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- Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem were canceled amid the Israel-Hamas war.
- Bethlehem is home to the Church of the Nativity, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.
- Christmas, normally the West Bank town's busy tourist season, was quiet and subdued this year.
Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus located in the West Bank, is usually packed with tourists during Christmas. Home to sites like the Church of the Nativity, which is believed to be the location of Jesus' birth, worshippers come from all over the world to celebrate the holiday season in the "little town of Bethlehem," as the famous Christmas carol goes.