As a result of the war that has been going on for about eight months, Christians in Gaza are going through their worst historical stages and the most difficult living conditions, as they take shelter in the Church of St. Porphyrius (which is the oldest church in the Gaza Strip and dates back to the fifth century AD), and the Church of the Holy Family, which is part of the last remaining Catholic diocese. In the Old City of Gaza City, as the last “safe haven” for them and their children, after they sacrificed 31 martyrs.

With the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on October 7, the total number of Christians in Gaza reached approximately 1,000 people, of whom now approximately 800 individuals remain, after 236 days of brutal war and aggression.

Number of Christians 
Saad Hakura, a businessman and one of the pillars of the national sports system and the General Federation of Palestinian Industries, and head of the executive office of the Precious Metals Federation in Gaza, said in an exclusive interview with “ے”: “The number of members of the Christian community in the Gaza governorates exceeded 3,000 before the Israeli siege, and before the outbreak of the war.” The latter numbered a thousand people, and now approximately 800 individuals remain, especially after the martyrdom of many of them as a result of the collapse and bombing of medical institutions and hospitals, as happened to the National Baptist Hospital, where 31 of them were martyred as a result of the bombing that targeted the church at the beginning of the war, in which a number of people had taken refuge. A large member of the families of the Christian community, a number of whom are still living among its ruins and the corners of the destroyed building belonging to the Council of Church Stewards, and the headquarters of the Arab Orthodox Scouts, which is considered the first in Palestine.

Churches are a last resort 
Theodore Bishara Shehadeh, a member of the Council of Churches, told “ے”: These two churches host 340 families, that is, the total of almost all Christians in Gaza. These families sleep on mattresses placed on the floors of the buildings, which served as offices for employees and housing for priests, while solar panels provide a large amount of energy. There is little energy, just enough to charge phones, while bored children play inside the complex’s open courtyards.

Shehadeh explained that churches are the "last resort" for Christians, but these churches now face a great challenge to accommodate all the refugees arriving there and provide them with reasonable conditions.

He said: “What made the matter more complicated was the displacement of dozens of people from the Greek Orthodox Church after it was subjected to continuous Israeli bombing, and about a hundred people lost their shelter, according to a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. While the bombing continues on different areas of the Gaza Strip, we feel oppression and injustice and there is no protection, as if we are in forest".

Displaced women, the elderly, and the disabled 
Father Youssef Asaad, deputy head pastor of the Holy Family Church of the Catholic community in Gaza, says that there are approximately 535 displaced people from different areas in Gaza in the Latin Church, including sixty people with special needs and children between the ages of five and ten years.
Father Youssef explained that the accommodation conditions are difficult, because the place is not equipped for housing. They are staying in the building of the Latin Patriarchate School, and there are no bedrooms, bathrooms, blankets, or anything.

Killing, harassing and demolishing churches 
The Palestinian Minister of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Farsin Aghabekian Shaheen, announced that Israel killed 3 percent of the Christians in the Gaza Strip, demolished churches, and continued to restrict them since the start of the war on October 7 last year.
According to the government media office in Gaza, the Israeli occupation army destroyed 3 churches during its ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip, which left more than 115,000 dead, wounded and missing, most of them children and women, amid famine and massive destruction.

Shaheen expressed her concern about “the threat to the Palestinian Christian presence,” and called for more global action and pressure “to stop the occupation’s aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.”

The secret of Christians' adherence to Gaza 
Regarding the secret of the remaining majority of Christians in Gaza, Hakura said: This secret is the existence of an absolute and profound faith, stemming from the depth of belonging to the Holy Land that God has blessed, and to the homeland and the Palestinian cause, which is considered the first, central, and most important issue in the world. Christians in Gaza have been the salt of the historical equation since 2024. They are an essential and authentic part of the Palestinian mosaic, and the presence of Christ in Gaza is an extension of the presence of the Church of the Nativity, the Church of the Resurrection, and all the churches and monasteries in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and all parts of Palestine.

Hakura added: The loud and loud voice of the people of the Christian national community in Gaza and the entire nation and Jerusalem, the eternal capital, says: “We are the owners of the land, and the bearers of a message stemming from the depth of national and religious affiliation, stemming from the depth of the message of glory and the message of love and peace for all humanity from the land of religions and messages that He blessed.” God".

Christians are motivated to return 
He explained that the most important aspect is that all the members of this national Christian community, who immigrated for many reasons, to work, study, and worship, and those who were temporarily displaced, are motivated to return to the homeland and settle there again because the homeland’s soil is precious and dear and the love of the homeland is eternal, and the great desire to return to it is growing stronger despite this. Unjust war.
A message to the world

Hakura said that the message of the members of the Christian national community in Gaza to the world is: “After this unjust war, the global conscience and the consciences of the peoples must awaken from their deep sleep and slumber, and our message to the believers, the free and the good in all parts of the world is to issue a big ‘no’ against the continuation of war and aggression.”

He added: "The world must be aware of the secret of Gaza for 4,000 years, as it has taken the symbol of the phoenix or the eternal historical phoenix as its emblem, the phoenix capable of rising again from among the ashes and rubble filled with the blood of innocent women, children and the elderly, to prove to the whole world that it is capable of To love everyone and live and survive like the rest of the people of the world, and that it is the key to security and stability in the world.”

A message to the occupation 
Hakura says: As for our message to the leaders of Israel, it is the necessity of realizing the historical truth, that every occupation in the world has an end and that it will disappear, and the political, military and security leaders must realize this established fact, and they must begin immediately to put an end to the war and establish a new trend that enables the Palestinians to obtain their legitimate right to freedom and independence. With the help of major powers for the sake of world peace and real stability in the region, they must side with justice, logic and peace and not side with the closed and extremist right-wing, and adhere to the resolutions of international legitimacy and recognize the rights guaranteed to humans to live freely and with dignity, in the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.