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A huge Christmas tree stands decorated with red and gold baubles West Bank city of Bethlehem For the first time since the Gaza war started.
The Palestinian city revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus had avoided public Christmas celebrations for the past two years War breaks out in Gaza,
but as a indefinite ceasefire Entering its second month in Gaza, the city held a ceremony on Saturday night lighting a 20-meter tree at the edge of Manger Square. It was last lit on Christmas 2022.
Thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank and Israel filled the square, and cheered when the tree’s lights were turned on shortly before 8 p.m.
“We came to celebrate, to watch and to enjoy, because we haven’t had the chance for many years,” said Randa Basol, a 67-year-old Palestinian from Haifa, Israel.
Israel’s attack on Gaza has devastated the area of about 2 million Palestinians. Last month, the death toll reached above 70,000. The war began in October 2023 after a surprise attack on Israel by the Hamas group that rules Gaza, killing about 1,200 people.
Although Gaza is about 60 km (37 mi) from Bethlehem, the war has painfully affected Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Many people have family and friends in Gaza, and the war has decimated the tourism on which Bethlehem’s economy depends.
The past two years have been “like hell,” said a Bethlehem shopkeeper selling souvenirs, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisals by Israeli forces.
“We are trying our best to move forward,” said the shopkeeper, describing worsening economic conditions and tightening Israeli restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Israel has built new military posts across the region over the past two years and, in fact, has closed off some Palestinian communities with gates and barriers.
Additionally, Israeli forces, which have been attacking cities in the northern West Bank since the beginning of this year, have forced thousands of Palestinians from their homes.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October America’s plan to end the warAlthough it is formally holding out, Israel has repeatedly carried out airstrikes that it says are preventing attacks or destroying terrorist infrastructure, Hamas and Israel repeatedly accuse each other of violations,
“As Bethlehem lights its Christmas tree, the deep suffering endured by our people in Gaza does not leave our hearts,” Bethlehem Mayor Maher Kanawati told reporters this week.
“The wound of Gaza is our wound, the people of Gaza are our people, and Christmas light means nothing unless it first touches the hearts of the victims and the oppressed throughout Palestine.”
In Bethlehem, Palestinians said they hoped Christmas and the New Year would bring peace after two years of pain and suffering. He hopes Saturday’s ceremony will bring some joy to those suffering in Gaza.
“We are looking for hope,” said Diana Babush, a fifty-year-old Palestinian from Bethlehem. “We see that, from this moment on, peace will prevail. We hope that we can have peace and prosperity.”
Unlike before the war in Gaza, there were no fireworks after the Christmas tree lighting, a grim sign of the uncertainty of the future.
“It’s scary because no one knows what the future will hold. But we are hopeful,” Basol said from Haifa.