Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Jerusalem have accused the Israeli Army of killing two Christian Palestinian women who were allegedly shot by Israeli snipers at the Holy Family Parish complex in Gaza on Saturday morning. The IDF said that there was an ongoing firefight in the vicinity of the church, with RPGs being fired at IDF troops. Sky News host Piers Morgan questioned senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Regev, who insisted, “We must await the results of the investigation.”
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa said on Saturday morning that “around noon” on Dec. 16, a sniper of the 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.” Several others were also shot, the statement said.
“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.”
Without waiting for the official investigation, Pope Francis on Sunday called the alleged attack “terrorism”, claiming that “unarmed civilians” were targeted by the IDF.
“I continue receiving very serious and sad news about Gaza,” the pope said at the end of the Angelus prayer. “A mother and her daughter… were killed and other people were wounded by the shooters.”
“This has happened even within the parish complex of the Holy Family, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick and have disabilities,” the pope added. “Some are saying ‘this is terrorism and war,’” the pontiff said. “Yes, it is war, it is terrorism… let us pray to the Lord for peace,” the Holy Father added.
The IDF said on Tuesday that the initial review of the incident “found that on December 17th, in the early afternoon, Hamas terrorists launched a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) at IDF troops from the vicinity of the church. The troops then identified three people in the vicinity, operating as spotters for Hamas by guiding their attacks in the direction of the IDF troops. In response, our troops fired towards the spotters and hits were identified.”
“While this incident occurred in the area where the two women were reportedly killed, the reports received do not match the conclusion of our initial review which found that the IDF troops were targeting spotters in enemy lookouts. We are continuing our examination of the incident,” the statement added.
“The IDF takes claims of strikes on sensitive sites very seriously, especially churches that are the holy sites for the Christian faith. The IDF directs its operations against the Hamas terrorist organization and not against civilians, regardless of their religious affiliation.”
“The IDF takes many measures to mitigate harm to civilians in the Gaza Strip. These efforts stand in contrast to Hamas that does everything in its power to endanger civilians and exploits them, as well as religious sites, as human shields for their terrorist activities,” the IDF said.
Israel later came out and said they were not operating in that area at the time of the shooting.
It’s “great” news coverage for the journalists and news pundits to claim the Catholic Church, the Holy Family Parish in Gaza is under fire from @IDF and that two women were killed. BUT the IDF were not operating in that area last Saturday.
So were they killed and if so, by whom? pic.twitter.com/M1x71e7dlq
— James J. Marlow (@James_J_Marlow) December 19, 2023
