"Everyone is afraid of everyone else. The pain is everywhere, everyone is suffering. The Israelis and the Palestinians are suffering. The Jews, the Muslims and the Christians are suffering," said Faltas in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper "Corriere della Sera" (weekend).
Jesus' birthplace Bethlehem in the West Bank is now deserted - "the city is dead", said Faltas.
Due to a lack of pilgrims, people have not been working for 22 months and 175 Christian families have moved away.
"Do you want to see Bethlehem without Christians?" asked the most prominent Arab Catholic voice in the Holy Land. The situation in Jerusalem is no better because 90 per cent of Christians work in tourism, but shops and hotels are closed.
"There will be more deaths"
Thousands of Palestinians who previously worked in Israel but have not been allowed to leave the country since 7 October 2023 are affected by unemployment.
"If Gaza has become an open-air cemetery, then Bethlehem and the West Bank are open-air prisons," said Faltas.
The Franciscan warned of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to seize Gaza: "There will be more deaths among the population of Gaza and also among the Israeli soldiers. The hostages will also die. And we will see even greater destruction, even if that is difficult to imagine."