An Israeli shell struck the compound of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest, according to church officials.
The attack damaged the Holy Family Catholic Church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians had been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas conflict.
Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the casualties, said the church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities.
The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem reported that the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed. Parish priest Fr Gabriel Romanelli was lightly wounded.
“We were struck in the church while all the people there were elders, innocent people and children,” said Shady Abu Dawood, whose mother was wounded by shrapnel to her head. “We love peace and call for it, and this is a brutal, unjustified action by the Israeli occupation.”
The Israeli military said it was investigating. It said it “makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them”.
In a rare move, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted an apology on social media. “Israel expresses deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualty,” it said.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which also has a church in Gaza that previously sustained damage from Israeli strikes, said the Holy Family Church was sheltering 600 displaced people, including many children and 54 people with disabilities. It said the building suffered significant damage.
The Church described the targeting of a holy site as “a blatant affront to human dignity and a grave violation of the sanctity of life and the inviolability of religious sites”, which, it added, “are meant to serve as safe havens during times of war”.
In a telegram of condolences for the victims, Pope Leo XIV expressed “his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region”. He said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack” and expressed his closeness to the wounded priest, Fr Romanelli, and the entire parish.
The late Pope Francis, who died in April, had regularly spoken with Fr Romanelli about the situation in Gaza. Church members recalled he “used to call us at 7.00 pm every night”.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the strike, saying: “The attacks on the civilian population that Israel has been demonstrating for months are unacceptable.”
Separately, another person was killed and 17 wounded on Thursday in a strike against two schools sheltering displaced people in the Al-Bureij refugee camp, according to Al-Awda Hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that over the past 24 hours local hospitals received the bodies of 94 people killed in Israeli strikes and another 367 wounded.
Since the conflict began on 7 October 2023, the ministry estimates over 58,600 Palestinians have died, with women and children making up more than half of the dead.
