Israel Strikes Gaza's Catholic Church Again, Kills Three

Gaza City, Gaza — Israel has once again bombed Gaza’s only Catholic Church, Holy Family, this time killing three and wounding at least 10 others, including Parish Priest Gabriel Romanelli, who suffered leg injuries.

The Israeli attack occurred in the late morning on Thursday, July 17, as most of the Catholics seeking shelter in the church were praying. Around 500-600 displaced Palestinians were taking shelter when the church was struck.

Israel has killed at least 23 Christians sheltering in Gaza City at two of the world’s oldest churches in the last 21 months. Illegal Israeli settlers backed by Israeli forces have also been waging “systemic and targeted” attacks on Christians in the occupied West Bank over the recent years and attempted to burn a church last week.

Saad Salameh, 60, the parish janitor, was killed in the Holy Family courtyard at the time of the explosion. Fumayya Ayyad, 84, was receiving support in a Caritas psychosocial tent when she was killed and Najwa Abu Daoud, 69, was sitting close to Fumayya when the blast sent shrapnel and debris tearing through the area, according to Caritas Internationalis.

Caritas Jerusalem staff in Gaza said that “if Father Gabriel hadn’t warned us to stay indoors, we could have lost 50 to 60 people today. It would have been a massacre.” Unicorn Riot has published several stories from Holy Family and has interviewed Father Romanelli, most recently about remembering Pope Francis — more below.

Father Romanelli, priest at Holy Family Church of Gaza, speaking to Pope Francis on the phone on Christmas Day 2024. Pope Francis and Father Romanelli spoke nightly since October 2023 until a couple days before the Pope’s death.

The latest bombing is part of a pattern of attacks that Israel has perpetrated on the Gaza Strip’s only Catholic parish. In December 2023, a 49-year-old church worker and her mother were shot to death by an Israeli sniper as they attempted to cross Holy Family’s courtyard, and seven others were shot while protecting others.

A short distance away from Holy Family in Gaza City is Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church. St. Porphyrius Church has been bombed several times by Israel over the past couple of years, including on Oct. 19, 2023 when at least 17 Christians were killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Two of the three killed by Israel this past Thursday at Holy Family were Orthodox Christians and were buried at St. Porphyrios.

Pope Leo XIV, the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who succeeded Pope Francis on May 8, 2025 after Pope Francis’ transition in April, spoke to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone after the attack and “repeated his appeal for a renewed push for negotiations, a ceasefire and an end to the war,” according to the Holy See Press Office.

They add that Pope Leo “again expressed his concern about the tragic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, whose children, elderly, and sick are paying an agonizing price … the Holy Father reiterated the urgent need to protect places of worship and, especially, the faithful and all people in Palestine and Israel.”

The Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem appealed to leaders in a statement, “calling for justice, peace and the suffering that has descended upon the people of Gaza.”

“In unyielding unity, we strongly denounce this crime. Houses of worship are sacred spaces that should be kept safe. They are also protected under international law. Targeting a church that houses approximately 600 refugees, including children with special needs, is a violation of these laws. It is also an affront to human dignity, a trampling upon the sanctity of human life, and the desecration of a holy site.

We, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, call upon world leaders and United Nations agencies to work towards an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that leads to an end of this war. We also implore them to guarantee the protection of all religious and humanitarian sites, and to provide for the relief of the starving masses throughout the Gaza Strip.

Our prayers and support remain steadfast, calling for justice, peace, and the cessation of the suffering that has descended upon the people of Gaza.”
Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem Statement on the Attack on Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza

The official death toll in Gaza is over 60,000 Palestinians killed by Israel since October 2023. The first independent survey of deaths in Gaza released in late June finds over 84,000 have been killed as of January 2025 and the Lancet report notes a death toll of at least 186,000 killed by Israel from October 2023 to July 2024, or 41% above official numbers.

As Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians and attempted ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip continues, Palestinian Christians are facing extermination by far-right Israelis.

Unicorn Riot’s coverage from Holy Family Church in Gaza City since October 2023.

Christians in Gaza Remember Pope Francis [May 2025]