Pizzaballa ‘not sure’ Gaza parish strike was ‘mistake’
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has expressed doubts after the Israeli government said that tank fire on the Gaza parish was not deliberate.
Pope Leo XIV and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem have strongly condemned the shelling Thursday of the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza.
While the Israeli government has said that tank fire on the Gaza parish on July 17 was not deliberate, Cardinal Pierrebattista Pizzaballa has expressed doubts.
Sources close to the patriarchate’s chancery told The Pillar Thursday that some officials believe the strike could be a deliberate act of retaliation, after Christian leaders recently condemned Israeli settler attacks on a West Bank Christian town.
Three people were killed and several more injured when an Israeli Defense Force tank unit opened fire on the parish church of Holy Family in Gaza, the territory's only Catholic parish, on Thursday morning.
A statement from the Latin Patriarchate said that “This morning, at approximately 10:20 a.m., the compound of the Holy Family in Gaza, belonging to the Latin Patriarchate, was struck by the Israeli army. As of this hour, three individuals lost their lives as a result of the injuries sustained and nine others were wounded, including one in critical condition and two in serious condition. The community’s parish priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, sustained light injuries.”
Sources close to the parish identified the two of the people killed as Saed Salameh and Fumia Ayyad, the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and a woman in her 80s, who was receiving support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound.
“The people in the Holy Family compound are people who found in the Church a sanctuary — hoping that the horrors of war might at least spare their lives, after their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away,” said the statement, adding that it “strongly condemns this tragedy and this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place. However, this tragedy is not greater or more terrible than the many others that have befallen Gaza.”
In response to the attack, Pope Leo XIV issued a statement through the Vatican’s Secretariat of State calling for “an immediate ceasefire” and pointedly referred to the incident as a “military attack.”
The pope “assures the parish priest, Fr. Gabriele Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual closeness,” according to the statement, and “prays for the consolation of those who grieve and for the recovery of the injured.”
Israel’s foreign ministry said in a social media post that “Israel expresses deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualty.”
“The IDF is examining this incident, the circumstances of which are still unclear, and the results of the investigation will be published transparently.”
“Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians,” the statement said.
But Cardinal Pizzaballa expressed doubt.
“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.”
“We don’t have complete information about what has happened in Gaza today because the communication in Gaza is not that simple,” the cardinal added.
Sources close to the Patriarchate chancery told The Pillar that internally Church authorities were considering the possibility that the tank attack was a direct response to a recent meeting of Christian leaders in the West Bank town of Taybeh on Monday, and a statement that accused the Israeli authorities of facilitating attacks on local Christians.
Taybeh has been the site of several recent attacks by Israeli settlers on local Christians, including a recent arson attack. In a joint statement during the visit, the cardinal and the Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III said that they “call for these radicals to be held accountable by the Israeli authorities, who facilitate and enable their presence around Taybeh.”
Following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed more than a thousand people, mainly civilians, the country responded with a ground invasion of Gaza. An estimated 700 people sought refuge in the Holy Family parish compound. They included the majority of Gaza’s Latin Catholic community, said to number around 140 people, and many Orthodox Christians.
On Dec. 16, 2023, Naheda Anton and her daughter Samr were killed inside the compound. Fr. Romanelli said they were shot by an Israel Defense Forces sniper, but the IDF repeatedly denied responsibility.
Fr. Romanelli was in Bethlehem when the ground invasion began and was only able to return to the parish in May 2024.
God have mercy. Remember when people used to call Israel "the most moral army in the world." I pray that more of our leaders, secular and ecclesial, will speak out. God protect Cardinal Pizzaballa.
If you're an American your tax dollars fund this (mostly because American Evangelicals think it'll make Jesus return faster). Lord have mercy.