Bethlehem celebrates first festive Christmas since Gaza warListen to this articleChristian scouts march during Christmas eve celebrations at Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Photo: AFP)BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories - Scouts marched under a clear blue sky in Bethlehem on Wednesday, as the Palestinian city emerged from the shadow of the war in Gaza to celebrate its first festive Christmas in more than two years. Throughout the Gaza war that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023, a sombre tone marked Chistmases in Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ. ‘There’s still life’Bethlehem’s municipality chose to tone down Christmas festivities while war raged in Gaza — a Palestinian coastal territory geographically separated from the West Bank by Israel. The senior cleric visited war-battered Gaza over the weekend, leading a Christmas Mass at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza City on Sunday.

Source: Bangkok Post December 25, 2025 01:22 UTC