LAST UPDATE: 13:48
The Saint Porphyrios Greek Orthodox church in the Gaza, where hundreds of displaced Palestinians had fled, was hit overnight by an Israeli airstrike, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Hamas government officials announced.
The Hamas government’s press office pointed out that 18 Christian Palestinians were killed due to the airstrike, while Palestinian officials pointed out that at least 500 people — Muslims and Christians – had sought refuge in the church.
The Patriarchate has not yet announced a death toll.
Witnesses told AFP that a place nearby appeared to be the target of the strike, where many Gaza civilians had fled as the war raged in the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli army admitted that it carried out an airstrike in the area yesterday.
“Earlier today (Thursday) Israeli military fighter jets attacked the command and control center of a Hamas terrorist who was involved in firing rockets and shells at Israel,” an army spokesman said.
This center “served to launch attacks against Israel and there was a terrorist infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hamas,” the spokeperson said.
It is noteworthy that the number of Christians in the Gaza Strip has decreased in recent years. It is estimated that there are less than a thousand left (most of whom are Orthodox), while before Hamas took power in Gaza (2007), there were more than seven thousand Christians.
It is recalled that the Patriarchate of Jerusalem expresseed in an announcement its strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike that have struck its church compound in the city of Gaza.
Archbishop Alexios of Tiberias: “We have casualties!”
“They hit the offices and the entrance of the monastery. They were bombarded with a missile and the whole building collapsed. There were Christians inside, many of whom have been injured, “Archbishop Alexios of Tiberias, who is in the Greek Orthodox church that was bombed in Gaza.
“They have to bring bulldozers, so we can see how many people are under the rubble,” he said. He stressed that there were more than 400 people in the monastery.
