{"id":41557,"date":"2025-12-24T17:11:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T17:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/world\/thousands-flock-to-bethlehem-to-revive-christmas-celebrations-after-two-years-of-war-in-gaza\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T17:11:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T17:11:21","slug":"thousands-flock-to-bethlehem-to-revive-christmas-celebrations-after-two-years-of-war-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/world\/thousands-flock-to-bethlehem-to-revive-christmas-celebrations-after-two-years-of-war-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands flock to Bethlehem to revive Christmas celebrations after two years of war in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands gathered in Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, where the giant Christmas tree has returned. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa opened the celebrations, calling for a "Christmas full of light" despite the consequences of the war in the region.<\/p>\n

\"Thousands<\/p>\n

Thousands of people gathered in Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve as families welcomed a much-needed influx of holiday cheer. The giant Christmas tree, which was absent during the war between Israel and Hamas, has returned, UNN reports with reference to AP.<\/p>\n

Details<\/h2>\n

In the city where Christians believe Jesus was born, Christmas celebrations have been canceled for the past two years. Instead, a nativity scene with baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire was set up in Manger Square, in deference to the situation in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land, opened this year's celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for a "Christmas full of light."<\/p>\n

Arriving in Manger Square, Pizzaballa said he came with greetings from the small Christian community in Gaza, where he held mass on Sunday. In the destruction, he saw a desire for reconstruction.<\/p>\n

"We will never leave Gaza": Israeli Defense Minister refutes rumors of enclave resettlement, but confirms military presence23.12.25, 20:20 \u2022 3944 views<\/p>\n

"We all decided together to be light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world," he told thousands of people, Christians and Muslims.<\/p>\n

Despite the festive mood, the consequences of the war in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are acutely felt, especially in Bethlehem, where, according to local authorities, about 80% of the city's Muslim-majority residents depend on tourism-related businesses.<\/p>\n

The vast majority are locals, with only a small number being foreigners. But some residents say they are starting to see signs of change as tourism gradually returns.<\/p>\n

Israel approves 19 new settlements in West Bank: historical record set21.12.25, 21:59 \u2022 3532 views<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thousands gathered in Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, where the giant Christmas tree has returned. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa opened the celebrations, calling for a "Christmas full of light" despite the consequences of the war in the region. Thousands of people gathered in Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve as families welcomed a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-41557","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}