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Christians in Gaza celebrate gloomy Christmas this year

Christians in the Gaza Strip will be celebrating Christmas at home this year in light of the lockdown and travel restrictions imposed to stem the skyrocketing number of coronavirus cases.
Palestinian Orthodox Christians attend a Christmas Mass at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City on January 7, 2020. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Elias al-Jalda and his family will be celebrating Christmas at home in Gaza City this year, after the Hamas-led government, which controls the Gaza Strip, announced a lockdown Dec. 10 to stem the surge of coronavirus cases that are threatening the enclave’s already fragile health-care system.

Jalda, 54, his wife Reem, 43, and their three sons celebrate Christmas each year. “On Saint Barbara’s day on Dec. 17, we would prepare a traditional dish made of wheat and nuts, which carry a religious connotation. We would distribute dishes to our family, friends and acquaintances — even among Muslims — but this year we did not,” Reem told Al-Monitor.

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