Bethlehem cancels Christmas with celebrations kept to a minimum in birthplace of Jesus amid continuing Israel-Hamas bloodshed

Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, will be largely canceled this year amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Churches in Christianity’s holy land of the West Bank have demanded that celebrations this Christmas be toned down in recognition of the suffering Palestinians have experienced in the Gaza Strip and West Bank following Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Hamas’ Black Saturday attack on October 7 left 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, mercilessly killed.

In response, Israel launched a brutal response that it said was aimed at eliminating Hamas but has so far killed thousands of civilians, approximately 70% of whom are women and children.

“We cannot celebrate when our brothers and sisters die,” said Issa Taljie, a Greek Orthodox priest at the Church of the Nativity, a 4th-century temple whose crypt contains the purported birthplace of Christ. time.

Churches in Christianity’s holy land of the West Bank have demanded that celebrations this Christmas be toned down in recognition of the suffering experienced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Typically around 150,000 tourists flock to the city during the Christmas period, but the fighting has reduced this number to almost zero.

As a result of the Hamas attack on Black Saturday on October 7, 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were mercilessly killed in the early hours of the morning.

The Christmas tree, usually located in the city’s main square, will not be erected and the lights that usually illuminate the city with a warm glow at night will not be lit.

Talji said he learned that an entire Gazan family he knew had recently been killed in an airstrike, months after he led prayers for their newborn daughter.

He said he was now praying for the peaceful rest of his little daughter: “They are grieving. We must support them.”

Talji said he worries about his three children, whom he raised in the occupied city: “It is not easy for them to grow up in prison.

“Whenever they want to go somewhere, they are not allowed. There are no pools or playgrounds for them to go to.”

Typically around 150,000 tourists flock to the city during the Christmas period, but the fighting has reduced this number to almost zero.

One souvenir seller said he hadn’t sold anything in 50 days.

Ziad Bandak, 57, a Greek Orthodox Christian, said: “We sit and play backgammon all day. I come two days a week so I don’t have to sit at home all the time.”

One church installed an installation of the Nativity scene with a figure “symbolizing the baby Jesus lying in a manger among the rubble.”

“We cannot celebrate when our brothers and sisters die,” said Issa Talji, a Greek Orthodox priest at the Church of the Nativity (pictured).

Despite being a sacred site known for its peace, there have been clashes between the IDF and West Bank citizens that have only increased in frequency and deadly force since October 7th.

In early November, a month after the Hamas attack on Israel, dozens of Bethlehem residents were attacked by IDF soldiers.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said at the time that its medical teams treated 64 people injured in the clashes.

He added that in 10 cases people were wounded by live bullets, while others were suffocated by Israeli tear gas.

Residents protested in small ways: one church installed an installation of a Nativity scene with a figure “symbolizing the baby Jesus lying in his manger amidst the rubble,” referring to the Gaza Strip, inside an Evangelical Lutheran church.

The focus of the conflict shifted to the south of the besieged territory after fierce fighting and bombing that left much of the north in ruins.

Although Israel has not been at the center of the military campaign against Hamas, since October 7, 267 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.

Residents said there was heavy fighting in and around the southern town of Khan Younis, where Israeli ground forces opened a new line of attack last week.

The US provided unwavering diplomatic and military support for the Israeli campaign, even as it called on Israel to minimize civilian casualties and further mass displacement.

Israel has vowed to continue fighting until it removes Hamas from power, eliminates its military capabilities and returns all the dozens of hostages still held by Palestinian militants.

Although Israel has not been the focus of the military campaign against Hamas, Israeli forces have killed 267 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The focus of the conflict has shifted to the besieged south after fierce fighting and bombing that reduced much of the north to rubble and forced nearly two million people to flee their homes.

But the relentless bombing, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed 18,000 Palestinians in Gaza, is “narrowing the window” for agreeing a new ceasefire, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.

Israel has vowed to continue the fight until it removes Hamas from power, eliminates its military capabilities and returns all the dozens of hostages still held by Palestinian militants after they were captured in the October 7 surprise attack on Israel. provoked a war.

The US provided unwavering diplomatic and military support for the campaign, even as it called on Israel to minimize civilian casualties and further mass displacement.

Residents say there has been heavy fighting in and around the southern town of Khan Younis, where Israeli ground forces opened a new offensive line last week, and fighting is still ongoing in parts of Gaza City and in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. , where large areas were reduced to ruins.