The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has denied culpability over the deaths of two Christian Palestinian women who were reportedly killed at the Holy Family Parish complex in Gaza on Saturday morning.
Newsroom (18/12/2023 01:07, Gaudium Press) The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Saturday morning that “around noon” on Dec. 16, a sniper of the IDF “murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families has taken refuge since the start of the war.” Several others were also shot, the statement said.
“No warning was given, no notification was provided,” the patriarchate said. “They were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the parish, where there are no belligerents.”
In an emailed statement the IDF said that it had received the letter “describing a tragic incident that took place in the Holy Family Parish.”
On Saturday, “representatives of the church contacted the IDF regarding explosions that were heard near the church,” the IDF said.
“During the dialogue between the IDF and representatives of the community, no reports of a hit on the church, nor civilians being injured or killed, were raised.”
“A review of the IDF’s operational findings support this,” the statement said.
The IDF did not respond to a follow-up query asking explicitly if the army was refuting or challenging the reports that an IDF sniper killed two women at the parish.
The IDF’s statement comes after Pope Francis issued a sharp condemnation of the alleged attack following his Sunday Angelus on Dec. 17.
“I continue to receive very serious and painful news from Gaza. Unarmed civilians are subjected to bombings and shootings,” the Holy Father said.
“And this even happened inside the parish complex of the Holy Family, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, sick and disabled people, nuns,” he said.
“Yes, it’s war, it’s terrorism,” the pope said.
Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, disputed the remarks during a live interview on Sky News on Monday, saying: “I would reject the categorization of the words he used: ‘coldblooded killing.’ That would indicate a deliberate targeting of civilians; that’s something we don’t do.”
“We don’t shoot people who are going to church, that just doesn’t happen. That’s not the way the IDF operates,” he added.
“To say that Israel is deliberately targeting Christian worshippers, that’s a terrible accusation that is unfounded.”
Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza, lamented the murder of his two parishioners.
“The situation already goes beyond tragedy,” he said. “After the days of truce, the area of al Zeitoun started to be very active, with many bombings.”
On the night before the attack, bombings intensified in the area around the parish compound, injuring three people inside the church.
Fr. Romanelli said he personally knew Nahida and Samar, along with all the parishioners of the Holy Family parish.
“The mother who was killed, Nahida, and her daughter, Samar, were very talented people,” he affirmed. “Nahida was the mother of a large family, with many children, almost all married… Among the unmarried children was Samar, the woman who was killed. Samar was the cook at the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Teresa. Both, mother and daughter, participated in all activities.”
Fr. Romanelli added that Nahida was part of the Women’s Confraternity, the St. Anne group, as well as in other parish groups, often bringing her children and grandchildren.
“And Samar too,” he said. “Samar took on many responsibilities, helped us organize many activities, also with young people and with the St. Anne group. Everyone, the whole Anton family, is very connected to the church, to the parish. It is a great sorrow.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from CNA and Vatican News
