
Three killed and several injured in Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church
The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said the parish's 60-year-old caretaker and an 84-year-old woman receiving psycho-social support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were among those killed in the attack.
The Israeli military said it is aware of the incident and is investigating.
Palestinian Christians (Adel Hana/AP)
Parish priest Fr Gabriel Romanelli, who was close to the late Pope Francis, was also injured.
The church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the dead and people injured.
The Israeli military said it 'makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them'.
Israel accuses Hamas militants of operating from civilians areas.
In a rare move, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted an apology on social media.
'Israel expresses deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualty,' the ministry said.
Italian premier Giorgia Meloni blamed Israel for the strike on the church.
'The attacks on the civilian population that Israel has been demonstrating for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such an attitude,' she said.
The church is just a stone's throw from Al-Ahli Hospital, Mr Naem said, noting that the area around both the church and the hospital has been repeatedly struck for over a week.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which also has a church in Gaza that previously sustained damage from Israeli strikes, said the Holy Family Church was sheltering 600 displaced people, including many children, and 54 people with disabilities.
It said the building suffered significant damage.
Targeting a holy site 'is a blatant affront to human dignity and a grave violation of the sanctity of life and the inviolability of religious sites, which are meant to serve as safe havens during times of war,' the Church said in a statement.
Separately, another person was killed and 17 injured Thursday in a strike against two schools sheltering displaced people in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Record
11 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Keir Starmer to raise Gaza starvation with Donald Trump during Turnberry summit
The Prime Minister and President will hold talks at the Ayrshire gold course. Keir Starmer will raise the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and try to seal a US trade deal during a high-stakes summit with Donald Trump on Monday. The Prime Minister will also demand tough action against Vladimir Putin when he meets the US President at Turnberry. The Republican arrived at Prestwick airport on Friday to kickstart a five day trip that will combine golf and political meetings. He played his Turnberry course over the weekend and will travel to his other golf club at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire on Monday as well. One of his final acts at Turnberry will be talks with Starmer on a range of international and domestic issues. Condemnation of the Israeli Government' s actions in Palestine are growing as people in Gaza starve. Starmer, who said he is 'horrified' by the crisis, wants Trump to revive ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas when they meet. He also hopes to get a trade deal between the US and UK, which is currently in draft form, over the line. The President and the Prime Minister will travel together for a private engagement in Aberdeen after their Turnberry meeting. Trump will open his third golf course on Tuesda y during his stay in Aberdeenshire, where he is also expected to meet First Minister John Swinney. Trump was seen teeing off at his Turnberry golf course over the weekend. A woman shouted 'We love you Trump' as the US president played golf. Wearing a white baseball camp branded USA, Trump waved to journalists as he arrived on the green at Trump Turnberry in Girvan, Ayrshire, driving a white golf buggy. A female well-wisher could be heard repeatedly shouting 'we love you Trump' and 'thank you'. Someone else shouted: 'Trump Trump Trump Trump '. The sound of cheering could be heard as Trump took a shot. Protesters carrying placards stood in the dunes at Trump Turnberry, urging the president: 'Don't trust Starmer '. Three people carried placards reading: 'President Trump don't trust Starmer'. The hand-painted sign also branded the Prime Minister an explicit term. A woman holding it wore a red baseball cap with fake hair which read Make America Great Again, and appeared to laugh as she watched Mr Trump. Another female supporter dressed in a floral anorak, held a US flag and wore a baseball cap reading Make England Great Again. She carried a smaller sign which also branded Sir Keir an explicit term. They were joined by a man dressed in black, who wore an Adidas baseball cap. A Trump supporter who travelled from Liverpool to Ayrshire in the hope of seeing the US President at his Turnberry golf course said he is 'chuffed' to have interacted with the President. Tom English, 37, who made the four-and-a-half hour journey with some other Trump supporters, explained: 'We rushed up here hoping to get a glimpse of him. And that's happened this morning when we've got to interact with him a little bit. 'We couldn't really hear him because he was trying to shout to us in this wind, in the Scottish wind on the coast. So it was kind of hard to hear what he said. 'But he blew a kiss to the girls. Gave us a little wave. Trump junior gave us a little wave. And that's what it was about. 'We just wanted to see him in the flesh, and to get that interaction was an added bonus.' When asked what he and the other supporters had said to the president, English recounted: 'Just that we love him, basically. The UK loves Trump. Don't believe the mainstream media.'


South Wales Guardian
4 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Death toll rises after attack on church in east Congo church
The incident took place in the place of worship in Komanda, Ituri province. Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator, said: 'The bodies of the victims are still at the scene of the tragedy, and volunteers are preparing how to bury them in a mass grave that we are preparing in a compound of the Catholic church.' At least five other people were killed in an earlier attack on the nearby village of Machongani, where a search is ongoing. 'They took several people into the bush; we do not know their destination or their number,' Lossa Dhekana, a civil society leader in Ituri, told reporters. Both attacks are believed to have been carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) armed with guns and machetes. The military has confirmed at least 10 fatalities, while local media reports put the total death toll at more than 40. Mr Duranthabo said attackers stormed the church in Komanda town at around 1am. Several houses and shops were also burnt. Lt Jules Ngongo, a Congolese army spokesperson in Ituri province, confirmed 10 were killed in the church attack. Video footage from the scene shared online appeared to show burning structures and bodies on the floor of the church. Those who were able to identify some of the victims wailed while others stood in shock. A UN-backed radio station said 43 people were killed, citing security sources. It said the attackers came from a stronghold around seven miles from the centre of Komanda and fled before security forces could arrive. Mr Duranthabo condemned the attack 'in a town where all the security officials are present'. He added: 'We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town.' Eastern Congo has suffered deadly attacks in recent years by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. The ADF, which has ties to the so-called Islamic State, operates in the borderland between Uganda and Congo and often targets civilians. The group killed dozens of people in Ituri earlier this month in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath. The ADF was formed by disparate small groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni. In 2002, following military assaults by Ugandan forces, the group moved its activities to neighbouring Congo and has since been responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), which has long struggled against the rebel group, has been facing attacks since the renewed hostilities between the Rwanda-backed M23.


Glasgow Times
4 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Death toll rises after attack on church in east Congo church
The incident took place in the place of worship in Komanda, Ituri province. Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator, said: 'The bodies of the victims are still at the scene of the tragedy, and volunteers are preparing how to bury them in a mass grave that we are preparing in a compound of the Catholic church.' At least five other people were killed in an earlier attack on the nearby village of Machongani, where a search is ongoing. 'They took several people into the bush; we do not know their destination or their number,' Lossa Dhekana, a civil society leader in Ituri, told reporters. Both attacks are believed to have been carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) armed with guns and machetes. The military has confirmed at least 10 fatalities, while local media reports put the total death toll at more than 40. Mr Duranthabo said attackers stormed the church in Komanda town at around 1am. Several houses and shops were also burnt. Lt Jules Ngongo, a Congolese army spokesperson in Ituri province, confirmed 10 were killed in the church attack. Video footage from the scene shared online appeared to show burning structures and bodies on the floor of the church. Those who were able to identify some of the victims wailed while others stood in shock. A UN-backed radio station said 43 people were killed, citing security sources. It said the attackers came from a stronghold around seven miles from the centre of Komanda and fled before security forces could arrive. Mr Duranthabo condemned the attack 'in a town where all the security officials are present'. He added: 'We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town.' Eastern Congo has suffered deadly attacks in recent years by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. The ADF, which has ties to the so-called Islamic State, operates in the borderland between Uganda and Congo and often targets civilians. The group killed dozens of people in Ituri earlier this month in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath. The ADF was formed by disparate small groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni. In 2002, following military assaults by Ugandan forces, the group moved its activities to neighbouring Congo and has since been responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), which has long struggled against the rebel group, has been facing attacks since the renewed hostilities between the Rwanda-backed M23.