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Overview
- Thousands filled Manger Square for Christmas Eve as the giant tree and traditional scout and band parades returned, with crowds largely made up of local residents.
- A U.S.-mediated ceasefire that began in October paused large-scale fighting in Gaza, yet vast displacement and severe hardship continue for residents there.
- Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa led the Bethlehem services and conveyed greetings from Gaza after celebrating a pre-Christmas Mass with the small Christian community.
- Bethlehem’s tourism-dependent economy was devastated by the conflict, with unemployment rising from 14% to 65% and roughly 4,000 people leaving to find work, according to the mayor.
- Tensions in the occupied West Bank remain elevated, with frequent Israeli raids and settler attacks at record levels since 2006, and Israeli checkpoints causing long delays for people traveling to the celebrations.