02:37Bethlehem's traditional midnight mass took place at the Church of the Nativity - which houses the grotto where Jesus was born - on Friday, as Christmas celebrations resumed in the biblical town after being cancelled last year due to a COVID-19 lockdown.
Only a small group of people were allowed to attend by invitation only amid the spread of the Omicron variant and a surge in COVID cases.
The mass was celebrated by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic Church's Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
State of Palestine: Bethlehem celebrates midnight mass as Xmas festivities resume amid COVID restrix
Bethlehem's traditional midnight mass took place at the Church of the Nativity - which houses the grotto where Jesus was born - on Friday, as Christmas celebrations resumed in the biblical town after being cancelled last year due to a COVID-19 lockdown.
Only a small group of people were allowed to attend by invitation only amid the spread of the Omicron variant and a surge in COVID cases.
The mass was celebrated by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic Church's Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Bethlehem's traditional midnight mass took place at the Church of the Nativity - which houses the grotto where Jesus was born - on Friday, as Christmas celebrations resumed in the biblical town after being cancelled last year due to a COVID-19 lockdown.
Only a small group of people were allowed to attend by invitation only amid the spread of the Omicron variant and a surge in COVID cases.
The mass was celebrated by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic Church's Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.