'Saddened' Pope calls for truce as 3 die in Gaza church strike

An Israeli shell slammed into the compound of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing three people and wounding IO others, including the parish priest, according to church officials.

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The late Pope Francis, who died in April, had regularly spoken to the priest about the situation in the war-ravaged territory.

In a telegram for the victims, Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened” and called for “an immediate ceasefire.”

The pope expressed his “profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region,” according to the telegram which was signed by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and made no mention of Israel.

‘SERIOUS ACT:’ The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel issued a rare apology and said it was investigating.

The Latin Patriarchate condemned “this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place,” saying two women and one man had died in the attack on the Holy Family Church.

“This horrific war must come to a complete end,” it said, adding that the victims had turned to the church compound as a safe haven “after their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away.” The Holy Family Church spoke in a separate statement of “a number of injured, some in critical condition.”