<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bethlehem marked another sombre Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/gaza" rel="" target="" title="Gaza"><span>Gaza</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/men-arrested-trying-to-steal-hundreds-of-ancient-artefacts-from-egypt-ocean/ed85750d-71ad-4899-a0e7-fa66b31fe32f"><strong><span>Egypt seizes hundreds of ancient artefacts 'stolen' from sea floor</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass marching band. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Security forces arranged barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A young boy stood holding a pile of balloons for sale, but gave up because there were no customers to buy them.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-christmas-bethlehem-world-wide-cities-hold-subdued-christmas-eve/31818b13-ad28-49fa-b6a0-25ffde027e56" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/alaska-airlines-passenger-wing/f4931782-6e9c-4a84-9cb3-7bd0dcc1491f" rel="" target="" title="Passenger 'opens door, steps out on wing of plane' in US"><strong><span>Passenger 'opens door, steps out on wing of plane' in US</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town's economy. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tourism accounts for an estimated 70 per cent of Bethlehem’s income — almost all from the Christmas season. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/richard-perry-death-record-producer-behind-youre-so-vain-and-other-hits-dies-at-82/676f2650-e6a8-4386-8b6b-9f684ece0459"><strong><span>Richard Perry, record producer behind You're So Vain and other hits, dies at 82</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The number of visitors to Bethlehem plunged from a pre-COVID high of around two million per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A surge of violence in the West Bank, where more than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis have been killed in militant attacks, has greatly stalled tourism. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/north-avoca-search-person-swept-off-rocks-central-coast/3adc5741-c0a2-427b-9ded-8f202eac292f"><strong><span>'Tragic': Tough conditions hamper ocean search for missing teen</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Palestinian officials do not provide a breakdown of how many of the deceased are civilians and how many are fighters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war, access to and from Bethlehem and other towns in the West Bank has been limited, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass through Israeli military checkpoints. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The restrictions have prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the Israeli economy to contract by 25%.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 Israeli hostages. Israeli officials believe that around 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, noted the shuttered shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better.</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2024/12/25/12/54/christmas-2024-around-australiain-pictures"><img alt="NEWS: Rev. Bill Crews, NSW Premier Chris Minns and Minister Jo Haylen help serve Christmas Day lunch at the Rev. Bill Crews Foundation in Ashfield. December 25th, 2024. Photo: Wolter Peeters, The Sydney Morning Herald." sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/D6lTvKKZP7-C7zEoNuX9U4jwWY4=/0x0:7814x4395/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F0f3c27fc-1dde-4a18-8f6b-a5ebc964ddf4" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/D6lTvKKZP7-C7zEoNuX9U4jwWY4=/0x0:7814x4395/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F0f3c27fc-1dde-4a18-8f6b-a5ebc964ddf4 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/ymgfAoZ0cthzHVWcGv8AKVO-U68=/0x0:7814x4395/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F0f3c27fc-1dde-4a18-8f6b-a5ebc964ddf4 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">Revellers celebrate Christmas 2024 around Australia </div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2024/12/25/12/54/christmas-2024-around-australiain-pictures">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pizzaballa held a special pre-Christmas Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. Several Palestinian Christians told the Associated Press that they had been displaced in the church since the war began in October of last year with barely enough food and water.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“We hope by next year at the same day we’d be able to celebrate Christmas at our homes and go to Bethlehem,” said Najla Tarazi, a displaced woman who prayed for the war to end. “We don’t feel happy.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bethlehem is an important centre in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million residents spread across the Holy Land. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the US State Department.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Elsewhere, worshippers found connection despite difficult times.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/cyclone-tracy-darwin-new-memorial-unveiled-to-victims-50-years-after-disaster/d590c40a-7777-406d-89ee-af2aae57e5c1"><strong><span>Survivors mourn dead as 50-year Cyclone Tracy memorial unveiled</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Tourists flock to reopened Notre Dame Cathedral</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris celebrated its first Christmas Eve Masses since a devastating fire ravaged the medieval landmark in 2019.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About 2,000 people joined an afternoon Mass — one of four held on Tuesday — including worshippers and other visitors marvelling at the restoration of the recently reopened cathedral. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Some American tourists in Paris crafted their trip to ensure they could attend Christmas Eve services at Notre Dame.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“They did such an amazing job,” said visitor Aly Beinert. “It looks beautiful. It blew us away."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Paris Archbishop symbolically reopened Notre Dame’s grand wooden doors on Dec. 7 with three resounding knocks, with guests including President-elect Donald Trump, US first lady Jill Biden, Britain’s Prince William and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/death-martyville-man-arrested-after-man-in-his-20s-dead-side-of-remote-road/edccba1d-1607-4cd4-8c00-6fd9482e0f06"><strong><span>Man, 27, arrested after man found dead on side of remote road</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Syrians come together for rare moment of joy</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Saydnaya, Syria, a large crowd gathered near a historic monastery on Christmas Eve to witness the lighting of a towering tree adorned with glowing green lights.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The celebration offered a rare moment of joy in a city scarred by over a decade of war and its infamous prison, where tens of thousands were held.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span> Families and friends stood by the illuminated tree — some wearing Santa hats, others watching from rooftops — while a band played festive music and fireworks lit up the sky.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“This year is different — there’s happiness, victory and a new birth for Syria and a new birth for Christ,” said Houssam Saadeh, one attendee. Another, Joseph Khabbaz, expressed hope for unity across all sects and religions in Syria, dismissing recent Christmas tree vandalism as “isolated incidents.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>US families honour victims of church school shooting</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At City Church in Madison, Wisconsin, lead pastor Tom Flaherty urged congregants at a candlelight Christmas Eve service to open their hearts to God’s grace.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“Happiness comes from what happens. Joy comes from a much deeper place, and it doesn’t matter what’s going on around you,” Flaherty said. “So number one, joy comes from God’s love, and forgiveness.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Eight days earlier, there was a deadly shooting in the school on the church’s campus.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Over the weekend, the congregation hosted a funeral for Rubi Patricia Vergara, the 14-year-old freshman killed when another student opened fire. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A teacher was also killed and several others injured before the shooter shot herself and later died at a hospital, police said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Travel woes and family reunions in other US cities</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/american-airlines-flights-all-grounded-because-of-technical-issue/4ab62c35-c7b2-4112-a616-17891a480cbd" rel="" target="" title="American Airlines briefly grounded flights across the US"><span>American Airlines briefly grounded flights across the US</span></a><span> on Tuesday due to a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Virginia, hundreds of sailors and their loved ones got an early Christmas present when the USS Cole docked at its home port in Norfolk after seven months at sea. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Families bundled in coats and blankets, shed tears of gratitude and held signs bearing the sailors' names and photos.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Volunteers in Colorado Springs, Colorado, answered calls on Tuesday from curious children inquiring about Santa's location. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command each year to track Santa's whereabouts. NORAD’s beloved Santa tracking tradition has endured since the Cold War, when a Colorado newspaper mistakenly printed a phone number for Santa that connected kids to the joint U.S. and Canadian defense command.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Spanish ministries bring seafarers holiday cheer</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the port of Barcelona, Spain, volunteers from the faith-based ministry Stella Maris visited seven ships docked there on Christmas Eve to deliver Nativity scenes and the local specialty of turrón (nougat candy) to seafarers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The volunteers met seafarers from India, the Philippines, Turkey and elsewhere, said Ricard Rodríguez-Martos, a Catholic deacon and former merchant marine captain who leads Stella Maris in this major Mediterranean harbor.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Heavy snow hits the Balkans</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A snowstorm in the Balkans stranded drivers and downed power lines Tuesday, but some saw the beauty in it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“I’m actually glad it's falling,” said driver Mirsad Jasarevic in Zenica, Bosnia. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“We did not have snow for Christmas for 17 years here, and now is the time for wonderful white Christmas.”</span></div></div>