• A Christian Palestinian boy enters the Latin Church with his family during midnight Christmas mass, Gaza City. EPA
    A Christian Palestinian boy enters the Latin Church with his family during midnight Christmas mass, Gaza City. EPA
  • Father Emmanuel Benjamin Jacob Gharib, Chairman of the National Evangelical Church of Kuwait and Pastor of the Kuwaiti Presbyterian Church, leads a Christmas mass in Kuwait City. AFP
    Father Emmanuel Benjamin Jacob Gharib, Chairman of the National Evangelical Church of Kuwait and Pastor of the Kuwaiti Presbyterian Church, leads a Christmas mass in Kuwait City. AFP
  • Egyptian Catholic priests perform a Christmas Eve service at the Virgin Mary Cathedral in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, Egypt. Reuters
    Egyptian Catholic priests perform a Christmas Eve service at the Virgin Mary Cathedral in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, Egypt. Reuters
  • Jordanians gather next to a Christmas tree in the city of Fuheis near Amman. Reuters
    Jordanians gather next to a Christmas tree in the city of Fuheis near Amman. Reuters
  • People attend a carnival held in front of al-Sayydah Church in the mostly Christian-populated al-Qassaa neighborhood, Damascus, Syria. EPA
    People attend a carnival held in front of al-Sayydah Church in the mostly Christian-populated al-Qassaa neighborhood, Damascus, Syria. EPA
  • Iraqi Christians set a fire during a Christmas Eve procession at the al-Tahira al-Kubra church at the Assyrian town of Qaraqosh, some 13 km east of Mosul, northern Iraq. Hundreds of Iraqi Christians held their prayers in Mosul under tight security. EPA
    Iraqi Christians set a fire during a Christmas Eve procession at the al-Tahira al-Kubra church at the Assyrian town of Qaraqosh, some 13 km east of Mosul, northern Iraq. Hundreds of Iraqi Christians held their prayers in Mosul under tight security. EPA
  • Iraqi Christians gather around a fire during a Christmas Eve procession at the al-Tahira al-Kubra church at the Assyrian town of Qaraqosh, some 13 km east of Mosul, northern Iraq. EPA
    Iraqi Christians gather around a fire during a Christmas Eve procession at the al-Tahira al-Kubra church at the Assyrian town of Qaraqosh, some 13 km east of Mosul, northern Iraq. EPA
  • A Christian Palestinian girl attends a prayer with her family at the Latin Church in Gaza during midnight Christmas mass, Gaza City. EPA
    A Christian Palestinian girl attends a prayer with her family at the Latin Church in Gaza during midnight Christmas mass, Gaza City. EPA
  • Christians light candles during Christmas Eve ceremony at St Antuan Church in Istanbul, Turkey. EPA
    Christians light candles during Christmas Eve ceremony at St Antuan Church in Istanbul, Turkey. EPA
  • Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas congratulates Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land after attending a Christmas midnight mass at Saint Catherine's Church, in the Church of the Nativity, traditionally recognised by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. AFP
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas congratulates Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land after attending a Christmas midnight mass at Saint Catherine's Church, in the Church of the Nativity, traditionally recognised by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. AFP
  • Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, heads a Christmas midnight mass at Saint Catherine's Church, in the Church of the Nativity, traditionally recognised by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. AFP
    Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, heads a Christmas midnight mass at Saint Catherine's Church, in the Church of the Nativity, traditionally recognised by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. AFP

Christmas in the Middle East - in pictures

All the best photos, as Christians celebrate around the Middle East and North Africa

The National

December 25, 2018

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