Pope 'saddened' as Israel strike on Gaza's only Catholic church kills three

RNZ News

17-07-2025

By AFP team in Gaza with Alice Chancellor in Jerusalem and Clement Melki in Rome
Archbishop Alexios blesses the bodies of Saad Salameh and Foumia Ayyad, killed earlier in an Israeli strike that hit the Holy Family church in Gaza City, during their funeral ceremony at the Saint Porphyrius Church on July 17, 2025.
Photo:
AFP / Omar Al-Qattaa
An Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church killed three people on Thursday (local time), the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, as Israel said it "never targets" religious sites and regretted any harm to civilians.
Pope Leo XIV said he was "deeply saddened" by the loss of life, which a witness said was the result of a tank shell hitting the church.
AFP footage showed those injured being treated at Gaza City's Al-Ahli Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, with one receiving oxygen and blood while lying under a foil blanket.
Mourners knelt next to two white body bags laid out on the floor.
"In the morning a tank shell targeted us and hit the church and a number of civilians were killed and wounded," said Shadi Abu Daoud, a displaced man whose 70-year-old mother was killed in the strike.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem named the dead as Najwa Abu Daoud, Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh and Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad.
"This morning, at approximately 10:20 am (0720 GMT), the Compound of the Holy Family in Gaza... was struck by the Israeli army," it said in a statement.
"As of this hour, three individuals lost their lives as a result of the injuries sustained and ten others were wounded," including the community's parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, it added, revising a previous toll of two.
An AFP photograph showed Father Romanelli with a bandage around his lower leg at Al-Ahli Hospital.
Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed that three people were killed in an Israeli strike on the church in Gaza City, with which the late Pope Francis kept regular contact through the war.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, told Vatican News that: "What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the church directly".
Christian Palestinians mourn the deaths of the victims at the Saint Porphyrius Church on July 17, 2025.
Photo:
AFP / Omar Al-Qattaa
The patriarchate, which has jurisdiction for Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus, said it "strongly condemns this strike and this targeting of innocent civilians".
The site was sheltering around 600 displaced people, the majority of them children and 54 with special needs.
"The people in the Holy Family Compound are people who found in the Church a sanctuary - hoping that the horrors of war might at least spare their lives, after their homes, possessions and dignity had already been stripped away," a statement read.
It came as Gaza's civil defence agency reported that Israeli strikes elsewhere across the Palestinian territory killed at least 22 people.
Israel expressed "deep sorrow" over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating, as foreign leaders, including from France and Italy called the strike "unacceptable".
"Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians," the Israeli foreign ministry said on X.
Out of the Gaza Strip's population of more than two million, about 1000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory.
Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war which erupted in October 2023 and in his final Easter message, a day before his death on 21 April, he condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation" in the Palestinian territory.
Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, the head of Catholic charity l'Oeuvre d'Orient, told AFP the raid was "totally unacceptable".
"It is a place of worship. It is a Catholic church known for its peaceful attitude, for being a peacemaker. These are people who are at the service of the population," he said.
"There was no strategic objective, there were no jihadists in this church. There were families, there were civilians."
More than 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for Gaza's population, displacing most residents at least once and triggering severe shortages of food and other essentials.
The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 58,667 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.
-AFP