GAZA — Late on Thursday evening, a tragic event unfolded in
Gaza as eight Palestinians, including women and children, lost their lives,
while many others remain feared dead. Rescue teams are working tirelessly to
recover the victims, following an Israeli airstrike on the
Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios.
اضافة اعلان
The church had provided shelter for hundreds of displaced
people. According to the Palestinian News Agency 'WAFA,' the bombing resulted
in the complete collapse of the Council of Church Stewards building, which
housed numerous Palestinian families, both Christian and Muslim.
Meters away from Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital
The church is located just meters away from Al-Ahli Arab
Baptist Hospital, which suffered extensive damage several days ago, resulting
in over 500 casualties and numerous wounded, many still under rubble.
The church is one of the world’s oldest churches, built in
425 AD
As one of the world's third-oldest churches, it now grapples
with a substantial loss of life, numerous injuries, and people still trapped
beneath the rubble as rescuers work diligently to find survivors. The church
was built as early as 425 AD.
Israel’s attack on Christians is not an isolated incident
Regrettably, Israel's attack on Christians is not an
isolated incident. Daoud Kuttab from The New Arab reported, "From the
repeated storming of a Haifa church by Jewish extremists to attacks on
Christians denied entry to sites in Jerusalem while wearing a cross, this is
all the outcome of Israel's far-right government."
A statement from 2021 by the Patriarchs and Heads of Local
Churches of Jerusalem lamented that "throughout the Holy Land, Christians
have become the target of frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical
groups."
Moreover, data from Tag Meir, a Jewish group dedicated to
opposing racism and violence against Israel's minorities, reveals an alarming
surge in attacks by Jewish civilians on cemeteries, churches, monasteries, and
mosques in Israel and the occupied West Bank. The group alone documented six
such incidents in the first three months of 2023, as reported by NBC News.
Furthermore, on October 2, 2023, Quds New Network shared a
distressing video on their platform, exposing an incident in which Israeli
Jewish settlers, en route to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish holiday of
Sukkot, were captured spitting on a group of Christian worshipers without
apparent cause.
It is not just Muslims
Imam Dr. Omar Suleiman, shared on the platform “X” formerly
known as Twitter, “It’s not just Muslims, it’s everything and everyone
Palestinian.”
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