BETHLEHEM, January 6, 2026 (WAFA) – On behalf of the President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, Vice President and Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hussein al-Sheikh, attended the Christmas Midnight Mass in Bethlehem for Christian churches observing the Julian calendar.

The Mass was led by the Patriarch of the Holy City, Theophilos III, who said in his address that on Christmas night, prayers are offered for peace to be realized in Palestine and the Middle East, and for a complete ceasefire to be achieved in Gaza.

He expressed gratitude to President Mahmoud Abbas, wishing him continued good health and well-being, and praying that God grant him a long life and the strength to lead the Palestinian people toward realizing a free and independent Palestinian state.

The Mass was attended by a representative of Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Jordanian Minister of Interior Mazin Al-Farrayeh, Member of the PLO Executive Committee and Head of the Presidential Higher Committee for Church Affairs Ramzi Khoury, along with several ministers, senior officials, security chiefs, as well as several consuls and ambassadors, religious and dignitary figures, and large crowds of worshippers.

T.R.