An Israeli air attack struck a residential apartment in the Remal neighborhood of western Gaza City in the early hours of Saturday, killing at least five people and severely wounding several others. The strike hit the al-Asala building while residents were asleep, penetrating the targeted apartment and tearing through the floors below to cause widespread destruction.
Gaza’s Civil Defence agency and staff at al-Shifa Hospital reported the casualties from the Gaza City operation. According to the Palestinian Wafa news agency, citing Ramzi Khoury, the head of the Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine, the dead included two Christian women: Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud (Ayyad) and her daughter Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar (Abu Daoud). Friends and relatives subsequently gathered for their funeral at the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City.
Military Rationale and Official Responses
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed deep sorrow and grief over the killings, while the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a statement mourning the women and praying for an end to the war and bombardment. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the air campaign, and Palestinian National Council President Rawhi Fattouh stated that the shelling demonstrated that Israel’s actions target Palestinians regardless of religion or age.
Search Operations and Enclave-Wide Toll
Civil Defence crews searched the site for missing people and bodies as fires burned following the explosions. Hospital sources told Al Jazeera that a total of eight Palestinians died across Gaza on Saturday, including one person killed in Beit Lahiya and two others who succumbed to wounds from earlier attacks.
Medical sources cited by WAFA Agency reported that the broader Gaza death toll has reached 74,237 since October 2023, with 1,454 Palestinians killed since the ceasefire began on October 11, 2025.
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