Christian patriarchs make rare visit to Gaza after deadly Israeli strike on church

By WAFAA SHURAFA JULIA FRANKEL and FATMA KHALED Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip AP Top church leaders visited Gaza on Friday after its only Catholic church was struck by an Israeli shell the day before an attack that killed three people and wounded ten including a priest who had developed a close friendship with the late Pope Francis The strike drew condemnation from the pope and U S President Donald Trump and prompted a message of regret from Israel which revealed it was a mistake Since ending a ceasefire in March Israel has regularly launched far deadlier strikes across Gaza against what it says are Hamas frequently killing women and children Strikes killed people overnight physical condition executives mentioned Friday Pope Leo XVI meanwhile renewed his call for negotiations to bring an end to the -month war in a phone call Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the Vatican mentioned Church leaders organize aid evacuations The religious delegation to Gaza included two Patriarchs from Jerusalem Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III The rare visit aimed to express the shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land a comment explained Israel has heavily restricted access to Gaza since the start of the war though church leaders have entered on previous occasions usually to mark major holidays FILE -Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III center arrives for Christmas celebrations according to the Eastern Orthodox calendar outside the Church of the Nativity traditionally recognized by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ in the West Bank city of Bethlehem Jan AP Photo Nasser Nasser File They visited the Holy Family Catholic Church whose compound was damaged in the shelling They were also organizing convoys carrying hundreds of tons of food physiological supplies and other equipment to the territory which experts say has been pushed to the brink of famine by Israel s war and military offensive and the evacuation of those wounded in the church strike In his call with Netanyahu Pope Leo XVI expressed again his concern over the dramatic humanitarian situation for the population in Gaza with children the elderly and the sick paying the the majority heartbreaking price the Vatican announced in a report An Israeli official who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak on the record approved that Netanyahu had placed the call and disclosed that the Vatican s account was accurate In an earlier message the pope had repeated his intentions to do everything accomplishable to stop the useless slaughter of innocent people and condemned the unjustifiable attack on the church The Vatican revealed the pope had also received an update on the condition of Rev Gabriel Romanelli the resident priest at the church who was lightly wounded The priest had regularly spoken by phone with Pope Francis who died in April telling the pontiff about the struggles faced by civilians in Gaza Netanyahu disclosed a declaration Thursday saying Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza s Holy Family Church The Israeli military revealed it was still probing We are unable to get them out even in small pieces Israel has repeatedly struck schools shelters hospitals and other civilian buildings accusing Hamas of sheltering inside and blaming them for civilian deaths Palestinians say nowhere has felt safe since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas Oct terrorist attack Israeli strikes killed at least Palestinians overnight and into Friday including a strike on a home in the southern city of Khan Younis that killed four members of the same family according to morgue records at Nasser Hospital which received the bodies Associated Press footage of the aftermath of the strike proved people digging through the rubble in search of remains They are still under the rubble announced Belal Abu Sahloul a relative of those killed Until now we are unable to get them out even in small pieces At the hospital a mother could be seen holding the hand of her daughter who had been killed in one of the other strikes and placed in a body bag Nearly Palestinian children have been killed since the start of the war according to Gaza s Physical condition Ministry Israel s military disclosed it was operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities and that it takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm Three more killed seeking aid according to wellness representatives Nasser Hospital noted another three people were killed while heading toward an aid site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation an Israeli-backed American contractor A spokesperson for the foundation revealed there was no violence at its sites overnight and that crowds were docile Related Articles China pledges to crack down on illicit exports of rare earths urges US to lift more arrangement controls In current times in History July Nadia s perfect Britain will lower its voting age to in a bid to strengthen democracy Zelenskyy appoints a new prime minister for a war-weary nation At least dead and evacuated after heavy rain in South Korea Since the group s operations began in late May hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites according to spectators and medical executives GHF s four sites are all in military-controlled zones and the Israeli military has explained its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds There was no comment from the military on the latest deaths Hamas killed several people mostly civilians in the Oct terrorist attack and abducted people the greater part of whom have since been issued in ceasefire agreements or other deals Fifty hostages are still being held less than half of them presumed to be alive Israel s retaliatory offensive has killed over Palestinians according to Gaza s Fitness Ministry which has declared women and children make up more than half of the dead It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally The ministry is part of the Hamas-run executive but is led by diagnostic professionals The United Nations and other international organizations consider its figures to be the majority reliable count of war casualties Frankel revealed from Tel Aviv Israel and Khaled from Cairo AP Correspondent Colleen Barry revealed from Vatican City