Israeli forces bombed the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people and injuring at least 10 others, the Latin patriarchy of Jerusalem said, while the army continues its assault through the besieged enclave.
At least one person is in critical condition following Thursday’s strike on the Church of the Holy Family of Gaza City, the patriarchy said in a statement. The church priest was also slightly injured, he added.
Among the people killed were the 60 -year -old concierge of the parish and an 84 -year -old woman who received psychosocial support in a Caritas tent in the church complex, according to the Catholic charitable caritas Jerusalem.
Israeli attacks across Gaza killed at least 32 Palestinians on Thursday, including 25 in Gaza City alone, medical sources in Tel Aviv Tribune told.
Images of the attack on the Church of the Holy Family published by a Palestinian activist and verified by Tel Aviv Tribune shows Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of the Church, after the Israeli attack. The video shows the priest with his right leg bandaged but otherwise in good condition.
“The people of the Holy Family complex are people who have found a sanctuary in the Church – hoping that the horrors of the war could at least save their lives, after their house, their property and their dignity had already been withdrawn,” said the patriarchy in his declaration after having condemned the deadly attack.
Shadi Abu Dawoud, a 47 -year -old Palestinian Christian said that the church’s main hall housed dozens of displaced citizens, mainly children and the elderly, and that all were “peaceful civilians”.
“My mother suffered serious head injuries; she wandered in the church courtyard with other elderly women (when Israeli forces attacked),” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “We were caught by surprise by this Israeli air strike. It is a barbaric and unjustifiable act. “
Mohammed Abu Hashem, a 69 -year -old man who lives next to the church, said he was in the ruins of his house when there was a huge explosion that covered the black smoke area, adding that he had never thought that the Israelis would attack the church.
“The Israeli air strike was massive, completely horrible,” he said. “The horror in which we live is beyond the description. No word could describe what we are going through. It’s not even close to what you watch (on television) or hear. ”
Father Bashar Fawadleh, the parish priest of the group of Christ, the Redeemer Church in Taybeh, almost Ramallah in an occupied West Bank, said that he had spoken of the attack with the assistant priest of the Church of Sainte-Famille in Gaza City.
“He told me that the bombing was very difficult. They bombed the church itself,” Fawadleh told Tel Aviv Tribune. “Our feeling is between hope and sorrow, between life and death.”
Fawadleh reiterated calls to a ceasefire to stop “the horrible war in Gaza”.
‘War of extermination’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attributed the strike to “wandering ammunition”, adding that Israel was investigating the incident and “remains determined to protect civilians and holy sites”.
His statement was published after an appeal from the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who contacted the Israeli chief after “not a positive reaction” to the strike, according to the white house press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“It was a mistake by the Israelis to strike this Catholic church, this is what the Prime Minister relayed to the president,” said Leavitt.
Report of the capital of Jordan Amman, Hamdah Salhut of Tel Aviv Tribune said that Netanyahu had published the declaration after being “under pressure” of Trump, echoing the previous announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that an investigation was underway.
“It is a little difficult to believe all kinds of Israeli investigation which occurs after 21 months of war because the army often abstains from all kinds of reprehensible acts. There is no one held responsible,” said Salhut.
The ministry also said that Israel does not target churches or religious sites despite repeated attacks since the start of the war against Gaza, she added.
Pope Leo, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, said that he was “deeply saddened to learn the loss of life and wounds caused by the military attack” against the Gaza church, according to a telegram signed in his name by Cardinal Pietro Paroline, the Secretary of State of the Vatican.
Pope Leo “assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual proximity,” said the telegram.
The pontiff has renewed his “appeal to an immediate ceasefire, and he expresses his deep hope of dialogue, reconciliation and lasting peace in the region”.
His predecessor, the late Pope Francis, had made night calls with the parishioners of the Church in a demonstration of solidarity with them. The last call took place the day before his death in April.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, told the Vatican News in comments that a Israeli reservoir hit the “directly” church.
“What we know with certainty is that a reservoir – the army (Israeli army) said by mistake, but we are not sure – they have hit the church, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin Church directly,” he added.
Since the start of the war against Gaza, Israel has on several occasions of religious sites, including mosques and churches. In October 2023, just days after the mortal assault, the Israeli army bombed the church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 18 people.
An independent report of the United Nations Commission said last month that Israel had committed the crime against humanity of “extermination” by attacking Palestinian civilians sheltering religious and schools in Gaza.
The report of the international commission independent of the independent United Nations survey in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem-Est and Israel, said that Israel had destroyed more than half of all the religious and cultural sites of the territory, as well as more than 90% of school and university buildings in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hamas criticized the attack as “a new crime committed against places of worship and innocent displaced people”.
“This is in the context of the war of complete extermination against the Palestinian people,” the group said in a shared statement on Telegram.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also blamed Israel for the strike, saying that “the civilian population that Israel has been putting for months is unacceptable”.
According to a report by the American State Department, only 1,100 Christians live in Gaza.
