertain of how they will be treated under the emerging rebel-led government.

“We are here to demand a democratic and free government for one people and one nation,” another protester said. “We stand united — Muslims and Christians. No to sectarianism.”

Qatar says Gaza ceasefire negotiations are ongoing

DOHA — Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that ceasefire negotiations to end the war in Gaza were ongoing in Doha in cooperation with Egyptian, Qatari, and American mediators.

“We will not leave any door unopened in pursuit of reaching an agreement,” said Majid al-Ansari, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday.

Al Ansari added that rumors the ceasefire would be reached before Christmas are “speculation.”

The ceasefire negotiations come at a time when winter is hitting the Gaza Strip and many of the nearly 2 million Palestinians displaced by the devastating 15-month war with Israel are struggling to protect themselves from the wind, cold and rain. Families of the approximately 100 hostages who have been held for 445 days in Gaza are also worried their loved ones will not survive another winter.

In a press conference, al-Ansari also called on the international community to lift sanctions on Syria as quickly as possible on Tuesday.

“The reason was the crimes of the previous regime, and that regime, with all of its authority, is no longer in place, therefor the causes for these sanctions no longer exist today,” he said.

US journalist missing in Syria since 2012 is believed to be alive, says aid group

DAMASCUS, Syria — American journalist Austin Tice is believed to be still alive, according to the head of an international aid group.

Nizar Zakka, who runs the Hostage Aid Worldwide organization, said there has never been any proof that Tice, who has been missing since 2012, is dead.

Zakka told reporters in Damascus on Tuesday that Tice was alive in January and being held by the authorities of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad. He added that U.S. President Joe Biden said in August that Tice was alive.

Zakka said he believes Tice was transferred between security agencies over the past 12 years, including in an area where Iranian-backed fighters were operating.

Asked if it was possible Tice had been taken out of the country, Zakka said Assad most likely kept him in Syria as a potential bargaining chip.

Biden said Dec. 8 that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, although he also acknowledged that “we have no direct evidence” of his status.

A former Israeli hostage dies

TEL AVIV, Israel — Hannah Katzir, an Israeli woman who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, and freed in a brief ceasefire last year, has died. She was 78.

The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the families of people taken captive, confirmed the death Tuesday but did not disclose the cause.

Her daughter, Carmit Palty Katzir, said in a statement that her mother’s “heart could not withstand the terrible suffering since Oct. 7.”

Katzir’s husband, Rami, was killed during the attack by militants who raided their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Her son Elad was also kidnapped and his body was recovered in April by the Israeli military, who said he had been killed in captivity.

She spent 49 days in captivity and was freed in late November 2023. Shortly after Katzir was freed, her daughter told Israeli media that she had been hospitalized with heart issues attributed to “difficult conditions and starvation” while she was held captive.

Israeli air defense system intercepts projectile launched from Yemen

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military said the projectile was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, but it set off air raid sirens overnight in the country’s populous central area, sending residents looking for cover.

Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said a 60-year-old woman was seriously wounded after being hurt on her way to a protected space.

There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

It was the third time in a week that fire from Yemen set off sirens in Israel. On Saturday, a missile slammed into a playground in Tel Aviv, injuring 16, after Israel’s air defense system failed to intercept it.

Earlier last week, Israeli jets struck Yemen’s rebel-held capital and a port city, killing nine. Israel said the strikes were in response to previous Houthi attacks.

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