Sombre Bethlehem marks Christmas with vigil as bombs rain on Gaza

Candles are lit at a Christmas installation outside the Church of the Nativity, in support of Gaza, on Manger Square in Bethlehem, on Dec 23. - Reuters

BETHLEHEM, Occupied West Bank (Reuters): Palestinian Christians held a sombre Christmas vigil in Bethlehem on Saturday, with candle-lit hymns and prayers for peace in Gaza instead of the usual festive celebrations at the spot where they believe Jesus Christ was born.

Most years Bethlehem basks in the central place it holds in the Christian story of Jesus' life, born there in a stable because there was no room for his parents at the inn, and placed in an animal's manger, the humblest of all possible beds.