Elizabeth Owens
ZENIT News / Jerusalem, 12.19.2023).- Following the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s accusation of Israel’s siege against Catholics, nuns, and sick people taking refuge in the Holy Family Catholic parish in Gaza, which was also echoed by the Pope on Sunday, December 17, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied launching bombs and shots.
The denial was issued by the IDF in a statement sent to EWTN News and another one picked up by the SIR agency: the Israeli army “does not attack civilians, regardless of their religion.” However, the Latin Patriarchate reaffirmed its allegations and presented the evidence by publishing photos and a statement: “There are two dead, who killed them? There are the tanks that fired. Those are the facts. We have the images, we can show them.” On Facebook, they added: “Based on what we previously published on December 16, 2023, regarding the martyrdom and injury of a group of citizens on the Latin Monastery campus in Gaza, as well as the damage to buildings, we show you some of the images we received. It is time to end this sterile conflict.”
In the Israeli army’s attack against Catholics, they also destroyed large water containers placed on the roofs of the parish. We also publish here the photos made public by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, a diocese led by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
