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Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – A pall of gloom descended over Bethlehem on Christmas Eve as the Gaza war weighed heavily on the biblical city in the occupied West Bank and the usual crowds of pilgrims stayed away. 'We cry'Church leaders in Jerusalem and the Bethlehem city council took the decision last month to forego "any unnecessarily festive" Christmas celebrations, in solidarity with Gazans. He added that in the West Bank, too, every day "we cry for young people killed by the Israelis". The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. "Bethlehem gave Jesus to the world and it's high time for the world to give Bethlehem and Gaza peace."