The death toll in the Israel-H its strikes on Gaza.

Health officials# there reported 250 Palestinians died## and another 500 were injured in# the last 24 hours alone.

All this## comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin# Netanyahu vows to intensify the fight.

William Brangham has our report.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Gaza woke up to one# of its deadliest morning an entire residential block in Deir al Balah,# a city in Central Gaza, bombed into rubble.

Survivors at the Maghazi refugee camp dug# through the debris with their bare hands,## searching desperately for all that they# have lost.

On Friday, they were told by## the Israeli military to move here.

And now# it is the site of death and devastation.

Om Ahmed was one of those who# came here, thinking it was safe.

OM AHMED, Displaced Gazan (through# translator): For the love of God,## have mercy on us.

attention to us.

We have lost our children, our# homes, everything.

We don't know where to go.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There is grief and pain, shock# and disbelief, tears and heartache.

At the Al-Aqsa## Hospital, their loved ones arrive in body bags,# one after the other.

Their loss is crippling,## a father mourning his child and a son# struggling to let go of his father.

As Gazans prayed for their# dead, Egyptian officials## reportedly proposed an initial plan to# the end war.

It includes a cease-fire,# a phased release of all hostages, and the# creation of a loosely defined Palestinian## government of appointed experts.

Hamas and# its allied militant group, the Islamic Jihad,## rejected the proposal of relinquishing control# of the Gaza Strip, according to reports.

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,## who was heckled by families of# hostages, vowed to continue th BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister# (through translator): We are not stopping,## and we will not stop until WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In Vatican City, Pope Francis# pleaded for peace in his Christmas message.

POPE FRANCIS, Leader of Catholic Church# (through translator): May peace come in## Israel and military operations with their appalling# harvest of innocent civilian victims.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In the occupied West Bank,# Bethlehem, where the Bible says Jesus was born,## resembled a ghost town, a far cry from# what a normal Christmas here looks like.

At the Church of the Nativity, residents# marked a somber day with a prayer for peace.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.