Gaza Christian mother and daughter among five killed in Israeli strike; funeral held at St. Porphyrius Church

Two Palestinian Christian women were among five people killed when an Israeli strike hit a residential building in Gaza City’s Remal area in the early hours of Saturday, Oct. 3. Middle East Eye, citing Palestinian authorities and church representatives, said three strikes hit the al-Asala building at about 1:30 a.m. Al Jazeera, citing Anadolu, reported the same time. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem named the women as Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud and Mary Hafez Michel Najjar. Relatives and outlets also use the spellings Abu Dawoud / Abu Daoud and al-Najjar. Mary’s 14-year-old son, Fouad (also spelled Fuad) al-Najjar, told Anadolu his grandmother and mother had died.

Their funeral was held at noon on Oct. 3 at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, issued condolences to the families and to Gaza’s Christian community. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem also released a statement of condolence and prayed for an end to the war and for the protection of civilians. George Anton of the Latin Patriarchate’s Gaza operations office told church media the women had spent much of the war sheltering at Holy Family Catholic Church before recently renting the apartment. Aleteia reported that Pope Leo XIV sent a private message of condolence to Holy Family’s parish priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, which the priest shared publicly.

Aleteia reported that Israeli military sources said the strike was aimed at Ali al-Amoudi, described as a Hamas political director said to have been seen at the apartment. That targeting claim is attributed to those sources and is not independently confirmed here. Al Jazeera framed the strike as a violation of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hamas; that framing is the outlet’s. Gaza’s Christian community numbers fewer than 1,000 people, according to multiple reports. The brief does not state a motive and does not use the word “genocide.”