Kochi: Christmas celebrations in the land where Jesus is believed to have been born are dull this year too, so is the flow of tourists despite it being peak time due to unrest in the West Bank, BBC reported.
The Christians in Bethlehem are deprived of colourful Christmas for the last two years tension in Gaza.
The giant Christmas tree in front of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born is shorn of its charm for the second year.
Christians are only attending religious ceremonies and taking part in family gatherings. A few hundred Christians have spent most of their time in the past in two Gazan churches.
“…starvation, bombardment, surveillance by drones,, lack of medical attention and services among others,” has made their lives miserable.
Over 45,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war triggered by the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 7, 2023 kilking 1,200 people including Israelis and some foreigners and abduction of 250 people from Israel as hostages.
Israel has cancelled tens of thousands of permits for workers who used to cross into Jerusalem or Jewish settlements each day to earn their living.
Bethlehem, which relies heavily on tourism, has almost entirely stopped.
Guides are jobless.
Palestinians long sought an independent state of their own, the reports said.
Photo Credit: X
