Christmas celebration in Bethlehem is called off over the Israel-Palestine war

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Visitors gathered at the historical places in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem, a known place to be the birthplace of Jesus, is situated on the West Bank. The churches determined to keep only religious rituals and postpone all other celebrations for this year's Christmas celebrations. This was meant to show sympathy for the Palestinians suffering from Israeli attacks and sieges, according to the reports.

The Mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Hanania told the news media, Xinhua that this Christmas is completely different from previous ones as the holiday has been shrouded in a sad atmosphere due to the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip and the widespread closure of the West Bank the cities under Israeli siege.

Hanania meanwhile extended his sadness over the situation of Palestinians in Gaza, where families move with their children from one place to another in search of a safe place "despite that there is no such place."

He said that in previous years, Bethlehem annually attracted some 1.5 million tourists and pilgrims from across the globe. In a bleak contrast, this Christmas has been completely devoid of tourism since the beginning of the Gaza conflict on October 7.

Palestine's tourism sector is expected to lose 200 million U.S. dollars by the end of 2023 due to the impact of Israel's attacks on Gaza, according to Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Maayah.

The minister added that Palestine's tourism sector faced dire circumstances during this year's Christmas season, primarily in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, noting that Bethlehem appears particularly desolate this winter.

伯利恆的聖誕節慶祝活動因以色列-巴勒斯坦戰爭而取消

位於約旦河西岸的伯利恆教堂是眾所周知的耶穌出生地，決定今年的聖誕節慶祝活動僅保留宗教儀式並推遲所有其他慶祝活動。 據報道，這是為了對遭受以色列襲擊和圍困的巴勒斯坦人表示同情。

伯利恆市長漢納·哈納尼亞對新華社記者表示，今年的聖誕節與往年完全不同，由於以色列與哈馬斯在加沙地帶的衝突以及以色列對約旦河西岸城市的大面積關閉，這個節日籠罩在悲傷的氣氛中。圍城。

同時，哈納尼亞對加薩巴勒斯坦人的處境表示悲傷，那裡的家庭帶著孩子從一個地方搬到另一個地方，尋找一個安全的地方，「儘管根本不存在這樣的地方」。

他說，前幾年，伯利恆每年吸引約150萬來自世界各地的遊客和朝聖者。 與此形成鮮明對比的是，自 10 月 7 日加薩衝突爆發以來，今年的聖誕節就完全沒有旅遊業了。

巴勒斯坦旅遊文物部長魯拉·馬亞表示，由於以色列襲擊加薩的影響，到2023年底，巴勒斯坦旅遊業預計將損失2億美元。

這位部長表示，巴勒斯坦旅遊業在今年的聖誕節期間面臨嚴峻的形勢，主要是在加薩和被佔領的約旦河西岸，並指出伯利恆今年冬天顯得尤其荒涼。