BETHLEHEM (Palestinian Territories) — Hundreds of worshippers gathered for mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem yesterday night as the Palestinian city ushered in its first festive Christmas in more than two years, emerging from the shadow of the war in Gaza.

Throughout the conflict that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023, a sombre tone had marked Christmases in the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ.

But celebrations returned in full swing yesterday with crowded parades and music in the occupied West Bank city, as a fragile truce held in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people face winter in makeshift tents.

With pews of the Church of the Nativity filled long before midnight, many stood or sat on the floor for the traditional mass to usher in Christmas Day.

At 11.15pm (05.15am Malaysia time), organ music rang out as a procession of dozens of clergymen entered, followed by Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who blessed the crowd with signs of the cross.

In his homily, Pizzaballa urged peace, hope and rebirth, saying the Nativity story still held relevance in the turbulence of modern times.

“Christmas... invites us to look beyond the logic of domination, to rediscover the power of love, solidarity, and of justice,” he told the congregation.