An Australian budget department store chain, similar to Primark, has pulled a "Merry Ham-mas" Christmas gift after complaints from the Jewish community.
Kmart, which has hundreds of stores across Australia and New Zealand, had also listed the drawstring bag on its website.
The bag had printed instructions on how "to keep your ham fresh for longer" on one side, and the words "Merry Ham-mas" on the other side in a festive typeface, as a play on words.
Hamas is the name of the Palestinian militant group which stormed Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostage. Israel subsequently attacked Gaza and has killed more than 10,500 people, according to Palestinian health officials, amid the ongoing conflict.
Kmart's faux pas was noticed by the Australian Jewish Association, which asked the owner of Kmart, Wesfarmers, to remove the product.
The group wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday: "Although this is potentially funny...it's really not a good look.
"We suspect some product manager may cause the company some embarrassment. So we've politely written to Wesfarmers corporate suggesting the product be pulled."
In a later update, the group said it was contacted by senior management who confirmed the bag was being pulled from the Kmart website and stores.
In a statement to the Standard, Wesfarmers apologised "unreservedly" and said it "got it wrong on this occasion".
"When designing this product we clearly didn't think through all the implications and the product has been removed from sale," the statement said.
Kmart operates 324 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand, employing around 38,000 people.
In Gaza, negotiations are underway to reach a three-day humanitarian cease-fire in exchange for the release of about a dozen hostages held by Hamas.
That's according to two officials from Egypt, one from the United Nations and a Western diplomat, who spoke the Association Press. The deal would allow more aid, including limited amounts of fuel, to enter Gaza to alleviate worsening conditions for the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped there.
About 50,000 Palestinians fled southward from northern Gaza on Wednesday, the United Nations said, the largest number of evacuees through an Israeli-controlled corridor that was first opened days ago.
The UN estimates that some 1.5 million Gazans have been internally displaced. Many have found shelter in overcrowded hospitals and schools.
Two Israelis were shot overnight into Thursday and moderately wounded while driving in the northern West Bank, Israeli media reported.
It was the second shooting attack on Israeli drivers in the West Bank in a week.
