Palestinians take part in a Christmas tree–lighting event in Manger Square, next to the Church of the Nativity, traditionally regarded as the birthplace of Jesus Christ ahead of Christmas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — For the past two Christmases, John Juka’s family restaurant looked about the same as any business in Bethlehem: shuttered and eerily empty.

But on Saturday evening, it bustled with families and was lit by strings of red lights, a hopeful change in the Palestinian city that’s been reeling since war broke out in Gaza.

Christmas celebrations are slowly returning to the traditional birthplace of Jesus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

While a shaky ceasefire holds in Gaza, Palestinians hope th

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