Some say that the community is in danger of losing its 1,600-year foothold in the enclave and that it is far from certain those who have fled will ever feel safe enough to return home.

This Christmas season, like last year's, the Christian community in Gaza are spending the holiday mourning incalculable losses amid the ongoing war with Israel.

The occupation has systematically destroyed every aspect of life in the Gaza Strip, with healthcare being among the most affected sectors," says Dr Fadel Naim - Anadolu Ajansı

Israel ordered the closure and evacuation on Sunday of one of the last hospitals still partly functioning in a besieged area on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, forcing medics to search for a way to bring hundreds of patients and staff to safety.

U.S. and Arab mediators are working round-the-clock to hammer out a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, sources close to the talks said, while in the Gaza Strip medics said Israeli strikes had killed 13 Palestinians on Thursday.

The Health Ministry said 45,028 people have been killed and 106,962 have been wounded since the start of the war in October 2023.

In most years, by this time, the celebrations of the glorious holidays have long been underway in Gaza. The Gaza Strip is a small area inhabited by 2,300,000 citizens, between 1,000 and 1,300 of them Christians who live in safety and peace among the Muslim majority.

Palestinians pray over the bodies of the victims of an Israeli strike on a home late Saturday before the funeral outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it has again killed several Hamas militants in Gaza City. A head of Hamas' weapons production department and a company commander of the militia were killed in a targeted airstrike on a former school building in Gaza City,

The rights group joins a growing chorus of critics accusing Israel of committing genocidal acts in its war in Gaza.

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in northern Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on December 23. The soldiers were taking part in a raid against terrorists in Beit Hanoun when they were killed by an improvised explosive device.