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Christmas joy hard to find in Bethlehem

Christmas decorations and pilgrims have been notably absent for a second wartime festive season in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city with the Church of the Nativity that dominates the main square as empty as the plaza outside.

“Normally on this day you would find 3,000 or 4,000 people inside the church,” Mohammed Sabeh, a security guard for the church, was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

“Christians in Ramallah can’t come because there are checkpoints,” Sabeh said, complaining that Israeli soldiers “treat us badly”, leading to long traffic queues for those trying to visit from the city 22km (14 miles) away.

Anton Salman, Bethlehem’s mayor, told AFP that on top of existing checkpoints, the Israeli army had set up new roadblocks around Bethlehem, creating “an obstacle” for those wanting to visit.

Souad Handal, a 55-year-old tour guide from Bethlehem told the agency: “Bethlehem is special at Christmas. It is so special in the Holy Land. Jesus was born here.”

“It is so bad (now) because the economy of Bethlehem, it depends on tourism,” Handal added.



EgyptAir resumes direct flights to Beirut

After a three-month hiatus, Egypt’s flag carrier said in a statement it had resumed direct flights between Cairo and the Lebanese capital on Thursday “in light of the stability in Lebanon”.

The suspension began on September 24, when EgyptAir joined a slew of airlines in halting flights to Beirut as Israeli attacks on Lebanon escalated.

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into effect on November 27, is generally holding, despite both sides accusing one another of carrying out repeated violations.

Israel has committed about 249 ceasefire violations as of Wednesday, resulting in 30 deaths and 37 injuries, according to a count by the Anadolu news agency.


Lebanon assesses scale of Israel’s destruction

Israel’s recent attacks on Lebanon have left tonnes of rubble in many areas. It’s going to take years of work and significant amounts of foreign aid to rebuild the damage the Israeli army caused in Lebanon.


Three bodies recovered from rubble in Haret Hreik, Lebanon

The Lebanese Civil Defence has recovered three bodies from the rubble of a building targeted by an Israeli air attack on September 27 in Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the National News Agency reports.

The three bodies were transferred to Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut for DNA testing to identify them. The Civil Defence team was at the site to search for the bodies of seven missing people and will continue their search operation.