Editing Gaza Strip (section)

===Religion===
[[File:Great Mosque of Gaza (Omari Mosque).jpg|thumb|right|View of the [[Great Mosque of Gaza]], the oldest mosque in Gaza dating to the 7th century CE, which was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes during the [[Gaza war]]]]
{{See also|Islamism in the Gaza Strip}}

[[Sunni Muslim]]s make up 99.8&nbsp;percent of the population in the Gaza Strip, with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 (0.2&nbsp;percent) [[Arab Christians]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4514822.stm Middle East Christians: Gaza pastor] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123003622/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4514822.stm |date=23 January 2009 }} BBC News, 21 December 2005</ref><ref name="CIA World Factbook" />

{{Bar box
| title=Gaza Strip Religions (2012 est.)<ref name="CIA World Factbook" />
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| bars=
{{Bar percent|Islam|green|98}}
{{Bar percent|Christianity|blue|1}}
{{Bar percent|Other|grey|1}}
}}
From 1987 to 1991, during the [[First Intifada]], Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the [[hijab]] head-cover. In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed by Hamas activists, leading to hijabs being worn "just to avoid problems on the streets".<ref name="Ruben">{{cite book |last1=Rubenberg |first1=Cheryl A. |author1-link=Cheryl Rubenberg |title=Palestinian Women: Patriarchy and Resistance in the West Bank |date=2001 |pages=230–231 |url=https://archive.org/details/palestinianwomen0000rube/}}</ref>

Since Hamas took over in 2007, attempts have been made by Islamist activists to impose "[[Islamic dress]]" and to require women to wear the hijab.<ref name="ReferenceB">[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/world/middleeast/06gaza.html Hamas Fights Over Gaza's Islamist Identity] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119001358/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/world/middleeast/06gaza.html |date=19 January 2017 }} New York Times, 5 September 2009</ref><ref name="xinhua">{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/03/content_12748559.htm |title=Hamas encourages Gaza women to follow Islamic code |publisher=News.xinhuanet.com |date=3 January 2010 |access-date= 21 May 2011 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110514030330/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/03/content_12748559.htm |archive-date= 14 May 2011}}</ref> The government's "Islamic Endowment Ministry" has deployed [[Virtue Committee]] members to warn citizens of the "dangers of immodest dress, card playing and dating".<ref name="bloomberg">[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aB2RfynNbLmk Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118123632/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aB2RfynNbLmk |date=18 November 2015 }} By Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, 30 November 2009</ref> However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> There has also been successful resistance{{by whom |date=May 2015}} to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/18/hamas-gaza-islamist-dress-code Hamas patrols beaches in Gaza to enforce conservative dress code] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210235710/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/18/hamas-gaza-islamist-dress-code |date=10 February 2017 }} The Guardian (UK), 18 October 2009</ref>

According to Human Rights Watch, the Hamas-controlled government stepped up its efforts to "Islamize" Gaza in 2010, efforts it says included the "repression of civil society" and "severe violations of personal freedom."<ref name=Esveld>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jun-27-la-oe-vanesveld-gaza-20100627-story.html "In Gaza, prisoners twice over; Palestinians are being squeezed by the Israeli blockade and Hamas' 'Islamizing' actions,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511190222/http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/27/opinion/la-oe-vanesveld-gaza-20100627 |date=11 May 2011 }}  Bill Van Esveld, Bill Van Esveld is a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, 27 June 2010, ''Los Angeles Times''.</ref>
[[File:Forced Displacement of Gaza Strip Residents During the Gaza-Israel War 23-25.jpg|thumb|Destroyed mosque in Gaza in 2023]]
Palestinian researcher Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the "[[Taliban]]-like steps" Hamas has taken: "The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip—the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s]—is an egregious deed that must be opposed. It is the reenactment, under a religious guise, of the experience of [other] totalitarian regimes and dictatorships."<ref>The Hamas Enterprise and the Talibanization of Gaza, Khaled Al-Hroub, Al-Ayyam (Palestinian Authority), 11 October 2010. [http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4696.htm Translation] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101024183415/http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4696.htm |date=24 October 2010 }} by the Middle East Research Institute, 22 October 2010.</ref> Hamas officials denied having any plans to impose Islamic law. One legislator stated that "[w]hat you are seeing are incidents, not policy" and that "we believe in persuasion".<ref name="bloomberg"/>

Violence against Christians has been recorded. The owner of a Christian bookshop was abducted and murdered<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gazas-christian-bookseller-killed-396283.html |work=The Independent |location=London |title=Gaza's Christian bookseller killed |first=Eric |last=Silver |date=8 October 2007 |access-date=3 May 2010 |archive-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421202741/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gazas-christian-bookseller-killed-396283.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and in February 2008, the [[Young Men's Christian Association]] (YMCA) library in Gaza City was bombed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Militants bomb Gaza YMCA library |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7246454.stm |access-date=17 June 2012 |newspaper=[[BBC News]] |date=15 February 2008 |archive-date=9 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209110915/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7246454.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> At least eighteen people were killed when Israel bombed the [[Church of Saint Porphyrius]], which is the oldest in Gaza, on 19 October 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marsi |first1=Federica |title=Gaza's Christian community faces 'threat of extinction' amid Israel war |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/10/extinction-gaza-christians-fear-for-communitys-survival-amid-israel-war |agency=Al-Jazeera |date=10 November 2023 |access-date=21 November 2023 |archive-date=10 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110073921/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/10/extinction-gaza-christians-fear-for-communitys-survival-amid-israel-war |url-status=live }}</ref>

In addition to Hamas, a [[Salafist]] movement began to appear about 2005 in Gaza, characterized by "a strict lifestyle based on that of the earliest followers of Islam".<ref name=bbc-salafist>{{cite news |last1=Knell |first1=Yolande |title=Can Hamas hold back Islamic State in Gaza? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33110099 |access-date=16 September 2015 |agency=BBC News |date=12 June 2015 |archive-date=13 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913115303/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33110099 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{As of|2015}}, there are estimated to be only "hundreds or perhaps a few thousand" Salafists in Gaza.<ref name=bbc-salafist/>