When Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa spoke, in English, shortly after midnight on Monday, December 25, the crowd gathered in the Church of the Nativity in central Bethlehem applauded: "My thoughts go, without distinction, to all who are affected by this war, in Palestine and Israel and the whole region, (...) who are now displaced, alone and paralyzed by their grief." In his traditional Christmas homily, the representative of the Catholic Church evoked the "noise of weapons," the "cries" of children, and above all, Gaza and its 2 million inhabitants who are suffering "incomprehensible" violence.

This year, the prelate was unable to spend a few days as he usually does with the approximately 1,000 Christians of Gaza, due to the massive Israeli army bombardments carried out for almost three months in retaliation for the Hamas attack of October 7. Translated into Arabic, the cleric called on world leaders to support an end to Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories: "We don't want a ceasefire," he insisted, "we want an end to all hostilities."

In Rome, Pope Francis also addressed the situation in the Palestinian territories. "Our hearts are in Bethlehem tonight," he declared at Christmas mass, denouncing the "futile logic of war." The day before, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron, who expressed his "great concern" for the Christians of Gaza. Macron offered his condolences for the death of a mother and daughter, killed by an Israeli sniper on the square in front of a church in Gaza on December 16.

In Bethlehem, Christmas took a political turn. In response to the Israeli army's bombardments in Gaza, which have killed over 20,000 people, and the tensions in the West Bank, which have claimed the lives of some 300 Palestinians, Christmas festivities in the town were canceled by some 30 religious leaders. Instead, in addition to the religious ceremonies organized in all the city's places of worship, the Bethlehem municipality inaugurated Tariq Salsa's "Nativity in the Rubble" sculpture on December 23. Using fiberglass, the local artist depicts the Virgin Mary holding Jesus "in the manner of the martyrs," Joseph, and the Wise Men carrying a shroud.

In her speech at the Center for Peace, Hanna Hanania, the mayor of Bethlehem, quoted the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) and compared the state of Israel to King Herod who, according to the Gospel, after the birth of Jesus ordered the murder of all the young children of Bethlehem to protect his power. "The occupation government, worried for its throne, kills and deports" Palestinians, said Hanania.

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