Gaza church attack: Without warnings by priest ‘it would have been a massacre’

Holy Mass at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, led by the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli during the Advent season. December 2024. / Courtesy of Father Gabriel Romanelli Vatican City, Jul 17, 2025 / 18:00 pm (CNA). Father Yusuf Asad, 49, who has been the assistant parochial vicar at Holy Family Church in Gaza for six years, had just celebrated morning Mass when a loud bang sounded. At around 10:20 a.m. local time, a projectile hit the building. “It fell directly on the roof. The explosion occurred next to the cross atop the church and soon scattered shrapnel throughout the courtyard,” Anton Asfar, director of Caritas Jerusalem, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. He received a call from Gaza shortly after the attack alerting him to the incident.“It was later clarified to us that at the time of the explosion, there were some people in the courtyard outside, even though Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor, had warned everyone to stay inside,” he explained.Still shaken, he added: “Without Father Romanelli's warnings to stay inside, we could have lost 50 or 60 people. It would have been a massacre.”The parish compound consists of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, a school, a convent, a multipurpose center, and a Missionaries of Charity building. At the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, it became a makeshift shelter for more than 500 displaced people.The majority are Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Catholics, but there are also more than 50 Muslim children with disabilities living there with their families.“We are assessing the situation together with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to understand what has happened. People are in shock,” he said.He explained that the Israeli army issues an evacuation or displacement order every day. “There is a constant threat. Two Sundays ago, there was an evacuation order for the residential neighborhood of al-Zaytun,” where the parish is located in Gaza City, he added.In fact, the attacks have intensified in recent weeks, and bombs have continuously fallen on the surroundings of this parish.‘There are no safe areas in Gaza’“It is very difficult to move people. Everyone is determined to stay in the churches and continue taking refuge there. But the truth is that there are no safe areas in Gaza anymore,” he lamented.So far, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has confirmed three deaths. They are Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, 60, who was the parish maintenance manager and was in the courtyard at the time of the explosion.The other two fatalities are Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, an 84-year-old woman, and Najwa Abu Daoud, 70, who were receiving psychological care at the time inside the tent of the Caritas psycho-social support project.“People were terrified when the evacuation of the wounded to the hospital began. Father Gabriel [Romanelli] was also taken because he had a minor leg injury, but he is out of danger,” Asfar confirmed.In addition to the Argentine priest from the Institute of the Incarnate Word, eight other people were injured and rushed to Al Mamadami Hospital, just one kilometer (.62 miles) from the church. But the bombings have also pushed to the limit the capacity of health centers, with no electricity or medical supplies. “There is no medicine, no drinking water. There is a severe shortage of fuel, which is essential for hospitals and medical centers,” he pointed out.The Gaza Interim Foundation is not enough The last significant influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza occurred more than four months ago. “Nothing has entered since March 2. Only small amounts of aid. The only active operation is the Gaza Interim Foundation, but it’s not enough. Four centers cannot replace the 400 distribution points that existed during the truce,” Asfar noted.Furthermore, the management of this organization, also known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), — created in February 2025 and supported by the United States and Israel — has raised growing suspicions that it has turned food distribution into a weapon of war. According to UN figures, more than 400 Gazans have already died at GHF aid distribution points.The humanitarian situation is dire. Caritas currently has more than 120 staff operating in Gaza, spread across ten medical centers, but resources are dwindling. The borders remain closed, which has put the population in a desperate situation. “People are dying of hunger. All the children are suffering from malnutrition,” the director of Caritas Jerusalem warned.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Jul 18, 2025 - 08:00

Gaza church attack: Without warnings by priest ‘it would have been a massacre’

Holy Mass at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, led by the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli during the Advent season. December 2024. / Courtesy of Father Gabriel Romanelli Vatican City, Jul 17, 2025 / 18:00 pm (CNA). Father Yusuf Asad, 49, who has been the assistant parochial vicar at Holy Family Church in Gaza for six years, had just celebrated morning Mass when a loud bang sounded. At around 10:20 a.m. local time, a projectile hit the building. “It fell directly on the roof. The explosion occurred next to the cross atop the church and soon scattered shrapnel throughout the courtyard,” Anton Asfar, director of Caritas Jerusalem, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. He received a call from Gaza shortly after the attack alerting him to the incident.“It was later clarified to us that at the time of the explosion, there were some people in the courtyard outside, even though Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor, had warned everyone to stay inside,” he explained.Still shaken, he added: “Without Father Romanelli's warnings to stay inside, we could have lost 50 or 60 people. It would have been a massacre.”The parish compound consists of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, a school, a convent, a multipurpose center, and a Missionaries of Charity building. At the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, it became a makeshift shelter for more than 500 displaced people.The majority are Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Catholics, but there are also more than 50 Muslim children with disabilities living there with their families.“We are assessing the situation together with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to understand what has happened. People are in shock,” he said.He explained that the Israeli army issues an evacuation or displacement order every day. “There is a constant threat. Two Sundays ago, there was an evacuation order for the residential neighborhood of al-Zaytun,” where the parish is located in Gaza City, he added.In fact, the attacks have intensified in recent weeks, and bombs have continuously fallen on the surroundings of this parish.‘There are no safe areas in Gaza’“It is very difficult to move people. Everyone is determined to stay in the churches and continue taking refuge there. But the truth is that there are no safe areas in Gaza anymore,” he lamented.So far, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has confirmed three deaths. They are Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, 60, who was the parish maintenance manager and was in the courtyard at the time of the explosion.The other two fatalities are Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, an 84-year-old woman, and Najwa Abu Daoud, 70, who were receiving psychological care at the time inside the tent of the Caritas psycho-social support project.“People were terrified when the evacuation of the wounded to the hospital began. Father Gabriel [Romanelli] was also taken because he had a minor leg injury, but he is out of danger,” Asfar confirmed.In addition to the Argentine priest from the Institute of the Incarnate Word, eight other people were injured and rushed to Al Mamadami Hospital, just one kilometer (.62 miles) from the church. But the bombings have also pushed to the limit the capacity of health centers, with no electricity or medical supplies. “There is no medicine, no drinking water. There is a severe shortage of fuel, which is essential for hospitals and medical centers,” he pointed out.The Gaza Interim Foundation is not enough The last significant influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza occurred more than four months ago. “Nothing has entered since March 2. Only small amounts of aid. The only active operation is the Gaza Interim Foundation, but it’s not enough. Four centers cannot replace the 400 distribution points that existed during the truce,” Asfar noted.Furthermore, the management of this organization, also known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), — created in February 2025 and supported by the United States and Israel — has raised growing suspicions that it has turned food distribution into a weapon of war. According to UN figures, more than 400 Gazans have already died at GHF aid distribution points.The humanitarian situation is dire. Caritas currently has more than 120 staff operating in Gaza, spread across ten medical centers, but resources are dwindling. The borders remain closed, which has put the population in a desperate situation. “People are dying of hunger. All the children are suffering from malnutrition,” the director of Caritas Jerusalem warned.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Gaza church attack: Without warnings by priest ‘it would have been a massacre’

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