A view of the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church which was damaged by an Israeli strike, where Palestinians who fled their homes are taking refuge, in Gaza City, October 20, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Masri
“>
A view of the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church which was damaged by an Israeli strike, where Palestinians who fled their homes are taking refuge, in Gaza City, October 20, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Masri
Former US Representative Justin Amash said Friday that several of his relatives were killed when a Greek Orthodox church in the Gaza Strip was hit overnight by an Israeli airstrike.
“Our family is suffering greatly,” Amash wrote on
Palestinian officials said at least 500 Muslims and Christians had taken refuge in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyry, and the Hamas-led government’s Health Ministry said 16 had been killed.
The Israeli military said part of the church was damaged in a strike on a nearby militant command center and that it was investigating the incident.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the strike in a statement.
Amash, a Palestinian-American, represented Michigan as a Republican in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2021. A vocal critic of former Republican President Donald Trump, Amash left the party in 2019 and later joined the Libertarian Party.
Israel has besieged Gaza since Hamas killed 1,400 people in southern Israel on October 7. More than 4,100 Palestinians were killed, according to Palestinian health officials, and more than a million Palestinians were left homeless, according to the United Nations.
