Christian Leaders Visit Gaza Following Deadly Israeli Church Attack

Leaders from the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church visited Gaza’s only Catholic church on Friday, where a day earlier three people were killed in an Israeli strike. The visit is highly unusual given Israel’s tight control over access in and out of the territory

Israel says it deeply regrets the incident, blaming stray ammunition for the strike. An investigation is underway. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, together with Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, visited the enclave to show their support for Gaza’s Catholics.

The two expressed “the shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land and their concern for the community of Gaza,” the Patriarchate, which has jurisdiction for Roman Catholics in Gaza said.