Unlike other Christmas, the family of 87-year-old Noha Helmi Tarazi does not come to visit her. Israeli bombs killed her sister and brother in Gaza and maimed another.
Bethlehem, occupied West Bank-At Christmas, Noha Helmi Tarazi usually decorates her home with a large tree, which she describes as a symbol of light and joy.
The 87-year-old prepares the house for the family who gathers here every year and makes Christmas sweets and a sumptuous festive meal. She usually places gifts for her grandchildren under the Christmas tree and carefully wraps them and labels them with their names.
This year, there will be no more gatherings in her house. Even the children don't want to celebrate, she said.
We don't have any joy in our hearts," she said.
In the birthplace of Jesus**, the celebration of Christmas was put on hold. The decision to cancel Christmas was not made lightly, but it was a decision by the church and community here to unite to show their solidarity with the Palestinians facing Israeli bombardment and a total siege of the Gaza Strip.
Since the outbreak of the war on 7 October, Israeli bombardment and artillery fire have killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza, including at least 8,000 children. In the occupied West Bank, more than 300 people were also killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers who often carried out attacks under the cover of Israeli forces.
The war brought Bethlehem's tourism – the cornerstone of its economy – to a halt at its usual peak of the year. Around Christmas, tourists from all over the world usually flock to Bethlehem's markets, but this year the streets are empty.
But even with tourists around, there is no celebration among the residents of Bethlehem, many of whom have close families in Gaza.
How do we celebrate Christmas in this genocidal war?Tarazi asked, and everyone around her called her um shadi. "How can we celebrate when the people of Gaza struggle to eat even one meal a day?”
The images and news of the Gaza Strip's suffering under the relentless Israeli bombardment and ground incursions were overwhelming for her. um Shadi, whose family lives in Gaza City, said she was particularly disturbed by the fact that people fled to the sea and were forced to boil the sea for drinking.
She grew up in the Remar neighborhood of Gaza City and lived there for more than 20 years in the 60s of the 20th century. She has "fond memories" of the sea, where she used to swim at night. People live in peace, she said.
Life became even more difficult in 1967 when she received a degree in English literature from Cairo University. She was unable to return to Gaza due to the Israeli occupation of Gaza that year, but spent the next 10 years in Libya, where her brothers also spent 10 years. Where she lives and where she meets her husband.
She eventually returned to the occupied West Bank, where she made her home and held Christmas ceremonies with her family, traditions she will skip this year.
All signs of Christmas in the streets and homes of Bethlehem are gone. Usually, people flock to the beautifully decorated Manger Square** fireworks. None of this will happen this year.
Many people in Bethlehem and the surrounding area have relatives in Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, um Shadi himself has lost a brother and a sister.
Her brother died on 17 October after being unable to undergo life-saving gallbladder surgery due to airstrikes on hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
A few days later, one of her sisters was killed in an airstrike at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphylius, where her family had taken refuge. Another sister lost a leg in the same bombing.
Even before the war, it had been difficult to see her family, but now she can barely talk to them due to telecommunications outages in Gaza.
Before the war, um Shadi could not attend the funeral of another sister in the enclave because she did not have a permit to go there. Instead, her niece had to film the ritual's ** for her.
She said that during the happy years, some ** from Gaza were able to obtain permission from the Israeli authorities to travel from Gaza to Bethlehem during the Christmas season, as her sister and friend Ross often did.
My sisters used to come to see me, and this Christmas I will say, may God have mercy on them. ”
She added that the pain of not being able to communicate with her family in Gaza was unbearable. This put her on the "brink of despair".
Um Shadi said that Christmas used to be a joyful thing that everyone could look forward to every year. Now, that's gone too.