Christmas cards with war scenes imposed onto the nativity have been released by the medical charity Doctors of the World UK.

The hard-hitting cards show traditional biblical images overlayed with pictures from modern warfare including explosions, fighter jets and missiles. The charity is selling the cards to raise money for its work bringing healthcare to people around the world. 

Launched on social media under the tag #reailtyxmas, one of the four designs show Mary and Joseph with Jesus in a bombed out building.

The charity said the cards were not designed to make a religious statement but to remind people of wars that rage around the world.

"We've launched this campaign in the first week of Advent to shine a light on the realities of life in the Middle East at Christmas," said executive director Leigh Daynes, according to the BBC.

"We want to provoke a broad public debate about the effect of the conflict on ordinary people at the time of year when many of us are thinking of loved ones, peace and goodwill."

Mike Oughton, creative director at McCann London, who designed the cards said: "We saw a huge irony in the war-torn imagery of the Middle East today, when compared to the imagery of the nativity, and its message of 'peace on earth' and 'goodwill to all men'.

"By creating a set of Christmas cards that seamlessly merge the past with the stark realities of the present, we hope to prick people's consciences," he said according to the Mail.