Three dead after church in Gaza struck

Two people have been killed and seven more injured when a Catholic church in Gaza was ‘struck by a raid’ on 17 July.

Three people have been killed and nine more injured – several of them badly – when a Catholic church in Gaza was ‘struck by a raid’ around 10am today (17 July), according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Local people say the church was attacked by an Israeli drone.

According to our local sources, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 80s succumbed to their injuries in hospital on the afternoon of 17 July.

In recent days and weeks, the Israeli army has been bombarding areas not far from the church. In a press release from the Latin Patriarchate, they say: “There are several injuries in the place including the parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli. The church sustained damage.”

The priest was lightly injured in his leg. Pictures shared on the internet show that a part of the church’s roof is damaged, as well as some of the windows.

Before the war started, an estimated 1,070 Christians were living in Gaza. Hundreds of them found shelter in the Catholic and the Greek Orthodox churches in Gaza. Most of them have remained in the church buildings as they lost their houses in the war after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.

Please pray

• ask God to bring about a just and lasting peace in the region
• for comfort and healing for those bereaved and wounded in this incident.