More than 500 members of the Gaza Strip’s tiny Christian community have left the blockaded territory to take part in Christmas celebrations in Jesus’ traditional birthplace of Bethlehem.

The Israeli military coordinated the rare passage to the West Bank today ahead of the holiday.

About 3,500 Christians live in Gaza among 1.5 million Muslims.

Relations have traditionally been good, though there has been sporadic violence against Christians since the Islamic Hamas movement wrestled control of the strip three years ago.

In the wake of the takeover, unidentified attackers detonated a bomb outside a Christian school, firebombed a Christian bookshop and killed a Christian who worked at one.

Hamas says it is committed to protecting the Christian minority.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.