Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
A small community of Christians sheltering in the last remaining Roman Catholic church in Gaza receive a daily call from Pope Francis to inquire about their safety.
Priests and nuns gather to hear the Pope speak in the stairwell of the Holy Family Church which is a sanctuary to about 500 Christians from neighbouring areas taking shelter from air strikes.
Israeli forces have ordered everyone in Gaza to move south but parishioners have said they will not leave the church located in Gaza city.
The first phone call from Pope Francis came on Monday night and has been followed by daily check-ins ever since.
“Every day the Pope calls us, he prays for all of us and comforts us,” Sister Nabila Saleh of the Rosary Sisters School in Gaza told The National.
“Pope Francis is working to make peace possible.
“We know we are in his prayers.”
The Pope has asked how many people have taken refuge in the parish and the support they require.
“He knows the pain and suffering of the people,” said the nun who manages a nearby Catholic school and has lived in Gaza for about a decade.
The calls offer some hope and comfort to the tight-knit community. Many of those in the parish lost their homes in Israeli strikes that began on October 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israeli settlements near the border taking hostages and killing about 1,400 people.
Bombings by the Israeli forces have killed more than 3,800 people and injured about 12,500.
Supplies are running low
There are about 100 children among those staying in the church. Some members of the congregation have lost their homes and belongings since the war started and have taken shelter in the church.
They sleep and eat within the church compound.
Mass is celebrated twice a day and candlelight prayers are held in the evening when the power supply fails. On Sunday, a baptism ceremony was conducted for children.
“The situation is very difficult and every day becomes more difficult with the bombardment because we don’t have electricity and water,” Sister Saleh said.
“But we make an effort to give food and water to all the people who live here with us in the church.
“We too have left our school and are in the Holy Family Church.”
Sister Saleh said the daily prayers give courage to the congregation and the children distressed by the nearby strikes.
“We need everything (supplies) but we have to manage,” she said.
“We don’t know what will happen next but we have faith in God.
“We give people support when we pray – it’s important because the children cry with the bombarding.”
In his weekly address at St Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Pope Francis urged for “everything possible to be done to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe”.
“The number of victims is growing and the situation in Gaza is desperate,” he said.
“Lay down weapons and heed the cries for peace from the poor, the people and the innocent children.”
'Will not move out of church'
In Gaza, a community of about 1,000 Christians have taken shelter in the Roman Catholic church and a nearby Greek Orthodox church.
George Anton, a manager with Caritas, a Catholic humanitarian organisation, said the scale of the bombing was frightening.
Israel has asked people in northern Gaza to evacuate for their own safety, but parishioners said they would not leave the church compound.
“We will not move out of our church,” said Mr Anton who has lived in Gaza since 1995.
“This is our decision. We will remain in our church.
“We are safe in the church for the time being.
“But we don’t know what will happen in like five minutes.
“From our experience of previous wars, we knew this time would be very heavy.”
Like others, he moved with his wife and three children to the compound of the church as soon as hostilities escalated.
His neighbourhood, 10 minutes from the church, has been destroyed by Israeli strikes.
“We have seen destruction and war before but not like this,” he said.
“No place is safe on the Gaza Strip.
“Our neighbourhoods were wiped out totally.
“It is terrifying, especially for the children.
“We can only tell our children to remain strong and we will pray for this war to end.”
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
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The bio
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Mamma Mia
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
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Conflict, drought, famine
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Band Aid
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UK's plans to cut net migration
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National Editorial: Suleimani has been killed, now we must de-escalate
Mina Al Oraibi: Air strike casts a long shadow over the decade ahead
Jack Moore: Why the assassination is such a monumental gamble
Matthew Levitt: Iran retains its ability to launch terror attacks
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It Was Just an Accident
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
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Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
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- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
