Latin Catholic clergies gather at the Church of the Nativity, the traditional place of Christ's birth, ahead of Christmas in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on December 21, 2021. - After a near-total pandemic lockdown last year, Bethlehem began to hope for a joyous Christmas when Israel, which controls all access points to the city, announced in October that it would reopen to foreign tourists on November 1. But less than a month later, just as hotels were getting a makeover and businesses were replenishing their stocks in anticipation of the holiday season, Israel closed again after a case of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus was discovered. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)