A refurbished 5th-century Christian site in the Gazan city of Jabalia was opened to the public this week. As i24News reports:

The church floor is adorned with what Hamas officials described as “rare” mosaics, including depictions of animals, hunting scenes, and palm trees. Visitors can now gaze at the mosaics from newly built elevated wooden walkways.

Issam al-Daalis, who heads the government works department in Gaza, said the site’s restoration was an example of Hamas’s “embracing” of its “Christian brothers in Gaza.”

But the number of Christians in Gaza has been declining for years, many of them having emigrated, particularly after the Islamist movement Hamas seized power in 2007. According to local church officials, only about 1,000 Christians remain in the enclave, compared to 7,000 before 2007.

The restoration was carried out by the French organization Premiere Urgence Internationale at the cost of almost $250,000. The British Council also supported the work.

Last week, Jordanian police arrested sixteen members of the country’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood for acquiring explosives, trying to manufacture drones, and planning rocket attacks. The cell was likely working in coordination with Hamas (the Palestinian offshoot of the Brotherhood) and Hizballah, and perhaps receiving funding from Iran. Ghaith al-Omari provides some background:

The Brotherhood has been active in Jordan since the 1940s, and its relations with the government remained largely cooperative for decades even as other political parties were banned in the 1950s. In exchange, the Brotherhood usually (but not always) supported the palace’s foreign policy and security measures, particularly against Communist and socialist parties.

Relations became more adversarial near the turn of the century after the Brotherhood vociferously opposed the 1994 peace treaty with Israel. The Arab Spring movement that emerged in 2011 saw further deterioration. Unlike other states in the region, however, Jordan did not completely crack down on the MB, instead seeking to limit its influence.

Yet the current Gaza war has seen another escalation, with the MB repeatedly accusing the government of cooperating with Israel and not doing enough to support the Palestinians.

Jordanian security circles are particularly worried about the MB’s vocal wartime identification with Hamas, an organization that was considered such a grave security threat that it was expelled from the kingdom in 1999. The sentiment among many Jordanian officials is that the previous lenient approach failed to change the MB’s behavior, emboldening the group instead.