Latin Patriarch grieves killing of two Christian women in Gaza strike

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has expressed his “deep sorrow and grief” over the “tragic” killing of two Christian women in an Israeli air attack on Gaza City.

Maysa Abu Daoud and her daughter Mary al-Najjar were among five Palestinians killed in the attack that hit the ground floor of a building in the Remal neighbourhood on Saturday, in the latest Israeli violation of a United States-brokered “ceasefire” agreement with the Palestinian group Hamas.

In a statement, the patriarch extended his “heartfelt condolences” to the loved ones of the two women and to the Christian community in Gaza.

Their funeral took place on Saturday at Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City’s Old City.

The two women were Palestinian Christians from Gaza City who devoted their time to helping parishioners and displaced people sheltering at the Holy Family Church, according to Palestine’s Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs.

The committee’s chairman, Ramzi Khoury, described their deaths as a “painful loss” for their families, the church and its parishioners.

Mary’s son, 14-year-old Fouad al-Najjar, told the Anadolu news agency the strike hit the building at about 1:30am (22:30 GMT).

“My grandmother and my mother died. May God have mercy on them,” he said.

Al-Najjar appealed for an end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, saying Palestinians were losing their loved ones every day.

“We are exhausted by this war and have endured so much,” he said. “For almost three years, we have been living through the same destruction, the same grief and the same war.”

Palestinian Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac, who serves in Ramallah and directs the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice, wrote on X: “The genocide continues in Gaza.”

The Gaza Strip is home to fewer than 1,000 Christians. The community was already small before the war, and many of its members have been killed since then in attacks on their homes and churches throughout the war that began in October 2023.

On October 19, 2023, an attack on the Saint Porphyrius Church compound killed at least 18 people. Two months later, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an Israeli sniper shot dead a woman and her daughter inside the Holy Family parish compound in Gaza.

An Israeli strike on the Holy Family Catholic Church compound on July 17, 2025 also killed three people and wounded others, including parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israeli attacks have killed at least 74,228 people, including at least 1,445 since the start of the “ceasefire” in October 2025.