In support and solidarity of Palestininians in Gaza, Christians in the occupied West Bank will be observing a sombre Christmas this year.

The Christmas season will be muted among the occupied West Bank’s Christian community amid Israel’s relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

Replacing the accustomed festive celebrations and the Biblical quarter being bedecked with Christmas lights, instead, Palestinian Christians held a vigil on Saturday to pray for peace in Gaza.

Commenting on the saddened nature of this year’s holiday, Bethlehem’s Deputy Mayor, Hanna Hanania, said during the vigil that “this Christmas comes to Bethlehem in a different shape. Nowadays Bethlehem, as any other Palestinian city, is in mourning,” according to a New Arab report.

Palestinians in the West Bank are mourning the deaths of their brethren in Gaza. According to Gaza Health Ministry figures, the death toll now stands at over 20,258 people, Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday.

Among the casualties, at least 62  of those people were Palestinian journalists and media personnel. In a news release published on Saturday by the Committee to Protect Journalists, ruthless Israeli shelling, communications disruptions and power cuts mean that “journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict”.

Also Notably absent this year is the large Christmas centrepiece tree in Bethlehem. Speaking on the solidarity in sorrow among Christian Palestinians during this time, Ibrahim Faltas, a senior Franciscan friar, told Reuters on December 2 that this year’s holiday will omit “the fanfare and [be] without too many lights”.

Israel’s collective punishment

Aside from an emotional toll of the devastation unfolding just 50km away, Bethlehem’s tourism sector has also suffered financially.

Usually abuzz with tourists and pilgrims to the biblical birthplace of Jesus, Bethlehem’s streets are a shell of its customary hustle and bustle glory. The muted nature of this year’s Christmas observance has seen a sharp fall in tourists flocking to the historic town.

Local businesses, that were just beginning to see recovery in the post Covid-19 era, have been hit hard.

“We had to let nine employees go,” said Jack Issa Juqman, the owner of a 200-year-old antique workshop in Bethlehem.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Juqman added that the financial toll taken on the occupied West Bank’s tourist sector is another form of collective punishment by the Israeli forces against the Palestinians.

For Reverend Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Pastor, the story of Christmas draws a harrowing parallel to the current plight of Palestinians. Christmas’ story “talks about Mary, the pregnant woman, on the run. Exactly like 50,000 women in Gaza who are actually displaced” he said to Middle East Monitor.

Highlighting the dire needs of mothers amid war, the United Nations Population Fund stressed in a post via X on Friday that pregnant women require greater daily water and food intake to prevent malnourishment and dehydration.

“We must have an immediate humanitarian ceasefire!” their x post concluded.

Underscoring the poignant message behind the West Bank’s sombre Christmas observance amid Israel’s renewed aggression on the Gaza Strip, Reverend Munther Isaac said that “if Christ were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble and Israeli shelling”.

Of the over 20,000 Palestinian casualties since October 7, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated on December 22 that 70% of the victims were women and children.