{"id":35988,"date":"2025-11-16T18:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T18:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/35988\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T18:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T18:59:07","slug":"christmas-celebrations-are-coming-back-to-bethlehem-after-two-year-pause-for-israel-hamas-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/35988\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas celebrations are coming back to Bethlehem after two-year pause for Israel-Hamas war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas cheer\u00a0will be returning to the historic city of Bethlehem in the West Bank after a two-year pause due to the war in Gaza<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati announced that festivities will return <\/a>starting Dec. 6, with a Christmas tree lighting in the famous Manger Square.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the heart of Bethlehem, the\u00a0birthplace of Christ, the city of peace \u2014 once again, we ignite the flame of hope and raise our prayers for peace,\u201d said the mayor in a video posted to Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us celebrate together the message of Christmas,\u201d he added. \u201cGlory to God\u00a0in the highest \u2014 on Earth, peace, goodwill to all. Bethlehem keeps the light alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Located in the center of Bethlehem, Manger Square is named for the manger in which Jesus was laid after his birth.<\/p>\n

Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, told Fox News Digital it is encouraging to see the \u201clittle town of Bethlehem\u201d\u00a0once again celebrating the birth of \u201cthe most important person in history.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cWhile we rejoice in this\u00a0temporary peace agreement,\u00a0which has led to a cessation of hostilities in the area, we should recognize that such a peace is only temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n

A procession outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Israel for Christmas Eve mass on Dec. 24, 2023. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa arriving for a Christmas mass at Church of the Nativity, on Dec. 25, 2023. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jefress continued, \u201cThe Bible teaches there will be no lasting peace in the Middle East until the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, returns to Earth to establish his kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Thousands of\u00a0pilgrims and tourists\u00a0from around the world travel to Bethlehem during the holiday season.<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2019, the mayor at the time, Anton Salman, told\u00a0Time magazine<\/a>\u00a0he was expecting 1.4 million visitors for Christmas festivities.<\/p>\n

A nun praying at the spot believed to be where Jesus was born at Church of the Nativity on Dec. 17, 2023. Getty Images<\/p>\n

A group of worshipers pray at the grotto near where Jesus was believed to be born in Bethlehem on Christmas Day in 2023. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been mayor for 2.5 years,\u201d he said that year. \u201cI have celebrated Christmas for three seasons and each season, [celebrations] are more organized and more attractive for the local community and for tourists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto traditionally identified as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, was renovated in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christmas cheer\u00a0will be returning to the historic city of Bethlehem in the West Bank after a two-year pause…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,5527,5061,301],"class_list":["post-35988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-christmas","tag-israel","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}