Two Christian women were killed early on Oct. 3 in an Israeli strike on a residential apartment in western Gaza City, according to Palestinian and Church sources. The women had recently moved into the apartment after spending a prolonged period sheltering at Holy Family Catholic Church during the ongoing war.
The victims were identified as Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawoud and Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar. They had been living in an apartment in the Institutions area of western Gaza City.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
In a statement to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, George Anton, the director of operations for the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza, said the two women had stayed at Holy Family Catholic Church throughout the war before recently moving into a rented apartment in an effort to resume a more stable life after months of displacement and sheltering at the church.
Anton said the apartment was struck early on Oct. 3, killing both women. He said their deaths had "left deep sorrow among Christian families in the Gaza Strip."
In a statement of mourning issued by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa expressed his "profound sorrow and grief" over the deaths of the two women in the strike on Gaza City.
Pizzaballa in the statement offered his condolences to their families and to Gaza's Christian community, praying that God would grant their loved ones consolation and strength during the painful time.
Holy Family Catholic Parish and the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza also mourned the two women and offered condolences to the Abu Dawoud, Ayyad, and al-Najjar families.
Anton pointed to figures recently cited by Pizzaballa showing a sharp decline in Gaza's Christian population since the outbreak of the war, as members of the community have either died or left the Gaza Strip.
In September, Pizzaballa said the number of Christians remaining in Gaza — Catholics and Orthodox combined — had fallen to 541, down from 1,017 before the war.
Churches in Gaza have sheltered hundreds of displaced people during the conflict, Anton said, including people who lost their homes or were forced to flee them.
Holy Family Catholic Church and St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church have provided shelter to Christian and non-Christian families, while some families later moved into alternative housing as the war and widespread destruction continued.
The deaths of the two women underscore the precarious situation facing Christians who have remained in the Gaza Strip. Like other Palestinians in Gaza, they continue to endure displacement, the loss of relatives and homes, and deteriorating humanitarian conditions while seeking to preserve their Christian presence and religious life under extremely difficult circumstances.
This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
