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The city of Bethlehem is feeling a profound impact from the Israel-Hamas war, miles away from the front lines of fighting in the Gaza Strip. The birthplace of Jesus is canceling many of the Christmas traditions that historically have turned the West Bank city into a global tourist destination each holiday season.
Many of the festive lights, Christmas trees and other decorations typically seen in historic Manger Square are missing this year. There is no formal tree-lighting ceremony. Many of the holiday music festivities have been canceled.
Even many of the simple, traditional manger scenes have been altered to highlight the fighting in Gaza. At the city’s Lutheran Christmas Church, a baby Jesus lies, not in a cradle, but in a pile of rubble symbolizing the destruction in Gaza. Other Nativity scenes across Bethlehem are surrounded by barbed wire.
Those sites and others reflect the tension gripping Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and much of the Middle East. Israel has been waging war in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza since Oct. 7, when the militant group Hamas launched a terrorist attack on the Jewish state. That assault killed more than 1,200 Israelis and resulted in the taking of more than 240 hostages — at least 129 of whom remain in Hamas’ hands.
Even on Christmas Eve, Israeli leaders vowed they will press ahead with their military campaign until Hamas is destroyed and their country is free from the threat of future attacks.
“It’s a hard day of fighting. Despite the pain and deep sorrow, we continue with all our strength, until the end, until victory,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday in a social media post.
In Gaza, the holiday provided little respite from the bloodshed. Fourteen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza over the weekend in some of the bloodiest days of battle since the ground offensive began, the Israeli military said Sunday. The death toll shows that Hamas, despite months of relentless Israeli air attacks and weeks of intensive ground operations, is still a viable fighting force.
At least 153 Israeli troops have been killed since the country began its ground offensive in Gaza.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7, though those numbers have not been independently confirmed.
The Israel-Hamas fighting may be in Gaza, but its effects have stretched across Israel and into the West Bank, home of Bethlehem. Israeli media reported that some hotels and inns, typically booked months or even years in advance for the Christmas season, are largely empty this year. Others have been forced to close, leaving their employees out of work.
More than 5,000 Bethlehem residents work directly in the tourist industry, according to Israel’s Haaretz media outlet. With much of the city a ghost town, the busiest, most profitable time of year is now anything but. Many commercial airlines have canceled or dramatically scaled back flights to Israel, meaning even those who still may be willing to venture to Bethlehem are unable to do so.
“Everything has ground to a halt,”Fadi Kattan, a prominent tour operator in the city, told Haaretz.
“It’s also about what people are feeling in their soul,” he said. “What’s happening in Gaza is a massacre. Christmas is a festival of joy. How can you be joyous when you see such sights?”
That sentiment is shared around the world. International leaders have pushed Israel to cease its offensive military operations in Gaza. Privately, U.S. officials are believed to be urging Israel to wind down the current phase of its operation in Gaza and to begin looking at longer-term solutions for the enclave and its more than 2 million residents.
But the Biden administration has been careful not to publicly push Israel toward a cease-fire. President Biden, who spoke to Mr. Netanyahu by phone over the weekend, said he has made no such request.
“I had a private conversation. I did not ask for a cease-fire,” Mr. Biden told reporters during brief remarks on Sunday.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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