Jerusalem’s highest-ranking Christian officials enter Gaza to visit church hit by IDF

GAZA CITY — Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest-ranking Catholic official in Jerusalem, entered the Gaza Strip on Friday alongside Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, to visit the Strip’s sole Catholic church after it was hit by what Israel said was an errant tank shell that killed three people inside.

In a video published by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the two Patriarchs were seen giving blessings to children who approached them as they made their way to the Holy Family Church to survey the extent of the damage.

In addition to the three killed, several were injured in the Thursday incident, which sparked an international outcry and prompted a statement of regret from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Netanyahu also held a phone call with Pope Leo XIV on Friday to discuss the strike.

The church has offered shelter to hundreds of Palestinians since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion and slaughter in southern Israel.

It is extremely rare for foreign officials to be allowed entry into Gaza, as Israel has essentially sealed its borders, though, Pizzaballa has been allowed in by Israel on several occassions throughout the war.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Theophilos III pay a rare visit to the Christian community in Gaza on July 18, 2025, after a deadly Israeli strike on the Strip’s lone Catholic church.

The two religious leaders brought “hundreds of tons of food supplies as well as first aid kits and urgently needed medical equipment,” Pizzaballa’s Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.

The aid is meant not only for Gaza’s small Christian community but for “as many families as possible,” the Patriarchate said, adding it also ensured the evacuation from the Gaza Strip of those injured in the church strike.

Additional humanitarian assistance, which includes hundreds of tons of food and medical equipment, is also being sent to the Christian community in Gaza and other civilians.

Photos released by the church showed its roof had been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and that windows had been broken.

Footage from the visit showed the religious leaders inspecting the damage to the roof from the outside and walking through the Holy Family Church with local parishioners. Contrary to a New York Times video report whose headline stated that the church was destroyed, the footage showed most of the interior of the building intact. Evidence of a strike is seen on the outside of the building, with burn marks radiating from a blown-out section near the roof, along with significant destruction to the compound below.

WCC on Holy Family Church in Gaza: “places of worship must never be targets” https://t.co/dOAOXKLeR6 #Gaza pic.twitter.com/jMki77zP8P

— World Council of Churches (WCC) (@Oikoumene) July 17, 2025

According to the Latin Patriarchate, the delegation met Friday with local Christians to assess their needs and to offer condolences and solidarity.

In an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily, Pizzaballa said a Catholic presence would remain in Gaza “whatever happens,” and expressed doubts about Israel’s comments that the strike was a mistake.

“We are not a target. They say it was an error. Even if everybody here believes it wasn’t,” the cardinal said.

Netanyahu on Thursday blamed “stray ammunition” and said Israel was “investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites.”

In his Friday call with Netanyahu, the pope renewed appeals for a ceasefire and an end to the war, and expressed fresh concern for “the dramatic humanitarian situation” in Gaza, according to the Vatican readout of the conversation.

Leo also stressed the urgent need to protect places of worship, the faithful, and all people in the Palestinian territories and Israel, the statement added.

An official in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel that the call lasted for more than an hour and was “good-natured and friendly.”

The Israeli readout on the call said Netanyahu expressed “Israel’s regret for the tragic incident” and sent his heartfelt condolences to the families of those hurt. The premier also gave the Pope an update on efforts to release hostages through a deal with Hamas.

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu told the pontiff that “We are close to a deal,” referring to ongoing negotiations for a hostage-ceasefire agreement in Gaza. The comment coincided with other public statements indicating optimism among the involved parties.

Netanyahu also discussed the incident with US President Donald Trump, who pressured the prime minister to issue a statement of regret over the matter. Trump’s reaction to the strike was “not a positive” one, the White House said.

The pope, who on Thursday said he was “deeply saddened” by the attack but declined to blame Israel for it, called the cardinal and Theophilos on Friday to convey support for their mission, Pizzaballa told Vatican media.

According to Vatican News, Pizzaballa was inside Gaza when he spoke to the pontiff.

The pope expressed his love and affection for the Gaza parish community, “and reiterated his intention to do everything possible to stop the needless slaughter of innocents,” the Vatican said.

Doctors at Gaza’s al-Ahli hospital, which received the wounded, said two women were killed in the strike. The third fatality, who died later, was male. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem named the dead as Najwa Abu Daoud, Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, and Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad.

Among the injured in the strike was Parish Priest Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, a confidant of the late Pope Francis, who used to speak to him nightly throughout the war in Gaza.

The church was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of al-Ahli Hospital.

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.

Since the early days of the war, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City, and some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge there.

More than 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s population, displacing most residents at least once and triggering severe shortages of food and other essentials.