#BreakingNews Condemnation of Israel's Attack on the Catholic Patriarchate's Holy Family School in Gaza which left Causalities

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has strongly condemned a raid launched by Israeli forces against its Holy Family School in Gaza City on Sunday morning, which reportedly killed at least four people.
In the last two days, another two schools were hit by Israeli attacks on "targets" in Gaza, one run by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, serving, according to a press release by the Patriarchate, as “place of refuge for hundreds of civilians” since the start of the war in Gaza.

The blood and violence of the past weekend have resulted in at least 20 dead, 16 in a strike on a UN-run school and four at the Catholic school, according to sources in Gaza. For months, such educational establishments have been taking in homeless families.

Right after the attack, Fr Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest at the Sacred Family parish church in Gaza, posted a message on social media stating that “We are fine" even if the situation remains "very negative" and for this reason he urged everyone to "pray for peace".

One of the people killed in the attack against Catholic school, which had been closed for some time and had been turned into a shelter for refugees, was Ihab al-Ghusain, Deputy Minister of Labour in the Hamas administration.
In a statement released yesterday a few hours after the attack, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said that it was “monitoring, with grave concern, the news of the raids, apparently launched by the Israeli army against the Sacred Family school in Gaza in the morning.”
“Footage and media reports from the place include scenes of civilian casualties and of destruction in the compound,” the statement reads.
“While property of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Sacred Family School has, since the beginning of the war, been a place of refuge for hundreds of civilians. No religious personnel reside in the school.

The compound of the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza City, sheltering some 600 displaced Christians, is not new to attacks by Israeli forces in their fight against Hamas. In December last year, an Israeli sniper killed two Christian women, a mother and her daughter, inside the compound.

The incident came nearly two months after an air strike on a building adjacent to St. Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church in which several people sheltered there lost their lives.
Pope Francis and the Holy See, along with the United Nations, have repeatedly urged for the effective protection of civilians in the conflict.
Pax Christi International also expressed its deep concern over the recent raids on the Sacred Family School in Gaza. These acts of aggression against educational institutions and places of sanctuary are deeply troubling, representing a severe violation of International Humanitarian Law, contravening the principle of distinction, and undermining the principles of peace and nonviolence.

Sources: Asia News/Vatican News/Pax Christi Int.