An apparent Israeli strike on Gaza’s sole Catholic church killed two people and injured several on Thursday, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, drawing international condemnation and expression of “deep sorrow” from Israel. The IDF said it was probing the incident, and the Foreign Ministry said Israel “never targets churches or religious sites.”

“Two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family Compound this morning,” the patriarchate said in a statement, adding that there were “several injuries, including the Parish Priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli,” and that the church had sustained damage.

Romanelli was a confidant of the late Pope Francis and would speak to him nightly throughout the war in Gaza.

Pictures showed part of the church’s roof missing a chunk next to a large stone cross that adorns the building, as well as damage to windows.

Doctors at al-Ahli hospital said two women were killed, though the toll could not be verified.

The church was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the wounded.

Pope Leo spoke of his sadness at the loss of life and reiterated his hope for dialogue and a ceasefire, but did not issue a direct condemnation of the strike.

In a telegram for the victims signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pope Leo said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack.”

He “assures the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual closeness,” the telegram said.

The pope renewed his “call for an immediate ceasefire, and he expresses his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it “expresses deep sorrow over the damage [to the church] and over any civilian casualty.”

“Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians,â€� the ministry said in a statement. “The IDF is examining this incident, the circumstances of which are still unclear, and the results of the investigation will be published transparently.â€�

The IDF also said it was probing the incident.

“The IDF is aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene,” the IDF said in a statement. “The circumstances of the incident are under review.”

“The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them,” it added.

Israel accuses Palestinian terror group Hamas of embedding itself among Gaza’s civilian population.

Romanelli, the priest, was lightly injured in his leg, Italy’s ANSA news agency said. An Argentine national, Romanelli used to regularly update the late pope Francis throughout the war in Gaza.

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa sai an Israeli tank hit the Holy Family Church.

“What we know for sure is that a tank,” he told Vatican News. “The IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the Church directly, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin Church.”

“We don’t have complete information about what has happened in Gaza today because the communication in Gaza is not that simple,” he said. “It’s too early to talk about all this, we need to understand what happened, what should be done, especially to protect our people, and of course try to make sure that these things don’t happen anymore,” Pizzaballa continued.

“Then we will see how to continue, but certainly we will never leave [the Catholic community in Gaza] alone,” he vowed.

Italian officials condemned Israel.

“Israeli raids on Gaza also hit the Holy Family Church,” posted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on X. “The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such behavior.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani denounced the church attack as “a serious act against a Christian place of worship.”

“I offer my sincere condolences to Father Romanelli, who was wounded in the raid,” he posted on X.

Out of the Gaza Strip’s population of more than two million, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox, but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory.

Since the early days of the war which erupted in October 2023, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City, and some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge there.

Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war. In his final Easter message, a day before his death on April 21, he condemned the “deplorable humanitarian situation” in the Strip.

Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, the head of Catholic charity l’Oeuvre d’Orient, told AFP the raid was “totally unacceptable.”

“It is a place of worship. It is a Catholic church known for its peaceful attitude, for being a peacemaker. These are people who are at the service of the population,” he said.

“There was no strategic objective, there were no jihadists in this church. There were families, there were civilians. This is totally unacceptable and we condemn in the strongest possible terms this attitude on the part of Israel.”

More than 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s population, displacing most residents at least once and triggering severe shortages of food and other essentials.

The war was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led thousands of terrorists to invade southern Israel in an attack that killed 1,200 people. Terrorists also abducted 251 as hostages to the Gaza Strip, where 49 are still held along with the body of an IDF soldier killed in 2014.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 58,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 454. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.