BETHLEHEM, West Bank: Business is bouncing back in Bethlehem after two years in the doldrums during the coronavirus pandemic, lifting spirits in the traditional birthplace of Jesus ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Streets are bustling with tour groups. Hotels are fully booked, and months of deadly Israeli-Palestinian fighting appears to be having little effect on the vital tourism industry.
Elias Arja, head of the Bethlehem hotel association, said that tourists are hungry to visit the Holy Land’s religious sites after suffering through lockdowns and travel restrictions in recent years. He expects the rebound to continue into next year.
“We expect that 2023 will be booming and business will be excellent because the whole world, and Christian religious tourists especially, they all want to return to the Holy Land,” said Arja, who owns the Bethlehem Hotel.
On a recent day, dozens of groups from virtually every continent posed for selfies in front of the Church of the Nativity, built on the grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born. A giant Christmas tree sparkled in the adjacent Manger Square, and tourists packed into shops to buy olive wood crosses and other souvenirs.
Christmas is normally peak season for tourism in Bethlehem, located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank just a few miles southeast of Jerusalem. In pre-pandemic times, thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the world came to celebrate.
But those numbers plummeted during the pandemic. Although tourism hasn’t fully recovered, the hordes of visitors are a welcome improvement and encouraging sign.
“The city became a city of ghosts,” said Saliba Nissan, standing next to a manger scene about 1.3 meters (4 feet) wide inside the Bethlehem New Store, the olive wood factory he co-owns with his brother. The shop was filled with Americans on a bus tour.
Since the Palestinians don’t have their own airport, most international visitors come via Israel. The Israeli Tourism Ministry is expecting some 120,000 Christian tourists during the week of Christmas.
That compares to its all-time high of about 150,000 visitors in 2019, but is far better than last year, when the country’s skies were closed to most international visitors. As it has done in the past, the ministry plans to offer special shuttle buses between Jerusalem and Bethlehem on Christmas Eve to help visitors go back and forth.
“God willing, we will go back this year to where things were before the coronavirus, and be even better,” said Bethlehem’s mayor, Hanna Hanania.
He said about 15,000 people attended the recent lighting of Bethlehem’s Christmas tree, and that international delegations, artists and singers are all expected to participate in celebrations this year.
“Recovery has begun significantly,” he said, though he said the recent violence, and Israel’s ongoing occupation of the West Bank, always have some influence on tourism.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the territory, including Bethlehem.
The Christmas season comes at the end of a bloody year in the Holy Land. Some 150 Palestinians and 31 Israelis have been killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, according to official figures, making 2022 the deadliest year since 2006. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but stone-throwing youths and some people not involved in the violence have also been killed.
The fighting, largely concentrated in the northern West Bank, reached the Bethlehem area earlier this month, when the Israeli army killed a teenager in the nearby Deheishe refugee camp. Palestinians held a one-day strike across Bethlehem to protest the killing.
Residents, however, seem determined not to allow the fighting to put a damper on the Christmas cheer.
Bassem Giacaman, the third-generation owner of the Blessing Gift Shop, founded in 1925 by his grandfather, said the pandemic was far more devastating to his business than violence and political tensions.
Covered in sawdust from carving olive-wood figurines, jewelry and religious symbols, he said it will take him years to recover. He once had 10 people working for him. Today, he employs half that number, sometimes less, depending on demand.
“The political (situation) does affect, but nothing major,” Giacaman said. “We’ve had it for 60-70 years, and it goes on for a month, then it stops, and tourists come back again.”
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Bethlehem welcomes Christmas tourists after COVID-19 pandemic lull
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Bethlehem welcomes Christmas tourists after COVID-19 pandemic lull
- Tourists are hungry to visit the Holy Land’s religious sites after suffering through lockdowns and travel restrictions in recent years
Iran launches missiles at Israel as attacks in Middle East commence for a sixth day
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Iran launched missiles at Israel early Thursday as aerial attacks in the Middle East commenced for a sixth day after an American submarine sank an Iranian warship and Iran threatened the destruction of military and economic infrastructure across the region.
Israel announced the incoming attack shortly after its military said it had begun new strikes in Lebanon targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The fighting continued after the US and Israel intensified their bombardment Wednesday of Iran’s security forces and other symbols of power.
The tempo of the strikes on Iran was so intense that state television announced the mourning ceremony for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the conflict, would be postponed. Millions attended the funeral of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989.
The US and Israel launched the war Saturday, targeting Iran’s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear program while suggesting that toppling the government is a goal. But the exact aims and timelines have repeatedly shifted, signaling an open-ended conflict.
President Donald Trump praised the US military Wednesday for “doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly.” Fellow Republicans in the US Senate stood with Trump on Iran as they voted down a resolution seeking to halt the war.
Iran fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel as the conflict spiraled. Turkiye said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkiye’s airspace.
The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, more than 70 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. It has disrupted the supply of the world’s oil and gas, snarled international shipping and stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East.
Buildings of Iranian military and security forces targeted
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a torpedo from an American submarine sank an Iranian warship Tuesday night in the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lankan authorities said 32 people were rescued from the ship, while the country’s navy said it recovered 87 bodies.
Israel said it hit buildings associated with Iran’s Basij, the all-volunteer force of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard whose bloody crackdown on protesters in January left thousands dead.
The Israeli military hit buildings associated with Iran’s internal security command. Israel and the US have said they want to see Iranians overthrow the country’s theocracy, and strikes against Iran’s internal security forces may be aimed at hastening that.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said his country’s forces have decentralized leadership, with units acting largely on their own, which could blunt the effect of attacks on top command and control hubs.
Iranian state television showed the ruins of buildings in Tehran and interviews with people saying the attacks damaged their homes. Strikes were also reported in the city of Qom targeting a building associated with a clerical panel set to pick Iran’s next supreme leader. Iranian media said it was empty at the time.
Shifting timelines for US operations
During his Pentagon briefing, Hegseth did not give a definitive timeline for US operations.
“You can say four weeks, but it could be six. It could be eight. It could be three,” he said. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, said American forces have damaged Iran’s air defenses and taken out ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.
US and Israeli military officials say launches from Iran have declined as the war has progressed. Israel’s Homefront Command announced it was easing restrictions that closed workplaces nationwide. It said workplaces could reopen Thursday if there’s a shelter nearby. Schools would remain closed.
Still, explosions sounded early Thursday in Israel, which said its defensive systems were moving to intercept Iranian missiles.
At least 1,045 people have been killed in Iran, the country’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday. Eleven people have died in Israel. Six US troops have been killed.
The death toll has exceeded 70 in Lebanon, where the health ministry said Wednesday that three people died when drone strikes hit two vehicles on a Beirut highway. The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hezbollah member.
Israel says its offensive had been planned for midyear
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the offensive against Iran was originally planned for mid-2026, but “the need arose to bring everything forward to February.”
He listed events inside Iran, Trump’s positions and the possibility of “creating a combined operation” as reasons.
The protests in Iran put unprecedented pressure on its leadership. Trump threatened military action in response to the crackdown before shifting his attention to Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the US launched its operation partly out of concern Iran might strike American personnel and assets in the region first. A phone call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the airstrikes began was also “important with respect to the timeline,” she said.
Energy supplies in the crosshairs
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued its most-intense threat yet, saying the strikes against it would result in “the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure.”
A Maltese-flagged container ship was attacked Wednesday while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped. The ship was hit by two missiles, sparking a fire, according to Malta’s transport minister, Chris Bonett. Its 24 crew members were rescued.
Tanker traffic through the strait has fallen by around 90 percent compared to prewar levels, shipping tracker MarineTraffic.com said Wednesday.
Oil prices have soared as Iranian attacks have disrupted traffic through the strait, and global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy.
Iran’s clerics are choosing a new supreme leader
Iran’s leaders are scrambling to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years. It’s only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new supreme leader is being chosen.
Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists who seek diplomatic engagement. Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son, has long been considered among them — though he has never been elected or appointed to a government position.
In a sign that Iran’s leadership will only seek to consolidate its power as it faces its biggest crisis in decades, the head of the judiciary warned that “those who cooperate with the enemy in any way will be considered an enemy.”
Israel’s defense minister, Katz, said on X that Iran’s next supreme leader — if he continues to threaten Israel, the US and others — “will be a target for elimination.”
Israel announced the incoming attack shortly after its military said it had begun new strikes in Lebanon targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The fighting continued after the US and Israel intensified their bombardment Wednesday of Iran’s security forces and other symbols of power.
The tempo of the strikes on Iran was so intense that state television announced the mourning ceremony for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the conflict, would be postponed. Millions attended the funeral of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989.
The US and Israel launched the war Saturday, targeting Iran’s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear program while suggesting that toppling the government is a goal. But the exact aims and timelines have repeatedly shifted, signaling an open-ended conflict.
President Donald Trump praised the US military Wednesday for “doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly.” Fellow Republicans in the US Senate stood with Trump on Iran as they voted down a resolution seeking to halt the war.
Iran fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel as the conflict spiraled. Turkiye said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkiye’s airspace.
The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, more than 70 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. It has disrupted the supply of the world’s oil and gas, snarled international shipping and stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East.
Buildings of Iranian military and security forces targeted
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a torpedo from an American submarine sank an Iranian warship Tuesday night in the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lankan authorities said 32 people were rescued from the ship, while the country’s navy said it recovered 87 bodies.
Israel said it hit buildings associated with Iran’s Basij, the all-volunteer force of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard whose bloody crackdown on protesters in January left thousands dead.
The Israeli military hit buildings associated with Iran’s internal security command. Israel and the US have said they want to see Iranians overthrow the country’s theocracy, and strikes against Iran’s internal security forces may be aimed at hastening that.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said his country’s forces have decentralized leadership, with units acting largely on their own, which could blunt the effect of attacks on top command and control hubs.
Iranian state television showed the ruins of buildings in Tehran and interviews with people saying the attacks damaged their homes. Strikes were also reported in the city of Qom targeting a building associated with a clerical panel set to pick Iran’s next supreme leader. Iranian media said it was empty at the time.
Shifting timelines for US operations
During his Pentagon briefing, Hegseth did not give a definitive timeline for US operations.
“You can say four weeks, but it could be six. It could be eight. It could be three,” he said. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, said American forces have damaged Iran’s air defenses and taken out ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.
US and Israeli military officials say launches from Iran have declined as the war has progressed. Israel’s Homefront Command announced it was easing restrictions that closed workplaces nationwide. It said workplaces could reopen Thursday if there’s a shelter nearby. Schools would remain closed.
Still, explosions sounded early Thursday in Israel, which said its defensive systems were moving to intercept Iranian missiles.
At least 1,045 people have been killed in Iran, the country’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday. Eleven people have died in Israel. Six US troops have been killed.
The death toll has exceeded 70 in Lebanon, where the health ministry said Wednesday that three people died when drone strikes hit two vehicles on a Beirut highway. The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hezbollah member.
Israel says its offensive had been planned for midyear
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the offensive against Iran was originally planned for mid-2026, but “the need arose to bring everything forward to February.”
He listed events inside Iran, Trump’s positions and the possibility of “creating a combined operation” as reasons.
The protests in Iran put unprecedented pressure on its leadership. Trump threatened military action in response to the crackdown before shifting his attention to Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the US launched its operation partly out of concern Iran might strike American personnel and assets in the region first. A phone call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the airstrikes began was also “important with respect to the timeline,” she said.
Energy supplies in the crosshairs
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued its most-intense threat yet, saying the strikes against it would result in “the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure.”
A Maltese-flagged container ship was attacked Wednesday while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped. The ship was hit by two missiles, sparking a fire, according to Malta’s transport minister, Chris Bonett. Its 24 crew members were rescued.
Tanker traffic through the strait has fallen by around 90 percent compared to prewar levels, shipping tracker MarineTraffic.com said Wednesday.
Oil prices have soared as Iranian attacks have disrupted traffic through the strait, and global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy.
Iran’s clerics are choosing a new supreme leader
Iran’s leaders are scrambling to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years. It’s only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new supreme leader is being chosen.
Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists who seek diplomatic engagement. Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son, has long been considered among them — though he has never been elected or appointed to a government position.
In a sign that Iran’s leadership will only seek to consolidate its power as it faces its biggest crisis in decades, the head of the judiciary warned that “those who cooperate with the enemy in any way will be considered an enemy.”
Israel’s defense minister, Katz, said on X that Iran’s next supreme leader — if he continues to threaten Israel, the US and others — “will be a target for elimination.”
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