Former Congressman Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) announced Friday that he lost several relatives in an Israeli airstrike that hit a church in Gaza.
Amash shared a photograph of two women he identified as Viola and Yara, in a post on X, and said they and others were sheltering at Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza at the time of the blast.
“Give rest, O Lord, to their souls, and may their memories be eternal,” Amash wrote.
“The Palestinian Christian community has endured so much. Our family is hurting badly. May God watch over all Christians in Gaza—and all Israelis and Palestinians who are suffering, whatever their religion or creed,” he said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Newsweek in a statement that it was responsible for the damage to the church and added that it “can unequivocally state that the Church was not the target of the strike.”
