by Dario Salvi

An attack this morning hit the Church of the Holy Family, leaving at least six people seriously injured and causing damage to the building. Among those hit was the parish priest, Fr Romanelli. The Patriarchal Vicar for Israel and Palestine: “They will say it was not intentional, they always find an excuse, but war causes damage and victims”. Telegram of condolence from Pope Leo XIV: “Immediate ceasefire”. Meanwhile, in Taybeh, in the West Bank, settlers are grazing cows at the Church of St George.

Milan (AsiaNews) - ‘They will say it was not intentional, they will always find an excuse, but war is like that, it always causes damage and victims,’ but what remains is the attack on a church, which is always a terrible and scandalous act, reports Msgr. William Shomali.

The patriarchal vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine was commenting to AsiaNews, on this morning's raid by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family parish in Gaza, causing at least three deaths [Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad and Najwa Abu Daoud, according to the Latin Patriarchate] and six seriously injured Christians.

According to initial, summary information, the parish priest, Fr Gabriel Romanelli, was also hit, albeit slightly in the leg. The church, the prelate continues, ‘was also seriously hit and suffered significant damage’, particularly ‘on the roof where the cross was located’.

Faced with this dramatic news, Pope Leo XIV immediately expressed his closeness through a telegram sent in his name by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

‘Leo XIV,’ the telegram reads, ‘has learned with deep sadness of the loss of life and injuries caused by the military attack on the church and assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the entire parish community of his spiritual closeness.’

The Pope entrusts the souls of the deceased to God's mercy and prays for comfort for those who are in pain and for the healing of the wounded. ‘His Holiness,’ the telegram concludes, ‘renews his appeal for an immediate ceasefire and expresses his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and lasting peace in the region.’

During these years of war in the Strip, the parish of the Holy Family has become a symbol of welcome and openness to the entire population, not only Christians. For this reason, it had already been targeted by the Israeli army, which had bombed the area surrounding the compound on several occasions and also hit a school run by the Latin Patriarchate.

Added to this is the death of two Christian women, including an elderly woman, at the hands of an Israeli sniper who shot them in cold blood. At the beginning of July, Fr Romanelli himself denounced in an interview with AsiaNews the terrible conditions in which the Gazans live, in a reality that the priest described as ‘a cage’ where ‘bombs also kill hope’.

Speaking of the parish in Gaza hit today by Israeli bombs, even though there were no weapons or anything linked to Hamas inside, the so-called “target” of Benjamin Netanyahu's war in the Strip, Monsignor Shomali wants to emphasise 'one thing: it is a place that has welcomed many, up to 600 people, while now there were just over 400, and that was doing so much for the population.

This attack is terrible. It also houses disabled children,‘ continues the patriarchal vicar, ’entrusted to the care of the Missionaries of Charity. We are responsible for feeding them."

In these years of war, he recalls, ‘we have also prepared trucks of food, and we hope that within a week we will be able to send them to them and to their neighbours’ in the area where the parish is located, because ‘they are hungry.’

However, he warns, the possibility of bringing aid ‘remains uncertain, because every minute there is a surprise.’ The reason for the attack on the parish – which has always been in the thoughts and prayers of Pope Francis, who even from his hospital bed during his hospitalisation and shortly before his death called Fr Romanelli to express his closeness – is simple and dramatic at the same time, according to the prelate: ‘Probably [the Israeli military] want to get everyone out of the north [of the Strip], including our Christians who have so far refused to move. Because,’ he concludes, ‘if they leave the church compound, they will feel more defenceless.’

Meanwhile, ‘a few days after the International Day of Solidarity, when we celebrated the suffering of Taybeh with bishops, church leaders and representatives of diplomatic missions, the settler is back grazing his cows on our land, where the church of al-Khader stands.

’ This is what Fr. Bashar Fawadleh, Latin parish priest of Taybeh in the West Bank, told AsiaNews. The town has become, despite itself, a symbol of the violence of settlers in the Occupied Territories with the approval, if not the support, of the leaders of the Jewish state.

On 14 July, a delegation led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Greek Orthodox Primate Theophilos III visited the area, bringing the solidarity of the Churches of the Holy Land and denouncing the ‘serious harassment, intimidation and damage to agricultural land’. The Christian leaders denounce that the Israeli authorities have ‘facilitated’ or at least “encouraged” these attacks.

For the Christians of Taybeh, this latest provocative gesture (in the photos) represents a ‘blatant violation of the sanctity of the historic church of Al-Khader’, inside which ‘the settlers enter with their livestock’.In a shocking and painful scene, settlers stormed the historic church today and brought their livestock, including cows, into the sanctuary, in clear violation of the sanctity of the site and the sacredness of places of worship," a source said.

It "is one of the oldest historic churches in the region and is of great religious and historical significance to the city's inhabitants and Christians throughout Palestine. However, neither its age nor its sacredness,‘ continues the AsiaNews source, ’have spared it from becoming a target of attacks by settlers, which continue as part of ongoing provocations and attempts to impose a settlement reality through force and racism."

For at least three weeks, an escalation of attacks has involved the village of Taybeh, in the West Bank, composed of about 1,500 inhabitants and three churches, located 30 km north of Jerusalem and east of Ramallah, the only village entirely inhabited by Christians.

The most emblematic case occurred on 7 July, when pro-occupation fanatics set fire to the cemetery and the historic 5th-century Church of St. George (Al-Khadr), one of the oldest religious sites in Palestine.

Among the residents - over 600 are Latin, while the rest are Greek Orthodox and Greek Melkite Catholics - there is concern for the future of a community known since the time of the Gospel, where Jesus retired before the Passion.

The violence began well before 7 October 2023 with Hamas' attack on Israel and the conflict in Gaza. However, the war in the Strip and the 12-day war with Iran have left the field open to settlers and extremists operating with total impunity.

‘The residents of the city expressed their shock and outrage at this shameful act, stating,’ the source continues, ‘that bringing animals into a church is not only an attack on religious property, but a deliberate insult to the feelings of believers and a desecration of their sacred symbols.

’ ‘This act is considered a serious escalation that cannot be ignored, with a call on the international community and ecclesiastical bodies around the world to take immediate action to protect holy places from these racist practices that strike at human values above all else. What happened today at the church in Al-Khader is not just an attack, it is an open wound in the conscience of humanity,’ he concluded.