Jerusalem: Good Friday is on 30th March. However, till now, Gaza Christians did not get permits from Israel to visit Jerusalem.
According to the report published in Aljazeera, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said that the church authorities did not receive any permit although they had applied for around 600 permits for Gaza Christian.
It may be mentioned that Israeli military had imposed restrictions on the movement of people out of Gaza Strip. The Israelis told that they would issue permits only to persons whose age is more than or equal to 55.
Talking on this, Father Ibrahim Shomali, Chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said that worshipers should have unrestricted access to Holy land and there should not be a need to get permits.
Christian leaders said that the decision of Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel may result in more restrictions to holy sites. Youssef Daher, of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Centre’s Youssef Daher, also expressed concerns.
It may be mentioned that there are 1000 Christians in Gaza. In the month of February, Church of the Holy Sepulchre was closed for three days against new Israeli tax policy and a proposed land expropriation law.