Two Christian women were among five killed and many injured in an early morning strike on a Gaza City apartment house on Saturday, October 3.

Update: The priest of Gaza's Holy Family parish shared that Pope Leo sent him a message of condolence:

Good morning, Father Gabriel. Ever since I learned the painful news of the deaths of Maysa and Mary, I have been praying to God for them, for their families, and for the entire community of Gaza. How long, Lord? Thank you for supporting the parish and the many people who wish to live in peace. Blessings, and a warm embrace.

The message was shared on YouTube by Fr. Romanelli. Below is Aleteia's original article about their deaths:

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The residents of a Gaza City apartment house were asleep in the predawn hours of October 3 when an Israeli drone strike and subsequent fire destroyed much of the building. No warnings preceded the strike, which Israeli military sources said was targeted to kill Ali al-Amoudi, a reported Hamas political director, who was said to have been seen at the apartment.

“We heard fighter jets getting louder, then three strikes followed, hitting the apartment and killing those inside,” Al-Jazeera's Hani al-Shaer reported.

Among those known to have been killed in the strike -- three women, a young man, and a child -- were two Palestinian Christian women. Like many in the crowded Remal area, where thousands of refugees shelter in makeshift camps, Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawoud and her daughter Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar had been displaced throughout much of the war.

For most of that time, they had lived with other refugees at Gaza's Holy Family Catholic Church, said George Anton, the director of operations for the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza, in a statement to ACI MENA. Only recently had the two women rented an apartment, hoping to regain some stability. It was in that apartment that they died.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, responded quickly to news of the deaths:

With deep sorrow and grief, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, mourns the passing of Mrs. Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud (Ayyad) and Mrs. Mary Hafez Michel Najjar (Abu Daoud), who were killed in the Israeli air strike that took place last night October 2nd, 2026, in ​Gaza City.

On behalf of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, its clergy and faithful, Card. Pizzaballa extends his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and to the Christian community in Gaza, praying that the Lord may grant them comfort, strength, and consolation in their loss.

The funeral will take place today, Saturday, 3 October 2026, at 12:00 noon at St. Porphyrius Church in Gaza.

His Beatitude offers his prayers to the Lord, asking Him to receive the two deceased in His abundant mercy, grant them eternal rest in His Kingdom, and bestow upon their families and loved ones the grace of consolation, strength, and hope.

“Blessed the one whom you will choose and bring to dwell in your courts.” (Ps 65:5)

As is the custom in the Middle East, the funeral for the two women took place right away. Family and friends, part of Gaza's dwindling Christian population, gathered at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios, which was itself the site of a 2023 Israeli airstrike that killed 18 Palestinian refugees sheltering in a compound there.

Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of Holy Family, shared images from the funeral:

“Today ⁠is essentially the worst day of my life. I lost my mother and my grandmother today,” Fouad Al-Najjar told Al Jazeera.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem also released a message of condolence:

In sorrow and in the hope of the Resurrection, we pray for the repose of the souls of Maisa and Mary. May the Lord grant them rest where all pain and sighing have passed away, and grant their family patience and consolation.

Every person is created in the image of God. Every human life is sacred. We remember all the people of Gaza in our prayers, asking for mercy for the departed, healing for the wounded and strength for the bereaved.

We pray for an end to the war and bombardment, for the protection of civilian lives, and for a just peace in which the people of Gaza can feel secure ‌for their children and loved ones. May their memory be eternal.

A total of 8 Palestinians died on Saturday as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Since a ceasefire was declared last year, more than 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza and thousands more injured.