For the past two years \u2014 while the war in Gaza has been taking place \u2014 all Christmas celebrations have been canceled in Bethlehem, the town where Jesus was born. However after the recent ceasefire, the famous town decided to have its Christmas celebrations return, starting with the lighting of the giant Christmas tree in front of the historic Church of the Nativity on Dec. 6.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a bad two years of silence; no Christmas, no jobs, no work,\u201d Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati said in an interview with the BBC<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re all living here from tourism, and tourism was down to zero.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cSome may say it\u2019s not appropriate and others say it\u2019s appropriate, but deep inside my heart, I felt that this was the right thing to do because Christmas should never be stopped or canceled. This is the light of hope for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, two neighboring towns, will also be having Christmas tree lightings in the coming days. Hotels are also receiving more bookings from tourists as well as Palestinian citizens of Israel.<\/p>\n Despite the ceasefire, actions of war continue in the area. Father Gabriel Romanelli, the priest at Holy Family Church in Gaza, the only Catholic church in the area, shared on X that on the same day of the Bethlehem tree lighting a bomb went off approximately 200 meters (650 feet) from his parish. No one was injured.<\/p>\n On July 17, Romanelli sustained an injury to his leg during a bombing on his parish that left three dead and 15 injured, including himself.<\/p>\n