Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, wished a Merry Christmas to Christians worldwide on Monday, drawing widespread backlash on social media, where users responded by pointing to Israeli attacks on Christianity in Palestine, including during the genocide in Gaza.
“To all our Christian friends around the world, Merry Christmas!” Netanyahu wrote on X, alongside a video in which he claimed that “Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian community is thriving.”
He prompted a wave of responses on X, with users sharing Israeli attacks on Christianity in Palestine and Lebanon, both before and during the two-year genocide in Gaza.
https://x.com/islamandlyfe/status/2004048088688693448?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
https://x.com/huk06/status/2004091234948993335?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
https://x.com/suppressednws1/status/2003894533675962387?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
https://x.com/briantashman/status/2003912856081932775?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
They also shared a circulating video from Haifa in occupied Palestine showing Israeli forces raiding a Christmas festival attended by Palestinian Christians this week. During the raid, Israeli forces arrested three people, using force, including a man dressed as Santa Claus and destroyed musical equipment.
https://x.com/truthtellerftm/status/2003905952232456472?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
Palestinian Christians Under Israeli Attacks
Most of Palestine’s Christians live in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, totalling about 47,000 to 50,000, with an additional 1,000 in Gaza before the Israeli assault.
Palestinian Christians are subjected to Israeli military control, settler violence, apartheid, and a system that discriminates against them.
Across Palestine, Christian communities and their churches have faced several attacks by Israeli forces and settlers.
Between January 2024 and September 2025, the Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC) documented at least 201 incidents of violence against Christians, primarily committed by Orthodox Jews targeting international clergy or individuals displaying Christian symbols.
These incidents include multiple forms of harassment, including spitting, verbal abuse, vandalism, assaults and more.
The majority (137) of these incidents took place in Jerusalem’s Old City.
https://x.com/thedoctorregen/status/2003970826627125370?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
During the two-year genocide in Gaza, Israeli forces attacked numerous places of worship, including churches.
https://x.com/drewhlive/status/2003932854372458628?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
An Open Doors report from early 2025 estimated that roughly 75 percent of Christian-owned homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since the start of Israel’s genocidal war.
On October 19, 2023, Israeli forces attacked Gaza’s oldest Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, killing at least 18 displaced people, including children who were seeking shelter in the church. The church, built in 1150, was Gaza’s oldest active place of worship and had been serving as a multi-faith sanctuary for hundreds of civilians.
Israeli forces have also repeatedly attacked the Holy Family Church, Gaza’s only Roman Catholic church, which has long served as a refuge for the local Christian community.
On November 4, 2023, an air attack on the church compound partially destroyed a school inside the complex. The attacks continued in July 2025, when an Israeli tank shell struck the church, killing three people and wounding several others.
https://x.com/djangoxtra/status/2004128347752939536?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
The Holy Family Church has long held symbolic importance beyond Gaza. Throughout the war, the late Pope Francis called the parish almost daily, maintaining a direct line to the besieged community.
IOF Also Wishes Merry Christmas While Attacking Gaza
The Israeli military also wished a “Merry Christmas to all those celebrating”.
https://x.com/idf/status/2003883147512226288?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
Meanwhile, a video widely shared on social media shows Israeli soldiers blowing up homes of displaced Palestinian families in Gaza on Christmas eve, despite the ceasefire which took effect on October 10.
https://x.com/ytirawi/status/2003942935944220763?s=46&t=t_-JFgpXqgMIkVsuBfWELw
“How, Then, Can We Not Think of the Tents in Gaza?”
Pope Leo has decried conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his first Christmas sermon as pontiff, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Leo, the first American pope, said on Thursday that the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world.
“How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” he asked.
Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa also spoke of his visit to Gaza over the weekend, where he said “suffering is still present” despite the ceasefire. In the Strip, hundreds of thousands of people face a bleak winter in makeshift tents.
“The wounds are deep, yet I have to say, here too, there too, their proclamation of Christmas resounds,” Pizzaballa said. “When I met them, I was struck by their strength and desire to start over.”
