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Christians in the Middle East

William, a nine-year-old Armenian Christian boy from Jerusalem, who was pepper-sprayed by a Jewish extremist on Yom Kippur, speaks to Channel 13, in an interview aired September 26, 2026. (Screenshot)
September 28, 2026, 1:42 pm
Suspect arrested in Yom Kippur pepper-spraying of Christian child in Jerusalem
Police say 22-year-old from Haredi-majority settlement of Ganei Modi’in arrested in northern Israel after assault, in which extremists attacked child upon hearing him speak English
By Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff
Priests gather at the garden of the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, northern Israel, on August 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
August 14, 2026, 7:02 pm
Israel’s Christians rely on faith and allies as they fear rising harassment
Many Christians, who make up less than 2% of the country’s population, feel the government isn’t doing enough to protect them
By AP
Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, August 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
August 20, 2025, 3:01 pm
Pope Leo to visit Lebanon, cardinal says, in pontiff’s likely first trip abroad
Tour expected to include Turkey, as part of celebrations in late November for the 1,700th anniversary of a major early Church council
By Joshua McElwee
People and rescuers inspect the damage at the site of a reported suicide attack at the Saint Elias church in Damascus's Dwelaa area on June 22, 2025. (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
June 24, 2025, 11:48 pm
Shadowy jihadist group claims Damascus church attack, as government blames ISIS
Saraya Ansar al-Sunna — possibly an offshoot of Syrian president’s old rebel group HTS — says it ‘blew up the Saint Elias church,’ killing 25, over unspecified ‘provocation’
By AFP
Syrian Christians gather for Sunday Mass at the Church of Saint George in the town of Maaloula, Syria, January 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
February 28, 2025, 2:17 pm
Christian town in Syria keeps Aramaic alive, amid fears for future under new regime
Residents of Maaloula, one of the few places where the ancient language is still spoken, worry they’ll be blamed for ousted leadership’s abuses, targeted in ‘revenge’ attacks
By Kareem Chehayeb
Ishaq Nissan, a Syriac Orthodox Christian, rings the church bell in the northeastern Syrian village of Tel Tal, currently controlled by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, January 27, 2025. (AP/Bernat Armangue)
February 21, 2025, 8:30 am
Syria’s Christians mark 10 years since deadly ISIS attack amid worry for their future
More than 200 Christians were taken hostage during Feb. 2015 assault, leading to mass exodus; those who stayed behind now watch warily as former Islamist rebel leader takes charge
By BASSEM MROUE
Children on the top of an ousted Syrian government forces tank that was left on a street in an Alawite neighborhood, in Homs, Syria, December 26, 2024. (AP Photo/ Leo Correa)
December 27, 2024, 1:44 pm
Syria’s Homs settles into uneasy calm after brief eruption of sectarian violence
Security forces flood major mixed city, patrolling and checking IDs, days after gunfire at protest by members of Alawite minority; Christians say new regime protecting churches
By ABBY SEWELL
Archbishop Butros Meriati leads the Christmas morning mass at the Armenian Catholic Church in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, on December 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
December 14, 2024, 7:58 am
Can Syria’s dwindling Christian community survive under jihadi rebel rule?
Once loyal to the regime, Syrian Christians have ostensibly joined the national celebration after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. But can they trust the new Islamist rulers’ pledges?
By Gianluca Pacchiani
Franciscan friars and sisters pray during a mass for the Feast of the Ascension on The Rock of the Ascension at The Chapel of the Ascension in Jerusalem on May 20, 2020. The Feast of the Ascension commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
June 24, 2024, 8:37 am
Churches protest Israel’s demand they pay property tax, say it’s undoing status quo
Though they’re major landowners, churches traditionally were exempt from property taxes; leaders call warning letters a ‘coordinated attack’ on Christian presence in Holy Land
By Julia Frankel
A screenshoot from video footage taken from a CCTV camera, shows two masked men holding guns inside Santa Maria Church in Istanbul, Turkey, January 28, 2024. (IHA via AP)
January 29, 2024, 12:58 pm
Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly shooting at Istanbul church
Group says it carried out attack on ‘gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony’; two gunmen arrested
By ROBERT BADENDIECK
Turkish police officers stand guard in a cordoned off area outside the Santa Maria church after a shooting, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
January 28, 2024, 3:21 pm
Worshiper shot dead in targeted attack on church in Istanbul
Country’s interior minister says manhunt launched to catch attackers; motive of shooting unclear, but Istanbul mayor says gunmen only fired at victim
By Agencies
Sheikh Majid bin Saud Al Mualla, chairman of the Umm Al Quwain Department of Tourism and Archaeology, front right, with Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Youth, during a visit to the ancient Christian monastery on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates, November 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
November 13, 2022, 5:57 am
Sands of time: Christian monastery, possibly pre-dating Islam, found in UAE dunes
Finding on Siniyah Island in emirate of Umm al-Quwain sheds new light on history of Christians in Gulf region, which then — like today — was ‘a melting pot of nations’
By Jon Gambrell
File: Iranian Christians attend Christmas mass at a church in Tehran, Iran, December 25, 2007. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
December 10, 2018, 11:25 pm
Iran said to arrest over 100 Christians in crackdown on conversions
While the Islamic Republic permits religious practice by its Christian minority, defection from Islam is a punishable offense
By ToI Staff
Restoration experts work on a mosaic inside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank City of Bethlehem, December 6, 2018. (Majdi Mohammed/AP)
December 10, 2018, 3:43 pm
Church of the Nativity renovation lifts Christmas spirit in Bethlehem
West Bank site is undergoing $17 million restoration of mosaics, frescoes, and infrastructure, in a move Christian authorities hope will boost tourism, reduce emigration
By AP and ToI Staff
PM Netanyahu addresses a summit of Christians United for Israel in Washington, DC, July 23, 2018. (Twitter)
July 23, 2018, 10:20 pm
Netanyahu vows ‘complete solidarity’ with Christians persecuted in Iran
Addressing Christians United for Israel’s annual summit, PM thanks US Evangelicals for recognizing ‘fundamental truth’ about Jerusalem
By Raphael Ahren
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