President Mahmoud Abbas said today, Sunday, that the Israeli bombing does not distinguish between a Muslim and a Christian, in a scene that brings back memories of the Nakba of 1948.

Abbas’s speech came in a speech on the occasion of the birth of Christ, according to the Western calendar.

He added: "The brutal bombing committed by the occupation targeted the Evangelical Baptist Hospital in Gaza, the Orthodox Cultural Center, the Greek Orthodox Church Hall, and the Holy Family Church, in addition to mosques, schools, and hospitals. It did not differentiate between a Muslim and a Christian."

He continued: "The occupation's aggression targeted the Christian presence, all of our people, and our Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem and the West Bank."

Addressing his speech to the residents of Gaza, President Abbas said: “The sun of freedom and the independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital is inevitably coming, and is even just around the corner. The river of blood, the great sacrifices, the suffering, and the heroic steadfastness of our people on their land is the path towards freedom and dignity.”

He called for making Christmas this year “a time to stop the war and aggression against our people in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, and an occasion for goodness, prosperity and stability for our people and all peoples.”

He added that Eid falls this year, "and the city of birth, Bethlehem (south of the West Bank), is experiencing a sadness that it has not seen before this day. The occupation forces oppress and kill the children of Palestine, and snatch the innocent smiles from the faces of the living among them."

He continued: "None of our people, women, men, and the elderly, were spared from this killing, terrorism, attempts at forced displacement, and the destruction of thousands of homes, which reminds us of what happened in the Nakba of 1948."

He added: "We will continue our struggle to obtain our legitimate rights to live on the soil of Palestine, in a free, independent and fully sovereign state."

Celebrations for Christian sects that follow the Western calendar will be held on December 25, while sects that follow the Eastern calendar will celebrate on January 7.

Last November, churches in occupied Jerusalem announced the cancellation of Christmas celebrations because of Israel's devastating war on the Gaza Strip.