‘Every innocent life lost is a tragedy’ - Top Catholic and Greek Orthodox clerics visit Gaza church struck by IDF tank shell

Top clerics from the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem made a rare visit to the Gaza Strip on Friday, after the incident in which an IDF tank shell hit the Holy Family Church in Gaza City last Thursday. 

Three people were killed in the strike, which the IDF blamed on an errant tank shell. 

Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, toured the church and greeted local Christians in the war-torn northern Gaza Strip. 

A statement posted to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem website said the two “entered Gaza this morning [18 July] as part of an ecclesiastical delegation, expressing the shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land and their concern for the community of Gaza.” 

The two clerics also received permission to bring humanitarian aid into the northern Gaza Strip. 

“At the request of the Latin Patriarchate, and in coordination with humanitarian partners, access was secured for the delivery of essential assistance not only to the Christian Community but also to as many families as possible,” the statement read. “This includes hundreds of tons of food supplies as well as first aid kits and urgently needed medical equipment.” 

The northern Gaza Strip has seen higher rates of food shortages during the war, and some Gazans there have reported that Hamas does little to ensure aid reaches the communities there, as it has few supporters in the area. 

According to a statement by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the two clerics were "accompanied by a high-ranking Christian delegation.” 

The statement said that the Christians of Gaza “have been enduring a relentless humanitarian catastrophe for over twenty-one months.” 

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate also referenced previous IDF strikes on Christian holy sites in Gaza, including the Oct. 17, 2023, bombing of the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, which was later shown to have been caused by a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It also cited the Oct. 19, 2023, strike on Saint Porphyrius Church, which killed 17 Christians sheltering there; the Dec. 16, 2023, shooting attack that killed two women at the Church of the Holy Family; and most recently, the July 16, 2025, tank shell strike on the same church, which killed three people and wounded nine others.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate noted that the visit of the two leading clerics came “less than forty-eight hours” after they had visited the “the Christian town of Taybeh in the West Bank, east of Ramallah” following incidents of settler violence there. 

Video from the visit showed the two religious leaders inspecting the damaged roof and damage to the compound below, following the tank shell strike. 

In an interview with an Italian newspaper, Cardinal Pizzaballa insinuated that the strike was not accidental, despite the IDF’s statement. 

“We are not a target. They say it was an error. Even if everybody here believes it wasn’t,” the cardinal said in the interview. 

In a phone call with Pope Leo Leo XIV, Netanyahu also blamed the strike on “stray ammunition”  and saying in a statement after the call that “Israel is investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites.” 

“Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the grief of the families and the faithful,” the statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.