Palestinian artist incarnates Christ in baby incubator to pay tribute for babies killed in Gaza

By Qais Abu Samra

BETHLEHEM CITY, Palestine (AA) – A Palestinian artist incarnated Christ in a baby incubator in in Bethlehem city to pay tribute to Palestinian babies killed in Gaza in their incubators due to the deadly Israeli onslaught.

The piece of art, showcased in the Manger Square near the Nativity Church, was created by Rana Bishara, where she showed the Christ Child lying in an incubator on a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf covered with blood.

"I came to Bethlehem to put this sculpture in front of the Nativity Church, the Christ's birthplace," Bishara said.

"At the birth of Christ, the Romans killed thousands of children, and in the Christmas after 2023 years, Palestinian children in Gaza are being killed," she added.

"I came to Bethlehem for peace, I say stop the war; the Christ is killed by the Israeli bombs that kill people and children in Gaza," she also said.

Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were halted due to Israel's devastating war on Gaza.

Christmas is observed annually on Dec. 25 by Western churches and Jan. 7 by Eastern churches.

Christians in the Gaza Strip attended a midnight mass on Monday, while a special religious service was held at midnight on the Christmas Eve on Sunday at the Holy Family Church in Gaza's center to commemorate the birth of Christ.

However, this year's Christmas is marred by intense Israeli bombing, making the midnight mass one of the most violent nights of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 20,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring more than 54,500 others, according to local health authorities.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

Israeli attacks has left Gaza in ruins, with half of the coastal territory's housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely populated enclave amid acute shortages of food and clean water.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar