Israel wiped out 3% of Gaza's Christians since October 7 — Palestine

Israel has killed three percent of Gaza's Christian population since the start of its invasion in October last year, the Palestinian state minister for foreign affairs and expatriates has said.

Varsen Aghabekian Shahin released the figures on Tuesday in Ramallah during her meeting with a delegation from Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), including its executive director, Reverend Mae Eli se Cannon.

"The Israeli war has resulted in the death of 3 percent of Gaza's Christians and the destruction of churches amid restrictions (on Christians) in the West Bank," Shahin told the gathering, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

According to the state news agency WAFA, there are around 1,200 Christians in Gaza, home to around 2.4 million population.

At least three churches have been destroyed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since last October 7, Gaza's government media office estimated.

Shahin voiced her concern over "the threat to the Palestinian Christian presence" and called for international action "to halt the Israeli occupation's aggression against our people in Gaza and the West Bank."

She hailed efforts of CMEP "to advocate for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and to pressure the US to stop supplying weapons to Israel," the statement said.

Reverend Cannon underscored the "urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of arms supplies to Israel," it added.

"CMEP is exerting pressure on the US and persistently organising advocacy campaigns for the Palestinian cause," Cannon said.

CMEP is a coalition of over 30 churches and organisations striving to influence US policies to foster peace in the Middle East.

Genocidal war

Israel has continued its brutal invasion on Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the enclave.

Israel has killed more than 35,600 Palestinians, the vast majority of them babies, children and women, and wounded nearly 79,900 others since last October.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

The UN says some 1.1 million people in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger and that the territory is witnessing famine in some areas.

On Tuesday, the United Nations suspended food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah due to a lack of supplies and an untenable security situation caused by Israel’s expanding invasion. It warned that humanitarian operations across the territory were nearing collapse.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered it to ensure that its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

The chief prosecutor of the world's top war crimes court on Monday sought arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, including hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence chief, over their seven-month war in Gaza.