Gaza City strike kills Christian mother and daughter as church leaders mourn

A strike in Gaza City has killed two Christian women, Maysa Abu Daoud and her daughter Mary al-Najjar, in the Remal neighbourhood, according to the supplied report. The attack hit the ground floor of a building and left five Palestinians dead in total. Their funeral was held at Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City's Old City.

Sponsored

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said he was deeply sorrowed by the killing and extended condolences to the women's family and to Gaza's Christian community. Palestine's Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs said the two women had devoted time to helping parishioners and displaced people sheltering at Holy Family Church. Mary al-Najjar's 14-year-old son said the strike happened at about 1:30am local time, and described losing his mother and grandmother.

The deaths have drawn attention because Gaza's Christian community is very small, with fewer than 1,000 Christians in the territory, and has already been hit hard during the war. The report says the women were among those helping people displaced by the conflict, underlining how civilians and church networks have been drawn into the wider humanitarian crisis. It also says the strike was described as another violation of the US-brokered ceasefire arrangement referenced in the article.

The incident comes against the backdrop of a war that began in October 2023 and has repeatedly affected places of worship and Christian families in Gaza. The report notes that an attack on the Saint Porphyrius Church compound in October 2023 killed at least 18 people, showing that the Christian community has faced repeated losses during the conflict. In this case, the building was struck in Remal, one of Gaza City's central neighbourhoods, where civilian and residential areas remain vulnerable.

Sponsored

The account does not say whether anyone was specifically targeted in the strike, and it does not provide an Israeli military response. It is also unclear whether the dead included anyone beyond the two named women and the three other Palestinians reported killed. What happens next will depend on whether there is any official confirmation of the target, whether further strikes follow, and whether church leaders or mediators press for changes to the ceasefire arrangement.

An overnight Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood, killing five Palestinians, according to Gaza's civil defence agency and Al-Shifa hospital. The strike caused a fire and damaged the building, adding to destruction in one of the city's central residential areas. Israeli media reported that the military was targeting Ali al-Amoudi, described as a senior Hamas official.

Mahmoud Bassal, the civil defence spokesperson, said rescue teams recovered five bodies and several wounded from the site and took them to hospital. Al-Shifa hospital said the dead included two women and their daughters, as well as a young man, while the civil defence said four women were among those killed. The Israeli military had not commented on the incident at the time of the report.

The strike comes against the backdrop of the Gaza war, which began after Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel and has since left much of the territory in ruins. Gaza's health ministry, which is under Hamas authority, says more than 74,200 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive, figures the United Nations considers reliable. The same ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 1,440 people since a ceasefire was announced last October, while the Israeli military says it has lost five personnel and one civilian contractor over the same period.

Sponsored

The incident is significant because it again places civilians in the centre of a conflict that has continued despite a ceasefire framework. The arrangement is meant to cover Hamas disarmament, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and reconstruction, but both sides have accused each other of violating it. A strike in a densely populated neighbourhood such as Rimal also raises questions about the risks faced by residents and the extent to which military operations are being carried out in urban areas.

Gaza City has repeatedly been at the centre of the conflict because it is both the territory's largest urban area and a place where military and civilian activity are closely intertwined. The mention of a senior Hamas official as the reported target also reflects the continuing Israeli focus on Hamas leadership, even as the war has produced widespread civilian casualties. The civil defence service, which operates under Hamas authority, remains one of the main bodies responding to strikes and recovering the dead and wounded.

What remains unclear is whether Ali al-Amoudi was present at the apartment and whether he was among the dead or injured. It is also not known whether the Israeli military will confirm the target or provide its own account of the strike. For now, the incident adds to the pressure on the fragile ceasefire and leaves open questions about the next phase of military activity in Gaza City.

An Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in Gaza City on Saturday, killing at least five Palestinians, according to health authorities and the territory's civil defence service. The strike also destroyed the building and sparked a fire, adding to damage in one of the enclave's most densely populated urban areas. Among the dead were four women, including a Christian mother and daughter, medical teams said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike. According to the account provided by local residents, people left their homes after the attack and found a neighbour's building had been hit. Residents later recovered the bodies of the mother and daughter from the rubble, underscoring the extent of the destruction at the site.

The incident comes as a US-mediated ceasefire in Gaza, agreed last year, continues to face serious implementation problems. The arrangement is meant to include the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the reconstruction of the territory, but both sides have accused each other of violating it. Israel says Hamas has rearmed and carried out attacks in breach of the truce, while Hamas denies trying to rebuild its arsenal or launch attacks and accuses Israel of failing to honour the agreement.

The strike is significant because it adds to the civilian toll in a conflict that remains active despite the ceasefire framework. Gaza health authorities say at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the current ceasefire began in October last year. Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by Palestinian militants in Gaza over the same period, showing that violence has continued even as diplomatic efforts have sought to reduce it.

The killing of a Christian mother and daughter also highlights the impact of the conflict on Gaza's small Christian community, which has been caught up in the wider war. The available account does not say whether the victims were specifically targeted, and no military explanation has been given. The destruction of a residential building in a civilian area is likely to intensify scrutiny of how the ceasefire is being enforced and whether protections for non-combatants are holding.

What remains unclear is the full identity of the dead, the exact circumstances of the strike and whether there were any military objectives at the location. It is also not known whether the attack will prompt any change in the ceasefire talks or in the pace of Israeli operations. For now, the incident adds fresh pressure to an already fragile truce and raises further questions about the prospects for reconstruction and de-escalation.

#GazaCity #Christiancommunity #airstrike #SaintPorphyriusChurch #ceasefire