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SAD! Israeli Strike On Gaza’s Only Catholic Church Kills Two
An Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church killed two people on Thursday, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, as Israel said it “never targets” religious sites and regretted any harm to civilians.
Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened” by the attack, which came as Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory killed at least 20 people.
“With deep sorrow the Latin Patriarchate can now confirm that two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family Compound this morning,” it said in a statement.
“We pray for the rest of their souls and for the end of this barbaric war. Nothing can justify the targeting of innocent civilians.”
A view of the damage to the Holy Family church in Gaza City following an Israeli strike on the church, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on July 17, 2025.
Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said “two citizens from the Christian community” were killed in an Israeli strike on the church in Gaza City, with which the late Pope Francis kept regular contact through the war.
AFP photographs showed the wounded being treated in a tented area at Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, with parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli with a bandage around his lower leg.
Some of the wounded arrived on stretchers, with one man wearing an oxygen mask.
Palestinians who were injured in an Israeli strike on the Holy Family church receive treatment in Gaza City’s Arab Ahli, also known as Baptist, hospital on July 17, 2025.
The patriarchate, which has jurisdiction for Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus, condemned the strike and said it “destroyed large parts of the complex”.
“Targeting a holy site currently sheltering approximately 600 displaced persons, the majority of whom are children and 54 with special needs, is a flagrant violation of human dignity and a blatant violation of the sanctity of life and the sanctity of religious sitses, which are supposed to provide a safe haven in times of war,” it said.
Israel expressed “deep sorrow” over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating.
“Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians,” the foreign ministry said on X.
‘Serious act’
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said attacks on civilians in Gaza were “unacceptable” while her Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the church attack “a serious act against a Christian place of worship”.
Out of the Gaza Strip’s population of more than two million, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory.
Christian Palestinian mourners take the body of a loved one for burial from the city’s Arab Ahli, also known as Baptist Hospital, following an earlier Israeli strike on the Holy Family Church, in Gaza City on July 17, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Since the early days of the war which erupted in October 2023, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at the Holy Family Compound in Gaza City, where some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge.
Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war and in his final Easter message, a day before his death on April 21, he condemned the “deplorable humanitarian situation” in the Palestinian territory.
‘Totally unacceptable’
Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, the head of Catholic charity l’Oeuvre d’Orient, told AFP the raid was “totally unacceptable”.
“It is a place of worship. It is a Catholic church known for its peaceful attitude, for being a peacemaker. These are people who are at the service of the population,” he said.
“There was no strategic objective, there were no jihadists in this church. There were families, there were civilians. This is totally unacceptable and we condemn in the strongest possible terms this attitude on the part of Israel.”
Palestinians who were injured in an Israeli strike on the Holy Family church receive treatment in Gaza City’s Arab Ahli, also known as Baptist, hospital on July 17, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
More than 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s population, displacing most residents at least once and triggering severe shortages of food and other essentials.
The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 58,573 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.
AFP
A TikTok user, Khadija Muhammad Yar Lele, has been remanded in a correctional facility in Kano over alleged defamation and insulting a politician.
Khadija was arraigned before the Upper Sharia Court sitting at Post Office Kano municipal presided over by Justice Garba Malafa, where the police filed a charge against her over the alleged offences.
When the charges were read to her, the defendant pleaded not guilty of all charges.
The prosecutor, Barrister Awaisu Sani Lawan, urged the court to adjourn the case to enable the prosecution to present its witnesses at next sitting.
After hearing both sides, the court ordered that Khadija be remanded in a correctional facility and adjourned the case until October 14, 2026, for her re-arraignment and continuation of proceedings.
The defendant was earlier accused of posting a video on her TikTok account in which she allegedly made insulting remarks against the complainant, identified as MD Hassan, a politician in Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State.
In the video, she was allegedly heard referring to the politician as a “prostitute’s son”, a statement that led to her arraignment before the court.
American rapper Nicki Minaj has followed Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi on X, shortly after reposting his statement on the reported killings and abductions in Niger State.
A check on the platform showed that Obi is the only 2027 presidential candidate followed by the rapper on X.
Minaj’s action came shortly after she reposted a statement shared by Obi on Wednesday, in which the former Anambra State governor condemned the reported killings and abductions in Niger State, describing the situation as a systematic devaluation of human life.
Obi also called for intelligence-led action against the criminal networks responsible for attacks and abductions across the country, stressing the need for stronger measures to protect communities and citizens.
The rapper’s repost attracted reactions from Nigerians and other social media users in Nigeria and the diaspora, with some praising her for amplifying concerns about the country’s security situation and calls for justice and protection for affected communities.
Minaj’s decision to follow Obi has also drawn attention online, particularly because of the reported list of political figures she follows on the platform.
The development comes amid growing attention to the 2027 presidential race and renewed discussions on insecurity in Nigeria.
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced that members can now decide whether to accept or donate the four main components of blood based on their personal conscience.
The organisation made this known in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York and made available on its website on Friday.
According to the statement, “the decision to accept red cells, white cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood is a matter of personal conscience.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses announce adjustment to blood transfusion policy
It added that “each Witness must decide whether or not to donate blood for the clearly expressed purpose of providing components or fractions for use by another person.”
However, the organisation said its position on whole-blood transfusion had not changed.
“The long-standing refusal of whole-blood transfusions on religious grounds, a core teaching based on the command to ‘abstain from blood’ (Acts 15:20), is unchanged,” the statement said.
International spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the organisation’s World Headquarters, Paul Gillies, said, “Blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue to regard life and blood as precious gifts from God.
“We recognise that medical decisions involving blood components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God, Jehovah.”
The organisation said the adjustment “follows earlier updates regarding blood fractions and the use of one’s own blood during medical procedures.”
It added, “Since the Bible does not comment on such decisions, they are a matter of individual conscience. That same reasoning has now been extended to the four main components of blood.”
On medical care, the statement said, “Jehovah’s Witnesses love life and want the best available medical care. They do not practise faith healing, and they seek out doctors who can provide effective treatment in accord with their wishes, values and beliefs.”
Gillies said local congregations would not interfere in members’ personal decisions.
“Congregations do not involve themselves in personal decisions that rest with the individual conscience. We will continue to respect and support the personal decisions of our fellow believers.
“We are grateful, too, for the many skilled and compassionate physicians who provide quality medical care that respects our personal wishes regarding blood,” he said.
The organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses number “over nine million worldwide, in congregations across more than 200 lands.”
Recall that the religious group had clarified its position on the use of a member’s own blood during surgery and other medical procedures.
The clarification allowed individual Witnesses to decide whether their blood could be removed, stored and returned to them during medical treatment, while the organisation maintained its position against receiving blood from another person.
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