Visual analysis and interviews show how Palestinians have been forced from their homes in the north as the Israeli military cuts a new corridor through Gaza.

Some say that the community is in danger of losing its 1,600-year foothold in the enclave and that it is far from certain those who have fled will ever feel safe enough to return home.

It is already the second Christmas in Bethlehem to be marked by Israel's war in Gaza. Tourists and pilgrims have stopped coming to the city almost altogether, and the economic situation seems even bleaker than last year.

The Israeli military on Tuesday reportedly ordered the evacuation of a hospital in the contested northern Gaza Strip, as the Israeli parliament voted to extend the state of emergency in the country for another year.

The Health Ministry said 45,028 people have been killed and 106,962 have been wounded since the start of the war in October 2023.

Palestinians pray over the bodies of the victims of an Israeli strike on a home late Saturday before the funeral outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israel’s military said it carried out strikes and raids against Hamas targets in northern Gaza on Sunday. The actions followed days of deadly attacks across the territory.

U.S. and Arab mediators are working round-the-clock to hammer out a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, sources close to the talks said, while in the Gaza Strip medics said Israeli strikes had killed 13 Palestinians on Thursday.

The rights group joins a growing chorus of critics accusing Israel of committing genocidal acts in its war in Gaza.

The Israeli military has ordered another evacuation in central Gaza ahead of an offensive in the area, even as Israel and the militant group Hamas appear to inch closer to a ceasefire.

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them clean water which it says legally amounts to acts of genocide and extermination.