Several religious IDF soldiers establish ‘first Chabad House’ in Gaza Strip

IDF soldiers from the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement of Judaism have transformed a house in the northern Gaza city of Beit Hanoun into the “first Chabad House in Gaza.”

Chabad Houses around the world provide local and traveling Jews with kosher food, a place to pray and other religious services.

A writer for a Chabad website says on X that the soldiers will light Hanukkah candles during the upcoming festival, spreading “the light of Hanukkah to tens of thousands of IDF soldiers.”

“The soldier-led initiative is obviously not a formal Chabad center and was not organized nor authorized by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement,” a Chabad official in New York clarified.

בית חב"ד הראשון בעזה:
מספר לוחמים, חסידי חב"ד הנלחמים בעזה, פתחו את הבית חב"ד בצפון הרצועה בבית חאנון, שם יפיצו את אור בחנוכה לעשרות אלפי חיילי צה"ל במהלך החג. pic.twitter.com/FVq92t1Kuk

— שניאור אלפנביין (@ShneorElfenbein) December 6, 2023