A youth wears a Santa Claus costume as he waits alongside Boy Scouts to take part in the 40th annual Christmas parade in Nazareth, Israel. (AP Photo/ Representational) A Palestinian man, who was dressed as Santa Claus, was arrested during a raid at a Christmas party in Haifa by the Israeli police, a civil rights monitor reported.
Israeli police shut down an event on Sunday which was celebrating Christmas and arrested the Palestinian Santa Claus after confiscating equipment. A DJ and a street vendor were also apprehended by the officers.
A video has since gone viral where police can be seen handcuffing the men after they were pushed to the ground, The Guardian reported.
Video of Israeli Police arresting a Santa in Haifa, 80 miles fom where Jesus was born pic.twitter.com/3JPlIrY2K5
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) December 24, 2025
Israeli police, in a statement said, the man who was wearing Santa Claus resisted arrest and assaulted one of the officers. The incident was reported by a civil rights group Mossawa Center, which fights for the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel. The group stated that Israeli police officers used excessive force on the men and the raid conducted by police was without legal authority.
This comes as Palestinians celebrate Christmas in the occupied West Bank and Gaza amid the restrictions imposed by the Israeli forces. Notably, Christmas celebrations were held in Bethlehem for the first time in the last two years after Hamas launched an attack in Israel in October 2023 and the war in Gaza started.
In Bethlehem, worshippers attended mass at the church of nativity as children sang carols. Marching bands and blowing bagpipes were also seen through the streets in Bethlehem. The death toll in the Gaza war has crossed 70,000 and much of the infrastructure has been decimated by Israeli bombs.
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The report by Guardian stated that Israeli forces targeting Christians have increased and in March, 32 such attacks took place on church infrastructure and 45 physical attacks took place against Christians.
Pope Leo, in his first Christmas address as pontiff, criticised the humanitarian condition in Gaza. “How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold,” Pope Leo said.
