Two Palestinian Women Inside Catholic Church in Gaza Killed by Israeli Sniper

Gaza, MINA – Two Palestinian Christian women, an elderly mother and her daughter, were shot dead by Israeli snipers while they were inside a Catholic church in Gaza City, said the Latin Patriarchate of occupied Jerusalem on Sunday.

“Around noon today, an Israeli occupation army sniper killed two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where Christian families have taken refuge since Israel’s war began,” the patriarchate said in a statement on Saturday, Palinfo reports.

“Nahida and her daughter Samar were shot and killed as they walked towards the Sisters’ Convent. “One of the victims died when she tried to take the others to safety,” the statement said.

The patriarchate said no warning was given before the shooting started and added that “they were shot in cold blood inside the Parish, where there were no fighters.”

Seven other people were also wounded by Israeli fire as they tried to protect others, the statement said.

“This is a targeted death campaign during the Christmas season against the world’s oldest Christian community,” Hammam Farah, one of Nahida and Samar’s relatives, said in a statement on X.

In its statement, the patriarchate said three projectiles fired by Israeli tanks also hit the convent of the Sisters of Mother Teresa charity, destroying generators as well as fuel supplies, and making the building housing 54 people with disabilities uninhabitable.

According to the Al Jazeera channel, churches hosting Christians in Gaza have been the target of direct Israeli bombardment over the past few days.

“Most of it has been destroyed. “Snipers shot at every moving object in the yard,” Al Jazeera said. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)