The Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrios Church, one of the oldest churches in the world, was partially destroyed after the Israeli military hit a nearby command and control center used by Hamas.
One of the church’s buildings that was reportedly sheltering displaced Christians and Muslims collapsed after it was hit, though the number of dead and injured is unclear.
The IDF acknowledged that their strike against a Hamas target damaged a "wall of a church in the area.”
“As a result of the I.D.F. strike, a wall of a church in the area of the center was damaged,” the statement said. “We are aware of reports on casualties. The incident is under review. The I.D.F. can unequivocally state that the church was not the target of the strike.”
The Church of St. Porphyrius’s original structure dates to the 5th century, and the current structure was built in the 12th century. Located in a historic quarter of the city, it is named after a former bishop of Gaza, Saint Porphyrius, and placed where he is believed to have died in A.D. 420. Characterized by thick walls and a richly decorated interior, the church has long been a place of refuge and community for its members, who are a religious minority in the Gaza Strip. […]
The Order of St. George, an associated order of the church, issued a statement confirming the strike. “Archbishop Alexios appears to have been located and is alive, but we don’t know if he is injured,” the Order of St. George stated. The blast hit “two church halls where the refugees, including children and babies, were sleeping.” […]
Christians make up about 1 percent of Gaza’s population and have faced restrictions and discrimination by Hamas and Gaza’s Islamist government, according to human rights groups. During the 2014 Gaza war, about 1,000 Palestinian Muslims fled Israeli shelling for the Church of St. Porphyrius, where graves were damaged by shrapnel from a nearby strike, Reuters reported. (The Washington Post)
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed "its strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike that have struck its church compound in the city of Gaza," arguing it's a "war crime that cannot be ignored."
But its "religious and humanitarian" duties "to provide all that is necessary in times of war and peace alike" will not be abandoned, the statement added.
Editor's note: This post this been updated.