British-Palestinian MP Fears Family Won’t Survive until Christmas

By Staff, Agencies

British-Palestinian MP Layla Moran fears that her extended family members, who are sheltering in a church in the Gaza Strip, will not survive until Christmas.

Moran's grandmother, her son, his wife and their 11-year-old twins have been trapped in the besieged Holy Family Church in Gaza City, in the northern part of the strip, for 60 days.

“I fear my family under siege by ‘Israeli’ forces in a church in Gaza will not survive until Christmas, between the snipers and the lack of water,” Moran, the Oxford and Abingdon MP, told the Guardian.

Moran's family had sought shelter in the church, where other Palestinians had also taken refuge, when the “Israeli” army military bombed their home in the first week of the war.

Moran has been staying in touch with her family through sporadic phone calls and said her relatives are "absolutely terrified" as the “Israeli” military recently escalated its operation in the area.

On Saturday, the Latin Patriarchate of Occupied Al-Quds said a mother and daughter were killed "in cold blood" inside the Holy Family Church complex by “Israeli” sniper fire as they walked inside the compound.

Seven more people were shot and wounded trying to "protect others in the church compound".

The patriarchate added that a tank had also fired on a part of the compound sheltering 54 disabled people, causing a fire that destroyed the building's generator, its only source of electricity.

The complex's solar panels and water tanks have been destroyed, the statement said.

The “Israeli” military laid siege to the compound last week, according to Moran, and has taken the building opposite the church, positioning snipers "at every window with their guns pointing into the church".

"There's also a tank that's taken up position outside. Anyone trying to move around is being shot at, so they're obviously just not moving," she added.

Moran said her family told her that two men, a bin collector and a janitor, were also shot and killed outside the church.

The MP's grandfather died last month, in part from dehydration, after not being able to get to hospital to receive medical treatment.

"If they survive, I will be getting my family and others to give their testimony to the international criminal court, because that's the place where justice will be done," Moran said.