Bethlehem celebrates first festive Christmas since Gaza war

Throughout the Gaza war that began with Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023, a sombre tone marked Chistmases in Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ. But on Wednesday, celebrations were in full swing again in the occupied West Bank city, as a fragile truce held in the Gaza Strip where hundreds of thousands of people face the winter living in makeshift tents. In the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV was due to deliver his first Christmas Mass at 2030 GMT at Saint Peter's Basilica, after he...