‘The Israeli occupation does not distinguish’: Gaza family mourns Christian mother and daughter

Fourteen-year-old Fuad woke up at around 5am on Saturday at his father’s house to get ready for school. He learned that his mother and grandmother had been killed in an Israeli air strike on their apartment in western Gaza City. Mary Abu Dawud and her mother Maysaa were among the five Palestinians killed in the al-Asala residential building, after three strikes hit the area at around 1.30am, according to Palestinian authorities and church representatives. “My mother was thrown against the wall by the force of the explosion, and my grandmother was engulfed in flames after the missile hit the house,” Fuad said. “Today, I lost the most precious person in my life. There are no words to describe my feelings.” New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Fuad had been staying with his father since his parents’ divorce. He said that his father was waiting for him to wake up when he told him about the attack and that they had to head to the hospital straight away. “He was waiting for me to wake up. Then he told me about the attack and that we had to go to the hospital," he said. “When we got there, he told me that they were killed and that I had to pray for them,” Fuad added. “We went to see them, but they were already shrouded.” Shrouded bodies of Mary Abu Dawud and her mother Maysaa lie at St Porphyrius Church in Gaza City during funeral prayers attended by relatives and members of Gaza’s Christian community (Middle East Eye) The bodies were later taken to St Porphyrius Church, where relatives and members of Gaza’s Christian community gathered for funeral prayers. Photos from the scene showed mourners surrounding the two women’s bodies. The women, identified by the Palestinian church as Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawoud and Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar, had been spending much of the war at the Holy Family Catholic Church before moving to the apartment. 'It was a horror' Emad Kullab, 30, was sleeping with his family on the fourth floor of the building when the strikes hit. He described the attack as “the whole world being turned upside down” around him. “It was a horror,” he said. “Dust and rubble blinded us. I rushed downstairs after hearing people screaming for help. I saw my neighbours torn to pieces, and other injured women and children. There was fire.” Kullab said the Christian mother and daughter were among those killed immediately. Emad Kullab, 30, in the building where he was when strikes killed Mary Abu Dawud and her mother Maysaa in Gaza City (Middle East Eye) “Our Christian neighbours were killed in the first instant. Mary was a helpful doctor and her mother was kind. They were very friendly and kind to everyone in the area," he said. “The building was residential and full of innocent people. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful buildings in Gaza, but the Israeli occupation is trying to destroy everything in Gaza.” Yasser Abu Juba, 19, is a resident of another building and was one of the first ones to arrive at the scene of the bombing. He helped pull people out of the building and put out the fire. “The building’s doorman was decapitated by shrapnel from the missile. His phone was still open; he had been playing PUBG,” Abu Juba said. “One of our Christian neighbours was also decapitated. The other woman’s body was severely disfigured,” he added. “An elderly woman in the adjacent building was also killed, and her body was shattered. Many other neighbours were injured. I can’t forget what I witnessed with my own eyes.” Gaza's shrinking Christians Gaza has a small Christian community, which numbers fewer than 1,000 people. Most are Orthodox Christians. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed “deep sorrow and grief” over the deaths of the two women and offered condolences to their relatives and Gaza’s Christian community. The latest deaths come after a series of attacks during the war that have struck Palestinian Christian communities and places of worship. In October 2023, an attack on the compound of the St Porphyrius Church killed at least 18 people sheltering there. In December that year, the Latin Patriarchate said a woman and her daughter were killed inside the Holy Family parish compound. An Israeli strike on the Holy Family Catholic Church compound in July 2025 killed three people and wounded others, including the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli. Mourners attend the funeral of Mary Abu Dawud and her mother Maysaa at St Porphyrius Church in Gaza City’s al-Zaytoun neighbourhood, 3 October 2026 (Hani Abu Rezeq) George Anton, director of operations for the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza, said the killing of Mary Abu Dawud and her mother Maysaa had “left deep sorrow among Christian families in the Gaza Strip”. Their funerals took place at St Porphyrius, where Gaza’s Christian community gathered alongside Muslim friends and relatives to mourn the pair. For Fuad, however, the loss remains painfully personal. His mother’s mug, left behind in the family home, was one of the few things he saw when he returned to the building where she had lived. “I came back to see the house where they were living. I saw the mug my mother loved,” Fuad said. “The Israeli occupation does not distinguish between Christians and Muslims. We are all at risk of being killed in Gaza. I don’t know if I will still be alive after this interview.”