There will be no Christmas tree in Bethlehem this year at the traditional site of Jesus’s birth as the Israel-Hamas conflict rages on.

The town will hold pared-down celebrations “without the fanfare and without too many lights”. 

Bethlehem, which neighbours Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, has seen destruction in Israeli-Palestinian clashes in recent decades. 

But the town has been particularly affected by the current conflict in the Gaza Strip 30 miles away.

At the start of December every year, church leaders convene in Bethlehem to inaugurate the pre-Christmas Advent season – usually a major tourist draw. 

This year the streets and plazas of the hilly town were largely empty and sombre under a dry winter sun. 

“We have never seen Bethlehem like this, not even during the time of COVID. The town is empty, sad,” Father Ibrahim Faltas, a senior Franciscan friar, said. 

“Today was meant to be a joyous day.” 

For the first time in many residents’ memories, no Christmas tree has been erected in Nativity Square.

“We will celebrate in sobriety,” said Father Francesco Patton of the Custody of the Holy Land church group. 

“That means without the fanfare and without too many lights, in the most spiritual way and more (among) families than in the square.”