The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, in Gaza, in January 2024. (Credit: AFP)
Another joyless Christmas is approaching for Ramez al-Souri. One without his children, without the simple happiness of watching them grow year after year.He last saw them on Oct. 19, 2023, as he pulled their bodies from the rubble of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City, where they had sought refuge. He never imagined the centuries-old house of worship would be struck by an Israeli airstrike."I saw one of my sons burned, then my daughter with part of her skull missing and her eyes gouged out, and finally the third, whose face was also disfigured. I fell into hysteria. I hoped it was a nightmare, but it was an unbearable, inhuman reality," he recalls on Dec. 17 to L'Orient-Le Jour over the phone.That was two months before Christmas. In south Lebanon A churchless Christmas in Derdghaya After the...
Another joyless Christmas is approaching for Ramez al-Souri. One without his children, without the simple happiness of watching them grow year after year.He last saw them on Oct. 19, 2023, as he pulled their bodies from the rubble of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City, where they had sought refuge. He never imagined the centuries-old house of worship would be struck by an Israeli airstrike."I saw one of my sons burned, then my daughter with part of her skull missing and her eyes gouged out, and finally the third, whose face was also disfigured. I fell into hysteria. I hoped it was a nightmare, but it was an unbearable, inhuman reality," he recalls on Dec. 17 to L'Orient-Le Jour over the phone.That was two months before Christmas. In south Lebanon A churchless Christmas in Derdghaya After the...