More than half of Gaza’s Christians have fled the enclave since Israel unleashed its onslaught, and the Catholic Church is fearful about the future of the ancient community, Haaretz reported on Wednesday.
Before October 7, about 1,700 Christians were living in Gaza, and that number has shrunk to about 650. The Haaretz report said 450 Catholics are sheltering at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza City, 150 Orthodox Christians are at the St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza City, and about 40-50 Christians are living in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Both the Holy Family Parish and the St. Porphyrius Church have been targeted by Israeli forces. In October, an Israeli airstrike hit part of the St. Porphyrius Church, killing at least 18 Palestinian civilians, including relatives of former US House Rep. Justin Amash. At the time, about 500 Christian and Muslim Palestinians were sheltering there.
In December, the Holy Family Parish came under Israeli siege. Two Catholic women were killed by Israeli gunfire, and seven people were wounded, an attack Pope Francis denounced as “terrorism.” According to Haaretz, a total of 17 Palestinian Christians have been killed by Israel since October 7, mostly from the Orthodox community.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, returned from a four-day visit to Gaza on Sunday and said nearly all of the homes of Christians in Gaza had been destroyed and that many were sheltering in classrooms at the Holy Family Parish. “They’ve lost everything. Every classroom is housing one or two families,” he said.
Speaking with reporters after his visit, Pizzaballa said, “The scale of the destruction I witnessed is unbelievable, and the poor living conditions, such as the lack of water and electricity and the absence of security, are dire.”
Pizzaballa also called for an end to the killing in Gaza. “What else can I say? I want to send a clear message to decision-makers. Enough killing! The war must end, and avenues for various aid must be opened to avoid an imminent humanitarian crisis. I hope this nightmare ends quickly,” he said.
In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired Sunday, Pope Francis said he speaks with the priest at the Holy Family Parish, Father Youssef Asaad, every day at 7 pm. “I listen,” the pope said. “The other day they were happy because they managed to eat some meat. The rest of the time they eat flour, things made of flour. Sometimes they go hungry. And they tell me things. And the other people there also speak to me at times. There is a lot of suffering.”
The man in the street suffers for his evil government.
Another addition to your long list of blaming someone else for Israel’s blatant brutality.
Are you or I guilty for the Vietnam war,the Iraq war?some people might say so.
That could said of Israelis too. They suffer for the doings of their apartheid genocidal government.
Absolutely- Gaza and the West Bank should be part of a Palestinian state,if they had leaders who would be satisfied with no more,and demand the whole kit and kaboodle.
Gaza yes, The West Bank is a different story.
The ethnic cleansing of Arab Christian’s in Palestine has been a multi-decade effort. Approximately 40% of Palestinians world wide are Christians, most of these Christian Palestinians were driven overseas.
Also note, a majority of Arab- Americans are Christians.
And let us look at the current status of Christians in Iraq,Egypt,and Pakistan.
Tariq Aziz was Christian
The countries you mentioned above are not nearly as radical as some Zionists:
“I don’t believe in western morality, i.e. don’t kill civilians or children, don’t destroy holy sites, don’t fight during holiday seasons, don’t bomb cemeteries, don’t shoot until they shoot first because it is immoral. The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle).” –Rabbi Manis Friedman https://www.azquotes.com/author/26051-Manis_Friedman
Are they being GENOCIDED Jake ????!
Arab-Christians, Arab-whatever, we don’t care as long as “…There is a lot of suffering.” (…No. This is true. It’s not sarcasm. …I have to say it’s sarcasm? …Okay, fine. It is sarcasm by saying the truth)
Daniel McAdams
@DanielLMcAdams
How many mainstream “conservative” Christians in prominent positions in the US have spoken out against the wholesale slaughter of their fellow Christians in Gaza? Seriously, I am interested in a list. My guess is near zero, but I am happy to be proven wrong. So who are the authentic “right-wing pro-life”? Not them. They deny Christ.
A ticket to damnation.
That position isn’t politically correct right now. It’s all about me, the party and my campaign donors. “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
–1 Timothy 6:10
For millions of American evangelical Christians, supporting Israel is a core part of their faith. They believe Israel needs to exist so that the “end times” prophecies and return of Jesus Christ are guaranteed.
https://youtu.be/nHT-SjIM0tA?si=wNdvTYXOZRJ86XBU
John Hagee won’t get raptured up to Heaven. He will wind up going to where Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have gone.
Tucker Carlson had a great interview with one of the Palestinian Christians the Christian-Zionists claim does not exist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHayOkXe5ig
Here’s an AWESOME video/animation showing the history of the (un) holy land uploaded 11 years ago, but still speaks for today, more than ever: “This Land is Mine” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-evIyrrjTTY
Please share this video with your friends, enemies and trolls.
Amazing that I went to the “breaking news” section,and found no mention of the recent the Ayatollah plan to destroy Israel.
Iran has vowed to destroy Israel. The Palestinians believe this, just like they did in 1948 when they believe the Arab armies would destroy the new nation of Israel. As long as the Palestinians believe in the destruction of Israel, there will be no peace.
The goal of the Arab armies was never to destroy the new established state of Israel. Something repeated over and over does not make true. The Palestinians were so much worried about surviving the ethnic cleansing unleashed upon them the zionist terrorist groups.
Wrong – Iran’s official policy solution for the Palestine-Israel conflict is to hold an internationally supervised plebecite of all the inhabitants to determine the future status.
Please stop lieing – it’s ruining your credibility
“ What were the war goals of the Arab states – to destroy the yishuv, to prevent the establishment of the state, to capture all of the western Land of Israel? My answer is no, and it has been reinforced by studies carried out in recent years by Israeli scholars…
Why is all of this important? Because I want to emphasize that the Arab military goals were not the goals that are stressed in our literature – the conquest of the entire territory, but rather more limited goals. Along the lines of President Sadat’s limited goals when he initiated the Yom Kippur War in 1973. This is the answer to the question of whether they were such heroes when they decided to invade. My answer is no. They didn’t dare plan, in advance, to take control of the area that was designated for the Jewish state in accordance with the UN partition plan. They arranged a plan, which, at least in the beginning, could be justified before the UN, if it responded harshly to the situation. If they were asked, “What are you doing in the land of Israel?”, they would respond that “We were invited by the Arab side to save the Arab community, and we only entered the Arab territories, not the area of the Jewish state.”
https://pij.org/articles/107/the-myth-of-the-few-against-the-many-in-1948
It’s articles like this that have me wondering why the Christian angle hasn’t been brought up, loudly, in Christian churches. At it’s most basic- from a religious perspective- Jews (in the form of the IDF) are slaughtering Christians, and that alone should have Christians across the world concerned and hopping mad to the point of taking matters into their own hands. While a religious war in the Middle East is the last thing anyone needs, we’re watching the murder of Christians happen in real time and frankly I’m surprised the world community of Christians hasn’t risen up as one to put a stop to it. The Pope alone could, with one pronouncement, put millions of Catholics on the move to enter Gaza- by any means necessary- and provide either passive or active resistance. The money taken in one week by some of the televangelistas would easily pay for the outfitting of an International Brigade of sorts. Or is the Christian community so cowed by Israel and its fellow travelers they simply don’t dare utter a word of reproach? Frankly I’m baffled- what happened to the spirit of ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ in defense of the faith? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0617712573c22fd5174ab8bde608178a6f23bb346d8614b470bb4ac2008483ea.jpg
Matthew 24:5-24:
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” –Jesus Christ.
Your holy war is not going to happen.
Your idea of a holy war of Christians vs Jews is not going to happen.
In 1948 the history of Palestine changed forever, but little is ever said about the upheaval faced by its Christian minority. Christians have lived side by side with Muslims and Jews for almost two thousand years. An integral part of Palestinian society, they have shared in the events of recent history, yet their voices are seldom heard and worse: their existence often ignored.
https://youtu.be/YwRaWhX_rd4?si=5l1_JWh9jMmw-Loz
So if there was so much brotherhood in the Mid East-let us spea kof the Crusades-when the streets of Jerusalem ran red with Christian and Jewish Blood.
Evangelicals: “There are no Christians in Gaza! Hamas killed them, outlawed them, etc. (take your pick)”.
Evangelicals believe that they are not real christians. Evangelicals believe that they are the only true Christians.
Evangelicals worship Satan and will burn in Hell.
They also believe that Christ will come back and administrate… Gee would that be good for the Genociders…?? ??? ???? If Moses were going to be coming back maybe he would be O.K. With the Zionist GENOCIDE, but unless Jesus were under Zionis occupation it is not likelt!!
Odd that with trolls like Jake so active here why we would not have seen some mention of this LONG AGO…!!!! I would think that the indiscriment way that this GENOCIDE WITH BOMBS IS BEING CONDUCTED doas not even consider the religious faith of victims: EXCAPT TO EXEMPT JEWS.
Anyone on “Their Land” not Jewish needs to go dead or alive is immaterial to Zionists. It’s worse than segratiom, It’s GENOCEDE!!!! Kill them and they will never come back to life, or demand their homes back from the thieving Zionists who forced them to go with nothing they could not carry or be GENOCIDED…..!!!!!!!!!!!!
How did they get out? My understanding is that the people in Gaza are trapped there with no where to escape. Even the British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has described Gaza as the world’s largest open air prison.
And Zionism is supposed to protect the Jewish people?