‘War crime’: Israel bombs Gaza church sheltering displaced people | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Israel’s navy says it’s reviewing reviews on casualties after Hamas says the assault on the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza Metropolis killed and injured a ‘massive quantity’ of individuals.

An Israeli air assault has killed and injured a “massive quantity” of displaced individuals sheltering at a church compound in Gaza, in response to the besieged Palestinian enclave’s inside ministry.

The strike left a “massive variety of martyrs and injured” on the compound of the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza Metropolis, the ministry stated on Thursday night time.

Witnesses instructed the AFP information company the air raid appeared to have been geared toward a goal near the Twelfth-century place of worship the place many Christian and Muslim Gaza residents had taken refuge because the battle raged within the enclave.

The Israeli navy instructed AFP that its fighter jets had hit a command and management centre concerned in launching rockets and mortars in the direction of Israel.

“Because of the IDF [Israeli army] strike, a wall of a church within the space was broken,” it stated, including “we’re conscious of reviews on casualties. The incident is underneath assessment.”

Witnesses stated the assault broken the facade of the church and induced an adjoining constructing to break down, including that many injured individuals have been evacuated to hospital.

Saint Porphyrius, inbuilt about 1150, is the oldest church nonetheless in use in Gaza. Positioned in an historic neighbourhood of Gaza Metropolis, the church supplied sanctuary to individuals of assorted faiths over generations.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed its “strongest condemnation” of the strike.

“Focusing on church buildings and their establishments, together with the shelters they supply to guard harmless residents, particularly youngsters and ladies who’ve misplaced their properties as a result of Israeli airstrikes on residential areas over the previous 13 days, constitutes a battle crime that can not be ignored,” the patriarchate stated in an announcement.

Explaining the harm finished to the church, the Israeli navy claimed: “Hamas deliberately embeds its property in civilian areas and makes use of the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields.”

Gaza has been hit by a relentless barrage of Israeli hearth following an assault by Hamas fighters on October 7, which Israel says killed a minimum of 1,400 individuals, most of them civilians.

Israel’s marketing campaign since has killed a minimum of 3,785 Palestinians within the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, in response to the Hamas well being ministry.