The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said the compound, Gaza’s only Catholic parish, was struck on Thursday morning, killing two worshipers and wounding others who had been sheltering there.
Reuters footage from al‑Ahli Arab hospital showed Fr Gabriel Romanelli, the Argentinian priest who has led the parish since 2019, walking with a bandaged leg.
Romanelli had received nightly phone calls from the late Pope Francis starting on 9 October 2023, two days after Hamas’s attacks on Israel; the pontiff died in April.
Witnesses said the church appeared to have been hit by Israeli tank fire. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were “aware of reports regarding damage” and were reviewing the incident, adding that the army “regrets any damage” to civilians or religious sites.
In a telegram sent by the Vatican’s secretary of state on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, the pontiff said he was “deeply saddened” and again appealed for an immediate halt to the fighting.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the strike, calling Israel’s months‑long campaign in the enclave “unacceptable”.
Dr Fadel Naim, acting director of al‑Ahli Arab hospital, said the church had been sheltering Christians and Muslims, including children with disabilities. Two of the wounded were in critical condition, he added, among them a disabled child; two women and an elderly person were also hurt.
The Holy Family parish said in a separate statement that several people remained in serious condition.
Elsewhere in the coastal strip, residents reported on Thursday dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded in Israeli airstrikes, including four people in a house near the Imam al‑Shafi’i school in Gaza City’s Zeitoun district.
After Francis’s death, Romanelli told the Guardian the late pope “had become a member of our church” through his nightly calls. In his final Easter message, Francis condemned the “deplorable humanitarian situation” in Gaza and urged both sides to agree a ceasefire, release hostages and aid civilians.
(jh)
Source: Reuters, The Guardian, DW News