The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has announced that Israeli forces have bombed Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three people and wounding at least 10 others.
According to the Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem, among those killed were the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman who was receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound.
At least one person is in critical condition as a result of the strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, the Patriarchate said in a statement. The church’s priest was also lightly wounded, it added.
The Patriarchate said in its statement after condemning the deadly attack, “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.”
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said in comments to Vatican News that an Israeli tank hit the church “directly.”
“What we know for sure is that a tank – the [Israeli army] says by mistake, but we are not sure about this – they hit the church directly, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin church.”
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Since the start of the war on Gaza, Israel has repeatedly attacked religious sites, including mosques and churches.
In October 2023, just days after the deadly assault began, the Israeli army bombed the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the Gaza Strip’s oldest, killing at least 18 people.
The Israeli military acknowledged the attack and claimed the incident was “under review.” The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered a rare apology and confirmed an investigation was under way.
It also said that Israel did not target churches or religious sites and regretted harm to them or civilians, even though it has attacked dozens of mosques and churches since the start of the war on Gaza.
An independent United Nations commission report said last month that Israel has committed the crime against humanity of “extermination” by attacking Palestinian civilians sheltering in religious sites and schools in Gaza.
The report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, said that Israel has destroyed more than half of all religious and cultural sites in the territory, as well as more than 90 percent of school and university buildings in Gaza.
According to a US Department of State report in 2024, only about 1,100 Christians live in Gaza. The majority of Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox, but there are also Roman Catholics living there.
Pope Leo Saddened By Incident
According to a telegram signed on his behalf by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of state, Pope Leo, the Head of the Roman Catholic Church, said that he was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack” on the Gaza church.
The telegram said that Pope Leo “assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual closeness.”
The Pontiff renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire, and expressed his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region.
His predecessor, the late Pope Francis, had held nightly calls with the church’s parishioners in a show of solidarity with them. The last call took place the day before he died in April.
Meanwhile, Hamas slammed the attack as “a new crime committed against places of worship and innocent displaced persons.”
The group said in a statement shared on Telegram, “It comes within the context of the comprehensive war of extermination against the Palestinian people.”
Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni also blamed Israel for the strike, saying attacks against “the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable.”
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