Gaza Christian community drops below 400 people under strict Hamas control, residents report
Accounts from former residents and security studies document mass exodus, conversion pressure, and second-class status.
The Christian presence in the Gaza Strip faces a historic decline. The population of Christians in the region dropped from around 5,000 believers before 2007 to between 300 and 400 people today, according to figures compiled by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and research institute reports.
The decline accelerated after Hamas seized full control of the territory in 2007. In an interview with CBN, a Christian identified as Naji, who grew up in Gaza before leaving, described how the regime completely restructured how everyday Gazans thought through mosques, teachings, and sermons.
According to Naji, Hamas' teachings altered how some local residents viewed non-Muslims. Christians were increasingly categorized as *dhimmi*, a traditional Islamic legal term applied to non-Muslim minorities living under Islamic rule in exchange for a subordinate legal status.
Social pressure and subordinate legal status
Under this view, Christians were treated as second-class citizens or outsiders in the very land where they were born. Naji explained that local residents began associating Christians with the Crusades or cross-worship, failing to recognize them as fellow Gazan citizens.
Naji also recalled instances of abduction and pressure. In one notable case, a Christian man faced intense pressure to convert to Islam during a television appearance. To avoid submitting to forced conversion, the man fled to Cyprus.
