Israeli strike hits Gaza church, killing 3 and wounding priest who was
close to Pope Francis
[July 18, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA and MELANIE LIDMAN
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli shell slammed into 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 late Pope Francis, who died
in April, had regularly spoken to the priest about the war's toll on
civilians.
The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the
church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering
from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel expressed regret over what it
described as an accident and said it was investigating.
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in
response to the attack.
In a telegram of condolences for the victims, Leo expressed “his
profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the
region.” The pope 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, Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, and the entire
parish.
President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
to express his frustration over the strike on the church, the White
House said. Netanyahu later released a statement saying Israel “deeply
regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church.”
Hundreds of people sheltered at the church
The church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims,
including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel
Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the
casualties.
The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said 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 in the attack. Parish
priest 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 an initial assessment indicated that
“fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area
hit the church mistakenly.” It said it was still investigating.
The military said it only strikes militant targets, ”makes every
feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures,
and regrets any unintentional damage caused to them."
Israel has repeatedly struck schools, shelters, hospitals and other
civilian buildings, accusing Hamas militants of sheltering inside and
blaming them for civilian deaths. Palestinians say nowhere has felt safe
since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023,
attack.
Italian Premier 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,” she said.
Church compounds have been struck before
The church is just a stone’s throw from Al-Ahli Hospital, Naem said,
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.
[to top of second column]
|
Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, Latin parish priest of Gaza Strip, left,
prays during the midnight Christmas Eve mass at Deir Al Latin Holy
Family Catholic Church in Gaza City, Dec. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Adel
Hana, File)
Separately, another person was killed and 17 wounded 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.
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.
Pope Francis spoke almost daily with Gaza church
In the last 18 months of his life, Francis would often call the lone
Catholic church in the Gaza Strip to see how people huddled inside
were coping with a devastating war.
Francis had repeatedly criticized Israel's wartime conduct, and last
year suggested that allegations of genocide in Gaza — which Israel
has rejected as a “blood libel” — should be investigated. The late
pope also met with the families of Israeli hostages and called for
their release.
Only 1,000 Christians live in Gaza, an overwhelmingly Muslim
territory, according to the U.S. State Department’s international
religious freedom report for 2024. Most are Greek Orthodox.
The Holy Land's Christian population has dwindled in recent decades
as many have emigrated to escape war and conflict or to seek better
opportunities abroad. Local Christian leaders have recently
denounced attacks by Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists.
Ceasefire talks continue
There has been little visible progress in months of indirect talks
between Israel and Hamas aimed at a new ceasefire and hostage
release agreement, after Israel ended an earlier truce in March.
According to an Israeli official familiar with the details, Israel
is showing “flexibility” on some of the issues that have challenged
negotiators, including Israel's presence in some of the security
corridors the military has carved into the territory.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were
discussing ongoing negotiations, said Israel has shown some
willingness to compromise on the Morag Corridor, which cuts across
southern Gaza. However, other issues remain, including the list of
Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel and commitments to end
the war.
The official says there are signs of optimism but there won’t be a
deal immediately.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in
the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 people, most of whom have since
been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Fifty hostages
are still being held, less than half of them believed to be alive
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,600 Palestinians,
according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which has said women and
children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish
between civilians and militants in its tally.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but is led by
medical professionals. The United Nations and other international
organizations consider its figures to be the most reliable count of
war casualties.
___
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Colleen Barry in Milan, Josef
Federman in Jerusalem, Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Chris
Megerian in Washington contributed.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
