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Palestinians cancel Christmas celebrations amid Gaza devastation

10 December 2023 11:06 GMT

The typically festive Christmas season will have a sombre look this year in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Israel.

There will be no Christmas lights in Bethlehem, no festive parades in Jerusalem nor elaborate decorations in Israel. 

In Gaza, Palestinians are mourning the loss of over 17,000 killed in Israeli bombings. Bodies are being pulled out from under the rubble, while people continue to search for their missing loved ones amidst wide-scale destruction. 

For the first time since the start of modern celebrations of Christmas, Jesus's birthplace and the Manger Square tree in Bethlehem will not be decorated. 

Christian leaders and municipal authorities have decided to cancel all public festivities, stating it was "not appropriate".

"I feel this is necessary as it would be abhorrent to celebrate in the midst of a genocide," Ryan al-Natour, a Palestinian Christian in Australia, told Middle East Eye. 

READ MORE: Palestinians cancel Christmas celebrations amid Gaza devastation

Pastor Munther Isaac adds dirt to an installation that shows a figure symbolising baby Jesus lying amidst the rubble in a grotto ahead of Christmas at the Evangelical Lutheran Church
Pastor Munther Isaac adds dirt to an installation that shows a figure symbolising baby Jesus lying amidst the rubble in a grotto ahead of Christmas at the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Reuters).