By Staff, Agencies

“Israeli” police stormed a Christmas celebration in the northern city of Haifa and arrested a Palestinian man dressed as Santa Claus, highlighting "Israeli" aggression against Palestinian civilians, a civil rights organization reported.

On Sunday, officers moved to shut down the event, seizing sound equipment and detaining three individuals, among them a man dressed as Santa Claus, a DJ, and a street vendor, while video footage circulating online captures police pushing the men to the ground and handcuffing them as onlookers watched.

In a statement, "Israeli" police claimed the man wearing the Santa Claus outfit resisted arrest.

The Mossawa Center, a rights group that advocates for Palestinians from the occupied territories, said police used excessive force and carried out the raid on the music hall without legal authority.

Palestinians marked Christmas across the occupied West Bank and Gaza amid ongoing restrictions imposed by "Israeli" occupation forces [IOF] on daily life.

In Beit Lahm, Christmas celebrations returned for the first time since the Gaza war, with marching bands, Mass at the Church of the Nativity, and festive decorations, while in Gaza, a small Christian community marked the holiday with trees and carols amid rubble left by “Israeli” bombings that have killed over 70,000 and destroyed much of the infrastructure.

Despite the holiday, "Israeli" aggression continued, with settlers uprooting olive groves near Ramallah and IOF raiding homes near al-Khalil. Attacks on Christians also rose, including assaults on 32 churches and 45 individuals.