CAIRO: An Israeli airstrike killed at least five Palestinians, including four women, in an apartment building in Gaza City early on Saturday, health and civil defence service officials said.

Among the dead were a Christian mother, Maisa Abu Dawoud, and her daughter Mary, medics and the church said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The strike destroyed the apartment building and started a fire. “We were asleep and suddenly heard continuous strikes and heavy explosions. The children woke up startled and started running and screaming,” said witness Ahmed Al-Dahdouh.

“We ran out and found that our neighbour’s house was struck and there were dismembered martyrs, women, men and children. We started to pull them out, they were scattered under the rubble,” he said.

Israel, which says Hamas has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of the ceasefire, has stepped up strikes on the group in recent weeks. Hamas has denied trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.

Last year’s US-brokered Gaza cea­sefire calls for eventual reconstr­uction of the territory. But little pro­­gress has been made towards implementing a deal to end the conflict th­­at includes terms for Hamas to dis­­­­­a­­rm and Israel to withdraw its troops.

Christian victims

Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital said it had “received at dawn five martyrs and a number of injured… following the Israeli airstrike on an apartment” in the Rimal neighbourhood. It said the dead were two women and their daughters, as well as a young man.

Mahmoud Bassal, the spokesperson for the civil defence which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, said that his team took “five bodies and several wounded” to the hospital after the strike.

He said two missiles directly hit the apartment, causing a fire and damaging the building. The director of Al-Shifa later said that two of the five victims were Christians and that their funerals were held in the small Greek Orthodox church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City.

Around 1,000 Christians live in the Palestinian territory, most of whom are Orthodox.

Funeral in Gaza City

Friends, including Muslims, and relatives gathered at the Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City to pay their respects during the funeral of the Christian mother and daughter. Christians make up just 1pc of Gaza’s more than two million population.

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

In a statement later on Saturday, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem mourned Maisa Abu Da­­w­­oud and her daughter, Mary, ext­ending condolences to their family.

“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,” the Patriarchate said.

Gaza health officials have said at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since last October’s ceasefire. Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026