Israeli strike hits Gaza church, killing 3 and wounding priest

An Israeli shell slammed into the compound of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday killing three people and wounding 10 others including the parish priest according to church officials The late Pope Francis who died in April had regularly spoken to the priest about the situation in the warravaged territoryThe shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21month IsraelHamas war Israel issued a rare apology and said it was investigatingPope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in response to the attackIn a telegram of condolences for the victims Leo expressed ldquohis profound hope for dialogue reconciliation and enduring peace in the regionrdquo The pope said he was ldquodeeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attackPrime and expressed his closeness to the wounded priest Rev Gabriel Romanelli and the entire parishHundreds of people sheltered at the churchThe church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims including a number of children with disabilities according to Fadel Naem acting director of AlAhli Hospital which received the casualtiesThe Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said the parishrsquos 60yearold janitor and an 84yearold woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed in the attack Parish priest Romanelli was lightly woundedldquoWe were struck in the church while all the people there were elders innocent people and childrenrdquo said Shady Abu Dawood whose mother was wounded by shrapnel to her head ldquoWe love peace and call for it and this is a brutal unjustified action by the Israeli occupationrdquoThe Israeli military said it was investigating It said it ldquomakes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures including religious sites and regrets any damage caused to themrdquoIn a rare move the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted an apology on social media ldquoIsrael expresses deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualtyrdquo it saidIsrael has repeatedly struck schools shelters hospitals and other civilian buildings accusing Hamas militants of sheltering inside and blaming them for civilian deaths Palestinians say nowhere has felt safe since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas Oct 7 2023 attackItalian Premier Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel for the strike on the church ldquoThe attacks on the civilian population that Israel has been demonstrating for months are unacceptablerdquo she saidChurch compounds have been struck beforeThe church is just a stonersquos throw from AlAhli Hospital Naem said noting that the area around both the church and the hospital has been repeatedly struck for over a weekThe Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem which also has a church in Gaza that previously sustained damage from Israeli strikes said the Holy Family Church was sheltering 600 displaced people including many children and 54 people with disabilities It said the building suffered significant damageTargeting a holy site ldquois a blatant affront to human dignity and a grave violation of the sanctity of life and the inviolability of religious sites which are meant to serve as safe havens during times of warrdquo the Church said in a statementSeparately another person was killed and 17 wounded Thursday in a strike against two schools sheltering displaced people in the AlBureij refugee camp in central Gaza according to AlAwda Hospital The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikeThe Gaza Health Ministry said that over the past 24 hours local hospitals received the bodies of 94 people killed in Israeli strikes and another 367 woundedPope Francis spoke almost daily with Gaza churchIn 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 warFrancis had repeatedly criticized Israels wartime conduct and last year suggested that allegations of genocide in Gaza mdash which Israel has rejected as a ldquoblood libelrdquo mdash should be investigated The late pope also met with the families of Israeli hostages and called for their releaseOnly 1000 Christians live in Gaza an overwhelmingly Muslim territory according to the US State Departmentrsquos international religious freedom report for 2024 Most are Greek OrthodoxThe Holy Lands Christian population has dwindled in recent decades as many have emigrated to escape war and conflict or to seek better opportunities abroad Local Christian leaders have recently denounced attacks by Israeli settlers and Jewish extremistsCeasefire talks continueThere has been little visible progress in months of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement after Israel ended an earlier truce in MarchAccording to an Israeli official familiar with the details Israel is showing ldquoflexibilityrdquo on some of the issues that have challenged negotiators including Israels presence in some of the security corridors the military has carved into the territoryThe official speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing ongoing negotiations said Israel has shown some willingness to compromise on the Morag Corridor which cuts across southern Gaza However other issues remain including the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel and commitments to end the warThe official says there are signs of optimism but there wonrsquot be a deal immediatelyHamasled militants killed some 1200 people mostly civilians in the Oct 7 attack 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 aliveIsraelrsquos retaliatory offensive has killed over 58600 Palestinians according to Gazarsquos 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 tallyThe ministry is part of the Hamasrun 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 casualtiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever