Christmas season around the Mena region – in pictures
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Female worshippers chant at Christmas morning mass in the Syriac Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in Qamishli, Syria. AFP -
Christian devotees take part in a Christmas prayer at St John's Cathedral Church in Peshawar. AFP -
Christian worshippers listen to the Christmas Eve mass inside the Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus in Podgorica, Montenegro. AFP -
People gather round a Christmas tree in Beirut's Martyr Square. AFP -
A priest swings burners with incense at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Cairo. AP -
Egyptian Catholic nuns pray during the Christmas Eve mass at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Cairo. AP -
Christian worshippers attend a Christmas morning service at the Catholic Co-Cathedral of the Holy Family in Kuwait City. AFP -
A woman takes a selfie outside the Catholic Co-Cathedral of the Holy Family in Kuwait City on Christmas Day. AFP -
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, holds a midnight Christmas mass at the Church of the Nativity in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem. EPA -
Visitors inside the holy cave at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. Reuters -
A Palestinian makes olive wood souvenirs near the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. Reuters -
A Palestinian youth looks at Santa Claus dolls at a shop in Gaza city. AP -
A man controls a drone fixed to a Santa Claus figurine, in Aintoura, north of the Lebanese capital Beirut. AFP -
Santa Claus - real name Issa Kassissieh - swaps his traditional reindeer for a camel at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem's Old City. Reuters -
A Christmas tree towers inside a mall in Hazmieh, Lebanon. Reuters -
A 'Santa Claus' next to graffiti reading 'Palestine' in Arabic on Israel's separation wall in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. AFP -
Parade members play music at the Christmas market in Byblos, Lebanon. Reuters -
A Palestinian takes a selfie near a Christmas tree in Gaza city. AFP -
The Christmas tree in Al Hatab Square in Aleppo, Syria. AFP -
An Iraqi family decorates a Christmas tree at their house in Basra. AP -
Issa Kassissieh, dressed as Santa Claus, on Mount Precipice near Nazareth in northern Israel. Reuters -
Santa's Grotto in Galleria Mall, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
A Palestinian crafts figurines at a workshop in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank. AFP -
Christmas decoration in The Greens, Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National -
Winter Wonderland at Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National -
Daniel Shawky, 5, in snow at Winter Wonderland, held outside Galleria Mall, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
Visitors watch fireworks at Winter Wonderland Kuwait, during its grand opening in Kuwait City. AFP -
Workers set up a Christmas tree in Al Hatab Square, in Aleppo, northern Syrian. The city has been devastated in the country's civil war. AFP -
Santa Claus attends a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Jerusalem's Old City. Reuters -
Fireworks at the lighting of a Christmas tree at the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. AFP -
A 18-metre Christmas tree stands at the gateway to Bnachii Lake, Zgharta district, northern Lebanon. It was made using 108,000 discarded plastic bottles. EPA -
People gather round a giant Christmas tree, which was officially lit up in Byblos, Lebanon. EPA -
Palestinians attend a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Gaza city, organised by the YMCA. EPA -
Byblos, Lebanon. Reuters -
Festivities in the Ashrafieh district of Lebanon's capital, Beirut. EPA -
Ashrafieh, Beirut. EPA -
Festive revellers greet Santa in Sassine Square, Beirut. AFP -
Fireworks illuminate Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters -
Palestinians dressed as Santa Claus and Mrs Claus lead festivities in Bethlehem. Reuters -
Visitors admire seasonal illuminations to celebrate Christmas and New Year in the Beirut Souks district of Lebanon's capital. EPA -
Shoppers throng beneath the festive illuminations at Beirut Souks. EPA -
A crowd watches a festive dance show at Beirut Souks. EPA -
A woman and her child visit the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in Bethlehem, at the start of Advent. AP -
A stall at the Christmas market in the West Bank city of Ramallah. EPA
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