The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war.

Pope Leo XIV is “deeply saddened” after three people were killed in a strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church, he said in a Vatican telegram on Thursday. Calling the strike a “military attack,” the Vatican’s Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said: “In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God,

Israeli forces killed at least 27 people in attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including three people who died in a strike on a church that late Pope Francis used to speak to regularly, medics and church officials said.