Hundreds of people were sheltering in the Gaza Strip’s only Catholic church last week when an Israeli strike on the complex killed 3 people and injured 12. Among the injured was the parish priest.
The Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza City is one of three operational churches in the coastal enclave and currently shelters about 600 people. More than 21 months of war have crippled the region and led to mass starvation, according to aid groups, as Israel continues its operation to dismantle Hamas’s grip on Gaza.
Two patriarchs from Jerusalem, representing both Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches, made a rare visit to Gaza on Friday to express a “shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land.” They are also organizing convoys of hundreds of tons of food and medical supplies, which have not yet been delivered to the compound.
Fabrid Jubran, a spokesman for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, told Christianity Today that one of the injured from the church attack is in critical condition but that the church’s priest is doing fine. Among those who died were a man in a wheelchair and an elderly woman who was a retired teacher, according to Khalil Sayegh, a Palestinian Christian and political analyst who lived in Gaza until 2009.
The attack brings the number of war-related deaths among Christians in Gaza to at least 33, Sayegh said. The Christian population has roughly halved since the beginning of the war, dropping to between 600 and 700 people. “Everyone is scared,” he said.
Israel claims the incident at the church was a mistake. A government-issued statement said, “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.”
US president Donald Trump has pushed for a 60-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “caught off guard” by the strike on the Gaza church and “wants the killing to end, to negotiate a ceasefire in this region, and he wants to see all of the hostages released from Gaza.”
The attack on the church came as US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian and longtime supporter of Israel, was in the country addressing his concerns about the government’s treatment of Christians. In a string of rare rebukes, Huckabee sent an angry letter to the Israeli government last week about its refusal to grant entry visas to American evangelical organizations, including the Baptist Convention of Israel, Christian Missionary Alliance, and Assemblies of God, and threatened to reciprocate by refusing visas to Israeli citizens. On Tuesday, he announced on X that the issue had been resolved after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s interior minister.
Huckabee also visited the West Bank city of Taybeh, where extremist Israeli settlers allegedly set fire to an archeological site next to an ancient church. He called the arson attack “an act of terror” that should result in “harsh consequences.” The ambassador also demanded an investigation into the death of a Palestinian American man whom extremist settlers allegedly beat to death earlier this month. Huckabee’s criticisms are atypical, as he supports Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Times of Israel correspondent Lazar Berman believes the recent events in the West Bank and Gaza jeopardize Israel’s long-standing ties with evangelical Christians and could have been prevented.
“Netanyahu and his government are afraid to assert their authority, allowing extremists and those who have no understanding of the importance of Israel’s ties with Christians to set the agenda and inflict strategic damage on the Jewish state,” he wrote in an op-ed.
Meanwhile, the Gaza church strike was the fourth or fifth time the church complex has been hit, according to Sayegh, who stays in close contact with Christian friends and family in Gaza. His father died while taking refuge in the Holy Family Catholic Church in December 2023. He had a heart attack and was unable to seek medical attention because of Israeli tanks surrounding the church complex.
That same month, a mother and daughter bled to death after getting caught in sniper fire at the church. Israel denied intentionally targeting the women or the church but acknowledged exchanging fire with Hamas operatives in the area.
This week, Israeli troops launched a ground operation into an area in central Gaza they’ve previously avoided, calling for another round of civilian evacuations. Israel hopes to force Hamas into negotiations that will secure the release of the remaining 50 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Cease-fire talks have hit roadblocks due in part to Hamas’s demands that Israel withdraw from most of Gaza and hand over aid distribution to the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Israel and the US claim Hamas steals aid to help fund its war aims.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which took over Gaza’s aid program in late May, says it has distributed 90 million meals in less than two months, but Sayegh said the Christians he’s in touch with don’t visit the aid hubs because they are too dangerous. Hamas-controlled Gaza authorities claim hundreds of people have died trying to get food from the four GHF sites. Although the Israeli military admits to opening fire on people who come too close to the troops, it counters that those numbers are inflated.
“From my understanding, [the Christians] use the food that is stored at the church, or they buy from the market with very expensive prices,” Sayegh said. His sister lives in Gaza and struggles to find food for her two-year-old son.
Amid criticism of the Israeli-backed GHF, Huckabee posted on X that the UN deserves some blame for the growing starvation in Gaza as it has “massive amounts [of food] sitting on pallets rotting.”
Since last week’s strike, Christians sheltering in the church have felt that they have nowhere safe to flee. Due to the lack of food and the fear of increased attacks, Gaza’s Christian community could face another exodus.
“It’s a very harsh situation,” Sayegh said, “and one where literally everyone I talk to in Gaza from the Christian community asked me to find a way for them to get out.”
