ISTANBUL

For the second consecutive year, Palestinian Christians marked Easter on Sunday without joy or festivity as Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank entered their 19th month.

In Gaza, dozens of Christians gathered at the historic Saint Porphyrius Church of the Greek Orthodox community in the heart of Gaza City’s Old Quarter.

The church, which itself was bombed by Israeli forces on Oct. 19, 2023, killing 18 displaced civilians sheltering inside, livestreamed its Easter service on Facebook.

Christians in Gaza, like all Palestinians in the enclave, have suffered immensely since the Israeli war began in October 2023. Many have sought refuge in the few remaining churches, relying on them for safety and basic necessities.

Prior to the war, Gaza’s Christian population numbered around 2,000, most of whom belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church. That number continues to dwindle due to deaths and displacement resulting from the Israeli onslaught.

In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Easter services were also stripped of celebration amid Israeli restrictions preventing Christians from reaching Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the most sacred Christian sites.

In Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, and Beit Jala, churches held modest services under a heavy atmosphere of grief, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

On Holy Saturday, Israeli police forcibly blocked Christian worshippers from accessing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the traditional Holy Fire ceremony.

Eyewitnesses reported assaults and militarized checkpoints set up throughout the Old City of Jerusalem, severely limiting access to the church.

Churches across the Palestinian territories canceled Easter processions and parades, holding only indoor prayers and masses in mourning and solidarity with Gaza.

For the second year, only a small number of local Christians and pilgrims participated in the Easter rituals, with the broader Christian community largely absent due to war and restrictions.

Rev. Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, expressed fears over an accelerating decline of the Christian presence in Palestine.

Speaking to Anadolu, he warned of the potential “extinction of Christian communities in Gaza and the West Bank amid the ongoing genocide and deepening Israeli restrictions.”

More than 51,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.