JERUSALEM/GAZA: Christians in the Gaza Strip will not be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year, Israeli authorities said on Thursday.
Gazan Christians will be granted permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to Israel and the occupied West Bank, home to many sites holy to Christians, a spokeswoman for Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians said.
Israel tightly restricts movements out of the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas.
The spokeswoman said that following “security orders,” Gazans would be allowed to travel abroad via Israel’s Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan but not to visit cities in Israel or the West Bank.
Gaza has only around 1,000 Christians — most of them Greek Orthodox — among a population of 2 million in the narrow coastal strip.
This year’s decision is a break with usual policy. Last year, Israel granted permits for close to 700 Gazan Christians to travel to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities that draw thousands of pilgrims each holiday season.
Gisha, an Israeli rights group, said the ban points “to the intensifying of access restrictions between the two parts of the Palestinian territory,” calling it “a deepening of Israel’s separation policy” for the West Bank and Gaza.
The Palestinians seek to set up a state in the West Bank and Gaza, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel in the past has defended its restrictions on Gazans traveling to the West Bank, saying many Palestinians from Gaza stay on illegally when granted short-term permits.
In Gaza, one Christian woman voiced hope Israel would reverse its policy so she could visit her family in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
“Every year I pray they will give me a permit so I can celebrate Christmas and see my family,” Randa El-Amash, 50, said, adding: “It will be more joyful to celebrate in Bethlehem and in Jerusalem.”
Christian leaders in Jerusalem condemned the move, but added that they are appealing to Israeli authorities to reverse the decision.
“Other people around the world are allowed to travel to Bethlehem. We think Gaza’s Christians should have that right, too,” said Wadie Abu Nassar, an adviser to local church leaders.
Israel bars Gaza’s Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem at Christmas
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Israel bars Gaza’s Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem at Christmas
- Gazan Christians will be granted permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to Israel and the occupied West Bank
- Gaza has only around 1,000 Christians — most of them Greek Orthodox — among a population of 2 million
Syrian authorities find remains of five victims of Assad regime
- The remains of the individuals were scattered on open ground near a house in the village of Al-Qashla, near Manbij
LONDON: Syrian authorities completed the recovery of the remains of at least five individuals in eastern Aleppo province, believed to have died due to the brutal practices of the deposed Bashar Assad regime.
The Syrian Civil Defense found the remains of individuals scattered on open ground near a house in the village of Al-Qashla, near Manbij, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
They have been surveying and investigating the area since Monday, when the first report of human remains came through, in coordination with the National Authority for the Missing.
Authorities have found multiple mass graves in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Last week, authorities reported that the remains of 14 individuals were found in the Adra industrial area, northeast of Damascus, during excavation for mill foundations in the area.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, nearly 177,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Syria since March 2011.
