by Daoud Kuttab

Christian leaders announced on Saturday morning that two Palestinian Christian women—a daughter and her mother—were killed after Israeli shelling struck the apartment building where they were living.

The Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem said the victims were Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud and her daughter, Maria Hafez Michel Al-Najjar, known as “Abu Dawood.”

Palestinians in Gaza rushed to remove people from under the rubble after an Israeli airstrike targeted an apartment building in Gaza City, killing at least five Palestinians early Saturday, according to health and civil defense service officials.

Shireen Awwad from Gaza, living in Bethlehem, told Milhilard.net that when the church in Gaza asked everyone to evacuate, the mother and daughter, along with other Christians who had taken refuge in the church, left; those who didn’t have a home rented one. She and her daughter rented a place, along with others in the same building.

Local Gazans say that there was a pursuit of a wanted Palestinian. The Israelis may have been looking for a specific target and struck the entire building just to get that one person, and it is not clear if they did. Five people were killed, including her and her daughter.

Awwad told Milhilard.net that Maysa’s husband had passed away a year ago from natural causes. She has one son, Michele, in Beit Sahour in the West Bank, and another in Germany. Both have been trying all along to get their mother and sister out of Gaza.

The Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem, Theophilos III, issued a short eulogy expressing pain and sorrow. The Patriarchate stated: “With pain and sorrow, and in the hope of the Resurrection, we pray for the repose of the souls of Maysa and Mary, asking the Lord to grant them rest where all pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled away, and to bestow patience and consolation upon their family.”

The statement added: “Every human being is created in the image of God, and every human life is sacred. We remember all the people of Gaza in our prayers, seeking mercy for the departed, healing for the wounded, and strength for the bereaved.”

It concluded: “We pray for an end to the war and the bombardment and for the protection of civilian lives, and that a just peace may prevail—one in which the people of Gaza can feel secure regarding their children and loved ones. May their memory be eternal.”

Ramzi Khoury, a member of the PLO Executive Committee and Head of the Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine, mourned the deceased Palestinian Christian mother and daughter. In a statement issued Saturday, Khoury said the two women dedicated their time to serving parishioners and displaced persons at the shelter affiliated with the Holy Family Church in Gaza, amid harsh humanitarian conditions facing people in the Strip.

He said the deaths of Maysa and her daughter Mary represent a painful loss for their families, the church, and the congregation. He also said they join the ranks of Palestinian martyrs in Gaza who have paid—and continue to pay—a heavy price due to the war and the resulting death, destruction, and suffering.

Khoury emphasized that the Christian community in Gaza has always been an integral part of the Palestinian people, steadfast in its attachment to their land, faith, and presence despite the most grueling circumstances.

Residents who rushed to help said two Christian women—described as a mother and her daughter—were among those killed.

Gaza City resident Ahmed Al-Dahdouh was among those who tried to pull people from the rubble. He said: “This is happening every day to us; it is not safe. One sleeps at night and does not know if he will wake up in the morning or not; we woke up, we woke up,” adding: “We are Muslims, and these are our Christian brethren, who are not involved in anything; they are peaceful people, and everybody loves them, and now we pulled out their bodies, a mother and her daughter.”