Church in northern Gaza a short drive from Al-Shifa Hospital
Worshipers walked slowly in procession past the stone facade of Gaza’s only Catholic church on Palm Sunday, gathering to pray for peace as war raged around them.
The peaceful courtyard of the Sagrada Familia was packed with dozens of children and elderly people, belying the humanitarian crisis unfolding outside Gaza’s gates.
Inside the church, worshipers in costume lined wooden benches decorated with palm fronds for services marking the start of Easter week.
One young man spoke from the pulpit and said: “Our celebration of Palm Sunday is an opportunity for us and for the world to be filled with hope, kindness and peace.”
“To renew our hearts and fill them with love, giving and peace,” he said, wearing an ankle-length red robe.
Stern-faced altar boys in the front row listened quietly, while in the other rows were parishioners looking haggard after months of war.
The church in northern Gaza is a short drive from Shifa Hospital and its surrounding area, where fierce fighting broke out between Israeli forces and Hamas militants.
A recent United Nations-backed assessment said northern Gaza would slide into famine by May unless urgent action is taken.
The United Nations estimates that around 300,000 people remain in the area, and intense fighting has made it particularly difficult to deliver emergency food aid to the area.
“This year, we are not in the mood to celebrate,” Sister Nabila Saleh of Sagrada Familia told AFP.
“We did decorate, but we didn’t feel the joy of other years.”
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Oct. 7, which killed about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data.
The health ministry in Hamas-controlled areas said the total death toll during the nearly six months of war now stands at 32,226, mostly women and children.
‘It’s so heartbreaking’
While the Sagrada Familia’s facade, courtyards and worship areas within the church are largely intact, the site has been severely affected by the fighting.
Christian families from Gaza have found refuge in churches, and last December, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem reported that two Christian women were killed when Israeli fire opened fire on the church.
The Israeli army said there were “no reports of attacks on churches” and stressed that it “does not target civilians, regardless of their religious beliefs.”
Palestinian Christians far from Gaza celebrated Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, with the fate of war-torn people weighing heavily on them.
Thousands of people walked from the Besfaqi Church into the Old City to reenact the arrival of Jesus, during which palm fronds were placed at his feet.
Admirer Hanan Nasrallah, 62, said: “It’s very sad. I hope God brings peace to everyone and next year I hope everyone can celebrate together.”
Palestinian Christians have also criticized tighter movement restrictions on people in the occupied West Bank, which they say prevent many from attending celebrations in Jerusalem.
“A lot of my friends from the West Bank can’t come,” said Hanna Tams, a 30-year-old Palestinian dancer and choreographer.
“The Israeli authorities did not give them permission,” he said, calling it “really heartbreaking.”
“I wish the people of Gaza well, I hope they are safe, I hope they are with us,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
