The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off 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.
The gift shops were slow to open on Christmas Eve, although a few did once the rain had stopped pouring down. There were few visitors, however.
We can’t justify putting out a tree and celebrating as normal, 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-owned falafel restaurant just steps from the square.
Salameh said Christmas Eve is usually the busiest day of the year. “Normally, you can’t find a single chair to sit, we’re full from morning till midnight,” said Salameh. This year, just one table was taken, by journalists taking a break from the rain.
Meanwhile more than a dozen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, the Israeli military said Sunday, in some of the bloodiest days of battle since the start of Israel’s ground offensive in late October and a sign that Hamas is still putting up a fight despite weeks of brutal and indiscriminate Israeli war.
The war has devastated most parts of the Gaza Strip, killed more than 20,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Gaza war has come at a “very heavy price” for his side.
The military says more than a dozen soldiers have been killed in the territory since Friday, bringing the total of the ground assault to 154.
Mr Netanyahu said: “This is a difficult morning, after a very difficult day of fighting in Gaza.”
But he said his forces would continue with “full force until the end”, reiterating his goals of eliminating Hamas and ensuring the safe return of hostages held in Gaza.
“Let it be clear: this will be a long war,” the Israeli prime minister added.
