Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 16, 2023 / 15:02 pm

Two Christian women were killed on Saturday by an Israeli sniper at the Catholic Holy Family Parish in Gaza, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Saturday morning.

The patriarchate said in a statement that “around noon” on Dec. 16, a sniper of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families has taken refuge since the start of the war.”

“Nahida and her daughter Samar were shot and killed as they walked to the sisters’ convent,” the statement said. “One was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety.”

The post said another seven people were “shot and wounded” while trying to “protect others inside the church compound.”

“No warning was given, no notification was provided,” the patriarchate said. “They were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the parish, where there are no belligerents.”

Vatican News on Saturday reported that the attack was allegedly “justified by Israelis” who “claimed the presence of a rocket launcher in the parish.”

Holy Family Parish is the only Roman Catholic church in Gaza. Since the Israel-Hamas war began, hundreds of Christians and other Gazan civilians have taken refuge in the parish, which is on the northern end of the Gaza Strip.

Prior to the shooting, the patriarchate said, “a rocket fired from an IDF tank targeted the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Teresa (Missionaries of Charity).”

“The convent is home to over 54 disabled persons and is part of the church compound, which was signaled as a place of worship since the beginning of the war,” the statement said. The building’s generator and its fuel resources were destroyed, the statement said, while the 54 disabled persons at the facility “are currently displaced and without access to the respirators that some of them need to survive.”

The patriarchate said in its statement that it was “at a loss to comprehend how such an attack could be carried out, even more so as the whole Church prepares for Christmas.”

“Together in prayer with the whole Christian community, we express our closeness and condolences to the families affected by this senseless tragedy,” the statement said.

The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations on Saturday.