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Gazan Christians
Christians of the Gaza Strip, Palestine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Gazan Christians are Palestinian Christians from the Gaza Strip, a part of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. They constitute one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.[2][3][4]
The Gazan Christian community is presently concentrated in Gaza City. The majority are autochthonous inhabitants and the rest are descendants of refugees from the 1948 Palestine war.[5] As of 2025, they reportedly number around 1,000 individuals, less than 1% of the total population of the Gaza Strip.[1]
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Denominations
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There are only three churches in the Gaza Strip, all in Gaza City, which minister to each of their respective branches of Christianity: Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant.
The Church of Saint Porphyrius serves the Greek Orthodox Gazans, who make up the majority of Christians in the Gaza Strip.[1][6][7][8] The church is located in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.[6]
Catholics in the Gaza Strip number around 140 people, all Latin Catholics. The Holy Family Church is the only Catholic church in the territory.[9] It is located in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.[10] In 1974, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem founded the Holy Family school, which has over 1,200 students. In 2000, the Rosary Sisters founded another school (kindergarten and elementary) which has around 800 students. The schools provide education to children regardless of religion, and many local Muslims send their children to the schools.[11][12]
Gaza also has a Baptist community, which is centered around the Gaza Baptist Church, founded in 1954.[13] According to its pastor Hanna Massad, prior to the Gaza war (2023–present) the Gazan Baptist population amounted to only "a handful" of adherents living in Gaza City.[14] However, during the war the number of Baptists has been reported as 60.[15] Massad has lived in exile in Jordan since 2008, when the church was damaged by an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas target across the street.[16][17][18] The church opened Gaza's first public Christian library in 2006.[19]
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History
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Classical period
Christianity in Gaza originated during the Roman period, and began to expand in Gaza City and the surrounding areas by the end of the third century.[20] Saint Hilarion, considered the founder of Palestinian monasticism,[20][21][22] was born in Tabatha (now Tell Umm el-'Amr), just south of Gaza City.[20] At the First Council of Nicea in 325, Gaza City was represented by its bishop Asclepas.[20] The inhabitants of Maioumas, the main ancient port of Gaza City, converted to Christianity en masse in 331. In 335, the emperor Constantine the Great rewarded Maioumas for its adoption of Christianity, giving it the name "Constantia" and elevating its status to an independent city with its own bishop.[20]
Surviving 4th century writings from ancient Gazan Christian intellectuals depict biblical accounts of creation in the style of Platonic dialogues, and incorporate neo-Platonic philosophy with Christian interpretations.[23]
In the late 4th century, a conflict began between pagans and Christians in the region, which sparked the occasional intervention of Roman imperial troops. In the early 5th century, Saint Porphyrius, ordained as bishop of Gaza City, obtained the edict of the emperor Arcadius authorizing the destruction of all the pagan temples in the city.[20]
Gazan paganism continued to remain strong, and widespread conversion to Christianity did not occur until the fifth century. When Porphyrius was ordained as bishop, the Christian population stood at less than 300 compared to the total Gazan population of 20,000 to 25,000. Adoption of Christianity during this period was driven through the efforts of Porphyrius and other holy men, and by the incorporation of indigenous ritual into church rites.[7] In 407, Porphyrius consecrated a large central church, the Eudoxiana (named after Arcadius' deceased wife, the empress Eudoxia), in Gaza City.[20]
The most influential of the Gazan Christian intelligentsia was Procopius of Gaza, who invented the catena, a form of biblical commentary. He is also known for his ekphrasis of Gaza City's mechanically complex clock.[23] By the end of the sixth century, Christianity had been widely adopted in the Gaza region.[7][24]
Medieval and early modern periods
The Rashidun Caliphate conquered Gaza City in the summer of 637, during the broader Muslim conquest of the Levant from the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The villages surrounding Gaza City were permanently abandoned, and a "new era of demographic distribution began".[20] Most of the region's population gradually converted from Christianity to Islam over the following centuries, but a Christian minority persisted in Gaza City up to the present day.
Sulayman al-Ghazzi was a famous Gazan Christian poet and bishop during the Fatimid period (909–1171). His work provides insights into the life of Melkite Christians in Palestine during the persecutions of Caliph al-Hakim and his diwan is the earliest known collection of Arabic poetry dealing specifically with Christian religious themes.[25]
Gazan Christians enjoyed a brief flourishing under Crusader rule in the 12th century.[7] Following the conquest of Mamluk Palestine by the Ottoman Empire in 1517, the Christian population of Shoubak (in present-day Jordan) migrated to Gaza, making it the largest Christian center in the region.[26]
Modern period
At the time of the 1948 Palestine war, during which both the State of Israel and the Gaza Strip (as the All-Palestine Protectorate) were established, Gazan Christians numbered 35,000 people. The expulsion and flight of Palestinians during the war resulted in the arrival of Palestinian Christian refugees in Gaza, mostly from Ramleh.[8] Soon afterwards, large numbers of Christians emigrated from Gaza.[27] By the 1960s, the number of Christians in Gaza had dropped to 6,000.[7]
Because of its height, the Gaza Baptist Church was repeatedly commandeered by Fatah and Hamas troops as an observation post during the early years of the Fatah–Hamas conflict that began in 2006. This resulted in several of the church staff being caught in the crossfire. In one instance, a church librarian was hit by gunfire during a firefights. On a similar occasion, the church bus driver, a 22-year-old newlywed, was killed.[28] The church was raided and temporarily seized by Fatah police in February 2007.[29]
In 2007, the year Hamas took over Gaza, the Gazan Christian population was at 3,000.[5][30] Israel's subsequent blockade of the territory accelerated the emigration of Christians, with many going to the West Bank, the United States, Canada, or elsewhere in the Arab world.[5]
The Gaza Baptist Church was damaged by an Israeli airstrike during the 2008 Gaza War.[16][17][18] During the 2014 Gaza War, the Holy Family Church's parish school and pastor's office were partially destroyed by an Israeli airstrike aimed at a nearby house.[31] Around 2,000 Palestinians took refuge in the Church of Saint Porphyrius during Israeli bombings.[32][33] The Rosary Sisters' school was damaged by an Israeli airstrike during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.[34]
All three churches in Gaza have been subjected to attacks by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 2023–present Gaza war, and around 3% of Gazan Christians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes or shootings.[35][36] The Gaza Baptist Church was heavily damaged sometime in 2023.[15] In December 2023, two Gazan Christians, Naheda Anton and her daughter Samar Anton were shot and killed at the Holy Family Church by an Israeli sniper,[37] and the church itself was targeted by tank fire in July 2025.[38] The Rosary Sisters' school was bombed in November 2023,[39][40] and the Holy Family Catholic school was bombed in July 2024.[41] The Church of Saint Porphyrius was bombed in October 2023[42] and again in July 2024.[43]
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Relations with Gazan Muslims
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Militant groups
The relationship between Hamas and Gazan Christians has been subject to considerable scrutiny and debate. Some sources have described Christians in the Gaza Strip as effectively second-class citizens who face discrimination and harassment from Hamas.[27][44] Other sources have described Hamas–Christian relations as usually positive, cordial, or even uneventful, probably due to the influence of Palestinian nationalism and the existence of Israel as a common enemy.[24][30][45][46]
In the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, the Gazan Christian independent candidate Hosam al-Taweel, endorsed by Hamas, competed for a seat in the section of the Palestinian Legislative Council reserved for Christians,[47][48] and won.[49]
In 2009, Gazan Christians supported the Hamas crackdown on Jund Ansar Allah during the Battle of Rafah.[50]
In 2011, some Gazan Christians interviewed by The Guardian reported an anti-Christian atmosphere in Gaza. Reportedly, people were not celebrating Christmas out of fear; young Christian men were emigrating en masse; a Hamas official had detained and threatened a Christian wearing a cross necklace; and many Christians wanted the Palestinian Authority to retake Gaza.[51]
In 2012, tensions arose between Gazan Christians and Hamas after it was alleged that five Christians had been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam. The Muslim Scholars’ Association in Palestine, Hamas, and the converts themselves stated they had not been kidnapped or forcibly converted to Islam, but Gazan Christians remained skeptical, and began organizing near-daily protest rallies in Gaza City. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights met with and interviewed the converts, and concluded that they had converted out of their own free will.[45]
Reportedly, the Gazan Christian community refused to participate in the 2025 Gaza protests against Hamas, instead prioritizing sheltering from Israeli bombings.[52]
Gazan Salafi jihadist militant groups are opposed to Christianity and have attacked Christian targets.[53][54] In 2007, Jaish al Mu'minun[55][56] carried out the murder of Rami Ayyad, an affiliate of the Gaza Baptist Church who managed the only Christian bookstore in the Gaza Strip.[30] Other Salafi jihadist groups that have attacked Gazan Christians include Jaysh al-Islam[53] and Tawhid al-Jihad.[57]
Gazan Muslim civilians
Relations between Christian and Muslim civilians in Gaza have been largely peaceful.[24][27][30] Christians have been described as enjoying a "high level of integration" with the Sunni Muslim majority of Gaza.[24] On the other hand, warm Christian–Muslim relations have also been characterized as the result of "strategies of association" on the Christians' behalf to ensure their survival.[27]
Many Muslims in Gaza reportedly often celebrate Christmas alongside Christians,[24][27][58][59] despite a 2020 Hamas directive that attempted to forbid this.[27] In December 2018, a young Gazan Christian woman said that most of the attendees at her upcoming secret Santa party would be Muslim friends.[24] In December 2022, a Christian shop owner reported that most of his customers buying Christmas decorations were Muslim.[59]
Christian schools in Gaza play a central role in youth education, with most pupils being Muslim.[24][27][60] Also important is the role of the Christian-run YMCA in Gaza City, which is open to both Christians and Muslims.[5][24]
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Relations with Israel
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The Gaza Strip's relative isolation, due to the Israeli blockade, results in Gazan Christians facing difficulty accessing family and holy sites in Israel and the West Bank. They need travel permits for visits during Christmas. In 2021, Israel issued permits to only about half of Gaza’s Christians, preventing many families from celebrating Christmas together.[27]
The Gazan Christian community has been described as being under threat of extinction due to Israeli bombardments during the Gaza war.[3][35][61] Mitri Raheb, an Evangelical Lutheran pastor who founded Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, has said there is a very real prospect that "Christianity will cease to exist in Gaza" within a generation.[3]
Rifat Kassis, general coordinator of Kairos Palestine and Global Kairos for Justice, has said that the Gazan Christian community poses a problem for Israel as their plight is able to attract attention from the West and the wider global Christian community:
Israel sees our potential to convey abroad the right picture of the situation here, which is about occupation and apartheid, not a religious conflict... We side with our Muslim brothers and sisters as Palestinians at large.[35]
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See also
References
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