‘I’m worried that if it’s not the bullets that kill them, it will be the lack of water,’ says British-Palestinian MP Layla Moran of civilians - including her relatives - trapped in Gaza church. This sums up the plight of Palestinians trapped in their soil, although, here, Moran is referring to her extended family.
Layla Moran has said that she fears that her extended family members, who are sheltering in a church in the Gaza Strip, will not survive until Christmas.
In a message posted on platform X, she expressed concern over her extended family in Gaza City. "I am desperately worried for my extended family in Gaza City. They have no electricity, no water, no food, and now a sniper is inside the Church compound where they are sheltering. My family are not collateral damage. We need an immediate bilateral ceasefire now," her message said.
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, the Middle East Eye reports.
"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 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.
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".