LONDON: Police in Israel last week arrested a Palestinian man dressed as Santa Claus at a Christmas celebration in Haifa, The Guardian reported.

The Christmas event was closed on Sunday, after Israeli officers stormed the area and confiscated equipment, the Mossawa Center, a rights group for Palestinian citizens of Israel, said.

The Palestinian Santa Claus performer was arrested, as well as a DJ and street vendor.

In a video circulating on social media, police can be seen forcing the men to the ground and handcuffing them, as crowds of bystanders watch on.

The Palestinian man dressed as Santa Claus resisted arrest and assaulted an officer, Israeli police said in a statement.

But the police used excessive force during the raid, which was conducted without legal authority on the music hall venue, Mossawa said.

Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and Gaza are celebrating Christmas this week despite Israel’s imposition of restrictions on daily life there.

Celebrations for Dec. 25 were held in Bethlehem for the first time since the beginning of the war on Gaza.

Marching bands blew bagpipes in processions through the streets in the city of Jesus’ birth.

Churchgoers attended mass there at the Church of the Nativity and Palestinian children sang carols as the city hosted major celebrations.

Gaza’s small Christian community marked its first Christmas in the war-torn enclave since the signing of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Amid the rubble strewn across Gaza, Christmas trees glitter brought sections of color to the territory, The Guardian reported.

Israel continued military operations and settler attacks took place despite the holiday.

In the town of Turmus Ayya outside Ramallah, Israeli settlers uprooted olive trees belonging to Palestinians, and near Hebron soldiers stormed the homes of residents and confiscated vehicles, according to the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.

Israel is carrying out mounting attacks against Christian sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A report in March documented 32 attacks on church properties and 45 assaults against Christians.

Pope Leo XIV, in his first Christmas address as pontiff, drew attention to the abysmal humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians there are living in tents amid fierce cold and rain, just as Jesus had been born in a stable, with God “pitching his fragile tent” among the peoples of the world, Leo said.

He added: “How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold.”

The pope highlighted the plight of “the defenseless populations, tried by so many wars.”