PICTORIAL: Bethlehem lights Christmas tree first time since Gaza war

An aerial photograph shows people gathering in Nativity Square during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 6, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)

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Christmas cheer returned to Bethlehem on Saturday as the city lit its Christmas tree for the first time since the Gaza war began more than two years ago.

According to AFP on Sunday, the decorated tree, positioned near the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square, drew thousands of visitors.

Its lights were switched on after a two-hour ceremony, prompting cheers from the crowd gathered under a cloudy, moonlit sky.

It is the first major public Christmas celebration in Bethlehem since the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Residents and visitors describing the event as a sign of resilience.

“It’s like a symbol for resilience,” said 27-year-old Abeer Shtaya, who travelled from Salfit in the northern West Bank.

“It’s a message for the world that it’s calm,” Mike Shahen, 43, said at his ceramic store on the square, after a handful of visitors came in for purchases.

Christians and Muslims attended the celebration, including visitors from the Palestinian territories, Israel and abroad.

Nuns watched from rooftops as families gathered on balconies despite intermittent rain.

“This event didn’t happen for the last two years because of the war and it’s quite emotional after two years of nothing but war and death,” said 50-year-old Liyu Lu, who had travelled from northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon.

Bethlehem had restricted previous Christmas seasons to subdued observances due to the conflict. Pilgrims have only recently begun returning, though numbers remain low.

Fabien Safar, director of Terra Dei, a pilgrimage organiser, said smaller groups are arriving and bookings for 2026 have begun. He expects a fuller recovery by 2027, depending on developments in Gaza and Lebanon.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued airstrikes in Lebanon, contributing to regional uncertainty. Safar said many pilgrims remain cautious because there is “no official end to the war” in Gaza.

Tourism accounts for nearly all of Bethlehem’s economy. Local businesses say the impact of the past two years has been severe.

“Covid was bad, but nothing like the last two years,” Shahen said.

Travelling within the West Bank has also become more difficult since 2023, with long queues at Israeli checkpoints and rising violence in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

The city’s Christmas celebration comes amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas that began in October, though tensions and sporadic violence continue across the West Bank.

Hannah, a journalist with over a year of media experience, writes engaging content for social and digital media

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