The lives of 3 people and the injury of another 10, caused the strike of the Israeli army in Catholic church to GauzeThursday (17.07.2025). A few hours after the blow, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was deeply sorry.
Israeli army reported that the church was struck by debris which was launched during a operation in the area where the only Catholic church in Gaza is located.
“Israel is deeply sorry for a stray fire hit the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the pain of families and believers, “Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that the Israeli authorities are” investigating the incident “.
A farewell prayer for the Palestinians killed in the Israeli airstrike that bombed the Holy Family Church in the Old City of Gaza, east of Gaza City.
And pic.twitter.com/MIjBZFO5J7
— Nastyn Ebraim (@Nobaliahm) July 18, 2025
In Washington, White House spokesman Caroline Levit said that US President Donald Trump phoned his Israeli counterpart to discuss the blow to the church in Gaza.
“It is a mistake of Israelis who hit this Catholic Church”allegedly Netanyahu said to Trump.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, he said via X (formerly Twitter) of condemning the blow “strongly” and added that he “talked to Cardinal Pitsambala, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem”, in which he expressed “the solidarity of France to all Christians”.
Among the people who were injured in the church – shelter of the Catholics is also IEreas Gabriel Romanelli.
Father Romanelli from the day the war in Gaza started (again) often made video calls with Pope Francis who died last April.
The temple hosts hundreds of forcedly displaced Palestinians.
At Al Ahli Hospital in the city of Gaza, there were care of injured in scenes. Among them, Father Romanelli had a bandage on one leg.
Some injured arrived by stretchers. One was wearing oxygen mask.
Others were crying next to the carcasses, covered with funeral bags, which had been left down.
“Battle chariot has targeted us and hit the church. Many civilians were killed and injured“Sandy Abu Dowd, displaced, told the French Agency.
His 70 -year -old mother is among the dead.
For the Patriarchate, targeting “a sacred space that hosts some 600 displaced children, mostly children, is a blatant violation of human dignity” and the “sacred character of worship sites, supposed to offer safe refuge in times”.
Pierbatist Pitsambala, Latin Patriarch, told Vatican News that “what we know with certainty is that a battle chariot hit directly in the church. The Israeli army says it happened by mistake, but we are not sure. “
Pope Leo ID said that he is “deeply sad” about the blow to the Gaza church And he reiterated his call to declare a “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, for which indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas have come to an end.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorga Meloni, said, confirming the blow to the Holy Family Church that “the attacks on the civilian population of Israel have been unacceptable for months.”
25 dead from Israeli blows
At least 25 people killed on Thursday in Israeli blows or by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip.
In the Palestinian pocket they live about 1,000 Christians Among the more than 2 million citizens besieged by Israel since October 2023 and are on the brink of famine, according to the UN.
Most Christians in Gaza are orthodoxhowever, according to the Latin Patriarchate, about 135 are Catholics.
The raid of the military arm of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in southern Israel resulted in losing their lives 1,219 people On the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to a counting of the French agency based on official data.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a large -scale military retaliation military operations in which at least 58,667 Palestinians have lost their lives in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health.