logo
Why Christians in occupied Palestine may be at risk of disappearing

Why Christians in occupied Palestine may be at risk of disappearing

The National25-04-2025

In his last public address on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis called for an end to the violence in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation there "dramatic and deplorable'.
His message came only a day before his death. People all over the world mourned the death of the beloved Pontiff, but perhaps no place more than in Gaza, where Palestinian Christians fear they have lost a protector of their community.
Already a dwindling minority, Christians in the strip have also been killed, injured and displaced in the war. Only about half of the 1000 or so Christians remain, with many forced to flee.
Members of the community say they are now concerned that Gaza's Christians are at risk of disappearing.
The same fear is echoed in the West Bank and Jerusalem where followers of the faith have faced increasingly aggressive attacks and restrictions, including this past Easter. Members of the community have reported a rise in settler attacks against clergy and say Israeli policies are taking a toll on the rapidly shrinking Christian minority of Palestinians.
Host Nada AlTaher speaks to Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian pastor and founder of Dar Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, and to Palestinian political analyst, Khalil Sayegh, himself a Christian from Gaza.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Israel launches large-scale Nablus raid with fears of prolonged assault
Israel launches large-scale Nablus raid with fears of prolonged assault

Middle East Eye

timean hour ago

  • Middle East Eye

Israel launches large-scale Nablus raid with fears of prolonged assault

Israeli forces launched a wide-scale military raid in the heart of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, in what local sources describe as the largest such incursion in more than two years. Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinians, including a paramedic, deployed tear gas, arrested several individuals, and violently raided homes during the ongoing incursion. Footage shared by local media showed a Palestinian man with his hands raised approaching Israeli soldiers before a scuffle ensued and gunshots were heard in the background. Israeli media reported that two Palestinians were killed after allegedly attempting to seize a soldier's weapon. Palestinian authorities have yet to confirm the deaths. Mujahed Tabanja, a journalist at the scene, told Middle East Eye the two men were shot while trying to return to their homes in the Old City. Ambulances were blocked from reaching them. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Nablus reported at least 65 Palestinians were wounded. Fawaz al-Bitar, a PRCS operations officer, told MEE some of the injured suffered gunshot wounds to the thigh and some were the result of physical assault by soldiers. 'An ambulance was also fired upon while in the city centre, and one paramedic was shot' - Fawaz al-Bitar, PRCS operations officer There were also cases of tear gas inhalation as Israeli forces fired tear gas bombs at homes in the alleys of the Old City, a densely populated area. "Our work was obstructed several times, and we were prevented from reaching the two injured young men,' Bitar told MEE. 'An ambulance was also fired upon while in the city centre, and one paramedic was shot,' he added. The raid began shortly after midnight local time when a large number of military vehicles entered the city from multiple directions. According to the Israeli army, the military operation will last 24 hours and will be concentrated in the Old City. Meanwhile, Israeli officers announced a curfew via loudspeakers, ordering residents to remain indoors until Wednesday morning - the first such measure imposed in Nablus since the Second Intifada in 2000. Contact with several families has been cut off since the Israeli army stormed their homes. "The soldiers raised their weapons at us and shouted at us when we tried to enter the Old City,' Tabanja told MEE. 'The raid is also extending to other parts of the city, including Balata Camp," he added. Meanwhile, soldiers arrested dozens of young men during the raids on homes and arbitrarily confiscated the belongings of residents. Political raid The large-scale raid on Nablus, despite the announcement that it would only last a day, has raised fears among its residents. They fear it may lead to a prolonged and devastating military assault similar to those taking place in Jenin and Tulkarm. Munadil Hanani, a member of the city's Factional Coordination Committee, told MEE there were indications that the incursion could last for a long period. Israel seeks to erase refugee camps from Jenin and Tulkarm Read More » He noted that Israeli troops stormed the city from all directions and brought in dozens of military vehicles. They also brought fuel tanks for the vehicles, a measure that isn't often taken during short-term incursions. Forces have also rotated amid the incursion, suggesting they could be in the city for some time. "From my perspective, the incursion is political, not security-related,' Hanani said. Israel claims the goal is to 'eliminate terrorism' but it is linked to the domestic political crisis and an attempt to extricate [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu from his predicament," Hanani added. Meanwhile, life in Nablus was completely paralysed by the raid with markets deserted and schools, universities and public institutions closed until further notice.

Israeli military officials say there are no restrictions on bombing Gaza homes
Israeli military officials say there are no restrictions on bombing Gaza homes

Middle East Eye

time2 hours ago

  • Middle East Eye

Israeli military officials say there are no restrictions on bombing Gaza homes

Israeli military officials have said there are no restrictions on bombing homes in Gaza, days after a prominent right-wing TV channel claimed that the country's military advocate general prevented an air strike on a building - where four soldiers later died - due to the risk of killing Palestinian civilians. On 6 June, four Israeli soldiers died after the building they entered in Khan Younis collapsed due to an explosive device. The Israeli army is still probing the cause of the blast and has yet to determine whether the device was a booby-trap set up by Hamas or if it was unexploded Israeli ordinance. But within hours of the deaths, Israel's Channel 14, a right-wing network favoured by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed that Israel's military advocate general bore responsibility for the deaths. The channel, which has repeatedly portrayed Palestinians in Gaza as "animals" who must be "exterminated", reported that the army had sent the soldiers into the building rather than target it with an air strike because Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi had changed army protocol to prohibit striking the structure. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters In its televised report, Channel 14's Noam Amir spoke with a senior Israeli officer who claimed that the building had been designated as a Hamas compound but Tomer-Yerushalmi prevented the country's air force from bombing the structure due to the risk of "collateral damage", The Israeli army tends to use the term "collateral damage" when referring to Palestinian civilians who are killed by Israeli forces for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. "We knew the infrastructure, we knew who was there, and we didn't strike, each time for a different reason - high collateral damage," the officer said. 'They [Israeli soldiers] are blowing up Gaza, house by house, compound by compound, without any interference' - Ben Caspit, senior Israeli journalist Following the report, the Israeli army's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, launched a scathing attack on Channel 14, saying he rejected the "false, repeated, and baseless attacks regarding the conduct of the military advocate general." "There was no directive from the military advocate general not to strike the building that collapsed and led to the deaths of four soldiers in Khan Younis on Friday," he said. "The claims made in this context are false, malicious, and entirely unfounded." He added that Israeli forces operating in Gaza have complete "operational freedom to remove threats". Ben Caspit, a senior Israeli journalist who has repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu, also slammed the report, suggesting it was a blood libel. "This despicable report, which titles itself with pride as an 'expose', is bloodshed, libel at the highest level, a crazy fable that has nothing to do with reality," Caspit wrote on X. Citing military sources, Caspit said that there were "no orders" being issued by Tomer-Yerushalmi, and that Israeli soldiers were freely "blowing up" homes in the war-battered enclave. "They [Israeli soldiers] are blowing up Gaza, house by house, compound by compound, without any interference by any Chief Military Advocate," Caspit added. 'They won't come back for years' Since declaring its war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has obliterated most of the Gaza Strip, reducing entire neighbourhoods, including schools, businessess and medical facilities, to rubble. Israeli soldiers and combat engineers have laid explosives and triggered controlled demolitions inside countless homes, while armoured bulldozers have systematically levelled building after building. Last week, a senior army commander operating in Khan Younis said that Israeli forces were instructed to decimate the city, reducing the likelihood that Palestinians would remain in the Strip once the war ends. North African 'resilience convoy' heads to Gaza, aiming to break Israel's siege Read More » "Part of the operation is to go in thoroughly and deeply, which may seem slow, but it protects our forces, and unlike before, it literally destroys the zone," the officer told the Israeli news outlet Ynet. "After we finish here, they won't be able to come back here for years," added the officer about Khan Younis, which was one of the largest cities in the Gaza Strip before the war. In the wake of the criticism, Channel 14's Amir fumed that a "reckless" Zamir had had failed to "substantively" address the claims laid out in the report. "When the war began, the [Israeli army] acted even when there were non-combatants in the area. There were no legal guidelines at all," Amir wrote. "Only at a later stage did the chief military advocate arrive, formulated the procedures, and determined when it is permissible to attack and when it's not," he added. Meanwhile, several members from Netanyahu's coalition requested a meeting with the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee regarding guidelines on when air strikes can and can't be carried out. Since reneging on a ceasefire deal with Hamas, Israeli forces have killed at least 4,600 Palestinians in attacks targeting tents, hospitals and school-turned-shelters. According to the Gaza health ministry, at least 54,981 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023, including more than 28,000 women and girls. The figure also includes at least 1,400 health sector professionals, 280 UN aid workers - the highest staff death toll in UN history - and 227 journalists, the highest number of media workers killed in conflict since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began recording data in 1992.

Rights group files legal challenge to remove Hamas from UK terror list
Rights group files legal challenge to remove Hamas from UK terror list

Middle East Eye

time3 hours ago

  • Middle East Eye

Rights group files legal challenge to remove Hamas from UK terror list

A British rights group has filed a second legal application calling on the UK government to remove the Palestinian militant group Hamas from a list of proscribed terrorist organisations. Cage International said on Tuesday it had instructed lawyers to appeal the decision in 2021 by former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to proscribe Hamas in its entirety. The proscription of Hamas predates its current war with Israel in Gaza, where the group has been the de facto authority since winning Palestinian elections in 2006, and the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel in October 2023. Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, was proscribed by the UK more than two decades ago. But Patel decided to extend the ban to the whole organisation, arguing there was no longer a distinction between the political and military wings of the group. Proscribing a group as a terrorist organisation automatically creates several criminal offences for anyone who is a group member, who wears or publishes the group's symbols, expresses or invites support for the group, or organises a meeting to support it. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Section 4 of the UK Terrorism Act allows any person affected by an organisation's proscription to apply to the home secretary for its de-proscription. Cage, an advocacy group that campaigns on behalf of people affected by counterterrorism policies, is using this clause to lodge its application over concerns its clients, who are mostly British Muslims, have been disproportionately targeted in an "unjust, politically charged manner" as a consequence of Hamas being added to the list of banned organisations. As part of its submission, Cage included 26 case studies involving clients who, it says, have been adversely impacted by the proscription of Hamas. These cases span a wide range of public and professional settings and highlight what the group describes as the overreach of counterterror legislation. The case studies include university students and a lecturer investigated and sanctioned for re-sharing publicly available media headlines related to Hamas. According to Cage, some of its clients also faced the threat of expulsion, visa revocation, or extended disciplinary procedures for allegedly supporting Hamas. The Home Office did not respond to Middle East Eye's request for comment at the time of writing. Muhammad Rabbani, managing director of Cage, said the de-proscription of Hamas is "about reckoning with a political and diplomatic reality in addition to remedying the discriminatory application and abuse of power". "Our case studies show a consistent pattern of arrests and harassment with unsuccessful prosecution, that left victims with lasting damage," Rabbani told Middle East Eye. "Ultimately, the continued proscription of Hamas is violating long-established freedoms enshrined in British law." Why I support the UK taking a more nuanced position on Hamas Read More » Cage's application comes months after Hamas launched its own appeal against its proscription in the UK. Legal papers seen by MEE revealed that Mousa Abu Marzouk, the head of Hamas' foreign relations office, had instructed lawyers to take up the case. Fahad Ansari, the director of Riverway Law, which is leading the challenge; Daniel Grutters, a barrister at One Pump Court Chambers; and Franck Magennis, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers, submitted a 106-page application to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claiming the decision "pursued explicitly political objectives by a politically compromised Secretary of State". The lawyers involved in the case stressed that Hamas did not pay them or the experts and lawyers who provided evidence for its submission, as it is illegal to receive funds from a group designated as a terrorist organisation. The home secretary has 90 days to respond to Hamas and Cage's applications. As part of her powers as home secretary, Cooper also has the discretion to add or remove any group engaged in armed conflict from the list of proscribed organisations. If the home secretary rejects the application, Hamas could appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission, where the decision can be challenged on judicial review grounds.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store