The destruction of a church in Gaza by Israel, a new hoax from Hamas and Russia?

@ElentirENG ES 10·20·2023 · 20:00 0

Only three days have passed since Hamas hoax about a hospital in Gaza, and we already have suspicious information.

An Islamic Jihad rocket hits a hospital in Gaza and Hamas blames Israel
Russia has attacked 59 temples and religious centers in Ukraine: this is how they remained

The information came from the Gaza government, that is, Hamas

This morning, the Turkish media TRT broadcast information communicating an alleged Israeli attack on the Saint Porphyry Greek Orthodox Church, in Gaza. As already happened with the case of the alleged Israeli attack on the hospital (which turned out to be an Islamic Jihad rocket launched from Gaza), the source of that information was "the Gazan Ministry of the Interior", that is, Hamas. TRT also quotes Remzi Huri, president of the High Committee for Church Affairs of the Palestinian presidency, who described the alleged Israeli attack as a "war crime" and stated that this temple "is the third oldest church in the world, whose original construction dates back to the year 425."

The Turkish media completed its information with a statement from the deputy spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexey Zaytsev, stating: "We categorically reject and of course condemn the attack on civilian targets from any side ". Some words full of cynicism if we take into account that Russia has been there for more than 600 days indiscriminately attacking civilian targets in Ukraine, including dozens of churches.

An information generated by Hamas and the Kremlin

The aforementioned "ministry" of Hamas published this information last night at 9:38 p.m. CET in this link his Telegram channel. The statement stated the following: "A new massacre committed by the occupation against hundreds of displaced people within the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City, causing a large number of martyrs and injuries." This Hamas "ministry" did not publish any images of the alleged attack. At 21:51 CET (19:51 GMT), the Russian state media RT spread the news stating that the aforementioned church "collapsed this Thursday after a bombing by the Israeli aviation".

A week ago a hoax about an attack on that church was debunked

What is true in all this? To begin with, the Associated Press agency already denied on October 13 an alleged Israeli attack on that church, after a hoax circulated claiming that it had been razed by Israeli forces. The AP report noted: "The church’s founding dates to 407 A.D., but it became a mosque in the 7th century before a new church was built in the 12th century during the Crusades." Thus, the information from the Palestinian presidency stating that it is "the third oldest church in the world" and that it dated back to the year 425 is false. It is not a church from the 5th century, but from the 12th century.

The "massacre" reported by Hamas is two people dead, according to a Palestinian agency

Regarding Hamas' claim about "a large number of martyrs" (that is, deaths), this afternoon the Palestinian agency WAFA (dependent on the Palestinian National Authority) has reported that two people are dead.

Israel points out that "the Church was not the target of the attack"

On the other hand, and as reported Newsweek this noon at 1:47 p.m. CET, the Israel Defense Forces have announced that they are responsible for the damage to the church, but have also indicated that "the Church was not the target of the strike."

In this regard, Newsweek publishes this statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF): "Last night, IDF fighter jets targeted the command and control center belonging to a Hamas terrorist, involved in the launching of rockets and mortars toward Israel." The statement adds: "The command and control center was used to carry out attacks against Israel, and contained infrastructure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization. As a result of the IDF strike, a wall of a church in the area of the center was damaged. We are aware of reports of casualties. The incident is under review."

The Hamas agency speaks of a “massacre against hundreds of people” and then speaks of 16 deaths

This Friday at noon, The SAFA agency, linked to Hamas, has stated that Israel "committed a new massacre against hundreds of displaced people within the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City, causing < strong>the martyrdom of 16 citizens, while dozens remain under the rubble regime." Note that in the same sentence it talks about a massacre of "hundreds of people" and then talks about 16 dead. In an exercise of cynicism after its brutal terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, Hamas accuses Israel of a "war crime".

Hamas agency shows photos from this morning of the intact church

This morning, the Hamas agency has published photos of the supposedly attacked church. As you can see in the images, the church is still standing, intact, and did not "collapse", as the Russian media RT claimed.

In this last photo we see the church on the left. According to the open source intelligence account OSINTdefender, the church "aappears to have only suffered Moderate Damage and was not the Actual Target of the Strike". This source adds: "the Target Building was a Location next to the Church Complex which Partially-Collapsed onto an Section of the Church following the Attack."

The war crime that Hamas is committing according to the Geneva Conventions

Regarding Hamas' accusations against Israel of committing a "war crime" for the damage to that church, we must remember what the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 relative to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts, in Article 51.7, prohibits the use of the civilian population as human shields "to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations."

Thus, the war crime is being committed by Hamas by placing military installations in civilian residential areas, using them as human shields against Israeli attacks. It is a tactic that Hamas terrorists have been using for many years, and it is this war crime that those harmed by these practices should denounce, starting with the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, who today condemned the Israeli attack that damaged that church, but has not condemned the criminal use of human shields by Hamas.