Most traditional services to mark Palm Sunday and Holy Week won't be taking place in Jerusalem because of safety fears due to the Iran war.

The traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives to the Old City has been being replaced by a moment of prayer, and services at the Garden Tomb just outside the walls of the city remain closed to the public.

Gatherings of more than 50 people are restricted in places where there is no regulated shelter and Garden Tomb director Rev Simon Holland told Paul Calvert a Christian journalist in the Holy Land:

“When the sirens go off, we have one and a half minutes to get to that place, and then we wait, usually around 10 minutes, or until we get this great message, ‘the event has ended’, which I always link into the event at the Cross, where Jesus says ‘It's finished’, and we can begin again in the resurrected life of Christ. So it’s important that we keep safe, but our ultimate shelter is in God”.

The Garden Tomb is located close to the Damascus Gate and is a possible location for the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is owned and run by a British Christian charity and funded by public donations. Around half a million people visit each year, but because of the current restrictions Rev Holland said: “We've had to sadly say goodbye to a large number of the team. Most of the guides who come from overseas have all gone home via Jordan, but we will do what we can. We want this to be a place where there's peace, worship, welcome and hope.”

Despite the challenges, Rev Holland said the pain of Holy Week and the hope of the Easter message shows that “death is defeated, that conflict doesn't win, and that life does conquer and love conquers all. It's such a great message to share during this time when it becomes very real that we're in touch with our mortality. Sadly people have died in this land and in others due to the conflict. But we have this message that death doesn't have the final word.”