Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized on Thursday for a strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church – which killed three people – following criticism he received from President Donald Trump.
On Thursday morning, an Israeli shell hit the besieged enclave’s Holy Family Church, killing three and injuring several others, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Gaza has a tiny Christian community, many of whom have lived and sheltered inside the church since the outbreak of the war.
“Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, adding the incident was being investigated.
The strike triggered a torrent of condemnation from world leaders — including Trump, who voiced his displeasure with Netanyahu in a phone call Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said from the briefing room podium.
“It was not a positive reaction,” Leavitt said when asked how Trump had responded to the attack.
Trump “called Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning to address the strikes on that church in Gaza and I understand the prime minister agreed to put out a statement,” Leavitt said, adding Netanyahu had told Trump the attack “was a mistake by the Israelis.”
In a rare criticism, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a general supporter of Israel and the Netanyahu government, also slammed Israel’s “attacks against the civilian population” as “unacceptable.”
Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack” and reiterated calls for a ceasefire.
Among those injured in the strike on the church was its priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, who received near-daily phone calls from the late Pope Francis throughout the war.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa expressed doubt that the strike was an accident. “What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] says by mistake, but we are not sure about this. They hit the church directly,” he told Vatican media.
Nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which it launched in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
