Analysis: What does the future hold for the small Christian community of Gaza?

With the steady de-escalation of tensions in the Gaza Strip and the waves of peace blowing over the area, a question that persistently arises about the future that awaits the Christian community in Gaza, this community which one day numbered over 2,000 people and has nowadays dwindled to merely several hundreds.

The dwindling presence of Christians of Gaza is quite alarming as it serves as a miniature of the Christian presence in the Middle East, which has been plagued by violence and persecution over the past decades.

It is undeniable that in the midst of the conflagration that erupted in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 the Catholic Church devoted arduous efforts to care for the small Christian community, with the late Pope Francis making frequent calls to enquire about these suffering  people, while expressing full support and care for them. Furthermore, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa made several trips to the Gaza Strip with efforts to ensure the people’s safely and to provide them with the urgent needs that ensure their sustenance.

These people are currently pondering their future whereby over the past two years, they forgot what normal life looks like, as they were putting mattresses on the floor, living in groups of relatives and acquaintances.

Generally speaking, the future for Gaza's small Christian community is perilous, while the risk of "extinction" is in the offing in the wake of the protected instability, displacement, and a severe humanitarian crisis. This community is facing an accelerated "exodus" or merely "extinction" as many of them were killed, injured, and displaced, at a time when their homes, churches, and hospitals are damaged. It is dolorous and saddening that those who remain are homeless, sheltering in churches, and relying on limited resources, facing the choice between leaving the region to join families abroad or staying in need  for everything.

With these people ruminating about the consequences and implications the dilemma they are experiencing, it is important to recall that they are suffering from displacement and homelessness, while they are vulnerable to famine as they suffer from infrastructure damage which impacts education, health services, and housing among others. The dilemma they encounter is to choose between staying or leaving, as this is a painful choice marked by the lack of easy exit routes from Gaza.

In the midst of this gloomy situation, the question that arises is what is next? With reports circulating that rebuilding the Gaza Strip will take innumerable years, will these people continue to look for a missing hope in a future that hopefully would provide them with meager resources of life which might ensure them an honorable life?

The prevalent situation is quite thorny and a future solution that may ensure social integrity and a promising future is quite abysmal. Sustainable provision of daily needs is never the panacea. Then, what does the future hold for the small Christian community of Gaza?

What is needed at the moment is to look for radical solutions that promise these people a modest and promising life as is the case with other peoples of the world. They have suffered for years and their suffering seems to be endless. What is needed at the moment is to look for practical solutions that may extricate them from the imbroglio in which they are embroiled, so as to ensure them a bright  future that promises them stability and satisfaction.