Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus in the occupied West Bank, has resumed full Christmas celebrations in 2025 for the first time since the Gaza war began in October 2023. 

Major public festivities had been canceled in both 2023 and 2024 as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid widespread destruction and loss of life. 

The decision to revive celebrations this year reflects both a fragile shift in regional conditions and the city’s urgent economic needs.

The symbolic restart came on December 6, 2025, with the lighting of a giant Christmas tree in Manger Square.

The event drew hundreds of local residents, marking a visible return of public life to the historic center. 

While foreign tourism remains below pre-war levels, streets have once again been decorated with lights, Christmas markets have reopened, and parades have returned to the city’s narrow streets. 

Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity is expected to proceed with renewed energy, restoring one of Christianity’s most significant annual rituals.

Local officials link the return of celebrations to a fragile ceasefire in Gaza brokered earlier in 2025. 

While far from a comprehensive political settlement, the truce created enough space for Palestinian authorities and church leaders in Bethlehem to approve the resumption of public festivities. 

The move is also closely tied to economic survival. Tourism accounts for roughly 80 percent of Bethlehem’s income, making prolonged shutdowns unsustainable for the city’s predominantly service-based economy.

The impact of the war on livelihoods has been severe. 

During the height of the conflict, unemployment in Bethlehem surged from about 14 percent to 65 percent, according to local estimates. 

Thousands of residents left the city in search of work abroad, hollowing out neighborhoods and straining family networks. 

City leaders argue that reviving Christmas is essential not only for symbolic reasons, but also to stabilize employment in hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, and transport services that depend almost entirely on the holiday season.

Despite the return of festivities, conditions remain far from normal. 

Hotel occupancy for the 2025 Christmas season is projected at around 70 percent, an improvement compared with the near-collapse of tourism in 2023 and 2024 but still well below pre-war levels. 

The number of foreign pilgrims and tour groups remains limited, reflecting continued regional instability and travel hesitations.

Bethlehem’s mayor, Maher Canawati, and other local officials have stressed that celebrations are deliberately restrained. 

Decorations and events are meant to signal resilience and hope, not forgetfulness. Over 70,000 people have been reported killed in Gaza since the war began, according to Gaza health authorities, and violence and tension persist in parts of the West Bank. These realities continue to shape public sentiment in Bethlehem, even as the city marks the Nativity.

The decision to resume Christmas celebrations has not been without controversy. 

Some residents questioned whether public festivities were appropriate while suffering continues so close by. 

Others argued that canceling Christmas indefinitely would deepen economic despair and extinguish one of the city’s most powerful messages to the outside world.

For many in Bethlehem, the return of Christmas is framed as an act of quiet defiance and cautious optimism. 

As of Christmas Eve 2025, the city is again illuminated with lights and gatherings, offering a subdued but persistent message of peace from one of Christianity’s most symbolic sites. 

The celebrations reflect a community seeking to heal, sustain itself economically, and reassert its identity amid a region still marked by more than two years of war.