In a strongly worded statement issued today, the Pastoral Council of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Ramallah condemned and denounced the recent meeting between heads of Christian churches in al-Quds and the Israeli occupation's president Isaac Herzog.

The statement expressed outrage over what they perceive as "flimsy pretexts and disgraceful excuses" for the meeting, which comes amid an ongoing genocide that is being carried out by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the statement denounced the "shameful international silence" regarding the daily massacres and crimes carried out by the occupation forces.

The Pastoral Council accused the Christian leaders of abandoning the Palestinian cause by visiting the Israeli occupation president after the leaders had collectively urged their parishioners to limit Christmas celebrations to prayers and church rituals, in a prior statement, to show solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip.

"As part of the indigenous Palestinian people who struggled and continue to struggle for the liberation of our country and its capital, Jerusalem, we denounce such meetings that do not express us and have nothing to do with us," the statement read.

The Council called on their bishop and patriarchate to issue an official statement clarifying their position regarding the massacres taking place in the Strip as part of the policy of ethnic cleansing and displacement that is being pursued there by the Israeli Occupation Forces.

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church's statement highlights the position of Palestinian Christians, which also reflects the position of many Arab Christians, regarding the visit of church leaders amid the massacres that have left over 20,000 Palestinians dead and several thousands more under the rubble, wounded, and displaced.

This meeting of church leaders with the occupation's president comes days after the IOF snipped two Palestinian women in a Gaza Strip church, and two days before the world celebrates Christmas while the Holy Land where Christ was born gets drowned in the blood of innocents.

Two Christian women sniped by IOF in Gaza church premises

Ahead of Christmas, the Israeli occupation continues its genocidal attack against the Gaza Strip striking civilians indiscriminately, and ethnically cleansing the Gaza Strip ignoring international pressure and Geneva protocols.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Communication Office announced the murdering of two Palestinian Christian women by an Israeli Occupation Forces sniper, who shot the women "in cold blood" inside the premise of the Holy Family Parish, in Gaza, "where there are no belligerents".

In an official statement, the communication office announced that "a sniper of the IDF murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families has taken refuge since the start of the war."

The two women were identified as Nahida Anton and her daughter, Samar Anton. They were shot as they "walked to the Sistser's Convent," read the statement explaining that "One was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety."

It was also noted that "Seven more people were shot and wounded as they tried to protect others inside the church compound." 

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— Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (@LPJerusalem) December 16, 2023

The refugees were shot with "No warning",  "no notification", and "in cold blood".

This happened after a "rocket fired from an IDF tank targeted the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Theresa (Missionaries of Charity)," according to the statement.

Read more: Palestinian Patriarch in open letter: 'Gaza deserves liberation'