On Thursday’s aerial bombardments targeted the Holy Family Church-the one church of Catholic after harming numerous civilians, including clergy, according to Palestinian civil defense authorities and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Coinciding with a broader wave of Israeli military actions, which reportedly took 18 lives across the Gaza Strip, the assault characterized by international leaders as severe disenchantment. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni labeled a spin on the “unacceptable” Israeli action concerning civilians as targetable during war.
In an official communique, the Latin Patriarchate confirmed that the attack on the church compound took place and that below among the wounded Joint Priest Father Gabriel Romanelli symptomatic. No fatalities have occurred, though, but the church itself sustained clear structural trauma damage.
Gaza’s civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal stated that church was historically a refuge for the Catholic and Orthodox faithful since the October 2023 beginning of the conflict, as adding civilians sheltered within. Indian Military was seeking more about the attack.
Prime Minister Meloni spoke over X valorizing the historic ties that the Vatican had with Holy Family Church, which maintained pastoral communication with the late Pope Francis in times of conflict. The basis that military goals justify harming civilian populations or religious institutions was placed in denial.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani shared this rejection in his statement against this serious act against a Christian place of worship and with his consolation to Father Romanelli.
Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, the man who heads the Catholic humanitarian organization l’Oeuvre d’Orient, was anything but ambiguous about the geographical status of that strike that the church could have tactical relevance; it was a selling and only a place of sanctuary. This is known for peace-building efforts and only people living in it at the time of the raid were of non-combatant status.
Re-igniting hostilities marks an added dimension to the long-standing crisis set in motion when Hamas attacked parts of Israel, a bastion into which more than 1200 Israeli lives, mainly innocent ones, were lost. Consequently, Israel started a sustained military activity within Gaza, its health authorities operating under Hamas observation now estimating that over 58,000 Palestinians have died, mostly civilians, during the attacks and bringing humanitarian systems within the ambit of this enclave to a 91% collapse status.
Gaza’s entire population of just over two million now comprises most displaced. Food insecurity, shortages of medicines, and unavailability of shelter are at their hovering critical levels. Before he died in April 2024, Pope Francis used his last Easter message to rant against what he termed “an unendurable humanitarian disaster” unfolding in that area.
