AP PHOTOS: Holiday lights illuminate the world

Holiday lights are everywhere – and everywhere they look a little different. In recent weeks, Associated Press photographers have captured glistening scenes around the globe.

In Jemez Springs, New Mexico, traditional luminarias, also known as farolitos, flickered through the Jemez Historic Site during last week’s annual Lights of Gisewa event.

On the same day across the globe in Moscow, you could peer through a window of the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski out at St. Basil’s Cathedral and the GUM department store, bathed in lights for holiday festivities. And at the Johannesburg, South Africa zoo, actors in glowing, winged costumes welcomed visitors for the Christmas festival of lights.

Few avenues anywhere in the world as as grand during the holidays as the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where hundreds of trees were recently lit up to resemble bubbly wine glasses — and will remain sparkling through the season.

And in New York, the famed Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center stands majestic — a Norway spruce from small-town Massachusetts, adorned with 50,000 multi-colored lights. The giant tree is also topped with a Swarovski star crown featuring 3 million crystals.

In Germany, a 42-meter-high bright red candle — actually an illuminated medieval tower – shone in the historic city center of Schlitz in late November. In Milan, Italy, it was a symphony in gold as people stood on a bridge and Christmas lights illuminated the Darsena dei Navigli, the neighborhood named for canals that run through the area.

Reindeer figures sparkled in Hong Kong, part of waterfront Christmas decorations. And in Tokyo, people walked through a forest’s worth of glistening trees in Roppongi district, decorated with hundreds of thousands of blue LED lights.

At Space Center Houston, a child hopped among colored circles, part of space-themed holiday lights, near a replica of the shuttle Independence. Illuminated angels spread their wings over Regent Street in London, thanks to hundreds of thousands of LED lights on the busy shopping street.

And sometimes, nature does the trick herself. That’s what happened when a supermoon rose last month in Santiago, Chile, framed perfectly by star-shaped holiday street lights.

A Christmas wreath and lights adorn the Windansea surf shack along Windansea beach, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

People experience the holiday lights at the Cheekwood Estate and Gardens, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its 12th year, with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Visitors stand before an illuminated animal fantasy figure installation, one of many displayed across the Cologne Zoo as part of the China Lights Art Festival, in Cologne, Germany, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

In a timed exposure, motorists pass a pair of cowboys boots standing 40 feet tall and 30 feet long that have been decorated with lights for the holidays, on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The supermoon rises behind street lights in Santiago, Chile, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)

People stand on a bridge as Christmas lights illuminate the Darsena dei Navigli, the neighborhood named for the canals that run through this area of Milan, Italy, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

A couple stops to view Christmas lights on the facade of a building in downtown Lisbon, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Spectators walk after attending the Champs Élysées Avenue illumination ceremony for the Christmas season, in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

People ride a chain carousel at the Red Square Christmas Fair in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

In this photo taken with a long exposure, a person walks a dog past Christmas lights in a park, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Lenexa, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Actors welcome visitors for the Christmas festival of lights at the Johannesburg, South Africa zoo, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Christmas lights are displayed on Regent Street, in London, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Visitors walk in front of the illuminated Christmas tree at Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

People look at the illuminations at the Wiener Chritkindlmarkt in front of Vienna's city hall, one of Vienna's most popular Christmas markets, in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)

Visitors pose in a sledge for a picture with Christmas lights decoration in the background at Covent Garden in London, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The Kremlin Wall, the Spasskaya Tower, Red Square, the GUM department store, the St. Basil's Cathedral and the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge over the Moscow River are decorated for the New Year and Christmas festivities in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Traditional luminarias, also known as farolitos, flicker throughout the Jemez Historic Site during the annual Lights of Gisewa event in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

People take pictures with the Christmas decorations at the waterfront of the Victoria Harbour in West Kowloon Cultural District as the city prepares for the upcoming Christmas in Hong Kong, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

The Los Angeles County Christmas Tree is lit up at the Jerry Moss Plaza at Music Center in Los Angeles, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)

A visitor takes photos of a Christmas tree to celebrate the upcoming Christmas season at the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A child plays among space-themed holiday lights near a replica of shuttle Independence at Space Center Houston on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

A woman looks at the disco and Christmas balls illuminated with lights hanging on a decoration display for the upcoming Christmas Festival at a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

People walk through the annual year-end illumination in Roppongi district on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A large inflatable Santa Claus decorates the stall of a Christmas tree dealer on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

A 42-meter-high candle, which is an illuminated medieval tower, shines in the historic city centre of Schlitz, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after being lit during the 92nd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Coco Jones performs during the 92nd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Red Square, the GUM department store, center, and the St. Basil's Cathedral, right, are decorated for the New Year and Christmas festivities are seen through a window of the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Another 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before dawn Saturday, the military said.

The Houthis issued a statement on Telegram saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify.

“A flash of light, a blow and we fell to the ground. Big mess, broken glasses all over the place,” said Bar Katz, a resident of a damaged building.

The attack came after Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people Thursday. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi long-range missile that hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israel on Thursday.

Israel's military says the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and drones during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and say they won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports that will lead to the "immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The Hodeida port has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides’ attacks risk further escalation in the region.

Mourners in Gaza held funerals for 19 people — 12 of them children — killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and overnight.

One strike hit a residential building in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven Palestinians, including five children and one woman, and injuring 16 others, health officials said.

In Gaza City, a strike on a house killed 12 people, including seven children and two women, according to Al-Ahli Hospital where the bodies were taken.

One man cradled a tiny shroud-wrapped body as mourners gathered at the hospital in Gaza City. Women comforted each other as they wept.

Overall, Gaza's Health Ministry said 21 people had been killed over the past 24 hours.

More than 45,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, when a Hamas attack in Israel killed about 1,200 people and triggered the 14-month war. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said more than half of fatalities are women and children.

Israel faces heavy international criticism over the unprecedented levels of civilian deaths in Gaza. It says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.

Gaza's Health Ministry issued an urgent appeal for medical and food supplies to be delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in largely isolated northern Gaza, while the hospital director described conditions as dire, as Israel's military presses its latest offensive.

The ministry reported continuous gunfire and Israeli shelling near the hospital, saying “shells have struck the third floor and the hospital’s entrances, creating a state of panic.”

Hospital director Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh said the facility faced “severe shortages” and asserted that requests for essential medical supplies and ways to maintain oxygen, water and electricity systems "have largely gone unmet.”

He said 72 wounded people were being treated at the hospital.

“Food is very scarce, and we cannot provide meals for the wounded," Safiyeh added. “We are urgently calling on anyone who can provide supplies to help us.”

Aid groups have said Israeli military operations and armed gangs have hindered their ability to distribute aid.

The Israeli military organization dealing with humanitarian affairs for Gaza said Saturday it had led an operation delivering thousands of food packages, flour and water to the Beit Hanoun area in the north. It said trucks with the U.N. World Food Program transported them to distribution centers in the area Friday.

Iran on Saturday said unknown gunmen had killed a local staffer of the Iranian embassy in Syria, the official IRNA news agency said.

Its report quoted foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying “terrorists” opened fire on Davood Bitaraf’s car last Sunday. It did not say what he did with the embassy.

Baghaei said Iran considers Syria’s interim government responsible for finding and prosecuting those behind the killing. Iran had been a key ally of recently ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Men pray over the bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp during a funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat arrive at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital before their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Israeli soldier observes the site where the missile launched from Yemen landed Jaffa district, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)