Netanyahu ‘Regrets’ Deadly Attack On Gaza Church After Terse Trump Call

Thursday witnessed another Israeli strike on a church in Gaza, which killed three people and injured at least six others. Among the wounded was the parish priest.

Hundreds of Palestinians were sheltering at Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza City when the church roof was hit around 10:10am local time, church officials describe. Shrapnel and debris came down through the roof and went flying, killing and wounding Christians inside.

While most circulating reports say an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank directly fired on the church, a spokesman for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem initially said it was unclear whether the munition was launched from an airplane or a tank. The neighborhood and area were coming under heavy Israeli gunfire at the time.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who oversees the church, clarified in a statement to Vatican News, “What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the Church directly, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin Church.”

He indicated that more victims might succumb to their injuries: “There are four people seriously wounded, among these four, two are in very dramatic conditions and their lives are in serious danger,” Pizzaballa said.

Pope Leo XIV has called for “an immediate cease-fire” in Gaza in a statement. His predecessor, Pope Francis, was known to have personally phoned Holy Family Catholic Church on a nightly basis to see how the community was faring, even when he was in the hospital.

Based on photos it looks like the Israeli tank operators were aiming for the cross, but missed hitting the roof leading to the debris to rain down and crush those sheltering inside.

There is no reason for an Israeli tank shell to be aimed this high.

Lord have mercy. pic.twitter.com/JnMzzB0cBj

— chunguskitten (@chunguskitten) July 17, 2025

Dozens of others had been killed in the Gaza City area on Thursday. Netanyahu’s office issued a statement specifically on the church attack, saying: “Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the grief of the families and the faithful.”

Israel is calling it a ‘mistake’ – but this reportedly came only after President Trump phoned the Israeli Prime Minister and put pressure on him, according to Times of Israel and the NY Times:

President Trump called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to express “not a positive reaction” to the attack on the church, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said at a news briefing.

This comes after the October 2023 IDF attack on the Church of Saint Porphyrius, an ancient Orthodox church in Gaza City, which resulted in the deaths of at least 18 Palestinian Christian civilians.

Sources close to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem told The Pillar that they believe the Israeli bombing of the Catholic Church in Gaza may have been retaliation for the meeting of Christian leaders in Taybeh, the Christian West Bank town that’s been under settler attack. pic.twitter.com/JBIG8hao3j

— Dave DeCamp (@DecampDave) July 17, 2025

In the early 20th century, many villages and cities across what is now Israel and Palestinian territories were actually majority Christian (Bethlehem and Ramallah being prime examples), or at least had very sizeable Christian minorities. For example Jerusalem at one point was up to one-third Christian in identity. This goes back to Byzantine times, and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem remains a significant landholder in Israel.

Steady migration out of the region, as well as persecution by both Jewish and Muslim fanatics, and at times the Israeli government – has led Christian numbers to steadily decline. One regional Middle East Christian website, for example, summarizes, “historically a Christian town, Ramallah has seen mass migration to the West as a result of Israeli occupation. It retains a significant Christian minority, determined to maintain a Christian presence in the land of their ancestors.”