For the second straight year, Bethlehem’s Christmas celebrations will be somber and muted, in deference to ongoing war in Gaza.

The Nativity Store in Manger Square has sold handmade olive wood carvings and religious items to people visiting the traditional birthplace of Jesus since 1927. But as Bethlehem prepares to mark its second Christmas under the shadow of the war in Gaza,

Bethlehem prepared Tuesday to mark another somber Christmas in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza . The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank on Christmas were nowhere to be found: The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing.