Gaza City, December 18 (RHC)-- Two Christian women – an elderly mother and her daughter – were shot dead by an Israeli soldier on the grounds of a Catholic church in Gaza City, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has said.

“Around noon [10:00 GMT] today … a sniper” of the Israeli army “murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza” where Christian families have been sheltering since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, the patriarchate said in a statement on Saturday.

“Nahida and her daughter Samar were shot and killed as they walked to the Sister’s Convent.  One was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety,” it said.   The patriarchate highlighted that no warning was given before the shooting started and added that “they were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the Parish, where there are no belligerents.”

Seven more people were also wounded by gunfire as they tried to protect others, the statement said.  “This is a targeted death campaign during the Christmas season on the world’s oldest Christian community,” Hammam Farah, Nahida and Samar’s family member, said in a statement on X.

Earlier, an Israeli tank fired on the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Theresa.  The convent housed more than 50 people with disabilities.  The generator was destroyed, taking out electricity.  Then two more shells were fired completely destroying the convent.  Many of these people are now without the respirators they need to survive. 

The Red Cross has submitted an urgent request to Pope Francis at The Vatican for an immediate intervention.