Israeli police arrest Palestinian man dressed as Santa Claus at Christmas party
William Christou
Thu, December 25, 2025 at 12:12 PM UTC
2 min read
Israeli police arrested a Palestinian man dressed as Santa Claus during a raid on a Christmas party in Haifa, a civil rights monitor has said.
Israeli officers closed an event celebrating Christmas on Sunday, confiscating equipment, and arresting the Palestinian Santa Claus, as well as a DJ and a street vendor. In a video, police can be seen pushing the men to the ground and handcuffing them as bystanders watched.
The Israeli police said in a statement that the man wearing the Santa Claus costume resisted arrest and assaulted an officer.
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The Mossawa Center, a rights groups that advocates for Palestinian citizens of Israel, said police used excess force on the men and that the raid on the music hall was done without legal authority.
The arrests came as Palestinians celebrate Christmas across the occupied West Bank and Gaza amid continual restrictions on daily life by Israeli forces.
Celebrations were held for the first time in Bethlehem since the war in Gaza started, with marching bands blowing bagpipes through the streets of the birthplace of Jesus. Worshippers attended mass at the church of nativity and children sang carols as the city lit up with celebrations.
In war-torn Gaza, where more than 70,000 people have been killed and much of the infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli bombs, a small Christian community celebrated its first Christmas since a shaky ceasefire began. Christmas trees and glitter brought splashes of colour to the rubble that is strewn across the Gaza strip.
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Israeli attacks continued despite the holiday. Israeli settlers uprooted olive groves in the town of Turmus Ayya, outside Ramallah, while Israeli soldiers stormed homes and confiscated vehicles near Hebron, according to the WAFA, the Palestinian news agency.
Attacks by Israelis targeting Christians have been on the rise, with a March report documenting 32 attacks on church properties and 45 physical attacks targeting Christians.
In his first Christmas address as pontiff, Pope Leo condemned the abysmal humanitarian situation in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands live in tents and substandard dwellings in the biting cold and rain. He referenced the story of Jesus being born in a stable, and said that it showed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world.
“How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold,” he said, lamenting “the defenceless populations, tried by so many wars”.