This Christmas, many of us in Bethlehem just want to stay home, spend time with our families and feel safe. I think of Mary and Joseph in search of a safe place and being turned away, time and again.

There's no Christmas in Bethlehem this year. With war in Gaza, festivities are off. December 16, 2023 7:00 AM ET. By . Scott Neuman , Kat Lonsdorf There's no Christmas in Bethlehem this year.

Church bells echo through the labyrinth-like streets of Bethlehem. With Christmas approaching, the city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank should be teeming with visitors. But this year, it is ...

The war in Gaza has prompted the city, traditionally seen as the birthplace of Jesus, to tone down its Christmas celebrations. By Yara Bayoumy and Samar Hazboun Reporting from Bethlehem in the ...

In Bethlehem, the West Bank town revered as Jesus' birthplace, Christmas is all but canceled, in solidarity with Palestinians' suffering in Gaza. In Bethlehem, few glad tidings for Palestinian ...

There are about 200,000 Palestinian Christians who live in and around Bethlehem, the Galilee region and Gaza. Usually crowds pack into Manger Square for celebrations but this year the mood is subdued.

In a normal year, Bethlehem would be a “city full of people, full of tourists”, said 30-year-old Abood Suboh, standing in his empty shop where he sells cashmere scarves and leather handbags.

The West Bank city of Bethlehem—identified in the Bible as the birthplace of Jesus—held muted Christmas celebrations on Monday amid the war between Israel and Hamas. Christian worshipers pray ...

Bethlehem prays for peace in Gaza: ‘I have never seen a Christmas like this’ Normally at this time of year, Bethlehem is full of thousands visiting one of Christianity’s most holy cities.

For the second straight year, Bethlehem’s Christmas celebrations will be somber and muted, in deference to ongoing war in Gaza.There will be no giant Christmas tree in Manger Square, no raucous ...

Sara, 24, is four months pregnant with her third child and living with at least 50 other people in a house in Gaza. This location is supposedly in a safe area — in Rafah, on the border with Egypt.