Two Palestinian Christian women, a mother and her daughter, were killed early Saturday when an Israeli airstrike hit the apartment building in Gaza City where they were living, church leaders said. The women had served parishioners and displaced people at a shelter affiliated with the Holy Family Church in Gaza, according to a Palestinian official who oversees church affairs.
They were among at least five people killed in the strike, which the Israeli military said targeted a senior Hamas leader. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem identified the victims as Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud and her daughter, Mary Hafez Michel Al-Najjar (Abu Daoud). Palestinians rushed to pull people from the rubble after the strike, according to health and civil defense officials.
Gaza City resident Ahmed Al-Dahdouh was among those who tried to pull people out. "This is happening every day to us; it is not safe. One sleeps at night and does not know if he will wake up in the morning or not; we woke up, we woke up," he said.
"We are Muslims, and these are our Christian brethren, who are not involved in anything; they are peaceful people, and everybody loves them, and now we pulled out their bodies, a mother and her daughter," he added.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X that it and the Israel Security Agency carried out the strike "in an attempt to eliminate the terrorist Ali Ahmed Al-Amoudi, the deputy chairman of the political bureau in Hamas in Gaza." The IDF said Al-Amoudi served as Yahya Sinwar's right-hand man and personal assistant and "was involved in the decision-making surrounding the October 7th Massacre." "Today, Al-Amoudi is the most senior Hamas figure in Gaza and is directly involved in Hamas' terror activities and in rebuilding the organization for