The Church of St. Porphyrius in the Gaza Strip was subjected to a missile strike on Thursday, resulting in deaths and injuries, amid accusations from the Gaza authorities and Christian authorities against Israel of launching it, while the Israeli army admitted to “targeting a site in the area of the church, belonging to the Hamas movement,” which is classified as a terrorist organization.
The strike occurred next to the church, causing deaths and injuries, and the collapse of a building belonging to it, according to what sources confirmed to Al-Hurra website on Friday. Pastor Youssef Asaad, from the Latin Church in Gaza, said that “there are conflicting statements” about what happened in the church.
Hit location
Speaking to Al-Hurra website, he said, “The strike targeted the church, not anyone else, and it occurred exactly between the church building and an abandoned house, and the crater resulting from the missile is located inside the church’s property.”
The strike occurred exactly between the church building and an abandoned house
He added: “The diameter of the hole is about 7 meters, and the strike caused the church’s services building to collapse.”
death toll
Asaad explained, “The building contained more than 100 displaced people,” adding: “We found 18 dead, 15 missing, and many of the wounded are in critical condition in the hospital.”
He continued: “The majority of the victims are from one family, because they were sleeping next to each other, and this family has finished registering births in Gaza.”
The Ministry of the Interior in Gaza announced, on Thursday, that “many of the displaced people who took refuge in the sanctuary of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza City were killed, and a number of others were injured in an Israeli raid.”
The Palestinian News Agency “Wafa” said, “The bombing completely damaged the building of the Council of Church Stewards, which houses a number of Palestinian families, both Christian and Muslim, who took refuge in the church,” noting that “rescue and ambulance crews are trying to reach those trapped under the rubble.”
Witnesses told Agence France-Presse that the Israeli raid damaged the facade of the church and caused the collapse of a nearby building.
Comment by the Israeli army
For its part, the Israeli Army Spokesmen’s Unit confirmed to Al-Hurra website, on Friday, that “a site in the church area was targeted.”
She said: “Combat aircraft targeted (…) the headquarters of a military member of the Hamas terrorist organization, who is involved in firing rockets and mortar shells towards the territory of the State of Israel.”
She added: “The fighting was conducted from the command headquarters and contained terrorist infrastructure (…) and following the explosion wave resulting from the raid, the wall of a church located in the area was damaged.”
She also confirmed that “the allegation of injuries is known to us, and the circumstances of the accident are being investigated.”
She continued: “Hamas places its infrastructure in the heart of civilian-populated areas, and uses the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields.”
The unit noted, “In order to limit harm to civilians, the IDF urged the residents of the area to evacuate their homes and move to the area south of Wadi Gaza, a move that Hamas is trying to prevent.”
“No justification”
For his part, Asaad stressed that “there is no justification for attacking the church,” saying that “his message in light of what is happening is that Christians have nothing to do with everything that happens,” continuing: “We are always peaceful, and for the first time Christians are being targeted.”
When asked about who bears responsibility for the strike, he said: “We do not accuse anyone, but we demand justice, equality, and mercy, as the situation cannot tolerate any escalation.”
Statement of the Church Affairs Committee
The Supreme Presidential Committee for Follow-up of Church Affairs in the Palestinian Territories said that targeting one of the buildings of St. Porphyrius Church in the Gaza Strip, where about 500 Palestinian citizens (Muslims and Christians) are sheltering, confirms that “the targets of the Israeli forces are defenseless citizens, including children, women, and the elderly.”
The committee added in a statement issued by its chairman, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Ramzi Khoury: “The picture has become clear to the world that Israel is implementing a genocidal plan against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
Khoury pointed out that “the building of the Council of Church Agents was directly targeted,” adding: “This is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and many international agreements, and is added to the series of ongoing crimes against Palestinian civilians and places of worship in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, and various Palestinian territories.”
The strike caused the collapse of the church’s services building
It is noteworthy that the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios is considered one of the oldest churches in the world. The original building dates back to the year 425 AD, and it was renovated in 1856. It is located meters away from the National Arab Baptist Hospital, which was subjected to a strike last Tuesday, according to To write to Al Hurra.
condemnation
In a statement on Thursday night, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned this strike.
She 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 thirteen days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored.”
The spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Issa Musleh, told Al-Hurra: “The houses of God are being bombed in Gaza, and there is no distinction between stone and humans.”
He added: “We do not want denunciations, we want a world that is not silent to stop this devastating war,” noting that “there is no equipment to pull victims from under the rubble.”
Musleh pointed out that “what is happening is unacceptable to the human mind, and the Palestinians have the right to obtain their basic needs.”
Oldest church
The Church of St. Porphyrius is the oldest church in the Gaza Strip that is still open.
It is built over the shrine of Saint Porphyrius, the hermit and bishop of Gaza from the fifth century, and is located next to a mosque in the Old City of Gaza.
The number of Christians in the Gaza Strip, most of whom are Orthodox, is steadily declining, according to Agence France-Presse.
According to local Christian leaders, “there are only a thousand Christians left in Gaza, compared to more than 7,000” before Hamas seized power in the Strip in 2007.
The total population of the Gaza Strip is 2.3 million people.
The death toll continues to rise as the war between Israel and Gaza enters its fourteenth day, amid the continuation of Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip, the launching of rockets from Gaza, and the worsening suffering of civilians due to the loss of basic needs.
In the latest toll published by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Thursday, about 3,800 people were killed and more than 12,000 injured, most of them civilians, with estimates of hundreds being under the rubble, according to officials in Gaza.
In the West Bank, more than 79 people have been killed and about 1,300 injured since October 7.
The bloody attack launched by Hamas on October 7th caused more than 1,400 deaths in Israel, most of them civilians, including women and children, and the kidnapping of about 200 people, according to Israeli officials.
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2023-10-20 12:59:12
