After years of war, Palestinians in Gaza bring back Christmas celebrations

By Hadeel Al-Shalchi

Published December 19, 2025 at 2:46 AM MST

Palestinians in Gaza are slowly bringing back Christmas celebrations after more than two years of war. The Holy Family Church in Gaza City gathered this week to decorate the church.

Hadeel Al-Shalchi

Hadeel al-Shalchi is an editor with Weekend Edition. Prior to joining NPR, Al-Shalchi was a Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press and covered the Arab Spring from Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, and Libya. In 2012, she joined Reuters as the Libya correspondent where she covered the country post-war and investigated the death of Ambassador Chris Stephens. Al-Shalchi also covered the front lines of Aleppo in 2012. She is fluent in Arabic.