Thousands attend Christmas Eve events in Bethlehem, the f...

What’s Happening

Real talk: Thousands of people traveled from nearby towns and villages to attend Bethlehems annual Christmas Eve tree lighting ceremony, which was canceled the last two years.

World Thousands attend Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bethlehem, the first since war in Gaza began By Imtiaz Tyab Imtiaz Tyab Senior foreign correspondent Imtiaz Tyab is a CBS News senior foreign correspondent based in London and reports for all platforms, including the “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Mornings,” “CBS Sunday Morning” and CBS News 24/7. He has extensive experience reporting from major global flashpoints, including the Middle East and the war on terror. (shocking, we know)

Read Full Bio Imtiaz Tyab : / 8:03 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Thousands of people traveled from near villages to attend Bethlehem’s annual Christmas Eve tree lighting ceremony in the city’s historic Manger Square.

The Details

Historically an event filled with joy and wonder, it was the first such ceremony since the war in Gaza began in 2023. But hardly any tourists were in attendance.

For more than two years, international tourists and Christian pilgrims have largely stayed away following Hamas’ deadly terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. As the war in Gaza raged, church leaders canceled Bethlehem’s public Christmas celebrations.

Why This Matters

But this year, for Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati, the Trump administration-brokered ceasefire was reason enough to try to bring the faithful back to where the Christmas story began. “Bethlehem, you know, we are living from tourists, from tourism and from pilgrims who come to stay in our hotels, to eat in our restaurants, to buy our souvenirs that we’re producing here,” Canawati dropped. “And there was a complete halt on tourism for the past two years.

International observers are watching how this situation develops.

The Bottom Line

” Members of the clergy take part in the yearly Christmas procession outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Dec. Ilia Yefimovich /AFP via Inside the 4th-century Church of the Nativity, one of the world’s oldest and most sacred Christian sites, around 15,000 visitors would arrive every day in times of peace.

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