B Jerusalem News Today

The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel faced growing pressure Sunday to scale back its relentless military campaign against Hamas while American warships once again clashed with Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, as the U.S. and its allies raced to contain multiple interconnected conflicts raging across the Middle East.

Information about the conditions of their captivity has been tightly controlled, but family members of the released hostages have begun to share details about their loved ones' experiences.

NBC News has dropped an East Jerusalem-based freelancer after she was arrested on suspicion of inciting and disseminating materials encouraging terrorism stemming from Facebook posts that glorify Hamas.

Attacks by Lebanon's Hezbollah group Sunday wounded seven Israeli troops and 10 other people, Israel's military and rescue services said.

Israel faced fierce criticism Tuesday from the Arab world and public admonitions from European leaders about its war against the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas, as Palestinian casualties mount in the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem acknowledges that "strategic considerations" have forced a delay of its long-awaited ground invasion.

The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land and sea, catching the country off guard on a major holiday.

A Hamas militant on Thursday opened fire near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, killing an Israeli soldier, a day after Israeli forces withdrew from the largest military operation in the West Bank in two decades. The Palestinian attacker was shot and killed by Israeli forces, the army said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Friday that his country's enemies will pay a "heavy price" for repeated rocket fire.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a two-day visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday with renewed appeals for Israeli-Palestinian calm amid an alarming spike in violence.