As Christmas arrives, the small Christian community in the Gaza Strip is again facing a season mired in war. Once a time marked by family gatherings, decorations and liturgies, the holiday this year will be spent in makeshift shelters in partially destroyed churches standing amid the ruins of a war-torn enclave.

A leading global food crisis monitor says deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in north Gaza as soon as next month

Aid agencies warn famine is weeks away in northern Gaza and blames Israel for the “blockade of food”.