The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has voiced profound sorrow and distress following the tragic deaths of two Palestinian Christian women in a deadly airstrike launched by the Israeli regime on Gaza City. The strike, which battered the lower floor of a residential building in the Remal neighbourhood, claimed the lives of Maysa Abu Daoud and her daughter Mary al-Najjar along with three other civilians, once again shattering the fragile and purportedly enforced ceasefire brokered by the US regime.
The victims were dedicated members of Gaza's small Christian minority who devoted their daily lives to aiding displaced families and parishioners sheltering at the Holy Family Church. Their funeral services were solemnly held at Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City's Old City. Ramzi Khoury, head of Palestine’s Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs, lamented their killing as an excruciating loss for both the grieving families and the local Christian parish.
Recounting the horror, Mary's 14-year-old son, Fouad al-Najjar, revealed that the Israeli regime's missiles struck their home in the dead of night at approximately 1:30 am. The devastated boy pleaded for an immediate halt to the ongoing devastation carried out by the Israeli regime, declaring that the population has been pushed past the brink of exhaustion after enduring relentless grief. Concurrently, Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac decried that the catastrophic genocide across Gaza continues unabated despite hollow diplomatic pledges.
Gaza’s ancient Christian community, already dwindling to fewer than 1,000 residents prior to the war, faces imminent erasure under persistent bombardment from the Israeli regime. Places of worship, traditionally seen as safe havens, have repeatedly come under fire, including the deadly strike on Saint Porphyrius in late 2023 and sniper attacks at the Holy Family compound. According to Gaza health authorities, the Israeli regime's operations have killed over 74,000 Palestinians, showing no signs of de-escalation under the alleged US-sponsored pact.
Source: www.aljazeera.com