IMTIAZ TYAB:
00:00:21
A moment of joy and wonder-- [CHEERING] --right where the Christmas story began. Thousands traveled from nearby towns and villages to attend Bethlehem's annual tree lighting ceremony in Manger Square, the first such celebration since 2023, but hardly any foreign visitors. For more than two years, international tourists and Christian pilgrims have largely stayed away from the Holy Land following Hamas's October 7 attacks. As war in Gaza raged on, church leaders canceled Christmas celebrations. But for Bethlehem's mayor, Maher Kanawati, a fragile Trump administration-brokered ceasefire was reason enough to bring the faithful back and face to face once more with the Nativity. We're here in Manger Square. Describe the scene to us. Yes. Well, this is the scene that should have never left.
IMTIAZ TYAB:
00:01:24
Inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity, one of the world's oldest and most sacred Christian sites, where, in peacetime, around 15,000 visitors would arrive every single day. It's here at this very spot where Christians believe Jesus was born. Normally, this would be packed full of tourists. And now there's next to no one. The absence of tourists has devastated Bethlehem's tourism industry, crippling the city's entire economy, pushing hotel vacancies to record highs and driving unemployment to 80%. The line [? or ?] the visitors who are coming to visit this church--
IMTIAZ TYAB:
00:02:02
In Manger Square, we met Matthew [? Kassis, ?] who's been a tour guide his entire adult life and says he's never seen it this quiet. What is your message to Christians around the world? Come back. Because Bethlehem, it's belong for each one. And Bethlehem, it is the message of the love and the peace.
IMTIAZ TYAB:
00:02:23
A message needed now more than ever. Imtiaz Tyab, CBS News,Bethlehem.
