The Orthodox Church has accused an unknown Islamist group of abducting a 24 year old Christian, his wife and three children after repeated attempts to convert them to Islam.
Ma’an news agency reported that Greek Orthodox Archbishop Alexios denounced the abduction, saying that the young man, Ramez al-Amash, is likely being held in al-Bureij or al-Maghazi refugee camp.
"The young man's parents went to the police to lodge a complaint about the abduction of their son, but it did nothing," Archbishop Alexios said.
"There are some groups trying to persuade young Christians to convert to Islam. They abduct them away from their parents and their families, they threaten them," he said.
Dozens of Christians staged a sit-in against the abduction on Monday.
Hamas responded not long after, stating that the bishop’s accusations were unfounded myths which lacked credibility and aimed to bring tension to what has been a peaceful coexistence.
The minister stated that there were no armed militiamen either before or after the young man’s meeting with his parents.
According to the minister Ramez al-Amash insists he converted of his own free will and was not forced.
Health minister, Bassem Naim, pointed out that with the help of some officials he was in contact with, the young Christian, Ramez al-Amash was able to meet his family at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
The minister stressed that there were no armed militiamen present either before during or after the meeting with the young man’s parents.
Ramez al-Amash insists he converted of his own free will and not by force, the minister concluded.
There are currently 3 thousand Christians living in the Gaza Strip which has a population of 1, 5 million people.
Since 2007 when Hamas came to power, the community has increasingly been targeted by Islamic extremists.
In October 2007, Rami Ayyad, the owner of the only Christian book store in Gaza, was kidnapped and then killed.
Four months later, masked men blew up the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and in March an explosive device went off in front of the Rosary Sisters School.