As Israel’s genocide in Gaza rolls on, the territory’s tiny Christian community is threatened as never before.
Before 7 October, the community numbered some 1,000 people, mostly of the Greek Orthodox faith, who mark Christmas on 7 January.
Since then the numbers have dwindled further and members of the community estimate that only some 680 Christians remain in Gaza.
Though small, they have become symbols of resilience because most have chosen to stay in their historic churches – the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church and the Latin Catholic Holy Family Church – in the north, despite Israel’s campaign of extermination there.
“Twenty-three have been killed directly in bombings. Seven succumbed to hunger, disease and the unbearable conditions,” Elias Jalda told The Electronic Intifada over the phone.
Jalda, a member of the Orthodox Arab Church Council in Gaza, was struggling to verbalize his grief over how Gaza’s storied churches have become makeshift and barely adequate shelters for his dwindling community.
Israel’s genocidal violence has not spared other Christian institutions. Schools, cultural centers and health facilities – including al-Ahli (Orthodox) hospital, the YMCA, the Orthodox Cultural Center and the Rosary Sisters School – have all been reduced to rubble. (more...)
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