"Christmas" in Gaza… Wounded Hearts Amid the Woes of Pain Gazans Raise Their Spirits to Celebrate Christmas Joy

In a narrow corner of Gaza, where the sounds of shelling mix with the hymns of prayer, Christmas struggles to make its way amid the rubble. A displaced Palestinian Christian boy, dressed as Santa Claus, stands inside the Holy Family Church, not to embody the joy of the holiday so much as to reflect life’s determination to survive, despite the horrors and calamities of war.

In a strip of land exhausted by long months of destruction and displacement, Christmas is no longer an occasion for decorations and gifts but a silent moment of clinging to hope. Most Gazans have been displaced from their homes, some multiple times, and forced to live in tents that provide neither shelter from the winter cold nor protection from fear. Yet the few remaining Christian families try to keep the holiday alive in whatever way they can: a lit candle, a short prayer, and a child playing the role of Santa to bring others a fleeting smile.

Joy in Gaza during Christmas is unlike joy anywhere else. It is shy, fragile, born from the smallest details: a child laughing because he wears a Santa hat, a mother preparing whatever food she can, or a family gathering for prayer after being scattered by tents and displacement. This joy is not an escape from reality but an act of human resistance, a simple attempt to affirm that, no matter how intense, the war has yet to take away the capacity for happiness.

Yet sorrow remains the heavy ruler of the scene. Sorrow for homes turned to rubble, for loved ones lost without farewell, and for past holidays that were warmer and safer. During Christmas Mass, tears blend with prayers, and hymns turn into a pained hope, pleading for an end to suffering before anything else.

For those living between joy and sorrow, Christmas in Gaza is more than a religious occasion; it becomes a testimony of resilience. It is a message that faith remains alive, and that peace, however distant, is still a wish echoing in hearts. This year’s Christmas comes weighed down with wounds, yet it carries a faint hope that a new light will be born from the womb of suffering, and that the next holiday will be less painful and more alive.