Orthodox Christians have marked a sombre Christmas in war-torn Gaza, with worshippers saying there would be no gifts for children and no joy during this year's holiday.
In Gaza City's Church of Saint Porphyrius, as fighting raged across the Palestinian territory, around a dozen members of the Orthodox Christian community gathered for the annual service.
Older men and women joined Archbishop Alexios of Tiberias in lighting candles and praying for friends and family as well as an end to the 15-month-old war.
Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Day on 7 January.
Around 1,100 Christians from various denominations remain in Gaza amid the fighting, sparked by the 7 October 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.
"Holidays are limited to prayers only, with no gifts for children, no joy or any signs of joy for children on this holiday," community member Ramez al-Suri said.
"We hope and ask all countries to help bring a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."
"We have been at war for 15 months and we in the Christian community always ask for peace and all our prayers are for love and peace for all and for the war to end as soon as possible," he said.
In the courtyard of the church, which was partially destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023, the destruction that has devastated much of Gaza is clear in the surrounding bombed-out buildings.
Standing outside the church, Fuad Ayyad, another member of the community, said: "We wake up every minute to bombing, massacres, genocide or the martyrdom of a citizen".
In the strike that hit the church, 18 Palestinian Christians were killed, according to Gaza's health ministry.
"Today we welcome the holiday with joy, but a diminished joy as Christians," Mr Ayyad said, adding that "sadness remains present and dominant within the western and eastern churches and within the Palestinian community whether Muslim or Christian".
On 25 December, when the Catholic and other churches celebrated Christmas, Pope Francis called in his annual address for "arms to be silenced" around the world and appealed for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.
He also denounced the "extremely grave" humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The October 2023 Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally of official Israeli data.
Since then, Israel's military offensive has killed 45,885 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Three militants killed in West Bank raids - Israel
The Israeli army said it has killed three Palestinian militants in separate "counterterrorism" raids in the north of the occupied West Bank, with Palestinian medics saying one of the dead was a teenager.
A military statement said that two militants died when the Israeli air force struck an "armed terrorist cell" that opened fire at its forces who were conducting a raid in the village of Tammun, near Nablus city.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said that an 18-year-old was killed "as a result of shelling" and five people were severely wounded during the Israeli raid.
The Red Crescent said its teams had transported the 18-year-old's body to the nearby city of Tubas where a hospital director identified him as Suleiman Qutaishat.
Tammun residents said that Israeli forces had taken the body of the second person.
The Israeli military statement said that, during the raid, "weapons were confiscated and several wanted individuals were apprehended".
In a separate raid in the village of Taluza, near Tammun, the military said its forces killed a militant "in close-quarter combat", as well as confiscating an AK-47 rifle and arresting one person.
The Red Crescent said its teams had recovered the body of a 40-year-old man, who residents identified as Jaafar Dababseh.
Hamas claimed he was a member of the group.
Residents said that Mr Dababseh was shot dead by Israeli forces in front of his house.
Hamas mourned his death in a statement, saying he was a former prisoner in Israel and one of its fighters.
Mourners were seen carrying Mr Dababseh's body, shrouded in a Palestinian flag, through Taluza for his funeral.
The Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank reported one death in Tammun and another in Taluza by Israeli fire.
The Israeli military said that its forces carried out raids overnight across the West Bank, apprehending several wanted people.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which is separated from the West Bank by Israeli territory. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 821 Palestinians, including some militants, since the Gaza war began, according to its health ministry.
At least 28 Israelis have died in the West Bank over the same period, according to Israel's official figures.
Yesterday, three Israelis were killed when gunmen opened fire on vehicles on a road in the northern West Bank, according to medics.
