PHOTOS: The Faithful Flock to Bethlehem to Celebrate Christmas After 2 Years of War

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) - Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of Christ after two years of turmoil in the war-torn Holy Land. The giant Christmas tree that was absent during the Israel-Hamas war returned on Wednesday for the Christmas Eve festivities. Nasser Nasser, Mahmoud Illean/AP; Issam Rimawi/Getty Images The city where Jesus was born had cancelled Christmas celebrations for the past two years. Manger Square instead had featured a nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire in homage to the situation in Gaza. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa , the top Catholic religious leader in the Holy Land, kicked off this year’s celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for “a Christmas full of light.” WATCH Christmas Eve Celebrations in Bethlehem: Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, arrives at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) Catholic clergy take part in the annual procession to the Church of the Nativity, the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on December 24, 2025. (Issam Rimawi/Anadolu via Getty Images) Catholic clergy take part in the annual Christmas procession led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa outside the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on December 24, 2025. Scouts marched under a clear blue sky in Bethlehem on December 24, 2025, as the Palestinian city emerged from the shadow of the war in Gaza to celebrate its first festive Christmas in more than two years. (ilia yefimovich / AFP via Getty Images) Catholic clergy walk in procession next to the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) Catholic clergy walk in procession next to the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) Catholic clergy join the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa in a procession to the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born, in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025. (Issam Rimawi/Anadolu via Getty Images) Palestinian Christians attend Christmas celebrations, which were restricted for the past two years due to the war in Gaza, at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, on December 24, 2025. (Issam Rimawi/Anadolu via Getty Images) Arriving in Manger Square, Pizzaballa said he came bearing greetings from Gaza’s tiny Christian community , where he held a pre-Christmas Mass on Sunday. In the devastation, he saw a desire to rebuild. “We, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world,” he told thousands of people, both Christian and Muslim. Despite...

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