Bethlehem set to mark second subdued Christmas during war in Gaza
Bethlehem (West Bank), Dec 24: Bethlehem prepared on Tuesday to mark another sombre Christmas in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza.
The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank on Christmas were nowhere to be found: The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing. Throngs of foreign tourists that usually fill the square weren't expected and youth marching bands that gather each year to mark the holiday were absent.
Palestinian security forces arranged barriers near the Nativity Church, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born, and a worker cleared garbage bins.
"Always the message of Bethlehem is a message of peace and hope," said Mayor Anton Salman. “And these days, we are also sending our message to the world: peace and hope, but insisting that the world must work to end our suffering as Palestinian people.”
The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70 per cent of Bethlehem's income — almost all of it from the Christmas season. Salman said unemployment is hovering around 50 per cent — higher than the 30 per cent unemployment across the rest of the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Finance Ministry.
The number of visitors to the town plunged from a pre-COVID high of around 2 million visitors per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 visitors in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry.
Bethlehem is an important centre in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million people spread across the Holy Land. There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the US State Department.
While the war in Gaza has deterred tourists and pilgrims alike, it has also prompted a surge of violence in the West Bank, with more than 800 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis killed in Hamas group attacks.
Since the October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, access to and from Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in the West Bank has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass Israeli military checkpoints. Restrictions have also prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the economy there to contract by 25 per cent.
More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to health officials there, while some 90 per cent of the territory's 2.3 million residents have been displaced. Officials say more than half of the dead are women and children, though they don't give a breakdown of how many are civilians and how many fighters.
In the October 7 assault on southern Israel, Hamas-led group killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 hostages.
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Snowfall blocks two key roads providing alternative connectivity to Kashmir
Rajouri/Jammu (PTI): Traffic on the Mughal and Sinthan Top roads, which provide alternate connectivity to Kashmir, was temporarily suspended on Sunday due to light to moderate snowfall in the high-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
However, traffic on the 270-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar national highway -- the only all weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country -- was plying as usual despite intermittent rains that ended the over one-and-a-half months long dry spell, they said.
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The Mughal road, which connects the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir's Shopian, was closed for traffic as a precautionary measure after more than three inches of snow was recorded at Peer Ki Gali on Sunday afternoon.
A group of three tea vendors are left stranded on the road and efforts are on to evacuate them to safety, officials said.
After they were trapped in the snow, the vendors made passionate appeals through video messages urging the authorities to rescue them. The Border Roads Organisation has taken up snow clearance work and is trying to reach the stranded persons, officials said.
The Sinthan Top road, which connects Kishtwar and Doda districts in Jammu with south Kashmir's Anantnag, was also closed after moderate snowfall in the higher reaches.
Both the mountainous roads usually remain closed for several months due to heavy snowfall during winter.
