Christians in Gaza hold first Christmas services in two years amid mixed feelings

Christians in the Gaza Strip held a Christmas service inside their churches on 24 December 2025, the first such service in nearly two years. The gathering followed the cessation of the Israeli war, which had prevented the religious occasion from taking place during the conflict. Joy at the return of collective prayer was mixed with deep sorrow for those who died during the war.

For Edward Antoine, a 37-year-old Christian from Gaza City, this Christmas was marked by painful memories. He lost his mother and sister during the recent war. He stood at the gate of the Church of the Latin Monastery in Gaza City, looking at the place where his family had once taken refuge. Antoine told the news agency, while looking at photographs of his mother and sister on his cell phone, that “an Israeli sniper killed my mother and sister, while we were sheltering inside the church.” Sorrow for loss, held before God, can be borne in prayer, as Psalm 34:18 speaks of the Lord’s nearness to the brokenhearted.

Antoine described how Christmas used to look before the war. “Before the war, we were living together in the Christmas tree at home, going to church to pray and then celebrating and distributing candy to children. This year I join in the service alone, but prayer still gives me some strength.” He said the service carried special meaning for him: “We missed peace in Gaza for two full years of war, and it destroyed so much, and it took love from us, but today’s return to church gives us hope that peace may come back.”

Because of the war that began on 7 October 2023, Christians in Gaza were denied Christmas services in 2023 and 2024. Their religious practice was limited to individual prayers inside churches or shelters, under constant bombardment and danger. This year the service was held without celebratory displays, a restrained gathering that reflected, in the report’s words, the attachment of Christians in Gaza to their faith despite the scale of casualties.

Nejla Saba, a 70-year-old Palestinian Christian, went to church to attend mass. “In our hearts we rejoice at the return of Christmas prayers, but deep sorrow for what happened in Gaza and for all those we lost during the war,” she said. “We hope that the war will end completely and that people will return home, that life will return as it used to be and that all will live in peace and security.” She added, “The past two years have been one of the most difficult for us, and it is true that the fighting has stopped and the relative calm is still open in our hearts.”

Salvatee, 67, lost her husband and son in what she described as an Israeli bombing of a church during the war. “There can be no real celebration and Gaza is devastating, and my son and husband have lost, but we are part of this people and sacrifices have taken place for all,” she said. She added, “Our prayers today are that the war will cease once and for all and that next year will be a new beginning for the people of Gaza, who deserve to live in peace.”

Hilda Ayad, 29, said this year’s Christmas was radically different from pre-war holidays. The church had kept its decorations simple, and activities were limited to mass. “Before the war, the houses were decorated with lights and every family put a Christmas tree in their house, and we brought candy and distributed it to the children in the church. Today we only pray,” she said. She also said that even after the ceasefire, “we still sometimes hear the sounds of explosions, but we try to hold on to life and hope that death in Gaza will end once and for all.”

Most Christians in Gaza live in the old town of Gaza City, an area close to the yellow line, which marks the Israeli army’s withdrawal line in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. Before the war, there were no more than 1,100 Christians in the Gaza Strip, most of whom belonged to the Greek Orthodox community, according to Lilias Al-Slaida, a member of the Board of Agents of the Arab Orthodox Church.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Arabic)