On Sunday, officers moved to shut down the event, seizing sound equipment and detaining three individuals, among them a man dressed as Santa Claus, a DJ, and a street vendor, while video footage circulating online captures police pushing the men to the ground and handcuffing them as onlookers watched.
In a statement, Israeli police claimed the man wearing the Santa Claus outfit resisted arrest, Al Mayadeen reported.
The Mossawa Center, a rights group that advocates for Palestinians from the territories occupied in 1948, said police used excessive force and carried out the raid on the music hall without legal authority.
Palestinians marked Christmas across the occupied West Bank and Gaza amid ongoing restrictions imposed by Israeli forces on daily life.
In Beit Lahm, celebrations took place for the first time since the outbreak of war on Gaza, with marching bands playing bagpipes through the streets of Jesus’ birthplace. Worshippers attended Mass at the Church of the Nativity, while children sang carols as the city lit up with festive decorations.
In Gaza, where over 70,000 people have been killed and much of the infrastructure destroyed by Israeli bombings, a small Christian community held its first Christmas celebrations since a fragile ceasefire began, with Christmas trees and glitter adding bursts of color amid the rubble scattered across the Strip.
Despite the holiday, Israeli operations continued. Israeli settlers uprooted olive groves in Turmus Ayya near Ramallah, and Israeli soldiers raided homes and seized vehicles near al-Khalil, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Attacks targeting Christians have also increased, with a report in March documenting 32 assaults on church properties and 45 physical attacks against Christian individuals.