Latest news with #Romanelli
IOL News
a day ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Senior clerics visit Gaza following deadly church strike
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa (L) and a members of a Christian visit the Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City on July 18. Image: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP Two of the most senior Christian leaders in Jerusalem travelled to Gaza on Friday after Israeli fire killed three at the Palestinian territory's only Catholic church, provoking international condemnation. The rare visit came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "deeply regrets" the strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and blamed a "stray" round. Israel strictly controls access to the territory, where the civil defence agency on Friday reported that further Israeli strikes killed at least 25 Palestinians, including a family of five in their own home. Local people used their bare hands to pick through the debris in the southern city of Khan Yunis in a desperate search for survivors. "Entire families are buried under the rubble," Louai Abu Sahloul, a relative of the victims, told AFP, adding that the relentless wave of strikes was taking its toll. "People are like walking dead, tired of hunger, pain and destruction everywhere in Gaza," he said. The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, headed to Gaza and met local Christians following Thursday's strike. They visited both the Holy Family Church and the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in what the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem called "the shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land and their concern for the community of Gaza". The Greek Orthodox Jerusalem Patriarchate called it a "powerful expression" of church unity and solidarity. 'Stop the needless slaughter' The clerics last week visited the occupied West Bank with diplomatic representatives from more than 20 countries after an attack on an ancient Byzantine-era church blamed on Israeli settlers. Both churches said the Gaza visit had been facilitated with the help of aid agencies and also involved the delivery of food supplies and emergency medical equipment. In Italy, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the delegation arrived with 500 tonnes of aid for local civilians. Pope Leo XIV, the leader of the Catholic Church, said he was "deeply saddened" by the strike on the church, where hundreds of displaced people were sheltering, including children and those with special needs. His predecessor, Pope Francis, kept in regular contact with parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli and repeatedly called for an end to the Gaza war, which has created a humanitarian crisis for the people living there. Romanelli was one of 10 people injured in the strike and was seen with bandages on his leg. The Vatican said the pope called Pizzaballa on Friday morning to ask about the situation in Gaza and the condition of Romanelli and the other wounded. "He expressed his support and affection to the entire community gathered around the parish and those suffering from the violence, and reiterated his intention to do everything possible to stop the needless slaughter of innocents," a statement read. The pontiff also spoke with Netanyahu and expressed concern about the "dramatic humanitarian situation", renewing his appeal for negotiations, a ceasefire and the end of the war, a separate statement added. A spokesman at Netanyahu's office told AFP the conversation was "friendly" and the prime minister expressed his regret. 'Mistake' Both Italy and France called the strike "unacceptable" while US President Donald Trump called Netanyahu after having "not a positive reaction" on hearing about it, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. "It was a mistake by the Israelis to hit that Catholic church, that's what the prime minister relayed to the president," she told reporters. The Jerusalem churches, which have jurisdiction for Catholics and members of the Greek Orthodox Church across Israel and the Palestinian territories, said they had ensured the medical evacuation of those injured. One was in a critical condition and two others were seriously wounded, the Jerusalem Patriarchate said. Out of the Gaza Strip's population of more than two million, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory. Israel's military maintains that it does not deliberately target churches and religious sites. But the Jerusalem Patriarchate said there had been "repeated assaults on Christian holy sites in Gaza". The war was sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's military retaliation has killed at least 58,667 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. The UN considers these figures to be reliable. AFP
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Israeli shell hits Gaza church that late pope called every day
Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said the parish's 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed in the attack. Romanelli was lightly wounded. 'We were struck in the church while all the people there were elders, innocent people and children,' said Shady Abu Dawood, whose mother was wounded by shrapnel to her head. 'We love peace and call for it, and this is a brutal, unjustified action by the Israeli occupation.' The Israeli military said an initial assessment indicated that 'fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly'. It said it was still investigating. The military said it only struck militant targets and made 'every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures, and regrets any unintentional damage caused to them'. Loading 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' October 7, 2023, attack. 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,' she said. The church is just a stone's throw from Al-Ahli Hospital, Naem said, noting that the area around both the church and the hospital has been repeatedly struck for more than 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. In the last 18 months of his life, Francis would often call the lone Catholic church in the Gaza Strip to see how people huddled inside were coping with a devastating war. The Washington Post reported that Francis used to ring Romanelli every evening. Francis had repeatedly criticised Israel's wartime conduct, and last year suggested that allegations of genocide in Gaza – which Israel has rejected as a 'blood libel' – should be investigated. The late pope also met the families of Israeli hostages and called for their release. Only 1000 Christians live in Gaza, an overwhelmingly Muslim territory, said the US State Department's international religious freedom report for 2024. Most are Greek Orthodox. The Holy Land's Christian population has dwindled in recent decades as many have emigrated to escape war and conflict or to seek better opportunities abroad. Local Christian leaders have recently denounced attacks by Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists. Separately, another person was killed and 17 were wounded on Thursday in a strike against two schools that sheltered displaced people in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike. The Gaza Health Ministry said that over the past 24 hours, local hospitals had received the bodies of 94 people killed in Israeli strikes and another 367 wounded. Meanwhile, there has been little visible progress from months of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement, after Israel ended an earlier truce in March. Early on Friday AEST, Axios reported that Qatar, Egypt and the US had presented Israel and Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas with an updated Gaza ceasefire proposal, citing two sources. The two main updates in the latest proposal had to do with the scope of the Israeli military's withdrawal from Gaza during a ceasefire and the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released for each Israeli hostage. The Qatari prime minister is expected to meet Hamas leaders in Doha on Saturday to seek their agreement to the updated proposal, the report added. Hamas-led militants killed about 1200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7, 2023 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
LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
Israel's shelling of a Catholic church in Gaza sparks widespread outrage
The strike obliterated a section of the church roof. On Thursday, July 17, at 10:20 am, an Israeli army tank shell struck the Holy Family Church, a sanctuary for 500 of the Gaza Strip's Christians and dozens more Muslim refugees from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, in the enclave's north. According to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, three people were killed in the attack. Saad Salameh, the 60-year-old parish janitor, and Fumayya Ayyad, 84, were injured in the church courtyard and died shortly afterward at Al Ahli Arab Hospital. Najwa abu Daoud, 73, also lost her life in the attack. Nine other people were wounded, including Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest. "He sustained a minor leg injury and promptly received medical care," said Farid Jubran, a representative of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, when contacted by phone, adding: "He immediately went to back to work supporting the faithful." After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the start of the war, Romanelli was stuck in Jerusalem, and was only able to return to his parish in May 2024, as part of a visit by Italian Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, to the Palestinian territory. Known for having spoken by phone or video nearly every day with the late Pope Francis until his death, Romanelli, a 55-year-old Argentine priest, has spent over a year helping his small congregation survive amid the Israeli bombardments. He has organized classes for children, distributed drinking water and celebrated Mass every day, doing his best to be present wherever he is needed.
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Strike on Gaza Catholic church kills two, injures several
An apparent Israeli strike on Gaza's sole Catholic Church killed two people and injured several, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Thursday. "Two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family Compound this morning," the Patriarchate said in a statement. The Holy Family Church in Gaza spoke in a separate statement of "a number of injured, some in critical condition." In a telegram for the victims, Pope Leo said he was "deeply saddened" and called for "an immediate ceasefire." The pope expressed his "profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region," according to the telegram which was signed by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The Holy Family Church in Gaza City. Agence France-Presse 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 fatalities and people injured. The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said the parish's 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed in the attack. Parish priest Romanelli was lightly injured. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said they were "aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene. The circumstances of the incident are under review." "The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them," the statement added. Father Gabriele Romanelli receives medical attention after the church strike in Gaza on Thursday. Reuters The Patriarchate earlier said the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, was among those injured, and his church had sustained damage. Father Romanelli, an Argentine, used to regularly update the late Pope Francis about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via calls and messages. Reuters footage from the hospital showed him to be lightly injured, with a bandaged left leg but able to walk. 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 religious compound. "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. A wounded Palestinian Christian woman is brought into at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital following the strike. Reuters The church is just a stone's throw from Al-Ahli Hospital, 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. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Thursday slammed as "unacceptable" a strike on Gaza's only Catholic church that the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said was carried out by Israel and killed two people. "Unacceptable attack in Gaza against the Church of the Holy Family, historically under the protection of France," he said, alluding to a 16th-centrury accord for France to protect Catholic Christians in the Holy Land. Agencies
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Holy Family Church has been a place of refuge during war, but is damaged after a deadly Israeli strike
Romanelli was lightly injured. The church has long been the centre of worship for Gaza's Catholic minority. During the war, it also became a place of refuge, sheltering hundreds of Palestinian civilians - Muslims as well as Christians. Some 450 displaced people were reportedly sheltering at the site when it came under attack. A man and a woman who were seriously injured in the midmorning strike died in surgery at nearby al-Ahly Hospital, according to the hospital's director of surgery, Mostafa Naim. Naim identified two of the dead as Foomya Ayad and Saad Eissa Salama. They were Orthodox Christians but were sheltering at the church, according to Kamel Ayad, a spokesman for Gaza's Greek Orthodox Church. The patriarchate later confirmed the death of a third person, Najwa Abu Daoud. 'The Latin Patriarchate strongly condemns this tragedy and this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place,' it said in a statement. 'However, this tragedy is not greater or more terrible than the many others that have befallen Gaza.' It added: 'The time has come for leaders to raise their voices and to do all what is necessary in order to stop this tragedy which is humanly and morally unjustified.' The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel 'deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza's Holy Family Church. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the grief of the families and the faithful.' The Israel Defence Forces said an initial inquiry 'suggests that fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly'. The IDF said it 'directs its strikes solely at military targets and makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures, and regrets any unintentional damage caused to them'. Israel's Foreign Ministry said the results of the military's investigation would be 'published transparently'. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, told Vatican News that a tank had fired on the church directly, 'the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this'. Caritas, a Catholic charity that runs mental health services at the Holy Family Church, said the building's roof was hit by a shell, scattering shrapnel across the courtyard below and severely wounding two elderly women sitting inside a Caritas tent, along with others nearby. As shelling and Israeli military operations had picked up in the area over the past week, Romanelli had urged people sheltering at the church to stay inside. If most hadn't heeded that warning, the casualty count today could have been much higher, the Caritas statement said. Pope Leo XIV said in a statement that he was 'deeply saddened' to learn of the attack and that 'he assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual closeness'. The Pope reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, according to the statement, which was signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state. The strike on the Holy Family Church also drew swift condemnation from politicians in Italy, which surrounds Vatican City. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was one of the first to confirm the strike on the church. She said in a statement in Italian: 'The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such behaviour.' The Jerusalem patriarchate for the Greek Orthodox Church condemned the strike as 'a flagrant violation of human dignity and a blatant violation of the sanctity of life and the sanctity of religious sites, which are supposed to provide a safe haven in times of war'. The strike 'destroyed large parts of the complex' and forced some people with special needs who rely on ventilators to evacuate the area, putting their lives at risk, the statement added. An aid worker in contact with the church said they had provided the GPS co-ordinates for the entire church compound to the Israeli military early in the war. Pope Francis was an early and outspoken critic of the way Israel has waged its war in Gaza, which Israel launched in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which Palestinian militants killed about 1200 people - mostly civilians - and took about 250 hostages to Gaza. The ensuing Israeli military campaign has devastated most of the Gaza Strip, displaced nearly all of its population at least once and killed more than 58,000 people. The close attention from Pope Francis both made the church famous and drew attention to the plight of Gaza's civilians as they tried to survive Israeli bombardment, repeated displacement and shortages of food, clean water, fuel and other basic supplies. After an Israeli sniper killed two women who had taken shelter at the Holy Family Church in December 2023, two months into the war, Francis called Israel's actions in Gaza 'terrorism'. Seven other people were injured in the shooting on the parish complex, the patriarchate in Jerusalem said at the time.
