Thousands of people have gathered in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve for the first public celebrations since 2022 after the city cancelled or muted festivities for two years out of respect for the thousands killed during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Families filled Manger Square in the occupied West Bank city as a giant Christmas tree returned to the plaza, replacing a nativity display used during the war that showed baby Jesus amid rubble and barbed wire, symbolising the devastation in Gaza.
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The celebrations were led by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land, who arrived in Bethlehem from Jerusalem in the traditional Christmas procession and called for “a Christmas full of light”.
Scout bands from towns across the West Bank marched through Bethlehem’s streets, their bagpipes draped with tartan and Palestinian flags.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, its forces have carried out near-daily raids across the West Bank, arresting thousands of Palestinians and sharply restricting movement between cities.
Palestinians say the intensified military presence, road closures and checkpoint delays have deterred visitors, paralysing the tourism sector on which Bethlehem’s economy depends.
The vast majority of those celebrating were local residents, with only a small number of foreign visitors.
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Unemployment in Bethlehem surged from 14 percent to 65 percent during the genocidal war on Gaza, Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati said earlier this month. As economic conditions deteriorated, about 4,000 residents left the city in search of work, he added.
Israeli raids and settler attacks
The return of Christmas celebrations comes despite continued raids and large-scale military incursions across the occupied West Bank, even after a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, which has been repeatedly violated by Israeli forces, took hold in October.
The raids often entail mass arrests of Palestinians, home searches and demolitions, as well as physical assaults that sometimes lead to deaths.
Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have reached their highest level since the United Nations humanitarian office began recording data in 2006. The attacks have involved killings, beatings and the destruction of property, often under the protection of the Israeli military.
Earlier on Wednesday, more than 570 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem under police protection, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Palestinians say such incursions violate the longstanding status quo governing Islam’s third-holiest site.
Israel’s security cabinet has also signed off on plans to formalise 19 illegal settlements across the West Bank, in a move Palestinian officials say deepens a decades-long project of land theft and demographic engineering.
The United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and other countries condemned the move on Wednesday.
“We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements,” said a joint statement released by the UK, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
“We recall that such unilateral actions, as part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk fuelling instability.”