(12 Apr 2020) Like millions of Christian families across the world, the Butto family in the West Bank city of Bethlehem were marking an extraordinary Easter in a world locked down by the coronavirus pandemic.
This Sunday Catholics and Protestants celebrate Easter, the day they believe Jesus was resurrected.
As they prepared for Easter Sunday, the Buttos described their sadness over letting go of their beloved traditions.
The Buttos live next to the Church of Nativity, the place where Christian tradition says Jesus was born.
"We feel sad, the bells of our church are ringing and we are unable to reach," said Maureen Butto. "It's a weird atmosphere that we are not accustomed to."
The outbreak of the coronavirus has forced church officials to close churches to the public and scale back religious observances throughout the week.
The family is trying to cope with its new circumstances as best as they can at their home in Bethlehem. The city was sealed off in March after several residents and tourists tested positive for the coronavirus.
Palestinians are no strangers to hardship with the territory bearing the scars of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In 2002, Israel imposed an around-the-clock curfew in Bethlehem for weeks as troops battled Palestinian militants holed up in the Church of the Nativity, built on the site revered by Christians as Jesus' birthplace.
But this enemy is different says Maureen Butto.
"This time we have another kind of invasion: an invisible enemy. We are unable to know or identify it, so the atmosphere is different, everyone is separated," she said.
The Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank and imposed a widespread lockdown early on, reported its second virus death, out of 253 confirmed cases. It says 45 people have recovered.
The coronavirus causes mild to moderate symptoms in most patients, who recover within a few weeks.
But it is highly contagious and can be spread by people showing no symptoms.
It can cause serious illness and death in some patients, particularly the elderly and those with underlying health issues.
Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority imposed sweeping lockdowns in mid-March, largely sealing off the occupied West Bank and heavily restricting travel within the territory.
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