The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel Abs received a letter from the Director of the MECC Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR), Central Office, Mr. Nader Abu Amsha, in which he described the situations after the bombarding of the Church of Saint Perphyrios in Gaza and said:
“Our colleagues were present in the Church premises, and there are about 380 Christians in the Church, as they left their homes to seek refuge to the two Churches, St. Perphyrios Orthodox Church, and the Holy Family Laten Church. The parish council is a part of the church compound has been bombarded, which is a two story building occupied by the many families refuging there. The building was destroyed over the people and it slide towards the walls of the Church, the thing that prevented the rest of the building parts from falling totally on the people.”
As for the number of victims, Mr. Nader Amsha indicated that “16 people were martyred, in addition to the presence of two people under the rubble (as of noon of Friday 20 October 2023), the arrangements are also being made for their burial service at the church cemetery and funeral prayer for the rest of their souls.”
He ended his message by saying, “We ask you to pray with us for peace, calm, and a ceasefire. We also ask for your pressure to call for immediate ceasefire, because this is our main demand.”
By Mecc