• Site surrounded by Israeli forces as hundreds of Palestinians take refuge inside
• ‘It does feel like it’s making a mockery of keeping civilians safe,’ says Layla Moran

Arab News

LONDON: A British MP’s relatives are “days away from dying” while trapped in a Gaza City church along with hundreds of other civilians, the BBC reported on Saturday.

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said her grandmother, her son, his wife and their 11-year-old twins are trapped in the Holy Family Church without access to water or food.

Her relatives are Christian Palestinians who traveled to the church building for shelter after their home was flattened by an Israeli airstrike in the first week of the violence.

The family have warned that six people — including a mother and daughter — have been killed by Israeli snipers firing on the church.

Moran told the BBC: “I’m now no longer sure they are going to survive until Christmas. It does feel like it’s making a mockery of keeping civilians safe.”

She said a grandfather, a sixth member of her family in the church, died after being unable to receive medical treatment last month.

The church’s last remaining generator, which pumped water into the building, has now stopped working, Moran’s relatives said.

The Israel Defense Forces have not provided any information to those inside the church about why the site would be targeted. Israeli soldiers entered the church site in the past day.

Two men — a bin collector and janitor — who had come and gone from the church were apparently killed on Tuesday by Israeli forces, Moran’s relatives said.

The MP said she has been in contact with the UK Foreign Office to secure the release of her relatives, but described the situation as “incredibly complex.”