Tel Aviv: Tens of thousands of Christians from around the world have gathered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem.
Crowds on Saturday had already begun thronging the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem's annual procession route from the Old City to the biblical town where Jesus is believed to have been born.
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic spiritual leader in the Holy Land, is expected to head the processions starting at 11am local time.
Later, Pizzaballa will deliver the midnight Mass in the Church of the Nativity, believed to mark the site where Jesus was born.
Pilgrims and tourists arrive in Bethlehem: Palestinian woodcarver Muhammad Yusuf works on olive wood figures in Bethlehem. Credit: AP
Approximately 120,000 tourists, half of whom are Christians, are expected to visit in December, according to statistics from Israel's Tourism Ministry.
In a Christmas message from Jerusalem earlier in the week, Pizzaballa called attention to the tragedies in Syria, Egypt and Iraq and said that "words are not enough" to stop these tragedies: "We must combat poverty and injustice."
He also addressed the "continuing obstacles to peace in Israel and Palestine" and praised Pope Francis' work.
Most Palestinian Christians living in the Bethlehem area are Orthodox, using the Julian calendar and celebrating Christmas 13 days later, but there are several tens of thousands of Palestinian Roman Catholics, who mark Christmas on the Gregorian December 25.
A shopkeeper holds souvenirs in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.Credit: AP
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