JERUSALEM — The 163-year-old Austrian Pilgrim Hospice in Jerusalem’s Old City urges prospective guests to “please plan well in advance” — 16 months’ notice for groups. “But just so you know, you’d be the only guest.”Large groups of pilgrims should have packed the hospice for Holy Week. This year, in wartime, the Old City is eerily empty, which is how I found myself as one of the handful of guests at the Austrian hospice, staying in a humble checkered-floor pilgrim room, during Holy Week. Police have also forced all Old City stores to close, except essential food and grocery shops. “The situation is very bad.”Terry Nguyen, 23, had bought tickets to Israel from the United States for Holy Week.

Source: Washington Post April 05, 2026 18:48 UTC