Gaza City, Gaza Strip – In the church of the Holy Family of Gaza City, Fouad Abu Youssef, 34, wears a shirt in tatters and worn while he passes through a pile of recovered clothes, remains of what had been his house, hoping to find a change of clothes for his five -year -old daughter, Layla.

During the last two years of the War of Israel against Gaza, Fouad, a member of the little Christian minority of Gaza, buried his sister after an air strike and given his own house and the house of his family in the district of Tal al-Hawa in Gaza City. The conditions have become so disastrous that Fouad, his elderly parents and five brothers and sisters with their families were forced to live in a neighboring cemetery before finally finding refuge in the church.

For more than a year, the Abu Youssef family has lived in the church districts in the Zeitoun district. They survived an attentive call with death when an Israeli tan shell struck the church in July, killing three people and injuring several others. And now, after Israel said he was preparing for a major assault on Gaza City and called him a “dangerous combat zone” last week, the family can not help fear the roof over the head and return to the streets, where it is even more dangerous.

Although the Church of the Holy Family was not placed by Israel in the areas marked for expulsions, the other churches of Gaza City, including the Greek Orthodox church of Saint Porphyrius and the Anglican Church St Philip, were. But the nearly 550 displaced people were absent in the Church of the Holy Family are still deserving from the Israeli army. The church has been attacked so many times before – despite the Israeli guarantees that it does not target places of worship.

Most people there, including Fouad, refuse to leave, even if Israel orders them to evacuate in the coming days. This feeling is shared in the other churches, where the majority of the occupants decided to stay despite the fact that Israel divides south.

The leaders of the Christian community of Gaza declared in a joint declaration published on August 26 that the forced displacement would represent “nothing less than a death sentence”.

“Among those who asked for a shelter in the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and poorly fed because of the difficulties of the last months,” wrote the patriarchs. “For this reason, the clergy and the nuns decided to stay and continue to take care of all those who will be in the compounds.”

Clergy to stay in their churches

“This decision came with total freedom,” said Farid Gibran, the spokesman for the Church of the Sainte-Famille, saying that the shelters in the church have the freedom to leave if they wish.

The decision of the church leaders to stay in Gaza City inspired many of those who live in the Church of the Sainte-Famille to stay despite the growing fears of the Israeli attacks. Many, like Moussa Saad Ayyad, 41, father of four children aged six to 14, believe that the relationship of the church with the Vatican could guarantee relative security.

“We came to the church because it looks like the sole place, a place where we can be together and find help. His bonds abroad offer us protection,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “But if the danger worsens, each of us may have no choice but to flee south by themselves.”

For others like Fouad, the prospect of a second displacement and the pressure that this would place on his daughter and his elderly prevent him from leaving. But he also thinks that the stay is an act of faith and a form of resistance against the Israeli occupation, which has already cost him so much.

“They took my house and my loved ones, but they will not take my right to stay here on my land, no matter how dark it becomes,” Fouad told Tel Aviv Tribune, looking at his daughter sleeping.

Inside the complex, the church leaders told Tel Aviv Tribune that the Church had not put pressure on the occupants to stay and currently, instead of panic and chaos, “a spirit of solidarity prevails among the Christian and Muslim refugees, who work with vigilance to ensure food and water for children and the elderly”.

A priest, speaking under the cover of anonymity because he was not allowed to comment, said that the Christian community of Gaza had a meaning far beyond his small number.

“Our presence (in the Church) represents centuries of historical continuity in this country,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “We are here to pray, serve and testify to hope in the midst of darkness.”

A sanctuary under fire

Since Israel announced plans for the first time for a ground operation in Gaza City last month, Moussa and other residents were seized by anxiety, never knowing when the attack could begin. For 23 months, the church sheltered it as well as his family, but he remembers the moments when even this security was not assured, including the July attack.

The Israeli army said the building had been hit by stray fire, and Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened to learn the loss of life and injuries caused by the military attack”.

Today, while Israel forges its military activities in Gaza City, Moussa does not know what is the surest for her children, if necessary.

The church complex had been criticized in December 2023, when two women who were refined inside were killed by an Israeli elite shooter.

A few days earlier, aerial obstacle bursts had damaged the parish complex, destroying solar panels, water tanks and other installations.

“Before the war had fun, we lived normal and balanced lives in Gaza, … simple human lives with satisfied basic needs,” said Moussa.

Samer Farha, father of three, shared the same feelings.

“The most difficult thing we are experiencing is to see our hungry children,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “We are trying to make them feel safe, but the bombing sounds make every moment heavy.”

Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of the Holy Family Church, described the decision of the leaders and parishioners to remain like “the Church as a place of worship and life”.

“For these refugees, he remains more than the challenge,” said Romanelli, who was injured in the July attack and is still recovering, said Tel Aviv Tribune. “It is symbolic, (the) protection of a place embodying the history of their community.”

The Holy Family Church, the only Catholic parish of Gaza, has long symbolic importance beyond Gaza. Throughout the war, the late Pope Francis described the parish almost daily, maintaining a direct line to the besieged community.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, visited Gaza in July after the tank shell hitting, bringing food and medical supplies with Théophilos III, the Greek orthodox patriarch.

‘Even if it means dying’

While the displaced by Gaza City begin to evacuate, the Church of the Holy Family is one of the last Christian sanctuaries of Gaza City.

Maryam al-Romr, 69, who was absent in the church with her grandson after his house in Tal al-Hawa was destroyed, told Tel Aviv Tribune: “I will not leave here, even if it means dying. This church is my last house, and I will not abandon it.”

However, for each faithful like Al-OMR, others are considering an impossible choice.

“We are grateful to international statements,” said a displaced resident who asked not to be appointed for fear of being isolated for his thoughts of leaving. “But we are still faced with shortages of food, drugs and fuel. We need more than words. “

While Night Falls and Fouad is preparing the sleeping area of ​​his family, irony is not lost for him: the Church of Sainte-Famille, named after the original refugees of Christianity fleeing violence in ancient Palestine, now houses families confronted with the same impossible choice between security and the house.

His daughter cries up to hunger, and he holds her close, whispering words of comfort while removing her own despair, going between wanting to leave and wanting to stay.

His voice flicker admits: “I don’t want anyone to see my pain. Take me out of this country. “

However, a few moments later, relying on one of the walls of the church, he reaffirms his determination: “We will stay here, everything that comes.”

This article is published in collaboration with EGAB.