Three people were killed and nine others wounded in an Israeli Defence Forces strike on the Holy Family Catholic church in Gaza on 17 July.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem named the dead as Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh (60), a caretaker at the church, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, an 84-year-old woman who had been receiving medical support at the church, and Najwa Abu Dawood, a woman who died from wounds sustained in the strike. Parish priest Gabriel Romanelli was among the wounded, suffering minor injuries to his leg. Fr Romanelli, who is originally from Argentina, regularly spoke by phone with the late Pope Francis. After the outbreak of the Hamas – Israel war in October 2023 he was evacuated to Jerusalem but subsequently decided to return to minister to his flock in Gaza.
It is believed that over five hundred displaced people, Christian and Muslim, were sheltering inside the church at the time of the strike including around fifty with special needs.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said, “What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this hit the church directly.”
Caritas Jerusalem, a Catholic charitable group operating at the church, stated that the shell hit the church roof: “At the time, some individuals were outside the main building, including two elderly women who were sitting inside our Caritas psychosocial support tent. Both were severely wounded and were transported by ambulance to Al-Ahli Hospital after a 15-minute delay.” Caritas also stated that three youths standing at the entrance of the church building were seriously injured and rushed to hospital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement following the attack, which said, “Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy.”
Church leaders visit
On the day after the attack Cardinal Pizzaballa, together with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, was given permission to travel to visit victims of the strike at the Holy Family parish. At the close of his homily at the final mass of the three day visit, Cardinal Pizzaballa said, “I want to thank you for your example. Every time I come here, I go home with more that I learnt from what I gave. Remain united in Jesus. All the world is looking at you. Remain the light here in Gaza, not just for you and for Gaza, but for all of us. May the Lord bless all of you.”
Church in Chains partner SAT-7 has been in contact with this church throughout the conflict, and after the attack reassured them of their ongoing support and concern. Recently, Fr Romanelli shared a moving call for peace with SAT-7 ARABIC’s You Are Not Alone programme: “Our church is called the Holy Family, because we remember that when the Holy Family fled Herod’s hands from Bethlehem, according to tradition they passed through here on their way to Egypt. So we ask this Holy Family to come back to Gaza and bring us peace.”
Before the war started, an estimated 1,000 Christians lived in Gaza. Hundreds of them took shelter in the Catholic and the Greek Orthodox church buildings and have remained there since as their houses have been destroyed. No services have been held in Gaza’s Baptist church for many years as the church building has been frequently attacked. Most of the congregation left Gaza following the murder by Hamas in 2007 of Rami Ayyad, a church member who managed Gaza’s only Christian bookstore.
(Aid to the Church in Need, BBC, Christian Daily International, Guardian, International Christian Concern, Open Doors, SAT-7, Vatican News)
Photos: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem