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Gaza, much like other countries and people groups that form the Isaiah 19 highway, is mentioned in the Bible several times. It was an ancient settlement of Canaanites, and for much of Israel’s history, Philistines maintained a hold on the area and resisted the Israelites as enemies.

This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Gaza,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because she took captive whole communities
and sold them to Edom,
I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
that will consume her fortresses.
(Amos 1: 6-7)

Of course, this relates to historical events but it’s interesting that throughout the ages, cities and countries go through repeated cycles that are recognizable in biblical prophecy.

Another passage about Gaza that has been mentioned by several concerned with intercession for the region is in Zephaniah 2. This prophecy talks about Gaza being “abandoned” and says the land will belong to “the remnant of the people of Judah.” Judah means praise, a people of praise. The passage ends with the hopeful message: “He will restore their fortunes.”

Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins.
At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted.
Woe to you who live by the sea, you Kerethite people;
the word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines.
He says, “I will destroy you, and none will be left.”
The land by the sea will become pastures having wells for shepherds
    and pens for flocks.

That land will belong to the remnant of the people of Judah;
    there they will find pasture.
In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes.
(Zephaniah 2:4-7)

Zechariah 9 gives a warning of judgment and the loss of leadership, ending again with the people of Gaza who are left (the remnant) becoming “a clan in Judah.” Will there be a believing remnant that God will raise up as a people of praise?

Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted.
A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.

I will take the blood from their mouths,
    the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God
    and become a clan in Judah, 

and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces.
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.
(Zechariah 9:5-8)

The picture given is of God restoring a people with “blood in their mouths” and gathering the remnant into His own people — a people belonging to God.

Gaza also appears in the New Testament in Acts 8:

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

It wasn’t long before Philip had caught up with the chariot of the Ethiopian Eunuch who just happened to be reading Isaiah 53 on the way back from celebrating Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks) in Jerusalem. Philip was invited to explain the meaning of the dynamite passage about the Messiah, and the Ethiopian official took the Good News back to Africa. Ethiopia of course is located at one of the extremities of Egypt, making it on the edge of the Isaiah 19 highway.

There are several hundred Christians still trapped in Gaza, and also some Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) although it’s hard to know how many. There have been reports of dreams and visions reaching scores and even hundreds of people, and also stories of brave believers sharing with their Muslim families.

We pray that there will again be roads, even part of a promised highway, in and out of the territory where people can travel in and out with the Gospel. Gaza needs the good news more than ever.

The Recent History of Gaza

Gaza’s history throughout the Scriptures has been largely one of hostility with Israel, but it’s helpful to trace what has happened more recently.

The strip of land we know as Gaza has been largely Muslim ruled since the mid seventh century, changing hands between different powers that came and went. When the last Muslim caliphate of the region, the Turkish Empire, fell at the hands of the British in 1917, Gaza had been under Ottoman rule for 400 years. The Balfour Declaration, ratified by League of Nations, sought to establish a Jewish homeland in the area, including what is now Jordan and Gaza. In 1921 the British decided to decrease that allotment and everything east of the river became “Transjordan”. The League of Nations approved the change in 1923.

On 1947 20th November, UN voted to partition the remaining west side of the river, dividing that land into two, giving one state to the Jews and another to the Arabs. Gaza was included in the Arab side of the partition, but the Arab nations refused the plan and prepared to attack to prevent the reestablishment of a Jewish state. Right after David Ben Gurion declared Israel’s independence, five Arab armies came from every side (notably not the Palestinian Arabs of the land who had little agency in the geopolitical dynamics of the time) and after a year of fighting, against all odds, Israel took most of the land with a tiny army and with a population of less than a million people. As a result of the 1948 War of Independence, Israel was prophetically reborn, Judea and Samaria ended up under Jordanian rule, while Gaza was ruled by Egypt.

This one minute clip gives some helpful explanation and context with maps to demonstrate what happened in this change over.

It was only in 1967, after Israel miraculously defeated multiple Arab armies again in the Six Day War, that Israel took sovereignty over what are now known as the Palestinian Territories. Israel pulled out of Gaza entirely in 2005, removing all Jewish presence and Israeli control in the Strip.

Israel controlled Gaza for those 38 years between 1967-2005, after which the people of Gaza were free to rule themselves and almost immediately voted for Hamas as their leadership. Now many (although likely not the majority) are regretting that choice.

Here are some voices from Gaza, longing to leave and in support of Trump’s plans of relocation and reconstruction.

Palestinian peace advocate, political analyst, and human rights pioneer, Bassem Eid, was the founder of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group. After making enquiries, he reported back on what people in Gaza said they most need at this time:

“When I asked my Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza what their top priorities were before the war, their answers were clear: a job to support their families, access to quality education, and reliable healthcare. Now, many are left jobless, homeless, and desperate for a future that seems impossible. With Gaza in ruins and Hamas holding its grip on the people, the situation is dire.”

He continued, “President Trump’s proposal to allow Palestinians to leave Gaza offers a lifeline. It provides the opportunity to escape the suffocating control of Hamas and to find a place where they can rebuild their lives – where their children can have access to education, where they can work with dignity, and where their families can be safe and healthy. It’s not just a chance for relocation, but a real opportunity for liberation from terror, for a future they deserve. This isn’t about abandoning Gaza; it’s about giving its people a way out of oppression. The hope is that one day they can return to a Gaza that is free from Hamas, where peace and prosperity can truly take root.”

Prayer Points

  • Pray for the people of Gaza, for their well-being, their salvation, their future on earth and their future in eternity. While the following scripture specifically refers to the return of the people of Israel, let’s use it as a starting point to pray for the people of Gaza. Jeremiah 29:11-14 reads:

    “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.“

    May God bring hope, a new and living relationship with Him, and restore their fortunes.

  • Pray that Hamas will be completely uprooted and the people of Gaza will be free of their control. Jeremiah 12:14-17 says,

    “Thus says the Lord concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

  • Pray specifically for the believers, whether they are from Christian or Muslim backgrounds. Pray for courage, protection, and power in their witness.

  • Pray for the leaders and decision makers to be guided by God, to bring the result for Gaza’s future according to God’s will.

    “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).

Photos by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash