Traditional Christmas celebrations have been canceled this year in the city where Jesus Christ was born. Residents of Bethlehem are mourning the thousands of people killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip. Christmas Eve looks gloomy in the city known as the birthplace of Jesus. Bethlehem canceled traditional holiday events due to the war in Gaza. 

BRIT CLENNET, ABC News Correspondent: Good morning, Stephanie. I’m at a Lutheran church in Bethlehem where instead of traditional holiday decorations you see this. Symbolic of what is happening in Gaza: Jesus comes into the world in a heap of rubble. A powerful statement.

Usually, at this time of year, thousands of tourists and pilgrims come here from all over the world to visit the place where Jesus was born. But this year, as the death toll soars in Gaza, the mood in Bethlehem is grim: the streets are empty and many Christmas events have been cancelled. It’s as if Christmas itself has been cancelled. The city is actually in mourning.

I spoke to the priest of this church, and he said that if Jesus were born today, he would be born under the rubble. People here say that it is impossible to rejoice and feel the Christmas spirit when there is so much death and destruction.

More than 20,000 people have died in Gaza so far, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. This weekend, an air strike on two houses killed more than 90 people, including dozens from the same family. 

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported this morning that an Israeli drone shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who was hospitalized in the town of Khan Yunis. These stories, these sacrifices, are what the people of Bethlehem think about most on Christmas Eve. Gio? So much sorrow everywhere. Britt, thank you.

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