Israel bombs the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza, committing a new atrocity that the Patriarchate calls a war crime.

 Yesterday evening, Thursday, an Israeli occupation attack aimed at the Greek Orthodox Church, the third-oldest church worldwide, located in the heart of Gaza City, resulting in numerous martyrdoms and numerous injuries.

The Israeli attack on the Church of Porphyrios, which resulted in numerous displaced people, was deemed a war crime by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the Hamas movement called for a strong international condemnation of the action, along with pressure from the World Council of Churches, to force Israel to cease its "fascist aggression against places of worship and defenseless civilians."

Eyewitnesses who were in the church stated that the Israeli attack caused one of the church buildings to collapse, resulting in the deaths of several martyrs and injuries to others.

In a statement, the Gaza Ministry of Interior said that the Israeli raid in Gaza City's St. Porphyrius Church sanctuary resulted in "large numbers of martyrs and wounded."

The Israeli bombing of the church where hundreds of displaced people sought sanctuary resulted in the martyrdom of a lady and her daughter and the injuries of numerous others, according to the official Palestinian News Agency (Wafa).

Citing insider information, the agency clarified that the bombing caused the Council of Church Stewards building—which resided several Muslim and Christian families from Palestine—to completely collapse. These people had sought sanctuary in the church as a last resort.

She made note of the fact that rescue and medical workers are working to reach the wounded and martyred who are still beneath the debris.

Among the churches still in operation in the Gaza Strip is the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios. It was constructed on Saint Porphyrios's grave and is situated in the Old City of Gaza, close to a mosque.

The church is located close to the National Arab Baptist Hospital, which was subjected to a major Israeli massacre on Tuesday evening, leaving 471 martyrs. The hospital is affiliated with the Evangelical Episcopal Church in Jerusalem.

In a statement, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the Israeli attack and called it a war crime.

According to the Patriarchate, "Targeting churches and their affiliated institutions, in addition to the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children, and women who lost their homes as a result of the Israeli bombing of residential areas during the past 13 days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored."

In this regard, targeting a St. Porphyrius Church building in the Gaza Strip is considered a war crime by the Supreme Presidential Committee for Follow-up of Church Affairs in Palestine. This adds to the ongoing string of crimes committed by the occupation against Palestinian citizens and houses of worship.

Targeting the church, where some 500 Palestinian civilians, Muslims, and Christians seek sanctuary, the group continued in a statement, "confirms that the target of the Israeli occupation is defenseless citizens, including children, women, and the elderly."

She emphasized that the world now clearly sees that Israel is carrying out a genocide plan in the Gaza Strip against our Palestinian people.

In a succinct statement sent on Telegram, the Gaza Ministry of Interior said that the occupation is carrying out a fresh atrocity inside the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City against hundreds of displaced people.

In turn, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas said in a press statement that “the Zionist crime machine continues to expand the scope of its terrorism and criminality by targeting the ancient Greek Orthodox Church of Pophilius.”

Israel has been carrying out its aggressive airstrikes on Gaza for the past two weeks, resulting in 3,785 fatalities and over 12,000 wounded, most of whom are women and children. The Gaza Strip's access to food, medication, electricity, and water is likewise restricted by the occupation. This led to severe Israeli searches and arrests in the towns and cities of the occupied West Bank, concurrent with warnings from domestic and international sources of a double humanitarian calamity.

In response to daily Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and their sanctities, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, and Palestinian factions in Gaza launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood at dawn on October 7, at the beginning of which it stormed Israeli settlements and military sites around the Gaza Strip and resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Israelis and more. Of 4,600 wounded.