Gaza's deadliest ever war cast a pall of gloom over Bethlehem on Christmas Eve Sunday, as the death toll spiralled and Israel shifted its efforts against Hamas to the besieged territory's south.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip said an Israeli strike late Sunday killed at least 70 people in Al-Maghazi refugee camp, in central Gaza, and destroyed several houses.

AFP was unable to independently verify the toll, which suggests one of the deadliest strikes since the war began on October 7. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it was "checking" the report.

Israel said its armed forces were increasingly focused on Hamas targets in south Gaza Sunday, as the United States again pressed its ally to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.

Signalling a pivot after weeks of intensive fighting around Gaza City, the Israeli army said troops were now looking to the Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis and elsewhere in the south.

Christmas cheer has deserted the streets of Syria's cities, where the main churches have limited celebrations to prayers in solidarity with Palestinians suffering war in Gaza.

"In Palestine, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, people are suffering," the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, Mor Dionysius Antoine Shahda, told AFP.

The northern Syrian city's central district of Azizia is usually home to a bustling festive market and a huge Christmas tree, while its streets are adorned with lights and trinkets.

A relentless Israeli military campaign, in response to deadly Hamas attacks on October 7, has upset the lives of most, if not all, residents of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces have launched a bombardment campaign and ground invasion of Gaza ever since Hamas militants launched their shock attack -- the deadliest in Israel's 75-year history.

It killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Nearly three years after President Joe Biden took office vowing "America is back," the country's international image is taking a beating as his administration backs Israel in its war with Hamas.

In one step back from the newfound isolation, the United States on Friday, after painstaking negotiations, let through a UN Security Council resolution on humanitarian aid for the beleaguered Gaza Strip, after vetoing two earlier calls to halt the fighting.

President Joe Biden on Saturday pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protect civilian lives in Gaza, the White House said, as the country's forces mounted fresh military strikes in the territory.

The conversation came a day after the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding "safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale," though it stopped short of calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants.

When Bakr al-Naji realises the meals he prepares each day for a charity in the Gaza Strip won't be sufficient to fill the stomachs of the children, his heart sinks.

In Rafah, a city at the southern end of Gaza, thousands of people queue up for a little food at the Tkiyeh centre, said Naji.

The 28-year-old was displaced from Gaza City, but volunteers to cook for those facing the same circumstances.

"The most difficult moment, for me, is when I hand out the meals," he told AFP.

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than 200 people in 24 hours, Hamas-controlled authorities said Saturday, as the United States again pressed its ally to do more to protect civilians.

Despite growing calls for restraint and for more aid to reach war-stricken Palestinians, Israel showed little sign of modulating its 11-week-old "Operation Swords of Iron" -- which aims to rout Hamas.

Fighting is now centred on Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Yunis, both considered strongholds of the Palestinian militant group that carried out bloody October 7 raids into Israel.

Ten Indian passengers among more than 300, including unaccompanied minors, on a Nicaragua-bound plane held in France over suspected human trafficking have applied for asylum, a source close to the case told AFP Saturday.

The plane has been held at Vatry airport, 150 kilometres (95 miles) east of Paris, since arriving from Dubai on Thursday following an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human trafficking.

In the Lebanese Christian border village of Qlayaa, the priest urged his parish to keep the Christmas spirit alive despite clashes between Hezbollah and Israel forcing many to flee.

Nestled among lush, green fields and flowing olive groves, Qlayaa has echoed to the sound of bombing on an almost daily basis since October 7.

"Of course we are upset and bothered by the war... but we want to feel the joy of Christmas," father Pierre Rai told a dwindling number of parishioners in Qlayaa's Maronite Saint George Church.