PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-TOURISM-CHRISTMAS-HEALTH-VIRUS

An employee of Bethlehem Hotel takes a call as tourist agencies cancel reservations for Christmas after Israel closed its borders to foreign tourists in a bid to stem the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, in the occupied Biblical Palestinian West Bank town of Bethlehem on November 29, 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 HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)