Israeli authorities prevented Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh from attending the Christmas Eve mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Wednesday, PA-run WAFA claimed.

The authorities prevented Sheikh's "convoy from entering the city," the report alleged.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas sent Sheikh as his envoy to "represent him at the event and attend the mass," the report noted.

Thousands of Palestinians and Israeli-Arab Christians were in attendance at Bethlehem's Manger Square on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, after Christmas celebrations had been reduced for two years due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, began celebrations during the procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for a "Christmas full of light," AP reported.

Pizzaballa told the gathered crowd in Manger Square of his visit to Gaza's Christian community on Sunday, where he held a pre-Christmas mass, and saw a desire to rebuild among devastation, AP noted.

"We, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world," AP cited him as saying.

Unemployment in Bethlehem rose from 14% to 65% during the Israel-Hamas War, Mayor Mahel Nicola Canawati was cited as saying in a previous AP report earlier this month.

Christians account for less than 2% of the West Bank's residents, AP noted.