Скачать или смотреть Bethlehem a Ghost Town, Christmas Celebrations Cancelled due to Israel-Hamas War | VOA News

VOA reporter Henry Wilkins is in Bethlehem this Christmas Eve, where Christmas celebrations have been scaled back. Inside the Church of the Nativity, at the spot where Jesus is said to have been born, there are few visitors, while businesses are losing out on their busiest trading period.

Locals say they feel sad this Christmas, as restrictions placed on the West Bank and widespread arrests since October 7th are having an impact. Just this morning, Israeli security forces raided Bethlehem and arrested Palestinians, bringing the total number of Palestinians arrested since the war started to around 4,700 according to Palestinian prisoners' rights groups.

The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem's income — almost all of that during the Christmas season.

With many major airlines canceling flights to Israel, few foreigners are visiting. Local officials say over 70 hotels in Bethlehem have been forced to close, leaving thousands of people unemployed.

Over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded during Israel's air and ground offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers, according to health officials there, while some 85% of the territory's 2.3 million residents have been displaced. The war was triggered by Hamas' deadly assault Oct. 7 on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages.

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