‎ ‎Harare, (New Ziana) – A powerful Palestinian church body has accused Israel of carrying out a “deliberate and systematic campaign” to erase the Christian presence in the Holy Land, warning that the survival of one of the world’s oldest Christian communities is now hanging by a thread.

‎In a strongly worded statement, the Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs (HPCCA) in Palestine said the Christian population in the occupied territories has suffered an alarming decline — shrinking from 12.5 percent before 1948 to just one percent today.

The committee described Israel’s actions as a “reprehensible” and coordinated effort to push Christian Palestinians out of their ancestral homeland. ‎The statement comes amid escalating Israeli military operations in Gaza and intensifying pressure on Christian institutions across East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

‎Speaking from Harare, the Palestinian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Tamer Almassri, echoed the HPCCA’s concerns, accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and targeting religious heritage sites in what he called a “dismantling of a cultural legacy that spans over two thousand years.”

‎”The displacement of 90,000 Palestinian Christians during the Nakba, the forced closure of around 30 churches, and the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, which has killed 44 Palestinian Christians, are stark reminders of Israel’s relentless assault on the Christian community,” said Almassri.

‎He said sacred Christian sites have been targeted in the conflict, including the historic Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, one of the world’s oldest churches, and the Catholic Holy Family Church. Both were sheltering civilians at the time of Israeli airstrikes, he said, leading to dozens of deaths. ‎Medical and humanitarian facilities run by Christian institutions have also suffered.

The Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital and the Orthodox Arab Cultural and Social Center, critical support structures for Gaza’s embattled Christian population, have either been destroyed or severely damaged. ‎”These are not collateral damages — these are direct attacks on the Christian community’s ability to exist, to worship, to survive,” Almassri stated.

‎Beyond the conflict zones, the HPCCA and Palestinian officials accuse Israel of employing bureaucratic and legal tools to choke Christian life.

In East Jerusalem and the West Bank, they claim Israeli authorities have frozen church bank accounts, imposed crippling taxes on religious properties, and seized lands belonging to the Armenian and Orthodox churches — measures widely seen as aimed at financially and physically marginalizing Christian communities.

‎In Bethlehem, the revered birthplace of Jesus Christ, illegal settlement expansion, military checkpoints, and the towering separation wall have made life “intolerable” for the dwindling Christian population, Almassri added. ‎He also took aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently told the United Nations General Assembly that Israel was safeguarding Christian communities. ‎

“The recent address by Israeli fascist leader Benjamin Netanyahu… is a cynical and misleading attempt to mask the true intentions of the Israeli government,” said Almassri. ‎”Netanyahu is using Christian suffering as a public relations tool while his government bulldozes churches, blocks access to holy sites, and silences local Christian voices,” he added.

‎The HPCCA emphasized that the defense of Christian presence in Palestine should not be viewed through sectarian lens but rather as a global moral, legal, and human rights responsibility.‎”This is a systematic erasure, not only of people, but of history and identity,” said the committee. ‎”This is not protection — it’s propaganda.”

‎Calling on the international community to intervene, Ambassador Almassri urged world powers to hold Israel accountable: ‎”Taking a stand for the rights of Palestinian Christians is not an act of partisanship — it is a duty to uphold justice, human dignity, and the shared heritage of humankind.”

‎Christian leaders in Palestine warn that unless urgent international action is taken, their centuries-old community — once a vibrant part of the Holy Land’s religious tapestry — may be reduced to a fading memory.

New Ziana ‎