Catholic parish staff and disabled children had ‘nowhere to go’ after Gaza bomb warning

Staff at the lone Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip received text warnings from the Israeli military to evacuate the premises, but they had nowhere to go, according to the parish priest.

Father Raed Abusahlia, president of Caritas Jerusalem who has been in contact with the parish priest, told Catholic News Service that Father Jorge Hernandez of the Institute of the Incarnate Word and three nuns who live at the parish had nowhere to evacuate the 29 severely disabled children and nine elderly women in their care and so remained on the parish premises.

Since Israel launched airstrikes against Gaza on July 8, it has sent text messages to citizens to evacuate if they will be near a target. Israel bombed near the Holy Family Catholic Church on the morning of July 30.

The Vatican’s Fides news agency, citing details from Father Hernandez, said the main target of the bombing was a home a few meters away from the parish. The home was completely destroyed, and the parish school, office and some rooms used by the parish were partially destroyed.

Father Abusahlia told CNS all the windows of the whole compound, as well as that of the Greek Orthodox Church, already were shattered from previous bombings of buildings around them.

“They are in a very difficult situation,” said Father Abusahlia. “It is a very dangerous area.”

He said the number of refugees at the parish school, some distance away from the parish compound, increased from 600 people to 1,400 in the week ending July 30, and the number of refugees sheltered by the Greek Orthodox Church had increased from 1,400 to 1,900.

Caritas has been providing them with powdered milk, diapers and gasoline, which is especially important after the attack on the Gaza electrical plant. They rely on generators, Father Abusahlia said, and the gas to run them is very difficult and expensive to obtain.

Fides quoted Father Hernandez as saying: “We had a tough night, but we are here. This war is absurd. Everything happens around us. The Hamas militants continue to fire rockets and then hide in the alleys. And we cannot do anything. We cannot evacuate, it is impossible with children. Their families live here. It is more dangerous to go out than stay here. We try to stay in safer places, always on the ground floor.”

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