Gaza Greek Orthodox church blast—What we wnow

An explosion rocked a historic Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City on Thursday night amid Israel's continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip, as the country's military prepared to enter the Palestinian territory to destroy the Hamas militant group.

Videos emerged early on Friday of apparent damage and casualties at the St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church in Gaza City; the region's oldest church that was reportedly serving as a shelter for hundreds of Palestinians displaced in Israel's 13-day-old military campaign.

Palestinian authorities and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem blamed the Israeli military. The Patriarchate published a statement in which it expressed "its strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike that have struck its church compound in the city of Gaza."

Thursday's attack, it added, "constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored."