Israeli-Palestinian conflict
This picture taken on May 30, 2021 shows a view of (L to R) the bell gable of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius and the minaret of a nearby mosque in Gaza City ( AFP / THOMAS COEX)

Posts falsely claim Israel bombed historic church in Gaza

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on October 11, 2023 at 23:10
  • Updated on October 20, 2023 at 18:04
  • 2 min read
  • By Natalie WADE, AFP USA

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Israel retaliated with air strikes after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack in early October 2023, a conflict resulting in thousands of casualties on both sides. However, posts claiming Israel bombed a centuries-old church in the Gaza Strip are false; the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church has refuted the allegations on social media.

This article was published October 11, 2023, one week before Saint Porphyrius Church was damaged in an Israeli air strike October 19 -- killing and injuring several displaced people who were using it for shelter, according to the Hamas-controlled interior ministry.

"Israel just blew up the third oldest church in the world. Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza was 1,616 years old," says an October 9, 2023 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Screenshot of an X post taken October 11, 2023

Similar posts spread across X and other platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

On October 7, Hamas militants barraged Israel with missile strikes and a wave of armed fighters who gunned down civilians and took around 150 hostages, including Americans and other foreigners. Israel declared war and retaliated by shutting down food, electricity and water for the Gaza Strip, the densely populated, impoverished territory governed by Hamas that has been under a blockade since 2007.

Israel also launched a wave of air strikes and deployed tens of thousands of soldiers around the Palestinian enclave and on its northern border with Lebanon.

But Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City had not been targeted as of 2100 GMT on October 11.

"We would like to inform you that Saint Porphyrios Church in Gaza is untouched and operating in service of the community and our congregation," it said in an Arabic post published October 9 on Facebook (archived here). "The news circulating about it being damaged are false."

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken October 11, 2023

AFP found no credible news reports that the church had been targeted.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has led to a torrent of misinformation on social media. More of AFP's reporting is available here.

October 20, 2023 This article was updated to note Saint Porphyrius Church was damaged in an Israeli air strike October 19, 2023

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