Israel ignored calls from around the world to halt its attacks on the Occupied Territories, and invaded Bethlehem.

Tanks and armored vehicles pushed into the city overnight, and witnesses said helicopter gunships poured fire into Manger Square, near the Church of Nativity, where Christians believe Jesus was born.

Outgunned Palestinians with rifles and grenade launchers are fighting desperately to keep Israeli ground troops out of the area.

Israel declared the area a closed military zone, and information is hard to come by. There are reports that a Roman Catholic priest has been killed, and an Al-Jazeera cameraman filming from a hotel rooftop was injured in the neck.

Guest:

• Peter Beaumont, reporter for the Observer newspaper in Ramallah, author of a piece in Sunday’s paper called “I Saw the Bodies, Killed by a Shot to the Head,” speaking to us from Jerusalem.

Related link:

• I Saw the Bodies, Killed by a Shot to the Head