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 war," the statement said. "The terrorist was struck in order to remove the threat."
The military said Al-Amoudi was in an apartment used by Hamas for terror activities at the time of the strike. "This is yet another example of Hamas' cynical use of civilians as human shields to advance terrorist activities," it said.
The statement did not say whether Al-Amoudi was killed. Some early reports suggest the attempt may have failed, although there has been no conclusive assessment yet.
The strike came during a ceasefire that has been in effect since October 2025. Israel has continued to carry out strikes it says target militants. It accuses Hamas of rebuilding its forces and violating the truce.
Shireen Awwad, a Gaza native who lives in Bethlehem, told Christian Daily International that local Gazans say there was a pursuit of a wanted Palestinian. She said the Israelis may have been looking for a specific target and struck the building to get that one person.
Awwad said the mother and daughter had taken refuge at the church in Gaza along with other Christians. When the church asked everyone to evacuate, they left. Those who did not have a home rented one. Maysa and her daughter rented a place in the building, as did others.
Awwad said Maysa's husband died a year ago of natural causes. She had two sons, Michel, who lives in Beit Sahour in the West Bank, and another in Germany. Both had long been trying to get their mother and sister out of Gaza.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III issued a short eulogy expressing pain and sorrow.
"With pain and sorrow, and in the hope of the Resurrection, we pray for the repose of the souls of Maysa and Mary, asking the Lord to grant them rest where all pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled away, and to bestow patience and consolation upon their family," the Patriarchate said.
The statement added: "Every human being is created in the image of God, and every human life is sacred. We remember all the people of Gaza in our prayers, seeking mercy for the departed, healing for the wounded, and strength for the bereaved."
It concluded: "We pray for an end to the war and the bombardment and for the protection of civilian lives, and that a just peace may prevail — one in which the people of Gaza can feel secure regarding their children and loved ones. May their memory be eternal."
Ramzi Khoury, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee and head of the Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine, also mourned the women. In a statement Saturday, he said they had dedicated their time to serving at the church shelter amid harsh humanitarian conditions in the Strip.
He said the deaths of Maysa and her daughter Mary are a painful loss for their families, the church and the congregation. He said they join the ranks of Palestinian martyrs in Gaza who have paid — and continue to pay — a heavy price because of the war and the death, destruction and suffering it has caused.
Khoury said the Christian community in Gaza has always been an integral part of the Palestinian people, steadfast in its attachment to its land, faith and presence despite the most grueling circumstances.
