Latest news with #SaadSalameh
LeMonde
5 days ago
- LeMonde
Israel's shelling of a Catholic church in Gaza sparks widespread outrage
The strike obliterated a section of the church roof. On Thursday, July 17, at 10:20 am, an Israeli army tank shell struck the Holy Family Church, a sanctuary for 500 of the Gaza Strip's Christians and dozens more Muslim refugees from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, in the enclave's north. According to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, three people were killed in the attack. Saad Salameh, the 60-year-old parish janitor, and Fumayya Ayyad, 84, were injured in the church courtyard and died shortly afterward at Al Ahli Arab Hospital. Najwa abu Daoud, 73, also lost her life in the attack. Nine other people were wounded, including Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest. "He sustained a minor leg injury and promptly received medical care," said Farid Jubran, a representative of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, when contacted by phone, adding: "He immediately went to back to work supporting the faithful." After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the start of the war, Romanelli was stuck in Jerusalem, and was only able to return to his parish in May 2024, as part of a visit by Italian Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, to the Palestinian territory. Known for having spoken by phone or video nearly every day with the late Pope Francis until his death, Romanelli, a 55-year-old Argentine priest, has spent over a year helping his small congregation survive amid the Israeli bombardments. He has organized classes for children, distributed drinking water and celebrated Mass every day, doing his best to be present wherever he is needed.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Israeli strike on Gaza church kills three and injures priest Pope Francis called daily
An Israeli strike has hit the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people and injuring 10 others including the parish priest, who used to receive daily calls from the late Pope Francis. The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem earlier named two of the victims were Saad Salameh, the 60-year-old janitor of the Holy Family church, and Fumayya Ayyad, an 84-year-old woman who was receiving psychological support in a Caritas tent within the church's compound when the blast occurred. 'Both were critically wounded and transported to al-Mamadani hospital, but due to the severe lack of medical resources and blood units in Gaza, they tragically passed away,' the charity said. 'Their deaths are a painful reminder of the impossible conditions faced by civilians and medical personnel under siege. May Saad and Fumayya rest in peace. We carry their memory with us.' Ibrahim Saqallah, a paramedic at the nearby al-Ahli Arab hospital, told the Guardian that three people were killed and about 10 others wounded, some critically. The injuries were caused by shrapnel from an exploding artillery shell. Saqallah said the hospital was notified that the church had been hit. 'I got into the ambulance and headed straight to the church,' he added. 'This [Israeli] army is arrogant – it does not distinguish between Christian or Muslim, nor does it care whether it's a church, a mosque, a home, or even a school. We are living in the midst of a brutal war.' The shelling of church also damaged its compound, where hundreds of Palestinians, including children and people with disabilities, have been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel issued a rare apology and said it was investigating. Attallah Terzi, a displaced 75-year-old Christian now sheltering in a school next to the church, said: 'I had just returned to the classroom after being outside for a few minutes when a massive explosion occurred. It was the first time since the beginning of the war that the sound of an explosion was so intense.' Before his death in April, the former pope would call Gabriel Romanelli, an Argentinian, every evening. He began the routine on 9 October 2023, two days after the attacks on Israel by Hamas ignited the devastating war in Gaza. Reuters footage from the hospital showed Romanelli to be lightly injured, with a bandaged left leg but able to walk. Terzi witnessed the killing of a woman who had been assisting a man in a wheelchair and another whose head was hit by a stone that appeared to have fallen from the church. She also saw a young man being struck by shrapnel. Romanelli had run to help him before being injured himself. Pope Leo XIV said in a telegram sent by the Vatican's secretary of state in his name that he was 'deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack' and that he was renewing his calls for an immediate ceasefire. In a statement, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said: 'The Israeli raids on Gaza have also hit the Holy Family church. The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such behaviour.' Elizabeth Funnell, the Middle East representative for the Catholic aid agency Cafod, added: 'We once again call on the international community to act urgently to protect civilians, places of worship, and humanitarian spaces, and to ensure that people in Gaza have access to the most basic right: the chance to survive.' The Israel Defense Forces said they were 'aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene. The circumstances of the incident are under review. 'The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them,' its statement added. The Holy Family church in Gaza spoke in a separate statement of 'a number of injured, some in critical condition'. Dozens of Palestinians were killed and wounded during Israeli airstrikes on several areas of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including four who were killed in an attack on a home close to the Imam al-Shafi'i school in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City. After Francis's death, Romanelli, who has served as the parish priest since 2019, told the Guardian: 'Even after he was hospitalised, he continued calling to check on us. Our grief is deep because we lost someone we felt had become a member of our church.' Francis was a strong advocate of ending the war. In his last public address on Easter Sunday, he condemned the 'deplorable humanitarian situation' in Gaza and implored Israel and Hamas to 'call for a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people, that aspires to a future of peace'.
ITV News
6 days ago
- Politics
- ITV News
Three killed in Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church which Pope Francis called every day
Three people have died after Israeli strikes hit Gaza's only Catholic church which the late Pope Francis made daily phone calls to throughout the war. According to aid charity CAFOD, two of those killed in the attack were the parish's 60-year-old janitor Saad Salameh and Fumayya Ayyad, an 84-year-old woman who was inside a welfare tent in the church compound. Several people were also injured in the attack including the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, who became close to Pope Francis before his death in April. The pontiff would often call the lone Catholic church in the Gaza Strip to see how people huddled inside were coping during the war. Previously, Father Romanelli described the regular calls with the late Pope as "big consolation for our souls". The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the war. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, told Vatican News that the church was hit 'directly' by a tank on Thursday morning. Pope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in response to the attack. In a telegram of condolences for the victims sent by the Vatican's No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Leo expressed his "profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region'. The pope was 'deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack,″ and expressed his closeness to the parish priest and the entire parish. Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of Catholics in England and Wales condemned the 'appalling strike' on the church which he called a 'place of sanctuary and spiritual support amidst the horrors of war'. He said: 'I add my voice to Pope Leo's call for a return of hostages, and an immediate ceasefire to end the suffering in Gaza and bring peace to the region." The Israeli military said it was aware of the damage caused at the church and is investigating. It said the IDF '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,' the ministry said. Israel has repeatedly said it only targets militants, and accuses Hamas of operating from civilians areas. Elizabeth Funnell, Middle East representative for CAFOD, said: 'It is outrageous that working as a janitor in a church, Saad Salameh was not safe. He was killed while going about his daily work, in the grounds of a sacred building that should have been protected. "Fumayya Ayyad was 84, old enough to remember all the changes in the region since World War II. She was sitting down receiving support, in a tent within the church compound, when she was fatally wounded. 'Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest, had been urging people to remain inside their rooms in recent days, as the situation around the church was becoming so dangerous. "This is not a normal way for people to live, and yet his words and advice undoubtedly saved lives. A colleague in the church compound in Gaza told me: 'If Father Gabriel hadn't warned us to stay indoors, we could have lost 50 to 60 people today. It would have been a massacre.'" Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel for the strike on the church. 'The attacks on the civilian population that Israel has been demonstrating for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such an attitude,' she said. The church is just a stone's throw from Al-Ahli Hospital, said acting director Fadel Naem, noting that the area around both the church and the hospital has been repeatedly struck for over a week. 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. Targeting a holy site 'is a blatant affront to human dignity and a grave violation of the sanctity of life and the inviolability of religious sites, which are meant to serve as safe havens during times of war,' the Church said in a statement. Around 1,000 Christians live in Gaza, an overwhelmingly Muslim territory, according to the US State Department's international religious freedom report for 2024. The report says the majority of Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox but they also include other Christians, including Roman Catholics. Separately, another person was killed and 17 injured on Thursday in a strike against two schools sheltering displaced people in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
