A mother and her daughter were killed by an Israeli soldier on Saturday in the grounds of Gaza City's only Catholic church, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said.
“Today around noon, an Israeli army sniper killed two Christian women in the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families in the Gaza Strip have sought refuge since the beginning of the war.” between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, the Patriarchate states in a press release.
“Nahida and her daughter Samar were shot on the way to the sisters’ monastery.”, the press release adds, without specifying the age of the victims. According to the same source, seven other people were injured by gunfire as they tried to protect themselves from gunfire in the community.
“We shot them in cold blood”
The Israeli army contacted by AFP did not immediately comment on this information. “We shot them in cold blood”again blamed the patriarchy while “ There is no belligerent within the walls of the community.”
The Catholic community in Gaza, whose Palestinian population is predominantly Muslim, has 135 members out of a thousand Christians, most of them Orthodox.
On October 7, war broke out between Israel and Hamas, triggered by a bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip. According to Israel, 1,139 people, mostly civilians, were killed in this attack.
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In retaliation, Israel vowed: “ destroy » Hamas is shelling Palestinian territory and conducting an extensive ground operation there. The Hamas Health Ministry reported Friday that Israeli bombings had killed 18,800 people, mostly civilians.