GAZA CITY, Palestine (ABP) — Fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants has damaged a Baptist church in Gaza.
On Dec. 27, the Israeli Air Force launched a series of attacks on targets throughout Gaza retaliating against rocket and mortar fire against Israeli towns and villages by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.
According to media reports, windows at Gaza Baptist Church were shattered when an Israeli air strike on a nearby police station killed about 40 people. All church members were reported safe, as most people are too afraid to go outside their homes.
It isn’t the first time for the only Protestant church in the Gaza Strip to be caught in the crossfire between battling forces. Palestinian police have twice seized the six-story building, which also includes public library and one of the area’s few breast-cancer clinics, as a sniper post.
Hanna Massad, pastor of Gaza Baptist Church, described the plight of Palestinian Christians in a message at last year’s New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta.
 Hanna Massad, pastor of Gaza Baptist Church, gave a testimony at last year’s New Baptist Covenant Celebration. |
“We live between two fires,” he said. “The fire of the Israel occupation; the siege we live under,” he said, severely restricts travel. Israel’s refusal to grant a visa to Massad’s wife once kept the couple separated for 10 months, even though authorities knew he was a pastor and a “man of peace.”
“Also we experience the fire of the militant Muslim, who is not happy about what we do and who we are,” Massad said.
Terrorists twice bombed the building of the Palestinian Bible Society, and last year militants kidnapped and executed the manager of the society’s Christian bookstore.
Massad said most American Christians know that the state of Israel was established in 1948, but fewer are aware that when that happened 700,000 Palestinians, including 55,000 Christians, were made refugees.
Massad said his father’s family lived the Gaza Strip all their lives, but lost property, even though they had the official documents to prove ownership.
“Because you experience the grace of God and love of God, you are able to forgive and move on,” he said. “But if you didn’t experience his grace, this is going to create bitterness and hatred in your heart. And this is why the fights between the Palestinians and the Jewish people are more intense and more and more difficult.”
With 1.5 million residents, the Gaza Strip is one of world’s most densely populated places, increasing the likelihood of collateral damage when fighting erupts.
On Jan. 6, the 11th day of fighting that began eight days after a six-month truce between Israel and the militants expired, at least 30 people died in a strike near a United Nations school where hundreds of people sought refuge from fighting.
The New York Times said Palestinian medical officials estimate the death toll so far at more than 560, and the U.N. said about a quarter of those killed were civilians.
The U.S. State Department has called for a “durable and lasting cease-fire” in the conflict. President-elect Barack Obama, who has been criticized for not speaking out on the Gaza attacks, broke his silence Jan. 6, calling the loss of civilian lives “a source of deep concern” and vowing to “hit the ground running” on brokering Mideast peace when he takes office Jan. 20.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.
Related ABP stories:
Manager of Christian bookstore in Gaza found murdered (10/9/2007)
Police again seize Baptist church in Gaza during latest unrest (8/19/2007)
Palestinian Bible Society building bombed in latest Gaza incident (4/20/2007)
Palestinian police seize church in gunfight with rival party (2/6/2007)