The Greek Orthodox Church, which was also a shelter for hundreds of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, was hit during the night of Thursday in an Israeli airstrike, the Jerusalem Orthodox Patriarchate announced. "The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expresses its strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike that hit its church heritage in Gaza City," the church said.
Gaza health officials said there were casualties in the attack, but there were still no official figures, while Palestinian officials said at least 500 Muslims and Christians had taken refuge in a church from the Israeli attacks.
The Israeli military says part of the church was damaged in an attack on a Hamas command center and is looking into the incident.
The Church of Saint Porphyry was built in the 12th century by the Crusaders and is the oldest active church in Gaza and among the oldest in the world. It is dedicated to St. Porphyry, who was the bishop of Gaza in the fifth century and had the task of converting all the inhabitants to Christianity. The church was renovated in 1856, when it got its current rectangular shape.
Refuge for Gazans
The Temple of God of the Jerusalem Patriarchate has been a refuge for the citizens of Gaza many times. In the 2014 bombing, about 200 residents took refuge in the church, and the media reported that families slept in the corridors and surrounding buildings, and that they received medical assistance there.
Archbishop Alexios of Tiberias told the Greek public service ERT that offices and other premises around the church were hit and that a bulldozer was waiting to see if there were any victims. He added that there were about 400 people in the church at that moment.
The Patriarchate stated that it remains committed to its religious and moral duty to provide support and shelter to all who need it, despite constant Israeli demands for the evacuation of civilians and pressure on the churches.
"The targeting of churches and their buildings, including shelters that protect innocent civilians, especially children and women who lost their homes during Israeli airstrikes on residential areas in the last 13 days, constitutes a war crime that must not be ignored," it said. in the announcement of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
MJ/RSE/RTS
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