Israel bombs Gaza’s only Catholic church sheltering elderly and children

Israeli forces person bombed Gaza’s only Catholic church, sidesplitting 3 radical and wounding astatine slightest 10 others, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, arsenic the subject continues its battle crossed the besieged enclave.

At slightest 1 idiosyncratic is successful captious information arsenic a effect of Thursday’s onslaught connected the Church of the Latin Monastery successful Gaza City – known arsenic the Holy Family Church, the Patriarchate said successful a statement. The church’s clergyman was besides lightly wounded, it added.

Among those killed were the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old pistillate who was receiving psychosocial enactment wrong a Caritas structure successful the religion compound, according to the Catholic foundation Caritas Jerusalem.

Israeli attacks person killed astatine slightest 32 Palestinians connected Thursday, including 25 successful Gaza City alone, aesculapian sources told Al Jazeera.

Footage of the Holy Family Church onslaught published by a Palestinian activistic and verified by Al Jazeera shows Father Gabriel Romanelli, the church’s pastor, pursuing the Israeli attack. The video shows the clergyman with his close limb bandaged but different successful bully condition.

“The radical successful the Holy Family Compound are radical who recovered successful the Church a sanctuary – hoping that the horrors of warfare mightiness astatine slightest spare their lives, aft their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away,” the Patriarchate said successful its connection aft condemning the deadly attack.

Shadi Abu Dawoud, a 47-year-old Palestinian Christian, said the church’s main hallway was lodging dozens of displaced citizens, chiefly children and aged people, and that each were “peaceful civilians”.

“My parent suffered superior injuries successful the head; she was wandering successful the church’s gait with different aged women [when Israeli forces attacked],” helium told Al Jazeera.”We were taken by astonishment by this Israeli aerial strike. This is simply a barbaric and unjustifiable act.”

Mohammed Abu Hashem, a 69-year-old antheral who lives beside the church, said helium was successful the ruins of his location erstwhile determination was a immense detonation that covered the country successful achromatic smoke, adding that helium ne'er thought the Israelis would onslaught the church.

“The Israeli aerial onslaught was massive, wholly horrifying,” helium said. “The fearfulness we are surviving successful is beyond description. No words could picture what we are surviving through. It is not adjacent adjacent to what you ticker [on TV] oregon hear.”

Father Bashar Fawadleh, the parish clergyman of Christ The Redeemer religion successful Taybeh, astir Ramallah successful the occupied West Bank, said helium spoke astir the onslaught with the adjunct parish clergyman of the Holy Family Church successful Gaza City.

“He told maine that the bombing was precise hard. They bombed the religion itself,” Fawadleh told Al Jazeera.  “Our feeling is betwixt anticipation and sorrow, betwixt beingness and death.”

Fawadleh reiterated calls for a ceasefire to halt the “horrible warfare successful Gaza”.

‘War of extermination’

Pope Leo, the caput of the Roman Catholic Church, said helium was “deeply saddened to larn of the nonaccomplishment of beingness and wounded caused by the subject attack” connected the Gaza church, according to a telegram signed connected his behalf by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s caput of state.

Pope Leo “assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the full parish assemblage of his spiritual closeness”, the telegram said.

The pontiff renewed his “call for an contiguous ceasefire, and helium expresses his profound anticipation for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring bid successful the region”.

His predecessor, the precocious Pope Francis, had held nightly calls with the church’s parishioners successful a amusement of solidarity with them. The past telephone took spot the time earlier helium died successful April.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said successful comments to Vatican News that an Israeli vessel deed the religion “directly”.

“What we cognize for definite is that a vessel – the [Israeli army] says by mistake, but we are not definite astir this – they deed the religion directly, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin church,” helium added.

Since the commencement of the warfare connected Gaza, Israel has repeatedly attacked spiritual sites, including mosques and churches. In October 2023, conscionable days aft the deadly battle began, the Israeli service bombed the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the Gaza Strip’s oldest, sidesplitting astatine slightest 18 people.

The Israeli subject acknowledged Thursday’s onslaught and claimed the incidental was “under review”. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered a uncommon apology and confirmed an probe was nether way.

It besides said Israel did not people churches oregon spiritual sites and regretted harm to them oregon civilians, adjacent though it has attacked dozens of mosques and churches since the commencement of the warfare connected Gaza.

An autarkic United Nations committee report said last period that Israel has committed the transgression against humanity of “extermination” by attacking Palestinian civilians sheltering successful spiritual sites and schools successful Gaza.

The study by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry connected the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, said Israel has destroyed much than fractional of each spiritual and taste sites successful the territory, arsenic good arsenic much than 90 percent of schoolhouse and assemblage buildings successful Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas slammed the onslaught arsenic “a caller transgression committed against places of worship and guiltless displaced persons”.

“It comes wrong the discourse of the broad warfare of extermination against the Palestinian people,” the radical said successful a connection shared connected Telegram.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni besides blamed Israel for the strike, saying attacks against “the civilian colonisation that Israel has been carrying retired for months are unacceptable”.

Only astir 1,100 Christians unrecorded successful Gaza, according to a US Department of State study successful 2024. The bulk of Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox, but determination are besides Roman Catholics surviving there.