3 killed in strike on the last Catholic church in Gaza; a friend of Pope Francis is among the injured

Three people were killed and at least nine injured, including a parish priest who was a close friend of the late Pope Francis, in an Israeli attack on the only Catholic church in Gaza, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said Thursday.

The Holy Family Church in Gaza City “was struck by the Israeli army,” the patriarchate said in a statement, adding that it strongly condemned “this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place.”

“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 statement said.

The parish priest, the Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, “sustained light injuries,” the patriarchate said. Romanelli held near nightly calls with Francis throughout the war in Gaza, and the late pontiff took time to speak with the priest and his parish even as his health was failing in the weeks before his death in April.

The Jerusalem branch of the Vatican’s Caritas charitable federation named two of those killed as Saad Salameh, 60, and Fumayya Ayyad, 84, in a separate statement.

Salameh was the church’s janitor, while Ayyad had been sitting inside a Caritas psychosocial support tent when a blast sent “shrapnel and debris into the area,” the statement said.

Pope Leo XIV, Francis’ successor, was “deeply saddened” by the “military attack,” the Vatican said in a statement. It added that Leo renewed his calls for an “immediate ceasefire.”

The pontiff is upholding his predecessor’s stance on being outspoken in calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Video shared by the church with NBC News showed damage to its roof and to a window.

“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,” the patriarchate said in its statement.

The patriarchate did not provide any more information on the attack or who it believed was responsible, saying it would release further details once confirmed.

Witnesses said the attack appeared to be an Israeli tank shelling, The Associated Press reported.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was aware of reports of casualties and damaged caused to the Holy Family Church and said the “circumstances of the incident are under review.”

Israel’s foreign ministry expressed “deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church” and “over any civilian casualty.” It noted in a post on X that an investigation was underway.