Pope Francis has expressed his “great sorrow" and “deep shock at the escalation of violence,” after two airstrikes hit two schools in Gaza on July 6 and 7 and missile attacks hit various locations across Ukraine, including a children’s hospital in the capital Kyiv, on July 8, the Holy See Press Office said in a statement released on July 9, 2024.
“The Holy Father has learned with great sorrow the news about the attacks against two medical centres in Kyiv, including the largest children's hospital in Ukraine, as well as against a school in Gaza,” the statement said. “While expressing sympathy for the victims and the innocent wounded, [the Pope] hopes and prays that practical pathways can soon be identified to put an end to the ongoing conflicts.”
On Monday, July 8, Russia launched several missile strikes across Ukraine hitting various areas, including the country’s biggest pediatric medical center, the Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital, and a private medical facility, both in the capital. Kyiv. According to the BBC, the missiles damaged 100 buildings in five different cities and in total at least 41 people were killed and 166 injured. At the Children’s Hospital at least two people died, both adults.
“In the name of God, with all our resolve, we condemn this crime against humanity,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in a statement. “It is not only a crime against human laws and rules, international rules of warfare. This is a sin that cries for vengeance to heaven, according to Christian morality.”
Attacks also in Gaza
As well, over the weekend two separate airstrikes hit two schools in Gaza, including a Catholic institution. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, headed by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, released a statement on Sunday, July 7, saying that they were “monitoring, with grave concern, the news of the raids, apparently launched by the Israeli army against the Holy Family School in Gaza [that] morning.”
“The Sacred Family School has, since the beginning of the war, been a place of refuge for hundreds of civilians,” the statement explained, “The Latin Patriarchate condemns in the strongest terms the targeting of civilians or any belligerent actions that fall short of ensuring that civilians remain outside the combat scene.”
According to the BBC at least four people were killed in this strike, including a senior Hamas official. The BBC also reported an Israeli army claim that it carried out a strike on the area of the school building from which it said "terrorists were operating and hiding." The attack occurred the day after an Israeli aircraft struck a United Nations-run school in Gaza, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens.
