The only Catholic church in Gaza has refused to evacuate after the UN declared the situation in the region a genocide.

Many Christians are staying to care for the injured and sick, despite having been bombed themselves.

Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Church, was himself the victim of an attack when it was bombed this summer.

“Faced with the reality of the elderly, the sick, the exhausted, the depressed, and the children, it seems to us that the Lord is asking us to stay and continue to serve those who suffer,” he said. “This is simply a human and spiritual observation.”

John Pontifex, Aid to the Church in Need’s head of public affairs, has been in close contact with Fr. Gabriel and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, George Akroush.

“This community is the last bastion of meaningful Christian presence in that particular part of the Holy Land,” Pontifex told Premier Christian News. “This is why they’re making a last stand to retain their presence and not be forced out.”

The church is currently supporting around 450 internally displaced people (IDPs).

Despite Israel demanding that those in the area evacuate, the Latin Patriarchate insists that “nowhere in Gaza can truly be considered safe,” and that staying within their compound is the only “wise decision.”

“Those who left are enduring some of the worst situations of their lives,” Akroush said. “Tents are erected in the middle of the streets, hygiene conditions are extremely poor, and there is a severe shortage of everything. Above all, death is everywhere.”

On Tuesday, September 16, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israeli forces have carried out four of the five acts defined in the 1948 Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip. The findings were rejected by the Israeli government.