Christian patriarchs make rare visit to Gaza after deadly Israeli strike on church

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Top church leaders visited Gaza on Friday after its only Catholic church was struck by an Israeli shell the day before, an attack that killed three people and wounded 10, including a priest who had developed a close friendship with the late Pope Francis.

The strike drew condemnation from the pope and U.S. President Donald Trump, and prompted statements of regret from Israel, which said it was an accident. Since ending a ceasefire in March, Israel has regularly launched far deadlier strikes across Gaza against what it says are Hamas militants, frequently killing women and children. Strikes killed 18 people overnight, health officials said Friday.

Pope Leo XVI meanwhile renewed his call for negotiations to bring an end to the 21-month war in a phone call Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who offered condolences to the victims.

Church leaders organize aid, evacuations

The religious delegation to Gaza included two Patriarchs from Jerusalem — Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III. The rare visit aimed to express the ''shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land,'' a statement said.

Israel has heavily restricted access to Gaza since the start of the war, though church leaders have entered on previous occasions, usually to mark major holidays.

They visited the Holy Family Catholic Church, whose compound was damaged in the shelling. They were also organizing convoys carrying hundreds of tons of food, medical supplies and other equipment to the territory — which experts say has been pushed to the brink of famine by Israel's war and military offensive — and the evacuation of those wounded in the church strike.

In his call with Netanyahu, Pope Leo XVI ''expressed again his concern over the dramatic humanitarian situation for the population in Gaza, with children, the elderly and the sick paying the most heartbreaking price,'' the Vatican said in a statement.

Netanyahu ''expressed Israel's regret for the tragic incident in which stray ammunition accidentally struck The Holy Family Church in Gaza," the prime minister's office said in a statement. The Israeli military has said it is investigating the incident.

In an earlier statement, the pope had ''repeated his intentions to do everything possible to stop the useless slaughter of innocent people," and condemned ''the unjustifiable attack" on the church.

The Vatican said the pope had also received an update on the condition of Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, the resident priest at the church, who was lightly wounded. The priest had regularly spoken by phone with Pope Francis, who died in April, telling the pontiff about the struggles faced by civilians in Gaza.

‘We are unable to get them out, even in small pieces'

Israel 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, attack.

Israeli strikes killed at least 18 Palestinians overnight and into Friday, including a strike on a home in the southern city of Khan Younis that killed four members of the same family, according to morgue records at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.

Associated Press footage of the aftermath of the strike showed people digging through the rubble in search of remains.

''They are still under the rubble," said Belal Abu Sahloul, a relative of those killed. ''Until now we are unable to get them out, even in small pieces.''

At the hospital, a mother could be seen holding the hand of her daughter, who had been killed in one of the other strikes and placed in a body bag. Nearly 18,000 Palestinian children have been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Israel's military said it was ''operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities'' and that it takes ''feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.''

Three more killed seeking aid, according to health officials

Nasser Hospital said another three people were killed while heading toward an aid site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor. A spokesperson for the foundation said there was no violence at its sites overnight and that crowds were ''docile.''

Since the group's operations began in late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials. GHF's four sites are all in military-controlled zones, and the Israeli military has said its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds. There was no comment from the military on the latest deaths.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 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 alive

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,600 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 militants 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.

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Frankel reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Khaled from Cairo. AP Correspondent Colleen Barry reported from Vatican City.