Bethlehem marks a second subdued Christmas Eve during the war in Gaza

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BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza.

The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists that usually fill the square.

Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass marching band. Security forces arranged barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born.

The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town’s economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all from the Christmas season.

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, noted the shuttered shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better.

“This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate.

Pizzaballa held a special pre-Christmas Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. Several Palestinian Christians told the Associated Press that they have been displaced in the church since the war began in October of last year with barely enough food and water.

“We hope by next year at the same day we’d be able to celebrate Christmas at our homes and go to Bethlehem,” said Najla Tarazi, a displaced woman who prayed for the war to end. “We don’t feel happy.”

Bethlehem is an important center in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million people spread across the Holy Land. There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the U.S. State Department.

The number of visitors to the town plunged from a pre-COVID high of around 2 million per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry.

After nightfall, the golden walls of the Church of the Nativity were illuminated as a few dozen people quietly milled about. A young boy stood holding a pile of balloons for sale, but gave up because there were no customers to buy them.

A surge of violence in the West Bank, where more than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis have been killed in militant attacks, has stalled tourism. Palestinian officials do not provide a breakdown of how many of the deceased are civilians and how many are fighters.

Since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war, access to and from Bethlehem and other towns in the West Bank has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass through Israeli military checkpoints. The restrictions have prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the Israeli economy to contract by 25%.

In the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 Israeli hostages. Israeli officials believe that around 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Elsewhere, worshippers found connection despite difficult times.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris celebrated its first Christmas Eve Masses since a devastating fire ravaged the medieval landmark in 2019.

About 2,000 people joined an afternoon Mass — one of four held on Tuesday — including worshippers and other visitors marveling at the restoration of the recently reopened cathedral. Some American tourists in Paris crafted their trip to ensure they could attend Christmas Eve services at Notre Dame.

“They did such an amazing job,” said visitor Aly Beinert. “It looks beautiful. It blew us away.”

The Paris Archbishop symbolically reopened Notre Dame’s grand wooden doors on Dec. 7 with three resounding knocks, with guests including President-elect Donald Trump, U.S. first lady Jill Biden, Britain’s Prince William and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In Saydnaya, Syria, a large crowd gathered near a historic monastery on Christmas Eve to witness the lighting of a towering tree adorned with glowing green lights.

The celebration offered a rare moment of joy in a city scarred by over a decade of war and its infamous prison, where tens of thousands were held. Families and friends stood beneath the illuminated tree — some wearing Santa hats, others watching from rooftops — while a band played festive music and fireworks lit up the sky.

“This year is different — there’s happiness, victory and a new birth for Syria and a new birth for Christ,” said Houssam Saadeh, one attendee. Another, Joseph Khabbaz, expressed hope for unity across all sects and religions in Syria, dismissing recent Christmas tree vandalism as “isolated incidents.”

A snowstorm in the Balkans stranded drivers and downed power lines, but some saw the beauty in it.

“I’m actually glad its falling, especially because of Christmas,” said Mirsad Jasarevic in Zenica, Bosnia. “We did not have snow for Christmas for 17 years here, and now is the time for wonderful white Christmas.”

American Airlines briefly grounded flights across the U.S. on Tuesday due to a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive. Winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive.

In Virginia, hundreds of sailors and their loved ones got an early Christmas present when the USS Cole docked at its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, after seven months at sea. Families bundled in coats and blankets, shed tears of gratitude and held signs bearing the sailors’ names and photos.

Volunteers in Colorado Springs, Colorado, answered calls Tuesday from curious children inquiring about Santa’s location. At least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command each year to track Santa’s whereabouts. NORAD’s beloved Santa tracking tradition has endured since the Cold War, when a Colorado newspaper mistakenly printed a phone number for Santa that connected kids to the joint U.S. and Canadian defense command.

In the port of Barcelona, Spain, volunteers from the faith-based ministry Stella Maris visited seven ships docked there on Christmas Eve to deliver Nativity scenes and the local specialty of turrón (nougat candy) to seafarers.

The volunteers met seafarers from India, the Philippines, Turkey and elsewhere, said Ricard Rodríguez-Martos, a Catholic deacon and former merchant marine captain who leads Stella Maris in this major Mediterranean harbor.

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Associated Press writers Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City, Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Jeffrey Schaeffer and Marine Lesprit in Paris, and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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