(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Last Thursday, an Israeli airstrike severely damaged the oldest Christian church in Gaza, killing at least 16 Palestinian Christians in the process.
According to former Republican congressman Justin Amash, some of his relatives were killed in the attack.
“Several of my relatives (including Viola and Yara pictured here) were killed at Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza, where they had been sheltering, when part of the complex was destroyed as the result of an Israeli airstrike,” Amash said on Twitter.
I was really worried about this. 😔 With great sadness, I have now confirmed that several of my relatives (including Viola and Yara pictured here) were killed at Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza, where they had been sheltering, when part of the complex was destroyed as… pic.twitter.com/w5k1xEeTgF
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) October 20, 2023
Later, Amash posted a picture on Monday of his infant second cousin who was killed.
“This beautiful baby committed no crimes, harmed no person,” said Amash, who is Palestinian-American. “May his memory be eternal.”
According to reports, the air strike hit a church-run social services building adjacent to the main part of the 1,600-year-old church.
Thankfully for Christians, the main ancient structure remains standing. But its annex, including office and meeting spaces for Christians, were destroyed.
Israel Defense Forces has called the bombing an accident, and has promised an investigation. The IDF reportedly said it was striking a military command center, and part of the church was damaged in the process.
However, conservatives are nevertheless venting their anger at the apparent lack of care by the IDF to limit civilian casualties.
“Frankly, it’s wrong that there was substantially more outrage when Gaza’s own militants shot their own rocket at their own hospital parking lot, than when Christians died sheltering in the oldest church in Gaza,” said pro-Israel conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
“I’ve been disappointed by Israel’s response. What intelligence was Israel responding to; what target were they going after that justified putting a historic church in danger?” he said, adding, “Christians around the world are Israel’s number 1 ally, and if a Christian church was targeted we need to know exactly why and how.”
Until now I've refrained from tweeting about the damage done to the 12th-century Greek Orthodox church of St Porphyrius in Gaza. After last week’s hospital fiasco, I wanted to wait for more facts to be established. But it now seems confirmed that Israel did actually bomb a…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 23, 2023
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
