Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) attends midnight mass in St. Catherine's Catholic Church at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve December 25, 2005. Hopes of a rush of pilgrims lifted the mood a little in Bethlehem on Saturday as the town where Christians believe Jesus was born prepared to mark its first Christmas walled from Jerusalem. Calls for peace resonated in Bethlehem on Sunday as a lull in violence spurred the biggest influx of pilgrims for years to celebrate Christmas in the West Bank town. Both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in messages they were committed to peacemaking in 2006. (Photo: Xinhua/REUTERS)