Latin Patriarchate mourns two Christian women killed in Gaza City strike
Two Christian women, Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawood and Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar, were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment in Gaza City on Oct. 3. The women had spent much of the war sheltering at Holy Family Catholic Church before moving to the apartment in hopes of resuming a more stable life. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Gaza’s Catholic and Orthodox churches expressed grief and offered condolences to the women’s families and the Christian community. Church officials said Gaza’s Christian population has fallen to 541 from 1,017 before the war, amid deaths, displacement, and departures from the territory.
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Two Palestinian Christian women, a mother and daughter, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in western Gaza City on Oct. 3. The strike reportedly killed five people in total; the women had recently left Holy Family Catholic Church, where they had sheltered for much of the war, to rent an apartment. 2 3 5
The women were identified as Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawoud and Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar. George Anton, operations director for the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza, said they had spent months at Holy Family Church before moving into rented accommodation in hopes of regaining some stability. 1
Palestinian and church sources reported that the building was struck in the early hours of Oct. 3. Reports said five people were killed and several others wounded; the Israeli military had not immediately commented. One account said the strike was reportedly aimed at Hamas official Ali al-Amoudi, but noted that this had not been publicly explained by the Israeli military. 2 3 5
The women’s funeral was held on Oct. 3 at St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City. The Latin Patriarchate and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued condolences, and Holy Family Parish and St. Porphyrius also mourned the women and offered support to their families. 2 3
Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa expressed sorrow and offered prayers and condolences to the families and Gaza’s Christian community. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate called for an end to the bombardment, protection for civilians and a just peace. 2 3
Pope Leo XIV sent a personal condolence message to Holy Family pastor Father Gabriel Romanelli, who read it in a video update. The pope said he was praying for the women, their families and everyone in Gaza, and thanked Romanelli for standing by the parish and people seeking peace. 3
Pizzaballa said in September that Gaza’s Christian population—Catholic and Orthodox combined—had fallen to 541, from 1,017 before the war, as people died or left the territory. Churches including Holy Family and St. Porphyrius have sheltered displaced Christian and non-Christian families, some of whom later moved into other housing. 1
Romanelli said 62 Catholic and Orthodox Christians had died during the war, including 25 in violent deaths caused by bombardment or military snipers; he said most of those 25 had been killed while taking refuge at Holy Family Church. He described the strike as reinforcing residents’ fears that no place in Gaza—including homes, streets or churches—was safe, and said people were exhausted and asking for peace. 3
One report placed the deaths alongside separate concerns in Taybeh, a predominantly Christian town in the West Bank, where residents reportedly faced difficulty reaching olive groves during the harvest. It presented both situations as challenges to the safety and livelihoods that enable Christian communities to remain in the Holy Land. 5*
The Church’s responsibility to protect civilians amid war
The Church’s responsibility to protect civilians amid war is both moral witness and practical service. It insists that civilians are persons with inviolable dignity—not merely “collateral damage”—and that military or political aims cannot erase their claim to protection. The Church also stands with those harmed through pastoral care, humanitarian assistance, and advocacy for their rights.
The Church teaches that all parties to a conflict must respect international humanitarian law and protect people who are not taking part in the fighting, including civilians, medical workers, religious personnel, the wounded, and prisoners. The Holy See has called for these protections to be fully observed by state and non-state actors alike.
That duty extends beyond avoiding direct attacks. Civilian infrastructure essential to life—such as hospitals, sanitation systems, schools, and places of worship—must be protected. The Church has also highlighted the enduring danger from mines and other explosive remnants, which can injure civilians and obstruct displaced people’s return long after fighting ends.
Humanitarian aid must reach civilians and must not be used to manipulate them or advance a party’s interests. The Church likewise calls for protection of refugees’ dignity and rights, and for accountability when attacks on humanitarian workers obstruct assistance or foster impunity.
The Church is not a substitute for governments or the parties responsible for conducting war. But it has a duty to speak clearly when civilians are bombed, essential services attacked, or children harmed; Pope Leo XIV warns that neutrality in some conflicts can itself be unjust. That witness should be joined to attention to victims’ concrete experiences, not limited to abstract arguments.
The Church’s work also includes helping the wounded, displaced, and traumatized. Its pastoral presence and material support for refugees express a commitment to defend their dignity, while military chaplains can help form service members in the humane values behind humanitarian law and accompany those spiritually wounded by war.
Protecting civilians does not mean denying a nation’s right to defend people against aggression. Catholic teaching, however, insists that even legitimate defense must observe moral limits and proportionate restraint; the defense of the innocent cannot justify treating civilians as expendable. The Church’s responsibility is therefore to uphold human dignity, press for protection and aid, and call for peace, reconstruction, and reconciliation.