GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli settlers affiliated with the Ateret Cohanim settler organization broke into the Petra Hotel, which is owned by the Greek Orthodox Church, on March 27, in an attempt to seize the premises. A small group remains in control of part of the premises, claiming to have documents proving their ownership of the hotel. The church says the documents are forged and has filed a complaint with the Israeli courts, demanding the settlers be expelled.

Representatives of Jerusalem's Christian communities organized a vigil March 29 to protest the hotel occupation. During the vigil, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III described the settler organization as “an extremist group that practices criminal activities and acts as if it is above the law.”

Wadih Abu Nassar, a spokesperson for the Council of Patriarch and Heads of the Churches of the Holy Land, told Al-Monitor that Jerusalem's Christians are living with increasing anxiety due to political and economic pressure that is pushing them to emigrate. He said many Christians are fleeing the Holy City amid the escalating conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, who have been targeting Jerusalem's Christian presence. He added, “Christians used to make up about 25% of the population of Jerusalem in 1922, but today they barely represent 2%.”

According to a 2019 statistical report by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, the city had a population of 936,000 across both eastern and western parts, including 563,000 Jews and 358,000 Arabs, by the end of 2019. Of the city’s 358,000 Arabs, 12,900 were Christians, while the rest were Muslims. The city also had 3,300 non-Arab Christians and about 11,100 residents unclassified by religion.