World’s Third-Oldest Church Damaged in Deadly Gaza Rocket Strike

The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, thought to be the third-oldest church in the world, was damaged in an overnight air strike as hundreds of Palestinians sheltered inside. According to Palestinian officials, some five hundred Christians and Muslims had taken refuge inside the church compound located in the Zaytun Quarter of Gaza’s Old City; the Gaza-based Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that sixteen Christian Palestinians were killed in the blast. TheWashington Postheard from a community member that twenty people had been injured; the paper published geolocated video of people searching the rubble for survivors early this morning.RelatedHELEN FRANKENTHALER FOUNDATION SUED FOR “DESTROYING” PAINTER’S LEGACYBMA CREATES PAID INTERNSHIPS HONORING VALERIE MAYNARD The affiliated Order of Saint Georgeconfirmedthe bombing and placed the estimate of the dead at up to two hundred. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged that its fighter jets had struck a nearby militant center that was used to stage attacks on Israel but denied that the church had been their target. “As a result of the IDF strike, a wall of a church in the area was damaged,” said the IDF in a statement. “We are aware of reports on casualties.

The incident is under review.” The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalemcondemnedthe air strike, for which they blamed Israel, vowing that it would “not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty, rooted in its Christian values, to provide all that is necessary in times of war and peace alike.” According toReuters, more than 4,100 Gaza residents have died during Israel’s relentless pounding of the region in the wake of the October 7 attack on that country by Hamas, the political and military organization governing Gaza, which killed 1,400 Israelis. There are roughly one thousand Christians, many of them Greek Orthodox, in Gaza, making up just 1 percent of its population of 2.3 million. The church has historically sheltered Muslims as well, for example during the July 2014 bombings conducted by the IDF during Ramadan. Constructed in the fifth century on the site where Saint Porphyrius, a former bishop of Gaza, is believed to have died in AD 420, the church was converted into a mosque in the seventh century. Crusaders built a new church on the site in the twelfth century; the structure, which was most recently renovated in the mid-1800s and is known for its thick walls and ornate interior decorations, contains the tomb of Saint Porphyrius in its northeastern corner..