Palestinian Christians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem marked the second gloomy Easter in terms of punishment and Israel’s war with Gaza.
In the Gaza Strip, where food and aid are not permitted by Israeli forces for nearly 50 days, people observed Easter on Sunday at St. Porphyrius’ Church of Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City, amid death and destruction.
The Easter celebration was limited to religious rituals as families cancelled other gatherings in fear that more bombs would be dropped, fearing that they killed dozens of people in the enclaves on Sunday.
Israeli forces bombed the Holy Porphyry compound in October 2023, just days after the war began in the aftermath of a Hamas-led attack on Israel. Israel said it was targeting “terrorists.”
The attack killed at least 18 evacuated Palestinians who had been seeking shelter from the church. Since the start of the war, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.
During a brief appearance before thousands of Catholic pilgrims gathered at St. Peter’s Square for the Vatican’s outdoor Easter Mass, Pope Francis updated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
He also called on the Palestinian armed group Hamas and other groups to release the remaining prisoners of war held in Gaza.
Heavy restrictions on the occupied West Bank
Israeli authorities prevented many Christians, including Palestinians, from accessing the holy land for Easter on the occupied West Bank.
Israeli police clashed with Christian worshippers and priests to try to access the holy grave church in occupied East Jerusalem.
The old town of Jerusalem has effectively been transformed into a military front post base by Israeli authorities, said Fati Nima, Palestinian policy fellow at Al Shabaka’s think tank.
“Some people will say there are more soldiers, security and police officers around the sacred tomb than worshippers,” he told Al Jazeera, Ramala, on the West Bank, on Sunday.
“There are dozens of checkpoints in the city. These restrictions have an impact not only on Palestinian Christians from the West Bank, but also from Jerusalem itself and the territory of 1948.”
Nimaa said people were beaten and Israeli officers and spectators directed Christians to insult and slander.
This year, only about 6,000 Palestinians from the West Bank received permission to attend Easter Services, and even representatives of the Palestinian Vatican were denied entry into the church.
Nimaa said the harsher Israeli chokeholds in the holy sites over the past few years have reduced the number of worshippers of Palestinian origin.
“This is all part of a broader war with Palestinian culture and identity. Israel basically says they have exclusive claims to Jerusalem and Palestine,” he said.
“I don’t have permission to go as a pastor.”
Mithri Raheb, Palestinian pastor and theologian and founder and president of Dar Al-Kalama University in Bethlehem, agreed that the current restrictions in Israel are the most difficult.
“As a pastor, I myself have no permission to go to Holy Week, the most important week for Christians throughout the year, as Jesus was crucified and resurrected in Jerusalem,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The Palestinian and Christian communities that have been there for two thousand years can’t go there to celebrate and mark the place where it all happened.”
Laheb said incitement against Palestinian Christians, particularly clergy members, has also been on the rise in dozens of Israeli settlers reported this year.
“One of the first things you read about Jesus in the church was that he seemed to have been led by the Lamb. But when you heard this today as a Palestinian Christian, I think that our people were led by the Massacre, considering what was going on in Gaza.”
Supported by armed police and soldiers, Israeli settlers and politicians have been increasingly raiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque grounds to hold Talmud rituals and challenge their status quo.
Non-Muslims are not permitted to worship in the third and most sacred place of Islam, the third and most sacred place of Islam, as part of the current situation agreement the Israeli government claims it is committed to.
Pope Tawador II, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, strongly condemned the onslaught of Israel in Gaza.
“Palestinians are exposed to the most frightening forms of injustice in everyday life amid the destruction of their homeland,” he told state television at the Easter celebration.
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