Christmas in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem - A man prays inside the Church of Nativity, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, ahead of the Christmas eve in the West bank city of Bethlehem. - Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Sombre Christmas celebrations were to start in the Biblical birthplace of Jesus on Thursday, with not only inns, but also Manger Square, void of pilgrims due to a coronavirus travel ban on foreign nationals. "There has been no incoming tourism to Israel [and the occupied West Bank] since the decision to close Israel's skies to foreign nationals in March," Tourism Ministry spokeswoman Lydia Weitzman told dpa - a stark contrast to the tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims and tourists who visited during the Christmas period in previous years. Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa was schedul...
