On Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited the site of restorations being carried out on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Abbas said that he was happy to see the repairs and thanked the team of engineers, local administrators and foreigner experts who had come to Palestine specifically to work on the project. He emphasized the importance of repairing the church due to its being one of the oldest and most important churches on Earth and hosts Christian pilgrims and millions of visitors.
Abbas, who arrived along with the Secretary General of the Presidency, Tayeb Abd al-Rahim, and his spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, was received by religious figures, including Patriarch Theofilos of the Roman Orthodox Church, Father Ibrahim Faltas, and a group of priests from the Latin and Armenian Orthodox churches.
During the tour inside the church, Chief Engineer, Ziad al-Bandak, showed the president the repairs that have been finished, as well as those that would be completed before the Christmas holidays.
According to PNN (Palestinian News Network), after seeing the church, Abbas visited the Nassar Stone Company and had lunch at the office of the presidency in Bethlehem.
