‘Cold-Blooded Killing’: Archbishop Rejects IDF Denial It Killed Two Christians At Gaza Church
Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols described the Israeli military for the “cold-blooded killing” of two Catholic women taking refuge in a church complex in Gaza by sniper fire and said he didn’t believe the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) denials.
Speaking to Sky News host Kay Burley on Monday, the Head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales was firm in his criticism but did not go so far as to repeat the description of Pope Francis, who called the incident an act of “terrorism” at Sunday’s weekly blessing in Rome.
The shooting involved a mother and daughter, named as Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter Samar Anton, with the latter being fatally shot as she attempted to rescue her mother.
In a statement to French news agency AFP, the IDF rejected involvement and said that they “do not target civilians, no matter their religion.”
Speaking to Burley, Cardinal Nichols said: “This does nothing to further Israel’s right to defend itself, which I understand.”
He continued: “The killing of evidently vulnerable and innocent people seems to me to set back what Israel says and what it’s trying to achieve… I don’t know about the management of soldiers in uniform and the discipline that they should be exercising.”
Apparently referencing the IDF mistakenly killing of three Israeli hostages waving white flags on Friday, the Archbishop said: “We’ve seen in a number of ways that discipline has broken down and these would appear to be just random shootings. So I hope those responsible for it, because this is a structured army, will be held to account for what they’ve done.”
Burley interjected : “Israeli Defense Force says, didn’t happen, it wasn’t them.”
“Well, I think that’s hard to believe, frankly, because the people in Gaza and the Cardinal Archbishop of Jerusalem, they’re not given to tell lies,” Cardinal Nichols replied.
“So you don’t believe the Israeli Defense Forces?” Burley asked.
“No. I don’t,” he said.
In the wake of the incident, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who is of Palestinian descent, disclosed that her relatives are among the Christians currently taking refuge in the Holy Family Church.
In an update shared on X, Moran painted a dire picture of the situation inside the church complex: “Soldiers are at the gates and there was a fire when they hit one of the (already dysfunctional) generators. There is no water left. There are 300 people there. We don’t know why this is happening. Are they going to be expelled from a church just days before Christmas?”
