Ramez Souri, a Christian in Gaza, says he has little to celebrate this Christmas. Fourteen months into the war, he still sleeps on the grounds of St. Porphyrius, the ancient Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City where an Israeli airstrike last year killed his three children.
“This year, we will conduct our religious rites and that’s it,” Mr. Souri, 47, said. “We’re still in mourning and far too sad to celebrate, or do anything except to pray for peace.”
Since the beginning of the war, hundreds of Palestinian Christians have huddled in two churches in Gaza City: St. Porphyrius and the Holy Family Church, a Catholic parish. They have remained in the sanctuaries despite an Israeli military campaign that has laid waste to much of the city.
But some now say the community may be in danger of losing its 1,600-year foothold in the territory. Like many Gazans, some Christians simply hope to escape the enclave after witnessing months of deprivation, loss and bombardment. For those who have already left, whether they will ever feel safe enough to return home, even after the war is over, is far from clear.
“The future of the Christian presence in Gaza is being tested,” said Kamel Ayyad, a St. Porphyrius church official who fled to Egypt in November 2023, after Hamas led its brutal attack on Israel that ignited the war. “I love my homeland — we all do — but I won’t return immediately before assessing the political and economic situation.”
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