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Churches in Israel and the West Bank are canceling Christmas celebrations due to the war
(JTA) — Ordinarily at this time of year, Nabil Totry would be gearing up for one of the biggest productions in Nazareth, Jesus’ childhood home and one of several cities across Israel and the West Bank to go all-out for Christmas.
But this year, as the holiday approached, Totry wondered whether his hometown would be able to celebrate. As president of the city’s Christmas Parade, he knew that the war between Israel and Hamas would require some changes.
The parade is a rollicking annual march that begins at Mary’s Well in Nazareth — next to a bustling Christmas market — and continues down Paul VI Street, which boasts the Church of the Annunciation and a Christmas tree rising more than 50 feet in the air. The city generally mounts a fireworks display early in the evening, followed by a midnight Mass Christian prayer service.
“We were ready to begin calling the annual march a ‘March of Peace’ for fraternity, since we see that all people from all religious backgrounds march together side by side,” Totry said. “We thought about how to establish the Christmas march under the present conditions without canceling it.”
But in the end, Totry did call off the parade, and he is not alone. Against the backdrop of the bloodshed in Gaza and Israel, churches in Nazareth and in cities across Israel and the West Bank have canceled their public celebrations of Christmas.
People gathering at Nazareth’s Christmas tree ahead of the holiday in 2021.(Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
The decisions follow the lead of a consortium of Christian leaders in Jerusalem, who last month asked Christians “to stand strong with those facing such afflictions by this year foregoing any unnecessarily festive activities.” In addition to Nazareth, the call affects celebrations in Jerusalem as well as Bethlehem, revered as Jesus’ birthplace.
“We gathered for several weeks with all the involved organizations to negotiate and decide what was possible in light of the current crisis,” Totry said. “Naturally, there were different opinions because Nazareth in the Christmas season is full of activities as the main address for Arab and Jewish citizens from many areas, and Christmas is considered an important economic source for the city.”
Now, Bethlehem — which is usually a bustling attraction this time of year, with Christmas decorations lining the streets leading to Manger Square, where Christian tradition holds that Jesus was born — is bare and empty. But the spirit of the city, located in the West Bank, is less somber than it is heated.
The Nativity scene shows baby Jesus wrapped in a keffiyeh and placed in a pile of rubble to show solidarity with the people of Gaza in the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, West Bank, Dec. 18, 2023. (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
Many West Bank Palestinians abhor the war in Gaza, and face increased limits on their freedom of movement coupled with a depressed economy and spiking violence. In a, evocative display that has gained global attention, the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem replaced its traditional nativity manger this year with a depiction of baby Jesus wearing a black-and-white keffiyeh, buried in rubble.
Exacerbating tensions between Israel and the land’s Christians were reports on Saturday of an alleged deadly Israeli attack on a sole Roman Catholic Church in Gaza that has served as a refuge for displaced Christians since the start of the war. Currently, there are approximately 1,000 Christians in Gaza, a drop from a reported figure of 3,000 when Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007.
On Saturday, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Catholic Church’s representative in Israel’s capital, accused Israel of killing a mother and daughter housed at a Catholic church in Gaza. The statement also accused Israel of firing at a convent housing 54 people with disabilities and knocking out its generator. The patriarchate later shared what it said were photos of the attack.
The Israeli army strongly denied the allegations, saying that there were “no reports of a hit on the church, nor civilians being injured or killed.” The IDF added that it “takes claims regarding harm to sensitive sites with the utmost seriousness — especially churches — considering that Christian communities are a minority group in the Middle East.”
So far, the allegations have not been independently verified, and there were no images or video of a funeral for Nahida Anton and her daughter Samar Anton as of Monday.
A Christmas display at the entrance to the Tel Aviv flagship store of Tiv Ta’am, an Israeli supermarket chain known for selling food that doesn’t meet kosher dietary rules. (Asaf Shalev)
But in his Sunday sermon, Pope Francis accepted the initial Palestinian reports and condemned any attack on Gaza churches “where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick and have disabilities, and nuns.” Francis has called for a ceasefire in the conflict.
Meanwhile, as the fighting continues, Christians across the region are preparing for a subdued holiday. Church leaders and city councils in Haifa and Jaffa have also decided not to decorate public spaces with large Christmas trees this year, and to commemorate Christmas in a more ritual fashion. Non-religious Christmas displays, on the rise in recent years among some secular Jews who see them as akin to Halloween decorations, have also been tamped down.
Amir Badran, a member of the Tel-Aviv Jaffa City Council, said, “There is no holiday spirit in the air, in light of the war in Gaza.”
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The post Churches in Israel and the West Bank are canceling Christmas celebrations due to the war appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.