Daijiworld Media Network - Bethlehem

Bethlehem, Dec 7: For the first time since 2022, a giant 20-metre Christmas tree lit up Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Saturday night, marking a cautious return of festivities in the revered birthplace of Jesus after two years of war-driven silence.

The West Bank city had cancelled all public Christmas celebrations during 2023 and 2024 as the Gaza war claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives. But with a fragile Gaza ceasefire now in its second month, thousands of Palestinians from across the West Bank and Israel gathered at the edge of Manger Square, erupting in cheers as the tree’s red-and-gold lights came alive shortly before 8 pm.

“We came to celebrate, watch and enjoy, because for several years we haven’t had the chance,” said Randa Bsoul, a

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