Somber Bethlehem, prayers for end to war

BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Amid the war between Hamas militants and Israeli troops, Christians in the Palestinian Territories marked a solemn Christmas in Bethlehem and prayers for an end to the killings.

At Bethlehem’s Manger Square, the heart of the Palestinian city dominated by the revered Church of the Nativity that marks the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born, local authorities opted against elaborate celebrations for a second year.

“This year we limited our joy,” Bethlehem Mayor Anton Salman told Agence France-Presse.

Despite the gloomy mood, some Christians in the Holy Land — who number about 185,000 in Israel and 47,000 in the Palestinian territories — were finding refuge in prayer.

“Christmas is a feast of faith... We’re going to pray and ask God to end our suffering,” Salman said.

“This Christmas carries the stench of death and destruction,” George al-Sayegh said at the 12th-century Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, where he is taking refuge, in Gaza City.

“There is no joy, no festive spirit. We don’t even know who will survive until the next holiday,” Sayegh added.

A part of the church itself was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in October last year, in which 18 Palestinian Christians were killed, according to the territory’s health ministry.

About 1,100 Christians live in Gaza, a community that has also faced the brunt of the war since 7 October last year, when fighting between Israel and Hamas broke out.

Israel’s recent air strikes, including one that killed several children according to the territory’s civil defense agency, have come under severe criticism from Pope Francis.

“With pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty,” the pope said after his weekly Angelus prayer on Sunday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had slammed the pontiff’s comment, saying they showed “double standards.”