Church leaders visit bombed Gaza parish

AFP | Gaza

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City Two of the most senior Christian leaders in Jerusalem made a rare visit to Gaza yesterday, a day after Israeli fire killed three at the Palestinian territory’s only Catholic church, provoking international condemnation.

The Roman Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, greeted local Christians and toured the Holy Family Church in Gaza City.

Both men, in full black clerical robes in the searing heat, arrived in two battered people carriers, one with the yellow, white and cross-keys flag of the Vatican fluttering from the front window, before heading inside.

They also said prayers and lit candles at the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, in a visit the Greek Orthodox Jerusalem Patriarchate called a “powerful expression” of church unity and solidarity.

Israel strictly controls access to the territory, where the civil defence agency yesterday 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.

Asked about the strike, the Israeli military told AFP it “struck a terror infrastructure site belonging to Hamas in the Khan Yunis area” and had taken steps to mitigate the risk to civilians.

‘Stop the needless slaughter’

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Patriarchate said aid agencies helped facilitate the visit, which also involved the delivery of food supplies and emergency medical equipment.

Pope Leo XIV, the leader of the Catholic Church, said he was “deeply saddened” by Thursday’s 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.

Romanelli was one of 10 people injured and was seen with bandages on his leg.