An Israeli Defense Forces sniper shot and killed two women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza on Saturday, according to a statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees Catholic churches across Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
The majority of Christian families inside Gaza have taken refuge inside the parish since the start of the war, the statement added.
The two women, described as a mother and daughter, were walking to the convent, and “one was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety,” it said. Seven others were shot and wounded in the attack.
“No warning was given, no notification was provided. They were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the Parish, where there are no belligerents,” the statement continued.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said that Israel Defense Forces tanks also targeted the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Teresa, which is housing 54 disabled persons and is part of the church’s compound. The building’s generator — which is the only current source of electricity — and its fuel resources, solar panels, and water tanks have been destroyed, it said, and IDF rockets have made the convent “uninhabitable.”
CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.
On Friday, UK lawmaker Layla Moran said her family members sheltering in in the church are “beyond desperate and terrified” as conditions continue to worsen.
“(My family is) reporting white phosphorous and gunfire into their compound,” she said. “The bin collector and the janitor have been shot and their bodies are laying outside and remain uncollected.”
CNN cannot independently verify the conditions in and around the church, nor the allegation of the use of incendiary munitions, which can be illegal in some circumstances.
Citing her family members, the Oxford West and Abingdon member of parliament added that electricity generators have stopped working at the church.
On November 15, Moran told the UK House of Commons that one of her family members sheltering in the church had died.
CNN’s Kareem El Damanhoury contributed to this report.
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