The motorcade that set off from Jerusalem was led by the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
In sunny weather and to the sound of loud bagpipe music, the procession was welcomed by Christian dignitaries in Bethlehem on Wednesday afternoon, where Pizzaballa is set to celebrate midnight mass.
Due to the war in Gaza, traditional Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank were rather subdued in the past two years.
But following a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian extremist group Hamas that took effect on October 10, a large Christmas tree has been put up outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism expects about 40,000 Christian pilgrims to visit the site for Christmas, after a steep drop in visitors due to the fighting in Gaza.
Christians are a minority in the Jewish state and across the Palestinian territories.
Of Gaza's some two million inhabitants, some 1000 are Christians, while some two per cent of Israel's population of some 10 million are Christian.
In the West Bank, Christians account for about 1.5 per cent of the population of some three million.
19°C