Christmas Eve in Bethlehem is quiet this year - no giant tree at the Church of the Nativity, no carols in Manger Square. Churches in the Holy Land officially canceled Christmas celebrations due to ...

Usually crowds pack into Manger Square for celebrations but this year the mood is subdued. Christmas morning in Bethlehem is somber, not the usual joyful town with parades and bands in Manger Square.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war.

On Bethlehem's Manger Square, Christmas decorations and pilgrims are notably absent for a second wartime festive season in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city. The Church of the Nativity that ...

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 ...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — At Christmastime ... A similar installation is to be placed in Manger Square before Christmas Eve. Today, Isaac said, the Christmas story feels more contemporary than ...

there will only be a shadow of the dazzling Christmas tree in Manger Square, where Christians, Muslims and visitors from around the world usually gather to celebrate. Bethlehem will stand dark ...

In the middle of Manger Square in the Old City of Bethlehem, a group of Palestinian teenage girls pose for selfies in front of a gigantic, shimmering Christmas tree. Visiting from Nazareth ...

“This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate. PHOTOS: Bethlehem marks a second ...

Celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. On Christmas Eve, Bethlehem resembles a ghost town Skip to main content Skip to main content ...

Editor’s Note: Rateb Y. Rabie, KCHS, is the founder and president of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF), a nonprofit organization supporting Christian communities in the Holy Land.