Israeli strike hits Gaza church, killing 3 and wounding priest who was close to Pope Francis

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00:00Next, an Israeli shell hit the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip this Thursday.

00:05Three people were killed, ten others wounded, including the parish priest.

00:09The late Pope Francis, who died in April, had regularly spoken with that priest

00:13about the situation in the war-ravaged territory.

00:15The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound,

00:21where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21-month-long Israel-Hamas war.

00:27Israel issued a rare apology and said it was investigating.

00:31Pope Leo XIV this Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in response to the attack.

00:38Here at France 24, Charlotte Lamb has this.

00:42These are the streets surrounding the only Catholic church in Gaza, the latest target in Israeli strikes.

00:50Since 2023, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims, as well as children with disabilities,

00:56had been sheltering at the church's compound.

01:00On Thursday, many were rushed to hospital after shelling tore through the building.

01:06This is an unjustified act by the Israeli occupation to target civilians.

01:12We're around 400 displaced people in the church.

01:16This is a barbaric act.

01:17Among the injured was the parish's priest, who became a close friend of Pope Francis in

01:27the final months of the late pontiff's life.

01:29Salam alaykum.

01:31Salam alaykum.

01:34Leading the international condemnation, the world's top Catholic.

01:38For we know that no cry of the innocent victims of violence, no lament of mothers mourning their

01:45children will go unheard.

01:47And France, which once oversaw the territory in the name of protecting Catholics in Palestine,

01:52its foreign minister calling for the carnage in Gaza to stop.

01:56The Israeli military says it's aware of the damage caused at the church and is investigating.

02:03In a rare move, the foreign ministry posted an apology on social media,

02:07insisting the state would never target churches or religious sites and regretting any harm to

02:12civilians.

02:15But for the wounded and grieving here, words of remorse offer little comfort.

02:20Charlotte Lamb here at France 24 with that report.

02:25Let's bring in Seema Gupta, our correspondent in Rome, joins us from Sperolonga.

02:28Of course, Seema, the fact that Pope Leo, angry about this attack on the only Catholic church

02:33in Gaza is why we're joining you.

02:35What has his holiness been saying?

02:38What's his feeling about it all?

02:42Well, they've issued a telegram, essentially, sent by the Vatican number two, Cardinal Pietro

02:48Parolin, but quoting Pope Leo, of course, expressing his condolences for the victims.

02:53Of course, three people died in that attack and many were injured as well.

02:57He said he was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury, and he expressed

03:03his closeness to the parish priest, Father Romanelli, as well as the parish.

03:08As we saw in that report, Father Romanelli, of course, having had a very close relationship

03:13with the previous Pope, Pope Francis, he often called him during the space of this conflict

03:19over many months, often daily, to check on the situation in there and how the people

03:25who were sheltering in the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, how they were doing.

03:31Now, the Pope Leo also said that he expressed profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation,

03:37and an enduring peace in the region. He reiterated his call for a ceasefire. So, wanting very

03:45much for peace to be there and referring to the strike as a military attack. So, very clearly

03:52continuing the idea of a call for the ceasefire, wanting this violence to end.

03:59One wonders if the papal call for peace will be heard by the warring parties.

04:03Yes, exactly. I mean, this clearly is a strike right on the Catholic Church. And the hope

04:13is that, as far as the Pope is concerned, he's mentioned it on several audiences, of course,

04:19mentioning the issue of the suffering of the people in Gaza and the violence that is happening

04:23there and the humanitarian condition, expressing his sorrow about the dire conditions, but also

04:29calling for that ceasefire. Now, someone else who also mentioned very strong words was the Italian

04:35Prime Minister, Georgia Maloney. Now, Georgia Maloney and her government generally have been

04:40supporters of Israel and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. But in this particular case,

04:46striking a Catholic church, injuring the parish priest, killing three people, there was a very

04:52strong reaction. She put the blame squarely on Israel, saying that the attacks against civilians

04:57for months like this is simply unacceptable. No military action, she says, can justify such

05:03behavior. Now, there's been growing unease here in Italy within the ruling coalition, the right-wing

05:10coalition, about this military campaign in the Gaza Strip and concern about the Israeli military

05:16action there. In May, Ms. Maloney herself did talk about the fact that Israel must respect international

05:24law and she did say that the humanitarian situation there was dramatic and unjustifiable. So very strong

05:32words this time around when there's been attack on the lone Catholic church in the Gaza Strip. So

05:38Italians, clearly also the Italian government, wanting to see the humanitarian situation helped and this

05:45kind of violence, they describe it as being simply unacceptable.

05:50Seema Gupta in Spelonga with the take from the Vatican. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

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