Despite two years of Israel's genocide, Christmas returns to Gaza

In a small, battered church in Gaza, Palestinian Christians gathered this Christmas to hold Mass for the first time after surviving nearly two years of siege, forced displacement, and widespread attacks by Israel.

This year's return to communal prayer was subdued. No Christmas trees lined the streets, no festive lights hung from church doors, and no hymns or singing echoed throughout the neighbourhoods; instead, the silence was broken by prayers heavy with grief.

Gaza's Christians' faith had not vanished; it was reshaped by loss.

"The tree is missing because my heart is still broken," Ramez al-Souri, a Christian resident of Gaza, remarked to The New Arab. "There is a lump in my throat that never leaves me."

For him, Christmas is no longer a celebration, but a painful reminder of everything taken away. Al-Souri's three children were killed by Israeli forces when they bombed the Church of St Bartholomew on 19 October 2023.

"Suhail was 14 years old, Julie 12, and Majd just 11 […] They were young, but they carried big dreams for the future," the grieving father recalled.

"They were only children. Julie was my darling. Majd was brave beyond his years. Suhail loved everyone," he added.

In 2022, Ramez's family had travelled to Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas at the Church of the Nativity. Today, that journey feels impossibly distant.

"The past two years have been filled with screams, tears, sleepless nights," al-Souri said. "The only thing that brings me a small sense of peace is believing that they are martyrs in heaven."

A faith tested under Israeli attacks

For Gaza's Christians, Israel's war was not merely a political event against Hamas; it was an existential rupture that shook the foundations of belief.

Israel shelled churches and killed children inside places of worship, transforming sanctuaries meant for refuge into sites of death.

"Bombing a church and killing children inside cannot be justified under any circumstances," al-Souri said, adding that the Israeli attacks exposed the hollowness of international claims to protect religious minorities.

Many share his sense that this Christmas comes without joy. Elias Khoury, a Christian from Gaza City, described the holiday as "happy in name only."

His wife and son were killed during the war, along with numerous relatives and friends. "Gaza is nothing but ruin and destruction now. We have lived through events that will never be erased from memory," he told TNA.

Even during this year's Mass, the war persists. "Sometimes we still hear distant explosions," Khoury said. "So, we try to make the prayers spiritual rather than celebratory. Our hearts are heavy with sorrow for Gaza and for everyone we have lost."

"Two years of bombing, hunger, and fear have stripped life of any sense of normality," he added.

A community left behind

Most of Gaza's Christians live in the Old City, near the so-called "Yellow Line" marking the Israeli army's supposed withdrawal during the first phase of the ceasefire.

Before Israel's war erupted in October 2023, there were around 1,100 Palestinian Christians in Gaza, the majority belonging to the Greek Orthodox community, according to Elias al-Jalda, a member of the Arab Orthodox Church's Council of Trustees.

During the war, churches were repeatedly targeted by Israeli shelling, killing members of the Christian community as well as Muslim civilians who had sought refuge inside.

"The attacks made no distinction," George Anton, director of operations for the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza, told TNA. "What happened proves that the war targeted Palestinians as a people, without discrimination."

Anton added that Christmas this year is limited strictly to the Divine Liturgy. "There are no decorations, no festivals, no public celebrations," he said.

More than 53 Palestinian Christians were killed during the war, either through direct attacks by the Israeli army or due to the deaths of elderly and sick people trapped inside churches without access to medical care, according to Anton.

Beyond their losses, many Christians in Gaza feel abandoned by the international community. Riyad Shahin, a Gaza-based Christian man, criticised the US position, which he says ignores Palestinian Christians entirely.

"President Donald Trump talks about protecting Christians in Nigeria, but we are no different, except that we are Palestinians," he told TNA.

"The issue goes beyond one individual. It is the entire American right wing, which claims to defend religious freedom while placing support for Israel above everything else," he added.

Gaza's Christians view their suffering as inseparable from the broader Palestinian struggle. "There will be no peace in the world without a just solution to the Palestinian cause. If the occupation continues, there will be no peace for us or anyone," Shahin said.

During a three-day visit to Gaza that began on 19 December, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, addressed the community.

"I am happy to be here with you," the cardinal said. "For the first time since the war, I feel a small sense of relief to meet people again, despite everything."

"We will rebuild our schools and our homes. Buildings can be repaired, but hearts need healing, and only love can rebuild them," he added.