TWO PEOPLE HAVE been killed following an Israeli strike on the only Catholic church in Gaza.
The Holy Family Catholic parish and church is located in the northern part of Gaza City.
Over 600 people, both Christians and Muslims, are sheltered in the parish within its church and school.
Pope Leo XIV has called for an immediate ceasefire following the attack and in a telegram, expressed “deep sorrow for the loss of life and injuries caused by the attack”.
He also expressed “spiritual closeness” to the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, who himself was injured in the attack, as well as to the entire parish community.
Pope Leo XIV also expressed his “profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation, and enduring peace in the region”.
The attack on the church happened this morning and the building sustained severe damage.
Videos showed the wounded being treated in a tented area at Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Hospital, with parish priest Fr Romanelli with a bandage around his lower leg.
Some of the wounded arrived on stretchers, with one man wearing an oxygen mask.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory today killed at least 20 people.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa is the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, making him the top Catholic official in the Middle East.
He said the strike “destroyed large parts of the complex”.
“Targeting a holy site currently sheltering approximately 600 displaced persons, the majority of whom are children and 54 with special needs, is a flagrant violation of human dignity and a blatant violation of the sanctity of life and the sanctity of religious sites, which are supposed to provide a safe haven in times of war,” he added.
Speaking earlier to Vatican News, Cardinal Pizzaballa said the IDF claimed that the strike by a tank was “by mistake”.
However, he added: “We are not sure about this, they hit the church directly.”
In a social media post, Israel claimed it “never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians”.
The late Pope Francis had been in daily contact with the Holy Family Church since 9 October, 2023, two days after the bombings began in Gaza.
Francis continued to hold these calls during his extensive hospitalisation prior to his death in April.
The late pontiff described the parish community as “very courageous” and he used his final public address to call for an end to the “deplorable humanitarian situation’ in Gaza.
Francis also described some Israeli actions in Gaza as “terrorism” in his memoir.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 58,573 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Gaza.