Many were martyred and dozens of others were injured in an Israeli occupation raid that targeted the Greek Orthodox Church in central Gaza City yesterday evening, Thursday.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem described the Israeli attack on the Pophilius Church - to which many were displaced - as a war crime, while Hamas called for...
With strong condemnation from the international community and the World Council of Churches to pressure Israel to stop its “fascist” aggression against places of worship and defenseless civilians.
According to what eyewitnesses who were present in the church reported, a number of martyrs were killed and others were injured as a result of the collapse of one of the church buildings as a result of the Israeli bombing.
The Ministry of Interior in Gaza said in a statement that the Israeli raid caused “large numbers of martyrs and wounded” in the sanctuary of St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza City.
The official Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) indicated that a woman and her daughter were martyred and dozens injured in the Israeli bombing of the church in which hundreds of displaced people took refuge.
The agency explained, quoting local sources, that the bombing led to the complete collapse of the building of the Council of Church Stewards, which was housing a number of Palestinian Christian and Muslim families who took refuge in the church in search of a safe place.
She pointed out that martyrs and wounded are still under the rubble, and that rescue and ambulance crews are trying to reach them.
The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios is considered the oldest church in the Gaza Strip that is still open. It is located next to a mosque in the Old City of Old Gaza, and was built over the tomb of Saint Porphyrios.
The church is located close to the National Arab Baptist Hospital, which was subjected to a major Israeli massacre on Tuesday evening, leaving 471 martyrs. The hospital is affiliated with the Evangelical Episcopal Church in Jerusalem.
War crime
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a statement denouncing this Israeli bombing, describing it as a war crime.
The Patriarchate said, "Targeting churches and their affiliated institutions, in addition to the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children and women who lost their homes as a result of the Israeli bombing of residential areas during the past 13 days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored."
For its part, the Ministry of Interior in Gaza said, in a brief statement on Telegram, that the occupation is committing a new massacre against hundreds of displaced people inside the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City.
In turn, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas said in a press statement that “the Zionist crime machine continues to expand the scope of its terrorism and criminality by targeting the ancient Greek Orthodox Church of Pophilius.”
She added, "This deliberate targeting of the church and the perpetration of the National Baptist Hospital massacre before it calls for a strong stance and condemnation from the international community and the World Council of Churches to pressure this rogue entity to stop its fascist aggression against places of worship and defenseless civilians."
For about two weeks, Israel has continued its aggression with intense raids on Gaza, leaving 3,785 martyrs and more than 12,000 wounded, the majority of whom are children and women. The occupation also cuts off the Gaza Strip’s supplies of water, electricity, food and medicine. This sparked local and international warnings of a double humanitarian catastrophe, in parallel with intense Israeli raids and arrests in cities and towns of the occupied West Bank.
In response to daily Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and their sanctities, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, and Palestinian factions in Gaza launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood at dawn on October 7, at the beginning of which it stormed Israeli settlements and military sites around the Gaza Strip and resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Israelis and more. Of 4,600 wounded.
