(5 Aug 2014) LEADIN:
The Gaza war is taking its toll on tourism in the visitor hot spots of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Streets - normally packed at this time of year - are quiet and shopkeepers are reporting a slump in takings.
STORYLINE:
Sitting idle.
With fewer tourists around, the shops are empty - and the staff have nothing to do.
Although not directly caught up in the Gaza war, Jerusalem is not immune to the wider impact of the conflict.
August is normally peak season here - but not this year.
There are a few visitors around - including here at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Businesses say they are struggling.
"Tourism, particularly in the Middle East and in Palestine, is sensitive. I mean it is one of the most sensitive things in this country, so of course it has been damaged," says Zak Mashraqi, a Palestinian shop owner.
"I am not exaggerating if I say tourism is down by 95 percent. If you go to the airport you will find zero people. I personally have many friends who have cancelled for August, September and October."
Keren Veraheyden, from Belgium, is among the tourists who decided to come - despite the regional tensions.
"We booked the trip before the situation begun, before the Israeli children were kidnapped. I had doubts of coming here afterwards, I followed the news all the time. But then I really wanted to visit Jerusalem so we decided to come," she says.
In the West Bank, where the economy is already weakened by decades of conflict, similar tourism problems are being reported.
Bethlehem, home to the Nativity Church, is seeing less visitors.
But for some tourists, it's a city they couldn't drop off their itinerary.
"I had some doubts in coming here because of the war in Gaza and we asked some people here in Israel, we are travelling around Israel, if we can come to Bethlehem and Hebron. And probably everyone said do not go there, but we definitely wanted to see Bethlehem so we went anyway. But we are staying out of Hebron because of the situation now," says Bert Burman, a tourist from Holland.
Souvenir shops - normally bustling with visitors - are quiet.
And so are cafes and restaurants.
Mustafa Al-Araj works as a waiter in Manger Square.
He's longing for some customers to fill up the empty chairs and tables around him.
"Our experience in tourism tells that us that in the months of July and August we have as a minimum of between 100 and 150 buses per day coming to Bethlehem. But these days, following the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the war, the majority of groups have cancelled bookings in Bethlehem," he says.
Businesses are hoping that tensions will calm - and the tourists will return.
Here in the West Bank, what they lose now in takings, they'll need to make up during the Christmas season - but that's months away yet.
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