DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Strikes hit the Holy Family Church in northern Gaza on Thursday morning, injuring several people including the parish priest, officials with the Catholic Church said.
Parish priest Fr. Gabriel Romanelli was very close with the late Pope Francis and the two spoke often during the war in Gaza.
The church — the only Catholic church in Gaza — was damaged in the attack, officials said, in what witnesses said appeared to be an Israeli tank shelling.
The Israeli military did not have immediate comment on the strike.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel for the church strike. “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.
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.
Last year, he told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he calls a priest daily at 7 p.m. at the Holy Family Church to hear what was happening to the nearly 600 people sheltering at the facility.
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. The report says the majority of Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox but they also include other Christians, including Roman Catholics.
The war began with Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. That day, militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, 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 58,000 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.
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