Faith leaders and residents in Bethlehem are grappling with how to mark the festive holiday while fellow Palestinians continue to be killed.

Some say that the community is in danger of losing its 1,600-year foothold in the enclave and that it is far from certain those who have fled will ever feel safe enough to return home.

The city of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, will not have the usual trappings of the city's favorite holiday: no public Christmas tree, no raucous scouts march,

It is already the second Christmas in Bethlehem to be marked by Israel's war in Gaza. Tourists and pilgrims have stopped coming to the city almost altogether, and the economic situation seems even bleaker than last year.

In most years, by this time, the celebrations of the glorious holidays have long been underway in Gaza. The Gaza Strip is a small area inhabited by 2,300,000 citizens, between 1,000 and 1,300 of them Christians who live in safety and peace among the Muslim majority.