With different costumes and multiple musical instruments playing Christmas carols, members of the scout teams marched and hundreds gathered in the square of the Church of

the Nativity decorated with a Christmas tree, marking the start of Christmas celebrations according to the Western calendar with the arrival of the Nativity procession from the Latin Patriarchate at the gate of Hebron in the Old City of Jerusalem to the square of the Church of the Nativity in the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank.

Latin Patriarch pierpatista Pizzaballa called for peace and reconciliation.

"We are living in times of difficult challenges in Ukraine, here in the Holy Land is unfortunately a very old difficult period, this year has seen a lot of violence, especially in Palestine,"he said in remarks to reporters after crossing the gate of the barrier separating the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

"But the Christmas message is a message of peace and we want to continue to believe that it is possible to change things in any way we will be vigilant and we will be very clear in what we have to do and what we have to say in order to preserve the importance of unity and reconciliation between everyone, thank you and Merry Christmas,"he added.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said: "Palestine is celebrating these days with the countries of the whole world Merry Christmas, the Nativity of Christ, the messenger of love and peace.

He added in a message broadcast by the official agency on the occasion of the Christmas celebrations, "where the flag of Palestine is hoisted, and the Christmas tree is lit accompanied by religious choirs with their beautiful hymns, scout teams, and with the participation of all the sons and daughters of our Palestinian people in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and everywhere at home and abroad, so that our people remember the story of the birth of the baby Jesus in the grotto of Bethlehem".

He added that Christmas is"a religious and national occasion, a message of hope, love and peace that brings joy and tolerance to every Palestinian home and to millions of believers around the world".

"This year Bethlehem is distinguished by the reception of tourist delegations after the complete interruption in the corona period, where last month it received about 130 thousand tourists in this city and the occupancy rate in hotels was about 85 percent, and this percentage is promising,"said Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Hanania.

"Our message, which is the message of the people of Bethlehem, the spirit of Christmas unites us, which unites us as a Palestinian people and unites us with all mankind, because the message of peace came from the city of Bethlehem with the birth of Jesus Christ, the messenger of peace," he told Reuters while in the church square of the Nativity.

"Life has returned to the city of Bethlehem after the corona pandemic and we tell everyone that Bethlehem is a safe city, the city of Christmas welcomes everyone and invites everyone to come to it to celebrate Christmas and visit the Church of the Nativity and the rest of the religious and historical sites in this city,"he continued.

Patriarch pitsabala presides over the Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, in the presence of a number of Palestinian official figures and citizens (coverage of the Arabic bulletin from the city of Bethlehem Ali Sawfta