A senior delegation from the Hamas Movement visited on Monday the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza and met with Greek Orthodox Archbishop Alexios.

Heading the delegation senior Hamas official Basem Naim conveyed the Hamas leadership’s regards and best wishes to the Christian community in Gaza on the occasion of the Easter holiday.

Naim conveyed the Hamas leadership’s solidarity with its Christian compatriots in the midst of the persistent Israeli violations against Christians and their holy sites in Occupied Jerusalem.

“We have come today as representatives of Hamas to visit our Christian brothers and to reiterate the message of appreciation and partnership towards our fellow citizens” the Hamas official said during the meeting with the Archbishop.

He stressed the importance of unity between the Palestinian people from all religious spectra to face the ongoing Israeli aggression against Jerusalem and the Palestinian holy sites.

He also expressed Hamas’s pride in its historical relationship with the Christian community and called for pooling the efforts to oust the Israeli occupation from Palestine.

Naim denounced the Israeli provocative and aggressive practices at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Aqsa Mosque calling what happened to Christian and Muslim worshipers recently as “flagrant aggression against the Palestinian people and a violation of the international law.”

For his part Archbishop Alexios expressed his happiness for the delegation’s visit to the Church to congratulate the Christian community on the Easter occasion hailing Hamas’s prominent national role in promoting coexistence and partnership between Muslims and Christians.

The Father stressed that the Palestinian Christians and Muslims are in one trench confronting the ongoing Israeli aggression against them especially its siege on Gaza its desecration of the holy sites and its persecution of worshipers.

A delegation from the Hamas Movement on Tuesday visited the Church of Saint Porphyrius in the Gaza Strip and met with its officials.

Gaza’s Greek Orthodox Archbishop Alexios and Issa Tarazi head of the Near East Council of Churches committee for refugee work in Gaza received the delegation which included senior Hamas officials Basem Na’im Maher al-Houli and Fawzi Barhoum.

According to Basem Na’im the visit came within the framework of promoting good relations and values of love friendship and coexistence among all citizens.

In press remarks during the meeting Na’im affirmed his Movement’s keenness on strengthening ties with the Palestinian people from all spectra and sects.

He stressed that the Palestinian people Muslims or Christians would remain steadfast on their land defending their right to live with dignity and freedom.

For his part Archbishop Alexios expressed his appreciation to the Hamas officials for their visit describing Gaza as “an example of coexistence and national partnership between Muslims and Christians.”

“We do not feel that we are targeted at all as Christians; on the contrary we find all the love appreciation and respect from the Hamas Movement and great care from its leadership as well as every cooperation and concern from all government authorities regarding any difficulties or challenges we could face” the Archbishop said.

“The Christians are part of this Palestinian people and we will continue to work on strengthening and developing this relationship to ensure preservation of this great legacy which has been established by the generations over the past hundreds of years and we will never allow anyone to spoil this relationship or poison the good atmosphere between us” he added.