An employee at Caritas, a network of Catholic charitable organizations, who was killed along with her family in the Greek Orthodox church compound that officials in Gaza say was hit in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday night, was committed “to making a difference in the world,” the group said Saturday.
Viola Al ‘AMash (Al Souri), her husband Abdel Nour Al Souri, their daughter Alya, Viola’s sister, her sister’s husband, and her sister’s two children were all killed when the church was struck, according to Caritas.
“Viola’s journey was marked by dedication and perseverance, as she successfully completed her graduate degree in medical analysis at Al-Azhar University in Gaza,” said Anton Asfar, Secretary General of Caritas Jerusalem.
Asfar said the 26-year-old employee had worked with Caritas since 2021, “where she served as a lab technician with the mobile medical teams, tending to the needs of the most vulnerable people in Gaza.”
“This heart-wrenching event has left a void in the lives of their friends and family, and the community as a whole. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this profound loss, and we remember Viola and her family with deep empathy and sorrow,” he said.
In an earlier statement by the organization on Friday, Caritas condemned what it described as “arbitrary and deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure” and called for a ceasefire to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid into the strip.
The Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 17 people were killed in the Israeli airstrike on the church compound.
CNN cannot independently confirm the number of casualties. The Israel Defense Forces on Friday acknowledged that “a wall of a church in the area was damaged” as a result of a strike.
This post has been updated.
Previous CNN reporting from Abeer Salman and Eyad Kourdi.
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