Karam Tarazi, a 37-year-old citizen from Gaza City, won’t be celebrating the Christmas festivities held in the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the West Bank this holiday season, after Israeli authorities refused to grant him an entry permit, and only allowed his wife and family members to leave through the Erez border crossing from the Gaza Strip to the Israeli side.

Ahead of the holiday season, the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza had sent a list of 800 names to the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee in Gaza — the body responsible for communicating with Israeli authorities regarding permit applications submitted by Gaza residents — requesting to go to the West Bank to celebrate Christmas. However, Israel refused to grant entry permits to 200 of them, citing security pretexts.

The Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, condemned in a Dec. 8 statement the Israeli decision to prevent Gaza’s Christians from going to the holy places in the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem to participate in Christmas celebrations.

Roman Catholic Christians celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, while Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate it on Jan. 7. Tens of thousands of Christians from all over the world flock to east Jerusalem and other areas within the Palestinian territories to participate in the celebrations at the most sacred religious sites for Christians, namely the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ.