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Features | Israel-Palestine conflict
Gaza’s Christians refuse to abandon churches before Israeli attack

Two of Gaza City’s churches are in areas where Israel has ordered Palestinians to leave before a planned attack.


Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Christians Saad Salama and Foumia Ayyad, who were killed in an Israeli strike on the Holy Family Church, at another Gaza City church, Saint Porphyrius, on July 17, 2025 [Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters]

By Moataz al-Hallaq

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025 ... eli-attack

3 Sep 2025

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – In the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, Fouad Abu Youssef, 34, wears a tattered, worn-out shirt as he sifts through a heap of salvaged clothes, remnants of what had been his home, hoping to find a change of clothes for his five-year-old daughter, Layla.

In the past two years of Israel’s war on Gaza, Fouad, a member of Gaza’s small Christian minority, has buried his sister after an air strike and seen his own home and his family’s house in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood collapse. Conditions grew so dire that Fouad, his elderly parents and five siblings with their families were forced to live in a nearby cemetery before finally finding refuge in the church.

For more than a year, the Abu Youssef family has lived within the church’s quarters in the Zeitoun neighbourhood. They survived a close call with death when an Israeli tank shell struck the church in July, killing three people https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/1 ... d-children and wounding several others. And now, after Israel declared it was preparing for a major assault on Gaza City and called it a “dangerous combat zone” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog ... 30/updates last week, the family cannot help but fear losing the roof over their heads once more and going back onto the streets, where it is even more dangerous.

Although the Holy Family Church was not placed by Israel in the zones marked for expulsions, the other churches in Gaza City, including the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius and the Anglican St Philip’s Church, were. But the nearly 550 displaced people sheltering in the Holy Family Church still mistrust the Israeli military. The church has been attacked so many times before – despite Israeli guarantees that it does not target places of worship.

Most of the people there, including Fouad, are refusing to leave, even if Israel orders them to evacuate in the next few days. This sentiment is shared in the other churches, where the majority of occupants have decided to stay despite being told by Israel to move south.

Leaders of Gaza’s Christian community said in a joint statement released on August 26 that the forced displacement would amount to

nothing less than a death sentence.

Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months,

the patriarchs wrote.

For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds.

Clergy to stay in their churches

This decision came with complete freedom,

Farid Gibran, the Holy Family Church’s spokesperson, explained, saying those sheltering at the church have the liberty to leave if they want to.

The decision of the church leaders to stay in Gaza City has inspired many of those residing at the Holy Family Church to remain despite growing fears of Israeli attacks. Many, like Moussa Saad Ayyad, 41, a father of four children aged six to 14, believe the church’s relationship with the Vatican could guarantee relative safety.

We came to the church because it feels like the only safe place left, a place where we can be together and find help. Its ties abroad give us some protection,

he told Al Jazeera.

But if the danger gets worse, each of us may have no choice but to flee south on their own.

For others like Fouad, the prospect of a second displacement and the strain it would place on his daughter and elderly parents are what keep him from leaving. But he also believes that staying is an act of faith and a form of resistance against the Israeli occupation, which has already cost him so much.

They took my home and my loved ones, but they won’t take my right to remain here on my land no matter how dark it gets,

Fouad told Al Jazeera as he watched his daughter sleep.

Inside the complex, church leaders told Al Jazeera that the church has not pressured occupants to stay and currently, instead of panic and chaos,

a spirit of solidarity prevails among both Christian and Muslim refugees, who are working vigilantly to secure food and water for the children and the elderly.

A priest, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment, said Gaza’s Christian community has a significance far beyond its small numbers.

Our presence [in the church] represents centuries of historical continuity in this land,

he told Al Jazeera.

We are here to pray, to serve and to bear witness to hope in the midst of darkness.

A sanctuary under fire

Since Israel first announced plans for a ground operation in Gaza City last month, Moussa and other residents have been gripped by anxiety, never knowing when the assault might begin. For 23 months, the church has sheltered him and his family, but he is reminded of moments when even that safety was not assured, including the July attack.

The Israeli military claimed the building was hit by stray fire, and Pope Leo XIV said https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xvnlpx2dxo he was

deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack.

Today, as Israel forges ahead with its military operations in Gaza City, Moussa does not know what is safest for his children, if anything.

The church compound had come under fire as early as December 2023 when two women sheltering inside were killed by an Israeli sniper. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/ ... aza-church

Days earlier, air strike shrapnel had damaged the parish complex, https://acnuk.org/news/holy-land-gaza-c ... wFGKjYDXlU destroying solar panels, water tanks, and other facilities.

Before the war erupted, we lived normal, balanced lives in Gaza, … simple human lives with basic needs met,

Moussa said.

Samer Farha, a father of three, shared the same sentiments.

The hardest thing we experience is seeing our children hungry,

he told Al Jazeera.

We try to make them feel safe, but the sounds of bombing make every moment heavy.

Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of the Holy Family Church, described the leadership’s and parishioners’ decision to stay as preserving

the church as a place of worship and life.

For these refugees, remaining represents more than defiance,

Romanelli, who was injured in the July attack and is still recovering, told Al Jazeera.

It’s symbolic, [the] protection of a place embodying their community’s history.

The Holy Family Church, the only Catholic parish in Gaza, has long held symbolic importance beyond Gaza. Throughout the war, the late Pope Francis called https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqgy6m8e6o the parish almost daily, maintaining a direct line to the besieged community.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, visited https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2ljemmnyko Gaza in July after the tank shell hit, bringing food and medical supplies along with Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox patriarch.

‘Even if it means dying’

As the displaced in Gaza City begin to evacuate, the Holy Family Church stands as one of the last Christian sanctuaries in Gaza City.

Maryam al-Omr, 69, who took shelter in the church with her grandson after her home in Tal al-Hawa was destroyed, told Al Jazeera:

I will not leave here, even if it means dying. This church is my last home, and I will not abandon it.

Yet for every stalwart like al-Omr, others are contemplating an impossible choice.

We’re grateful for the international statements,

said one displaced resident who asked not to be named for fear of being isolated over his thoughts of leaving.

But we still face shortages of food, medicine and fuel. We need more than words.

As night falls and Fouad prepares his family’s sleeping area, the irony is not lost on him: The Holy Family Church, named for Christianity’s original refugees fleeing violence in ancient Palestine, now shelters families facing the same impossible choice between safety and home.

His daughter cries from hunger, and he holds her close, whispering words of comfort while suppressing his own despair, going back and forth between wanting to leave and wanting to stay.

His voice falters as he admits,

I don’t want anyone to see my pain. Get me out of this country.

Yet moments later, leaning on one of the church’s walls, he reaffirms his resolve:

We will stay here, whatever comes.

This article is published in collaboration with Egab. http://www.egab.co/

[Zmeselo]

Middle East Conflict
Some Israeli reservists say they'd rather go to jail than serve in the assault on Gaza City

Some reservists, battered by multiple deployments and questioning the end game of the war, are refusing to fight if called, which could land them in jail.


Israel Defense Forces tanks near the Gaza Strip's northern border last month.Elke Scholiers / Getty Images

Sept. 3, 2025

By Richard Engel, Gabe Joselow and Babak Dehghanpisheh

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/gaza/isra ... rcna228588

JERUSALEM — He was once proud to be part of the Israeli military, eager to defend his homeland after the Hamas-led terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/isra ... rcna119315

Today, Max Kresch, 29, refuses to serve in Gaza. https://www.nbcnews.com/gaza

The Israeli American veteran combat medic is among a growing number of reservists questioning the war’s end game and refusing to fight if called to serve, risking jail.

The war right now is a direct threat to our future. It’s a direct threat to the future of Israelis, of civilians, of our own values,

said Kresch, whose mandatory military service ended in 2018, and who served on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon https://www.nbcnews.com/lebanon during the current war.

Amid widespread global outrage about renewed military operations in northern Gaza and large-scale protests in Israel https://www.nbcnews.com/world/israel/is ... rcna227171 calling for a deal to free the hostages still being held, NBC News spoke to several reservists including Kresch, all of whom have served but do not want to fight any more in Gaza.


Israeli reservist Max Kresch and a statement he read on behalf of "Soldiers for the Hostages."Courtesy of Max Kresch; NBC News

Around 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks and 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decades-long conflict.

Since then, almost 64,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Much of the territory has been destroyed, and most of its population displaced. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the world’s leading authority on food crises, has declared a famine in the north of the enclave, https://www.nbcnews.com/world/gaza/fami ... rcna225776 where the renewed military campaign is taking place.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-ea ... rcna224231 has said that there is no famine and that widespread hunger is not Israel’s fault. He has also said that Israel does not intend to occupy Gaza but that Hamas must be disarmed and defeated outright.

Mounting global anger over the war is contributing to a growing threat against Jews, Kresch said, adding,

You have the Israeli government who is increasingly providing a framework for this antisemitism to grow.

In January, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, reported there were

troubling signs of resurgent antisemitism in Europe and around the world, from attacks on Jews and harassment in public spaces to rising online hatred and more.

While reservists have described multiple reasons for their dissent, some accuse Netanyahu, who is facing charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases, of prolonging the war to ensure his political survival, a claim he denies.

Others said they feel the war no longer serves any military purpose, and is endangering the remaining hostages and causing immense suffering to Palestinians.

One 28-year old reservist who received the call-up Tuesday to serve in Gaza said he was still weighing his decision, torn between his obligation to his country and his values.

In my spiritual life, we talk about how much … life is important,

he said.

I think [life] now, how the way we see life now in Gaza, we don’t see like a life.

We see them like bugs,

he added.

NBC News agreed not to name him because he feared the consequences of both criticizing military service and refusing the call-up.

Signs of dissent within the military ranks surfaced shortly after Netanyahu announced the new military plans in early August, when an association of Israeli air force reserve and retired pilots https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/isra ... rcna200978 called for an

immediate end to the futile war and urgent action to bring the hostages home.

Netanyahu on Tuesday highlighted the importance of the role reservists will play in the Gaza City offensive.

Dear reserve soldiers, you are the strength that holds Israel,

he wrote on X,

noting that they had to leave

work, studies and home

to report for duty.

But the mission is still not complete,

he added.

The looming threat of jail time has not deterred some reservists who do not want to return to the front lines.

I prefer not to go to jail, but if the question was to go to Gaza, go to jail, I’d go to jail,

said Ze’ev Bogomolny, 27, a painter who served in an artillery unit near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

I’m willing to put my life in captivity in order to save this place, and going to the army now is the destruction of Israel, completely.

Bogomolny also urged other reservists to weigh their choice to serve. After the Hamas attacks, he said he felt the

right thing to do was to serve,

but,

I think the right thing now is to is for every soldier, every reserve soldier, to ask himself why and, and in what cost, is he willing to take part in this, in this war.

Still, tens of thousands of reservists are likely to report for duty for the expanded military operations. The Israeli military has warned Palestinians to evacuate Gaza City to safe zones to avoid the new ground offensive.

An Israeli drone strike Tuesday in the Al-Mawasi safe zone in southern Gaza killed 13 people, including seven children, according to families of the victims. The Israeli military claims it did not carry out attacks in the area. Video shared with NBC News showed the bloody bodies of children laid out on stretchers and the floor of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

We’re destroying the lives of Gazan civilians,

said Kresch, the Israeli American reservist, who now organizes a group called Soldiers for the Hostages.

We are killing our own hostages. We know this.

Richard Engel and Gabe Joselow reported from Jerusalem, and Babak Dehghanpisheh from New York.

[Zmeselo]

President Isaac Herzog and Pope Leo XIV met on Thursday, September 4, 2025 (@Vatican Media)

Pope
Pope to Israeli President: Urgent ceasefire and aid for Gaza

During a private audience, Pope Leo XIV and Isaac Herzog discuss the need for an urgent ceasefire and unimpeded aid access for Gaza, as well as the liberation of all remaining hostages and a two-state solution as the only path to peace.

Vatican News

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news ... re-ai.html

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday received Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, in audience in the Apostolic Palace.

The Israeli President subsequently met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.

According to a statement issued by the Holy See Press Office, during

the cordial talks with the Holy Father and in the Secretariat of State, the political and social situation in the Middle East was addressed, where numerous conflicts persist, with particular attention given to the tragic situation in Gaza.

Hope was expressed

for a speedy resumption of negotiations so that, with willingness and courageous decisions, as well as the support of the international community, the release of all hostages can be achieved, a permanent ceasefire reached with urgency, the safe entry of humanitarian aid into the most affected areas be facilitated, and full respect for humanitarian law be ensured, together with the legitimate aspirations of the two peoples.

The statement added that there were talks about how to ensure a future for the Palestinian people and about peace and stability in the region. It said the Holy See reiterated its view that

a two-state solution is the only way out of the current war.

Reference was also made to what is happening in the West Bank and to the important question of the city of Jerusalem.

Before concluding, the Press Office statement noted that

During the discussions, there was agreement on the historical value of the relations between the Holy See and Israel.

A number of issues were also addressed concerning relations between the civil Authorities and the local Church, with particular attention to the importance of Christian communities and their commitment, both locally and throughout the Middle East, to human and social development, especially in the areas of education, the promotion of social cohesion, and regional stability.