A rocket fired by Hezbollah forces has struck St. Mary’s Church in the northern Israeli village of Iqrit, injuring nine Israeli soldiers and a civilian.
The church, a Melkite Greek Catholic church, was misidentified by an Israeli government spokesman as a Greek Orthodox church, according to the Greek City Times.
Iqrit is historically a Christian village; Israeli forces expelled its residents in 1948, as the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem noted in 2021. On Christmas Day in 1951, Israeli forces blew up the Christian homes in the village to prevent residents from returning.
Over seven decades later, the village’s families are still forbidden to live in Iqrit, though they are permitted to bury their dead at the Melkite church.