Benjamin Netanyahu has issued an apology after earlier tank fire from Israel hit the compound of Gaza‘s only Catholic church which claimed the lives of three people.
The Israeli President blamed a ‘stray’ round for the deaths after a phone call with US President Donald Trump.
Witnesses and the Latin Patriarch said a tank shell slammed directly into the church around 7:30am, but the Israeli military later said an initial inquiry ‘suggests that fragments from a shell… hit the church mistakenly’.
Pope Leo XIV said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the loss of life at Holy Family, which the late Pope Francis had kept in regular contact with throughout the war between Israel and Hamas militants.
‘Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy,’ Netanyahu said in a statement.
Taking to X, the IDF added: ‘An initial inquiry into reports regarding injured individuals in the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, suggests that fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly.
‘The cause of the incident is under review. The IDF directs its strikes solely at military targets and makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures, and regrets any unintentional damage caused to them.’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had called Netanyahu after having ‘not a positive reaction’ to news of the strike.
A view of the damage to the Holy Family church in Gaza City following an Israeli strike
The Israeli President blamed a ‘stray’ round for the deaths after a phone call with US President Donald Trump
Wounded Palestinians, including Father Jebrail Romanelli, are brought to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after an Israeli attack targeted the Holy Family Church in eastern Gaza City
Archbishop Alexios stands in front of the bodies of Palestinian Christians Saad Salama and Foumia Ayyad, who were killed in an Israeli strike on the Holy Family Church
Palestinians who were injured in an Israeli strike on the Holy Family church are rushed for treatment in Gaza City’s Baptist hospital
A mass held for those who lost their lives following the Israeli strike hit the Catholic Holy Family Church, killing three civilians and injuring several others, including Father Gabriel Romanelli, in Gaza City, Gaza on July 17, 2025
‘It was a mistake by the Israelis to hit that Catholic church, that’s what the prime minister relayed to the president,’ she said.
Pope Leo XIV earlier condemned the actions, expressing his ‘deep sadness to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack’ on the Holy Family Church.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, which oversees the church, told Vatican News it was ‘struck by the Israeli army’.
‘What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the church directly, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin Church,’ he said.
‘We don’t have complete information about what has happened in Gaza today because the communication in Gaza is not that simple,’ he added.
Ten other people were wounded, one of whom is in a critical condition in hospital. The parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, who became a close friend of Pope Francis in the final months of the late pontiff’s life, was lightly injured.
The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the war.
Israel said it has launched an investigation, with the IDF issuing a statement saying it was aware of the reports and casualties at the site.
‘The IDF operates to the fullest extent possible to minimize the harm caused to civilians and civilian structures, including religious buildings, and regrets any damage to them,’ it added.
Pope Leo XIV said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the attack and renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in response.
In a telegram of condolences for the victims sent by the Vatican’s No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Leo expressed ‘his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region.’
The pope was ‘deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack,’ and expressed his closeness to the parish priest, the Rev. Romanelli and the entire parish.
Fr. Gabriel Romanelli receives care after he was injured in an Israeli strike on the church
Father Carlos (C) from the Holy Family church in Gaza City assists casualties injured in an Israeli strike
Wounded Palestinians, including Father Jebrail Romanelli, are brought to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital
Bodies of the Palestinians are taken to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital morgue for funeral arrangements following the Israeli strike hit the Catholic Holy Family Church
This picture taken from Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing over destroyed buildings during an Israeli strike on the besieged Palestinian territory
Romanelli was very close to the late Pope Francis and the two spoke often during the war in Gaza.
The church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the fatalities and people injured.
The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed in the attack.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel for the strike on the church.
‘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 a rare move, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted an apology on social media. ‘Israel expresses deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualty,’ the ministry said.
The church is just a stone’s throw from Al-Ahli Hospital, Naem said, noting that the area around both the church and the hospital has been repeatedly struck for over a week.
The 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 damage.
Targeting a holy site ‘is 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 war,’ the Church said in a statement.
Residents of the Nuseirat refugee camp line up in front of water trucks every day to carry clean water back to their tents in Gaza City
Palestinians inspect the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people, in Bureij refugee camp
Mother Iman Al-Nouri, who lost two of her children, Omar and Amir, in an Israeli strike while they were queuing for supplements near a medical centre, kisses a soft toy belongings to her son Siraj, who was wounded in the same strike and is being treated at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital
Separately, another person was killed and 17 injured Thursday in a strike against two schools sheltering displaced people in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
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 pm 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 strikes come as Israel and Hamas continue talks for a ceasefire in Gaza, though little progress has been made.
According to an Israeli official familiar with the details, Israel is showing ‘flexibility’ on some of the issues that have challenged negotiators, including Israeli presence in some of the security corridors the military has carved into the Gaza Strip.
The 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 prisoners to be freed and commitments to end the war.
This picture taken from a position on the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, shows an Israeli fighter jet over the Palestinian territory
Israeli troops and an army bulldozer near the separation fence between Israel and Gaza on July 17
The official says there are signs of optimism but there won’t be a deal immediately.
The war began with Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023.
That day, terrorists 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 Hamas fighters 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.
