Middle East Briefing – January 2024

The Middle East and North Africa begins the new year dominated by the war in Gaza and an under-reported conflict in Sudan.

The Gaza Strip has been devastated by over 100 days of war with Israel. A displaced and starving population has been squeezed into ever smaller pockets of land while fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces intensifies. In Sudan, nine months of war between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues to displace hundreds of thousands, adding to 7 million who have already fled their homes.

In Gaza, Israel responded to the 7 October terror attack and taking of hostages by Hamas, by vowing to destroy the military and political wings of Hamas, its capability to endanger Israel again, and to free the Israeli hostages. Israel’s aerial bombardment has claimed at least 24,000 lives – the majority of them women and children – injured over 60,000 Gazans and displaced nearly 85 per cent of the population. The level of destruction of housing units and infrastructure led UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths to say that the enclave was “uninhabitable”. There are warnings of looming famine and the spread of disease.

Christian premises hit

Over 300 health workers have been killed amid over 300 reported Israeli attacks on clinics and hospitals. The Israeli army says it found evidence of Hamas tunnels and command posts constructed near or beneath some of these. The Anglican church-funded Al-Ahli hospital was for a time the only functioning hospital in Gaza City. It returned to operating after it was struck, possibly by a misfired Gaza missile. But church authorities announced on 19 December that the army had detained hospital staff and ordered the hospital to close. Last week we heard that it was again able to offer limited treatment. Pray for all medical staff in the enclave, working in near-impossible conditions.

Many have voiced concerns that Gaza’s small Christian community could disappear. Numbers were already down from 3,500 at the start of the century to less than a thousand, and Lutheran pastor Mitri Raheb estimated that 3 per cent have been killed since the start of the war. Some 18 died when nearby shelling damaged the ancient St Porphyrius Orthodox Church on 19 December. Before Christmas, hundreds of Christians sheltering in Gaza’s only Catholic Church came under Israeli siege for several days during which time two women were killed by snipers. Then, on 26 December a tank shell destroyed the Baptist church. Fortunately, no-one was sheltering there at the time.

Escalation fears

Last week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made diplomatic visits to Israel and the wider region to prevent the war escalating to neighbouring countries. Fears of escalation grew, however, as targeted strikes were made on Hezbollah figures, including a top commander, and one which killed the Hamas deputy chief, Saleh al Arouri, in Beirut. In response to Hezbollah missile barrages, Israel said it was looking to push the group back from the border in order to resettle Israelis in its northern towns. One positive development has been a statement from Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister that the country is willing to start negotiations with Israel to achieve long-term stability on its southern border. Despite a ceasefire since 2006, Israel and Lebanon are still technically at war.

Spillover from the war is also affecting the important Red Sea shipping route through the Suez Canal. Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen have mounted drone and missile attacks on shipping they claim is linked to Israel. Continued attacks included drones fired at US and UK warships recently deployed to the sea. Last Thursday the two naval forces replied with missile strikes on 12 Houthi sites in what UK Prime Minister Sunak described as “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence”.

Responses

Around 130 Israeli hostages are still held by Hamas and associated groups. An estimated 120,000 Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Sunday calling for their release. Led by some of the hostages released in November, families of those still detained are urging the government to prioritise their return above the military campaign.

Christians in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Jordan celebrated Christmas this year without any festive trappings. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bethlehem drew international media attention when it placed Jesus not in a manger, but under a pile of rubble. SAT-7’s Arabic channel interviewed Rev Munther Isaac, the pastor of the church, on one of its special Christmas programmes, as well as broadcasting a live midnight service from Bethlehem.

Last week, the International Court of Justice heard evidence presented by South Africa that Israel’s actions and intentions in Gaza amount to a violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Israeli lawyers countered the charges on Friday.

SAT-7 ARABIC continues to use its programming to inform, support and encourage believers in the Holy Land. During December the channel aired interviews with church leaders in the region who continue to call for an end to the violence.  On You Are Not Alone, Pastor Nizar Toma from Nazareth expressed his desire to see a timely resolution to the conflict. “Our message as Christian Arabs living in the region is a message of peace,” he said. “The Church is politically unbiased, but our hearts are breaking for those in pain and the victims… We have a role to help all those in need. I want to say to the leaders of the world to seek peace.”

Safe haven invaded

In Sudan the fierce struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitaries known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues as both parties resist international calls for a negotiated peace. In the capital of Khartoum, the army intensified its aerial bombardment of areas where the RSF is embedded and reclaimed control over some districts of neighbouring Omdurman. The RSF, however, now controls four of the five states in the Darfur region, where it has been accused of the ethnic cleansing of African Massalit civilians. This has led two former rebel movements that made peace with the government in 2017 to join forces with the army.

Of special concern was the RSF takeover of the city of Wad Madani, central Gezira state, in December. Located 120 miles south of the capital, this had been a safe haven for 500,000 displaced civilians and a hub for international aid. Around 250,000 civilians are reported to have fled again with local volunteers helping to evacuate them to currently safe areas. Worrying, too, are reports that the army is targeting some of the volunteers. Many are members of the “resistance committees” whose 2018-19 protests toppled President Omar Al-Bashir. Bashir loyalists within the army are accused of settling scores by arresting and torturing dozens of these activists. Furthermore, on 12 January, the Evangelical Church in Wad Madani was set on fire and partially destroyed, with local church leaders holding the RSF responsible. This is the latest in a series of attacks on churches and monasteries during the course of the recent conflict.

In Egypt, President Sisi won a third term in December’s elections. He took almost 90 per cent of the vote, although his only serious challenger withdrew from the race citing intimidation and violence against his supporters. The country’s economy continues to struggle under a massive burden of foreign debt. Houthi attacks on shipping using the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal have also led to a 40 per cent fall in revenues from the canal this year. Despite the weak economy, plans have been announced to double the size of the new capital Egypt has been building 28 miles east of Cairo. The aim is to accommodate the country’s fast-growing population of 105 million and boost economic development. On the church front, the Anglican Church announced the launch of a new international church in the Red Sea tourist resort of Hurghada.

Religious freedom

Full freedom of religion and belief continues to be denied in much of the region, however. In Algeria, where most Protestant churches have been forcibly closed in the last six years, a pioneering pastor and vice-president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) has been sentenced in absentia to two years in prison. Rev Youssef Ourahmane was charged with holding unauthorised worship in an unauthorised building.

However, there is reason to hope. Since 2008, the Algerian church has grown from 10,000 to 200,000 believers, known as “The Kabyle revival”. SAT-7 continues to support this movement through faith-filled programming in the local Kabyle language and Algerian dialect of Arabic.

In Iran, authorities once again used the Christmas season as an opportunity to raid and arrest Christian believers. Article Eighteen reports that four Christians including an Afghan refugee were arrested in Shahria, west of Tehran, another at his home on Christmas Eve in Dezful, western Iran, and three others in Ahvaz and Izeh. Pray that they will know Jesus’ presence with them.

SAT-7 PARS harnessed its seasonal programming to encourage and give hope to believers in the country. The show Christmas Passion brought Persian worship, both traditional carols and contemporary songs, to viewers in both Iran and Afghanistan. Our viewer support teams continue to have personal conversations with many isolated believers in Iran, providing practical as well as spiritual advice and support.

Some positive news came from Armenia and Azerbaijan last month. After the latter’s offensive on the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in September, almost the entire population of the area evacuated, mostly to Armenia. Since then, both countries have been engaged in peace talks to recognise each other’s borders and have exchanged seven drafts of a potential peace agreement. After 30 years of conflict and tensions between the two nations, pray for a just and peaceful outcome.