GAZA: Seven months ago, Sister Nabila and two other nuns huddled in a Gaza Catholic school compound, shaken by the sound of explosions from Israel’s bombing of what it said were Palestinian militant targets nearby.
Now she is looking forward to some Christmas cheer in the Rosary Sisters’ school, where she serves as principal. Holiday decorations are going up even as repairs to the facility continue after last May’s 11-day Gaza war.
The explosions outside the school perimeter were still powerful enough to cause the structure to lean 8 centimeters (3 inches), Sister Nabila said. Engineers saved it from demolition and began fixing damaged classrooms.
No students were in the kindergarten-grade 12 school during the night-time attack on what Israel described as tunnels in the neighborhood used by militants who fired rockets at its towns.
“War won’t stop us,” said Sister Nabila, who joined colleagues and students in decorating a Christmas tree. “We are determined to have a Christmas atmosphere inside the school because this symbolizes continuity.”
With fewer than 1,000 Christians in Gaza, where two million people live, 95 percent of the 1,150 students are Muslim. Mainly Greek Orthodox, Gaza’s Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7.
Sister Nabila said she was still “overcome with fear and horror” when she recalled the night of the bombing. She and two other nuns live in the school compound.
“I thought the entire school had collapsed,” she said. “I hope there will be no more wars because Gaza had enough — our children shouldn’t live through any more wars because they leave bad memories.”
Palestinian authorities said Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 250 people, while Israeli officials put the death toll in Israel from Gaza rocket salvoes at 13. The Hamas group, which has fought four wars with Israel since 2008, runs Gaza.
Christmas cheer at Gaza Catholic school as war damage repairs go on
https://arab.news/76s9p
Christmas cheer at Gaza Catholic school as war damage repairs go on
- Holiday decorations are going up even as repairs to the facility continue after last May's 11-day Gaza war
- "War won't stop us," said Sister Nabila, who joined colleagues and students in decorating a Christmas tree
Syrian government foils Daesh plot to attack churches and New Year celebrations
- Bomber kills soldier in Aleppo, detonates explosives injuring 2 others
ALEPPO, DAMASCUS: The Syrian Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that it had thwarted a Daesh plot to carry out suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations and churches, particularly in Aleppo.
The ministry said in a statement that, as part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts and careful monitoring of Daesh cells in cooperation with partner agencies, it had received intelligence indicating plans for suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations in several provinces, particularly Aleppo, with a focus on churches and civilian gathering areas.
The ministry added that it took preemptive measures, including reinforcing security around churches, deploying mobile and fixed patrols, and setting up checkpoints across the city.
During operations at a checkpoint in Aleppo’s Bab Al-Faraj district, security forces intercepted a suspected Daesh member who opened fire. One internal security soldier was killed, and the attacker detonated explosives, injuring two others.
Daesh recently increased its attacks in Syria, and was blamed for an attack last month in Palmyra that killed three Americans.
On Dec. 13, two US soldiers and an American civilian were killed in an attack Washington blamed on a lone Daesh gunman in Palmyra.
In retaliation, American forces struck scores of Daesh targets in Syria.
Syrian authorities have also carried out several operations against Daesh since then, saying on Dec. 25 they had killed a senior leader of the group.
