After the fatal shootings against members of the Catholic community in Gaza, criticism of Israel is growing. Pope Francis condemned the attack on the two women during Sunday noon prayer in St. Peter's Square in Rome. According to Kathpress, he described the bombing of parish buildings in Gaza and the damage to the Mother Teresa Sisters branch as “very serious and painful news.”
Francisco emphasized that “there were no terrorists on the parish lands, but there were families, children, the sick, the disabled and religious people.” In recent weeks, the Pope has spoken frequently by telephone with the pastoral staff of Gaza's only Catholic parish.
On Saturday, an Israeli sniper killed the two women on the premises of the “Sagrada Familia” Catholic parish in Gaza, and seven other people were injured. According to Israeli information, there was a rocket launcher on the property. As the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem emphasized in an unusually clear statement, the shots were fired without warning and “in cold blood” on parish lands, where there were no belligerents.
Cardinal Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa condemned the attack as the church prepares for Christmas and expressed his condolences to the families. Since the start of the war, most of Gaza's Christian families have sought refuge in the parish area.
According to the Latin Patriarchate, an Israeli army rocket had already hit the convent of the Mother Teresa Sisters, which is in the parish area of Gaza, on Saturday morning. 54 people with disabilities are cared for at the convent. The only power generator and the oil tank were hit. The house was seriously damaged in the explosion. The disabled were transferred without access to breathing apparatus. There had been heavy shelling in the area the night before, in which three people inside the parish complex were slightly injured, he said.
According to the Patriarchate, the two dead were Nahida Khalil Boulos Antoun and her daughter Samar Kamal Antoun, who were on their way to visit Mother Teresa's sisters. They were shot when the daughter wanted to take her elderly mother to safety.
Israel justified the military action by saying that a rocket launcher was stationed in the community. Palestinian media, citing eyewitnesses, reported that Israeli tanks surrounded the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City and attacked anyone moving in the church square.