Israeli forces have bombed Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three individuals and wounding a minimum of ten others, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem mentioned, because the navy continues its assault throughout the besieged enclave.
Not less than one particular person is in crucial situation on account of Thursday’s strike on the Church of the Latin Monastery in Gaza Metropolis – often called the Holy Household Church, the Patriarchate mentioned in a press release. The church’s priest was additionally evenly wounded, it added.
Amongst these killed have been the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old lady who was receiving psychosocial help inside a Caritas tent within the church compound, in keeping with the Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem.
Israeli assaults have killed a minimum of 32 Palestinians on Thursday, together with 25 in Gaza Metropolis alone, medical sources advised Al Jazeera.
Footage of the Holy Household Church assault revealed by a Palestinian activist and verified by Al Jazeera exhibits Father Gabriel Romanelli, the church’s pastor, following the Israeli assault. The video exhibits the priest together with his proper leg bandaged however in any other case in good situation.
“The individuals within the Holy Household Compound are individuals who discovered within the Church a sanctuary – hoping that the horrors of struggle would possibly a minimum of spare their lives, after their houses, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away,” the Patriarchate mentioned in its assertion after condemning the lethal assault.
Shadi Abu Dawoud, a 47-year-old Palestinian Christian, mentioned the church’s major corridor was housing dozens of displaced residents, primarily youngsters and aged individuals, and that every one have been “peaceable civilians”.
“My mom suffered critical accidents within the head; she was wandering within the church’s yard with different aged girls [when Israeli forces attacked],” he advised Al Jazeera.”We have been taken without warning by this Israeli air strike. It is a barbaric and unjustifiable act.”
Mohammed Abu Hashem, a 69-year-old man who lives beside the church, mentioned he was within the ruins of his house when there was an enormous explosion that lined the world in black smoke, including that he by no means thought the Israelis would assault the church.
“The Israeli air strike was large, completely horrifying,” he mentioned. “The horror we live in is past description. No phrases may describe what we live by way of. It’s not even near what you watch [on TV] or hear.”
Father Bashar Fawadleh, the parish priest of Christ The Redeemer church in Taybeh, practically Ramallah within the occupied West Financial institution, mentioned he spoke in regards to the assault with the assistant parish priest of the Holy Household Church in Gaza Metropolis.
“He advised me that the bombing was very onerous. They bombed the church itself,” Fawadleh advised Al Jazeera. “Our feeling is between hope and sorrow, between life and loss of life.”
Fawadleh reiterated requires a ceasefire to cease the “horrible struggle in Gaza”.
‘Conflict of extermination’
Pope Leo, the top of the Roman Catholic Church, mentioned he was “deeply saddened to be taught of the lack of life and damage attributable to the navy assault” on the Gaza church, in keeping with a telegram signed on his behalf by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
Pope Leo “assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the entire parish group of his religious closeness”, the telegram mentioned.
The pontiff renewed his “name for a right away ceasefire, and he expresses his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace within the area”.
His predecessor, the late Pope Francis, had held nightly calls with the church’s parishioners in a present of solidarity with them. The final name came about the day earlier than he died in April.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, mentioned in feedback to Vatican News that an Israeli tank hit the church “straight”.
“What we all know for certain is {that a} tank – the [Israeli army] says by mistake, however we’re not certain about this – they hit the church straight, the Church of the Holy Household, the Latin church,” he added.
Because the begin of the struggle on Gaza, Israel has repeatedly attacked spiritual websites, together with mosques and church buildings. In October 2023, simply days after the lethal assault started, the Israeli military bombed the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the Gaza Strip’s oldest, killing a minimum of 18 individuals.
The Israeli navy acknowledged Thursday’s assault and claimed the incident was “beneath overview”. The Israeli Ministry of International Affairs provided a uncommon apology and confirmed an investigation was beneath manner.
It additionally mentioned Israel didn’t goal church buildings or spiritual websites and regretted hurt to them or civilians, though it has attacked dozens of mosques and church buildings for the reason that begin of the struggle on Gaza.
An impartial United Nations fee report said final month that Israel has dedicated the crime towards humanity of “extermination” by attacking Palestinian civilians sheltering in spiritual websites and faculties in Gaza.
The report by the UN Unbiased Worldwide Fee of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, together with East Jerusalem and Israel, mentioned Israel has destroyed greater than half of all spiritual and cultural websites within the territory, in addition to greater than 90 p.c of faculty and college buildings in Gaza.
In the meantime, Hamas slammed the assault as “a brand new crime dedicated towards locations of worship and harmless displaced individuals”.
“It comes inside the context of the great struggle of extermination towards the Palestinian individuals,” the group mentioned in a press release shared on Telegram.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni additionally blamed Israel for the strike, saying assaults towards “the civilian inhabitants that Israel has been finishing up for months are unacceptable”.
Solely about 1,100 Christians reside in Gaza, in keeping with a US Division of State report in 2024. The vast majority of Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox, however there are additionally Roman Catholics dwelling there.