Hyderabad/Khan Younis: While al-Ahli Arab hospital is still recovering from Tuesday's explosion, reports coming in suggest a medieval Church in the Gaza Strip has been attacked in an airstrike Thursday, leaving several dead and many more buried under the debris.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy of Jerusalem has condemned the Israeli forces for the attack.
The explosion at the Church of Saint Porphyrios comes at a time when Tuesday attack still remains a point of dispute between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas quickly said an Israeli airstrike hit the hospital, which Israel denied.
The Baptist hospital blast left body parts strewn on the grounds, where crowds of Palestinians had clustered in hopes of escaping Israeli airstrikes. The U.S. assessment noted “only light structural damage,” with no impact crater visible.
The Church located in the vicinity of al-Ahli hospital was housing displaced Palestinians late Thursday when the explosion occurred, resulting in deaths and dozens being wounded.
According to Abu Selmia, the Shifa Hospital director general, dozens were hurt at the Church of Saint Porphyrios. He could not give a precise death toll because bodies were buried under rubble.
Palestinian authorities blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, a claim that could not be independently verified.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy of Jerusalem condemned the Israeli airstrike and said it would “not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty” to provide assistance.
It expressed its strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike that have struck its church compound in the city of Gaza.
The Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem expresses its strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike that have struck its church compound in the city of Gaza.
The statement said 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 thirteen days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored.
Despite the evident targeting of the facilities and shelters of the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and other churches – including the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem Hospital, other schools, and social institutions – the Patriarch, along with the other churches, remain committed to fulfilling its religious and moral duty in providing assistance, support, and refuge to those in need, amidst continuous Israeli demands to evacuate these institutions of civilians and the pressures exerted on the churches in this regard, it said.
The Patriarchate stresses that it will not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty, rooted in its Christian values, to provide all that is necessary in times of war and peace alike.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the majority women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 were injured, and another 1,300 people were believed buried under rubble, authorities said.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion. Roughly 200 others were abducted. The Israeli military said Thursday it had notified the families of 203 captives. (with AP inputs)
