Yet another crime, the bombing of a Christian church in Gaza, is now being reported. An Israeli strike left a “large number of martyrs and injured” at the compound of the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said, reported Al Ahram. Witnesses told AFP the strike appeared to have been aimed at a target close to the place of worship, where many Gaza residents had taken refuge from Israeli bombing. Witnesses said the strike damaged the façade of the church and caused an adjacent building to collapse, adding that many injured people were evacuated to hospital. Saint Porphyrius is the oldest church still in use in Gaza and is located in the city’s historic neighborhood.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed its “strongest condemnation” of the strike at its church compound. “Targeting churches and their institutions, along with the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children and women who have lost their homes due to Israeli airstrikes on residential areas over the past 13 days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored,” the Patriarchate said in a statement.
Al Ahram notes that the church is not far from the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital which was hit on Oct. 17.
