A headline in the newspaper edition of The New York Times claims that the estimated 20,000 deaths in Gaza during its war with Israel have surpassed the tolls of “any Arab war” in the past 40 years, appearing to discount the more than 306,000 civilians believed to have been killed in the 10-year Syria conflict between 2011 and 2021.

The article, bearing the headline “Gaza Deaths Surpass Any Arab War Losses in 40 Years,” appeared in Friday’s paper edition of The Times.

The article’s headline on The Times’ website, however, specifies “wars with Isreal.” The entire digital headline reads, “Gaza Deaths Surpass Any Arab Loss in Wars With Israel in Past 40 Years,” and has a publication timestamp of Thursday.

The seemingly misleading headline in the newspaper edition was called out on social media by the former head of speechwriting for Israel’s Permanent Mission to the U.N., Aviva Klompas.

Klompas wrote that The Times “is now just making sh– up,” and said that “one whole second of Googling” found conflicting information.

The information that Klompas cites in her post is found in a June 2022 press release from the U.N. Human Rights Office, which says that the office estimates more than 306,000 civilians were killed over 10 years in the Syria conflict.

“The UN Human Rights Office today published a report that, following rigorous assessment and statistical analysis of available data on civilian casualties, estimates that 306,887 civilians were killed between 1 March 2011 and 31 March 2021 in Syria due to the conflict,” the 2022 release states. “This is the highest estimate yet of conflict-related civilian deaths in Syria.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
on Sunday said that Israel is “deepening” the war in the Gaza Strip and will continue to fight until Hamas is eliminated and the Israelis taken hostage are returned. 

Netanyahu, speaking in Hebrew, addressed the video message to Israeli citizens, saying that while it will take time to bring the war to a conclusion, Israel will “fight to the end.” 

“Israeli citizens, we are deepening the war in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to fight until the complete victory over Hamas. This is the only way to return our abductees, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel.” 

“It will take time, but we are united – the fighters (i.e. fighting soldiers), the people and the government. We are united and determined to fight to the end,” the prime minister continued. 

“War has a price, a very heavy price in the lives of our heroic soldiers, and we do everything to preserve the lives of our soldiers. But one thing will not be done – we will not stop until we achieve victory,” Netanyahu concluded. 

The Israeli military on Sunday announced that 14 Israeli soldiers were killed over the weekend. Since the ground offensive began, 153 Israeli troops have been killed. 

Hamas terrorists
stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage. The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killing roughly 20,400 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, resembled a ghost town on Sunday as Christmas Eve celebrations were called off because of the ongoing war between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists.

The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing. The foreign tourists who gather each year to celebrate Christmas were also absent. Instead, dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty area.

The gift shops in the region were slow to open on Christmas Eve, but a few did when rain stopped pouring. Still, there were few visitors.

The cancellation of Christmas festivities this year is a significant blow to the town’s economy. Tourism makes up an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income, and most of that comes during the Christmas season.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to Israeli forces launching a ground operation into the territory.

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More than a dozen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, according to the Israeli military.

The 13 Israeli soldiers killed on Friday and Saturday died in battles in central and southern Gaza, the military said Sunday.

According to Israeli Army Radio, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle was struck by an anti-tank missile.

Another soldier was killed in northern Israel by fire from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

The number of soldiers killed since Israel’s ground offensive began now sits at 152.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to Israeli forces launching a ground operation into the territory.

Civilians have been repeatedly caught in the crossfire of the wider conflict, with thousands having been wounded, and many others having been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured or murdered.

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The USS Laboon shot down four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Red Sea on Saturday, as tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate amid the Israel-Hamas war.

A senior U.S. defense official confirmed the news to Fox News Digital. The weapons were fired by Houthis and targeted towards international ships.

Houthis began by firing two UAVs at international vessels, despite the ships not having any connection to Israel. One vessel was damaged, while the other was not.

A Gabon-flagged ship was also struck by a Houthi drone. Houthis also shot two anti-ship ballistic missiles, but neither hit.

Iranian-linked fighters also reportedly shot at least one unmanned aerial vehicle towards a vessel off the coast of India in the Indian Ocean.

Fox News Digital’s Andrea Vacchiano and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

Iran appears to have struck a ship off the Indian coast with an unmanned aerial vehicle, a U.S. official told Fox News on Saturday.

It comes as Houthi militants targeted multiple cargo ships on Saturday, as the group fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles into international shipping lanes located in the Southern Red Sea, according to U.S. Central Command.

No ships were impacted by the ballistic missiles, officials said.The USS Laboon shot down four unmanned aerial drones on Saturday which originated from areas that the Houthis control in Yemen.

Read the full article about Iran by Jennifer Griffin and Adam Sabes