BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town Sunday as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were canceled due to the Israel-Hamas war.
The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists who gather each year to mark the holiday. Dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty square.
Gift shops were slow to open on Christmas Eve, but some opened after the rain stopped. However, there were few visitors.
“This year, without a Christmas tree and without lights, there is only darkness,” said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who has lived in Jerusalem for six years.
On Christmas Eve in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday, December 24, a nativity scene decorated in honor of the victims in Gaza will be displayed in Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, traditionally considered the birthplace of Jesus. 2023. Bethlehem experiences a subdued Christmas after officials in the traditional birthplace of Jesus decided to forgo celebrations due to the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
He said he always comes to Bethlehem at Christmas, but this year it was particularly sobering as he looked at a nativity scene in Manger Square with a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, a reminder of the hundreds of children killed in the fighting Gaza were killed. The scene was surrounded by barbed wire, and the gray rubble reflected none of the cheerful lights and splashes of color that usually fill the square during the Christmas season.
“We cannot justify putting out a tree and celebrating as usual when some people (in Gaza) don't even have houses to go to,” said Ala'a Salameh, one of the owners of Afteem Restaurant, a family business . Own falafel restaurant, just a few steps away from the square.
Salameh said Christmas Eve is usually the busiest day of the year. “Usually you can’t find a single chair to sit on, we’re full from morning to midnight,” Salameh said. This year only one table was occupied by journalists taking a break from the rain.
Salameh said his restaurant is only running about 15% of normal operations and is unable to cover operating costs. He estimated that even after the war ended, it would take another year for tourism to Bethlehem to return to normal.
The cancellation of Christmas celebrations is a serious blow to the city's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem's income – almost all of it during the Christmas season.
With many major airlines canceling flights to Israel, few foreigners are visiting. According to local officials, over 70 hotels in Bethlehem were forced to close, leaving thousands of people unemployed.
According to health authorities there, more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 injured during Israel's air and ground offensive against the Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip, while around 85% of the territory's 2.3 million residents have been displaced. The war was sparked by Hamas' deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages.
A priest walks past the Church of the Nativity, traditionally considered the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023. Bethlehem is experiencing a muted Christmas after officials in Jesus' traditional birthplace foregone celebrations due to the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
The fighting in Gaza has also affected life in the West Bank. Since October 7, access to Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in Israeli-occupied territory has been difficult, with long lines of drivers waiting to pass through military checkpoints. The restrictions have also prevented tens of thousands of Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel.