‘Christ under rubble’: Christians in Gaza mark another Christmas amid genocide

By Alireza Akbari

On Tuesday, prominent Palestinian Christian pastor Munther Isaac, in a somber Christmas Day message, referred to the ongoing Israeli genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.

“This year we say, Christ is still under the rubble in Gaza,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, as the death count reached 45,338, including both Muslims and Christians. 

His words resonated deeply, highlighting the shared grief and despair of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, especially since the events of October 2023.

“We are angry, we are broken. This should have been a time of joy. Instead, we are mourning, we are fearful,” Isaac wrote in his message shared widely on X.

Isaac, who pastors the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour, further elaborated on the significance of Christ’s birth in the Palestinian context.

“Today we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ... here in our land in Palestine. Here in Palestine, we live under the harshest and most difficult conditions. Bethlehem is besieged. Jerusalem is wounded. And Gaza is being annihilated," 

“We remember today that it was here, in this very city, that the Word became flesh and became one of us... He was born as a human to stand in solidarity with us in our suffering... He was born among those under occupation, to stand in solidarity with the oppressed and the repressed.”

Christ still under the rubble in Gaza, Palestinian pastor says in Christmas message

Christ is still under the rubble in Gaza as the besieged Palestinian territory is being annihilated, Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac said in his annual Christmas message.

Apart from Isaac, Craig Mokhiber, a former United Nations human rights official and expert in international human rights law, also shared a poignant Christmas message on X.

“As we pledge our continuing solidarity to the people of Palestine, who, from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to Gaza, continue to suffer under the boot of oppression and the fires of genocide, let us all commit to the cause of Christmas next year in a free Palestine,” Mokhiber added.

Formerly the director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mokhiber resigned from his post in October 2023, weeks after the launch of the genocidal war on Gaza.

Pope on Gaza genocide

The devastating situation in Gaza, coupled with the ongoing Israeli genocidal campaign, has also been addressed by Pope Francis on multiple occasions since October last year.

In his annual Christmas message to Vatican leaders on December 21, he spoke of the death and destruction in Gaza, referring to the Israeli strike on Friday that killed ten members of a family, including seven children, in northern Gaza.

“Yesterday, children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” Pope Francis remarked. “I want to say it because it touches the heart.”

He also reflected on remarks he made nearly 20 years ago in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“All of us, as a way of exercising humility, learn the practice of self-accusation, as taught by the ancient spiritual masters, particularly Dorotheus of Gaza," the head of the Catholic Church said.

'This is cruelty, not war,' Pope Francis slams Israel's brutality against Gaza children

Francis said his heart was touched after Israel

Describing Gaza as a “quite ancient city,” he emphasized that it is now synonymous with “death and destruction,” a place where “monasteries and outstanding saints and teachers flourished in the first centuries of Christianity.”

On November 17, 2024, he urged world leaders to heed “the cry of the people who are asking for peace,” reiterating his plea to “pray for peace.”

Earlier in the year, on March 31, 2024, the pontiff voiced his deep concern for those suffering across the globe, expressing hope that “Christ open a path of peace for the war-torn peoples of those regions,” while renewing his appeal for ensuring “access to humanitarian aid” in Gaza.

Pope’s condemnation of violence was notably strong following an Israeli attack on Gaza’s Holy Family Catholic Parish on December 17, 2023. The assault claimed the lives of two Christian women and destroyed the convent of the Missionaries of Charity.

During the Angelus prayer that day, Pope Francis shared his anguish over reports from Gaza, where “unarmed civilians are the targets of bombings and gunfire.”

He specifically condemned the attack on the Catholic parish compound, emphasizing that it housed “families, children, people who are sick and have disabilities, and nun.”

“A mother, Mrs. Nahida Khalil Anton, and her daughter, Samar Kamal Anton, were killed, and others were wounded by the shooters while they were going to the bathroom,” Pope said.

Tragic losses

On Christmas this year, nearly 1,000 Palestinian Christians are seeking refuge in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius and the Latin Monastery in central Gaza City.

Among them is 47-year-old Ramez Suhail Al-Suri, a Palestinian Christian whose life has been shattered by the ongoing genocidal war, which has wreaked havoc in the coastal territory.

Before the genocidal war, Al-Suri recalled, Christmas was a joyous occasion for his family—his wife, Helen, and their three children: Suhail (14), Julie (12), and Majd (11). “We would celebrate together, surrounded by happiness and love,” he said.

That peace was upended when Al-Suri and his family fled to the Orthodox church shortly after Israel launched its genocidal campaign in Gaza in October 2023.

“We know that international and humanitarian laws prohibit the bombing of churches and mosques,” he explained. However, the family soon realized that “the bombing was random and very violent.”

Their fears escalated on October 17, 2023, when a massive explosion devastated Al-Ahli Hospital, just 350 meters from the church where they were sheltering.

“It was a very terrifying and tragic moment—nearly 500 people were killed,” Al-Suri was quoted as saying by +972 Magazine. “We were worried about this indiscriminate bombing, [since] it was so near.”

Reflecting on the horrifying night, Al-Suri said, “That evening, we put our children in their places to sleep (inside the church) and left them there.”

At around 8:30 p.m. local time, an Israeli airstrike hit the church’s outer building, causing it to collapse and killing 18 people, including Al-Suri’s three children, and wounding several others.

“At that moment, I could not believe what I was seeing. I tried to save my children but all three of them were in critical condition and died quickly,” Al-Suri was quoted as saying.     

But just two days later, on October 19, tragedy struck. “I lost my entire life—my life now has no meaning,” he said. “I lost three children in a few seconds, and now their mother and I are alone. This is what the war on Gaza did to me.”

Under fire 

The ancient Christian community in Gaza, already reeling from the destruction wrought by the Israeli genocidal campaign, has faced a series of devastating tragedies since October last year.     

In Mid-December 2023, Israeli snipers killed Nahida Anton and her daughter, Samar, in the courtyard of the Holy Family Church, also known as the Latin Monastery, in Gaza City.

The mother and daughter duo was walking within the church grounds when they were fatally shot.

“They were shot in cold blood,” the Patriarchate said, holding Israeli forces responsible.

According to the church, one was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety, while seven others were injured as they rushed to help.

This was not the first attack on Christian sanctuaries in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Earlier, on October 19, 2023, St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church became the site of another tragedy. Hundreds of Christians and Muslims had taken refuge there when an Israeli airstrike destroyed part of the church, killing at least 18 people.

Among the victims were Yara and Viola, cousins and members of the Amash family.

The bombing of St. Porphyrius came just weeks after the start of the Israeli regime’s genocidal campaign, which has displaced thousands of Palestinians.

Around 1,000 Christians sought refuge in the St. Porphyrius Church and the nearby Holy Family Church, hoping for safety amidst indiscriminate bombings.

Later on December 26, 2023, the only Baptist church in the Gaza Strip, Gaza Baptist Church, sustained significant damage from an Israeli attack.

The church building was hit by an Israeli tank shell, causing extensive interior damage. Approximately 70 people from about 15 families were sheltering inside the church at the time.

Humans of Gaza: Yara and Viola, members of Gaza’s Christian community

Yara and Viola, cousins and members of Gaza’s Christian community, were killed in an Israeli attack on St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church in northern Gaza where they had taken refuge.

Al-Suri, who lost his three children in the war, is one among many grieving Christians in Gaza.

His story, along with the tragic deaths of Yara, Viola, Nahida, and Samar, highlights the indiscriminate nature of the violence that has ravaged Gaza’s ancient Christian community.

These attacks, which have devastated places of worship and sanctuary, underscore the profound human cost of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

An estimated 1,100 Christians used to live among 2.3 million people in Gaza before October 2023, and an additional 50,000 in the occupied West Bank, notably in Bethlehem and East Jerusalem.

The Israeli regime has destroyed at least three churches in the past 446 days of genocide.

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